Techdeth
RESIDENT ROCK PROFESSOR
Yeah it always annoys me bad . Like on fair warning .,.. Hesr about it later has guitar in both sides and it SOUNDS better than the rest of the album . Just odd ball production choices .
DECEMBER
Member
On an analog mixer, the pan pot is post-tape return. It's a mono track, so it can't be panned to tape. The panning is applied in the mix/output stage. DAWs work the same. So unless you're recording stereo tracks, mono tracks can't be recorded with any panning applied to tape (or hard drive).
BenoA
Well-known member
Just for fun to reply to my own reply
here is a humble example of what I do.4 video takes done with OBS and all were centered. I then imported them in my video software. Audio of the rhythm parts were then hard panned left and right. Main solo is centered and for the harmony it's probably like 50% on each side not full hard panned, I don't remember exactly. Nothing from pro recording but it gives an idea of the guitar positions in the mix.
G
GuitarVacation
Active member
I’m just a hobbiest, but recording metal as a young fella formulated a lot of my habits for better or worse.
Tracking, I’ll record stereo but not panned (I’m totally in the box, interface is only outboard).
For any prominent rhythm section that is in the ballpark of power chords/riffs/chugs, or dirty rock chords I want to sound big, the plan is to always at least double track the main rhythm, with different guitar/amp/EQ sounds that may not be my favorite by themselves, but complement each other. The biggest sounds I get come from double tracks come where the individual tracks have tones that have a noticeable difference.
I’ll pan them out early on, as a large part of the overall sound of the song is set by these tracks, so I guess a little early mixing but it’s painting with a broad brush. Gives me a good idea of what else is going to come in and where it will sit. Normally not panned 100% L & R, but very prominently panned. Plus, still stereo going on, which still blends a bit in the background enough to add some perceived size more than being noticeably audible.
I think this technique is pretty common and basic, and the two panned tracks are often further doubled with the same tonal variance strategy, all designed to make a giant guitar sound.
I often go with just the two tracks, however. I started letting the two main panned tracks stand without further doubles when I started doing something I call the “up the middle” bus.
This is a bus that I feed the two panned tracks to, that is set to be up the middle, obviously fed pre-pan. I always add some coloration to this bus to further differentiate the tone from the source tracks. There are many ways to do this depending on the rest of the workflow. I’ve found the desired effect can be obtained without anything complicated, some saturation, a different IR, anything that makes the main tracks sound different, without shifting the overall vibe.
The “up the middle bus” is often fairly low in the mix. I still want the overall middle space to be uncrowded as intended by the original panning. But bringing this bus up just enough makes the sound even bigger, and also has the illusion of making the panned tracks seem more like one massive guitar sound, with plenty of room left up the middle for vocals, background ear candy, and/or my ice cold hot licks solos haha.
Don’t know if this is anything special, or for all I know could be creating some weird audio gremlin that is less than optimal to those that actually know what they’re doing. It sounds really good to me though, and my Mom likes my home recorded tunes even when they’re blasphemous and have cuss words.
Tracking, I’ll record stereo but not panned (I’m totally in the box, interface is only outboard).
For any prominent rhythm section that is in the ballpark of power chords/riffs/chugs, or dirty rock chords I want to sound big, the plan is to always at least double track the main rhythm, with different guitar/amp/EQ sounds that may not be my favorite by themselves, but complement each other. The biggest sounds I get come from double tracks come where the individual tracks have tones that have a noticeable difference.
I’ll pan them out early on, as a large part of the overall sound of the song is set by these tracks, so I guess a little early mixing but it’s painting with a broad brush. Gives me a good idea of what else is going to come in and where it will sit. Normally not panned 100% L & R, but very prominently panned. Plus, still stereo going on, which still blends a bit in the background enough to add some perceived size more than being noticeably audible.
I think this technique is pretty common and basic, and the two panned tracks are often further doubled with the same tonal variance strategy, all designed to make a giant guitar sound.
I often go with just the two tracks, however. I started letting the two main panned tracks stand without further doubles when I started doing something I call the “up the middle” bus.
This is a bus that I feed the two panned tracks to, that is set to be up the middle, obviously fed pre-pan. I always add some coloration to this bus to further differentiate the tone from the source tracks. There are many ways to do this depending on the rest of the workflow. I’ve found the desired effect can be obtained without anything complicated, some saturation, a different IR, anything that makes the main tracks sound different, without shifting the overall vibe.
The “up the middle bus” is often fairly low in the mix. I still want the overall middle space to be uncrowded as intended by the original panning. But bringing this bus up just enough makes the sound even bigger, and also has the illusion of making the panned tracks seem more like one massive guitar sound, with plenty of room left up the middle for vocals, background ear candy, and/or my ice cold hot licks solos haha.
Don’t know if this is anything special, or for all I know could be creating some weird audio gremlin that is less than optimal to those that actually know what they’re doing. It sounds really good to me though, and my Mom likes my home recorded tunes even when they’re blasphemous and have cuss words.
