I am always looking for opportunities to pan a solo or do an "entry/exit" move. I equate this to what George Lynch told me years ago, "your solo enters the room, says what it has to say then leaves". That always stuck with me. Also, always enjoy your videos, very helpful tips. The Leijon Fade away track is epic too!
I mix on headphones. I get pretty good results. But panning is probably the trickiest thing. It turns out the hearing in my ears is not equal. I'm sure this is true of most people. But if I'm not careful, I can end up with a mix that leans to the left (my deafer ear). So what I do is that every time I make important panning decisions, I flip my headphones back and forth several times. Then at the end of the mix, I always check my mix on a couple of speaker systems as well. One thing I don't understand is people who advocate only L-C-R panning. The idea is that it makes your mix "wider," but I don't believe that. If everything is in three spots, you've got a bunch of stuff on top of each other. There's so much space you're not taking advantage of. I think it's contrast that creates width. For example, having the guitars panned out only slightly in the verse and THEN having them go far left and right in the chorus is going to make them sound wider than they actually are because of the contrast. Anyway, I love this channel, man. I'll often watch videos on a subject I already know about just because I love your presentation. I find that hearing you explain an idea reinforces it, reminds me of tricks I could be trying, or helps clarify for me internally.
Amazing info, as always Miami! Superb transition game too!! though I subscribed in a heart beat at the first video I saw with all this invaluable information 🤘🤘🤘
Thanks for the great video Miami, your transition game is on point like always. I love using panning in the static mix help get a good balance before I even get to the main mix because it actually saves a little time and effort.
I've been watching a lot of videos on mixing and mastering and they never cover panning. I don't like panning cause I think if one speaker dies or the left side of my headsets dies, then I wont hear other elements of the music cause they will be panned to the left. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Anyway I do also understand the importance thereof. This video has helped me understand panning better. Thank you Sir
Glad I saw this Ive been panning 100 left or right sometimes with a 3rd take in the center. My understanding was people looked at you funny for doing so. I've watched many Nail the Mix sessions, and I specifically remember Eyal Levi asking John Browne what his reasoning was for only panning 50 both ways. And that's not the first time I heard that concept. I like going extra wide for a big chorus at the end but I remember changing the way I panned bc of all that LCR panning talk.
some of my favorite panning moves are specific parts of the song having the entire drum mix in the one side and the guitars in the other. Can be a super cool way to differentiate specific parts of a song, etc. Good video!
I came here to say something similar. There's a couple albums by John Frusciante where he'll pan vox hard L and guitars or drums hard R. And you'd never know it unless you put the balance all to one side. I'm pretty sure even The End by The Doors has the entire drum track hard panned to the left.
I always like messing with an autopanner for some fun panning stuff on leads. Example would be when i was practicing with The Future Breed Machine Stems from URM. I liked a little bit of movement for that droning "dun dun dun dun" lead track in the beginning and chorus. It always sounded like it was panning in the OG song to my ear, so it helped give it a nice effect.
🎶I was over here👈🏽 now I’m over here👉🏽. I could go here ☝🏽or I could go there 👇🏽🎶. Finding out where I belong is fun. And I can move across the soundstage if it’s needed to convey motion or accent a phrase. Soundstageing !!! Everything has a place… my place is apparently way in the back, with the door closed!?! 🎶You can get with this or you can get with that 🎶
Panning is great! And panning automation is super fun! Usually during the mix I pan(nic)😂😂🤣🤣👌👌 and don't get to play around with panning so much, but it's super fun.
I would pan them both slightly -- not far left and right. I'm talking like 10 and 2 o'clock. But it really depends on what else is going on. If I don't have much up the center, I might put both in the center but then place their effects in opposite sides of the stereo field. Or I might automate both their pans so they're constantly moving around. There's a million things you can do. Robin Leijon's suggestion is a good one too.
Good advices! Been actually using this ‘30%, 40%’ technique but never actually tried putting doubler or sidewidener or sth like that and pan that. Might be the reason I’m never fully satisfied with how my demos sound compared to the final mixes. Thanks guys! 😁
Panning is hard, bro! Panning everything hard left or hard right and some things in the middle is just B.S. I like panning slightly, not all the way. And depending on vocal or guitars if there's more then one you can do the hard panning. I listen to music and just trying to figure out what the heck people are doing. Every engineer follows the basic rule but does whatever is preferred to their tastes. Some people pan bass. That's a definite no no. Or pan the whole drums set on one channel. That's not very common. A lot of older music did that and that's because they didn't have unlimited tracks.
Today I was discussing panning with a friend. I learned to pan stuff after the static mix so that you start with a nice representation of the mono mix My friend said that panning should come first so that you make the static mix without interference between doubled guitars and vocals. Both seem good arguments, what do you think?
I think the main benefit of mixing in mono comes when you're making EQ moves. The argument is that if you can get separation in mono, it's going to sound even better in stereo. I don't really see the point of setting levels in mono. Once you start panning, all those levels are going to sound wrong anyway. Your DAW has pan law built in, which compensates for the change in level somewhat, but it doesn't do it fully. Moving something out of the way of something else will make it sound louder, but at the same time only having it in one speaker will make it sound quieter. So you really don't know what the effect will be until you do it. Personally, I think it makes the most sense to pan first, if anything. But the reality is I kind of do them at the same time. They're not separate processes for me.
Excessive brickwall limiting. Everything is ridiculous squashed. The effect is that everything feels loud and nothing feels loud. Also, overediting. Everything is so perfectly in time and tune that it doesn't feel like it was played by humans anymore.
Loudness war. Modern metal mixer/ producer thinks fake snare sounds better, so they just make a snare bomb for every snare hit. Theyre too lazy to make humans edit, so they just edit all on the grid with the script etc.
![Oasis - Oasis Live '25 [Official Trailer]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/gol_JnuEtKM/mqdefault.jpg)
![Guitar Panning Solutions! [Mixing Technique]](/img/1.gif)
I am always looking for opportunities to pan a solo or do an "entry/exit" move. I equate this to what George Lynch told me years ago, "your solo enters the room, says what it has to say then leaves". That always stuck with me. Also, always enjoy your videos, very helpful tips. The Leijon Fade away track is epic too!
I mix on headphones. I get pretty good results. But panning is probably the trickiest thing. It turns out the hearing in my ears is not equal. I'm sure this is true of most people. But if I'm not careful, I can end up with a mix that leans to the left (my deafer ear). So what I do is that every time I make important panning decisions, I flip my headphones back and forth several times. Then at the end of the mix, I always check my mix on a couple of speaker systems as well.
One thing I don't understand is people who advocate only L-C-R panning. The idea is that it makes your mix "wider," but I don't believe that. If everything is in three spots, you've got a bunch of stuff on top of each other. There's so much space you're not taking advantage of. I think it's contrast that creates width. For example, having the guitars panned out only slightly in the verse and THEN having them go far left and right in the chorus is going to make them sound wider than they actually are because of the contrast.
Anyway, I love this channel, man. I'll often watch videos on a subject I already know about just because I love your presentation. I find that hearing you explain an idea reinforces it, reminds me of tricks I could be trying, or helps clarify for me internally.
Sorry for the super-long comment, lol. I'm a writer professionally, and words just pour out of me.
Your transition game is great as ever, but your pun game has also gone up! Great video. :D
Amazing info, as always Miami!
Superb transition game too!! though I subscribed in a heart beat at the first video I saw with all this invaluable information 🤘🤘🤘
Thanks for the great video Miami, your transition game is on point like always. I love using panning in the static mix help get a good balance before I even get to the main mix because it actually saves a little time and effort.
BEST ADVICE,
BEST TIPS,
BEST LOOKS,
BEST TRANSITION GAME OUT THERE
I've been watching a lot of videos on mixing and mastering and they never cover panning. I don't like panning cause I think if one speaker dies or the left side of my headsets dies, then I wont hear other elements of the music cause they will be panned to the left. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Anyway I do also understand the importance thereof. This video has helped me understand panning better. Thank you Sir
Glad I saw this Ive been panning 100 left or right sometimes with a 3rd take in the center. My understanding was people looked at you funny for doing so. I've watched many Nail the Mix sessions, and I specifically remember Eyal Levi asking John Browne what his reasoning was for only panning 50 both ways. And that's not the first time I heard that concept. I like going extra wide for a big chorus at the end but I remember changing the way I panned bc of all that LCR panning talk.
some of my favorite panning moves are specific parts of the song having the entire drum mix in the one side and the guitars in the other. Can be a super cool way to differentiate specific parts of a song, etc. Good video!
I came here to say something similar. There's a couple albums by John Frusciante where he'll pan vox hard L and guitars or drums hard R.
And you'd never know it unless you put the balance all to one side. I'm pretty sure even The End by The Doors has the entire drum track hard panned to the left.
I always like messing with an autopanner for some fun panning stuff on leads.
Example would be when i was practicing with The Future Breed Machine Stems from URM. I liked a little bit of movement for that droning "dun dun dun dun" lead track in the beginning and chorus. It always sounded like it was panning in the OG song to my ear, so it helped give it a nice effect.
🎶I was over here👈🏽 now I’m over here👉🏽. I could go here ☝🏽or I could go there 👇🏽🎶. Finding out where I belong is fun. And I can move across the soundstage if it’s needed to convey motion or accent a phrase.
Soundstageing !!! Everything has a place… my place is apparently way in the back, with the door closed!?!
🎶You can get with this or you can get with that 🎶
Panning is great! And panning automation is super fun! Usually during the mix I pan(nic)😂😂🤣🤣👌👌 and don't get to play around with panning so much, but it's super fun.
Let’s say you have a guitar melody and a harmony to it, how would you pan it? 🤔
You could always try putting a doubler or something like sidewidener on the harmony and pan it out to the sides of the main melody!
I would pan them both slightly -- not far left and right. I'm talking like 10 and 2 o'clock. But it really depends on what else is going on. If I don't have much up the center, I might put both in the center but then place their effects in opposite sides of the stereo field. Or I might automate both their pans so they're constantly moving around. There's a million things you can do. Robin Leijon's suggestion is a good one too.
Depends on the melody, usually 30%, 40%, sometimes 75%. I use 100% left and right on the main rhythm guitars.
Good advices! Been actually using this ‘30%, 40%’ technique but never actually tried putting doubler or sidewidener or sth like that and pan that. Might be the reason I’m never fully satisfied with how my demos sound compared to the final mixes. Thanks guys! 😁
Panning is hard, bro! Panning everything hard left or hard right and some things in the middle is just B.S. I like panning slightly, not all the way. And depending on vocal or guitars if there's more then one you can do the hard panning. I listen to music and just trying to figure out what the heck people are doing. Every engineer follows the basic rule but does whatever is preferred to their tastes. Some people pan bass. That's a definite no no. Or pan the whole drums set on one channel. That's not very common. A lot of older music did that and that's because they didn't have unlimited tracks.
For the transition game
Today I was discussing panning with a friend. I learned to pan stuff after the static mix so that you start with a nice representation of the mono mix
My friend said that panning should come first so that you make the static mix without interference between doubled guitars and vocals.
Both seem good arguments, what do you think?
I think the main benefit of mixing in mono comes when you're making EQ moves. The argument is that if you can get separation in mono, it's going to sound even better in stereo.
I don't really see the point of setting levels in mono. Once you start panning, all those levels are going to sound wrong anyway. Your DAW has pan law built in, which compensates for the change in level somewhat, but it doesn't do it fully. Moving something out of the way of something else will make it sound louder, but at the same time only having it in one speaker will make it sound quieter. So you really don't know what the effect will be until you do it.
Personally, I think it makes the most sense to pan first, if anything. But the reality is I kind of do them at the same time. They're not separate processes for me.
LCR Panning
You guys always talk about interesting stuff. But why the examples are always hard rock or metal songs
Because Joey - our founder - is mostly known for rock and metal. We are working on branching out and including more genres.
@@joeymusic Great! Looking forward to it
“Pan out…”
sent me
Why are today's mixes unlistenable?
Excessive brickwall limiting. Everything is ridiculous squashed. The effect is that everything feels loud and nothing feels loud.
Also, overediting. Everything is so perfectly in time and tune that it doesn't feel like it was played by humans anymore.
Loudness war.
Modern metal mixer/ producer thinks fake snare sounds better, so they just make a snare bomb for every snare hit.
Theyre too lazy to make humans edit, so they just edit all on the grid with the script etc.