[Mattayus]

As some of you may know, i record quite a few songs here and there (check the myspace) but lately ive been at a loss as to the art of panning.

it's one thing knowing how to compress, EQ, and mix things to a comprehensive level, but panning is an art that i'm a total noob at.

I usually do one track 100% L, one 100% R, and sometimes an extra one straight down the middle. But i've heard that some ppl do 2 L, 2 R, none middle (leave it blank for the bass) and others just do 2 panned 50% L/R, amongst another million variations i've heard of.

What i'm basically asking is what are some good ratios to pan, i.e. how much and how many tracks to each to get a great mix?

I know just one track L and one track R will give u a live-ish raw sound, and as you can hear from my work u get great clarity and tonal quality, but not enough oomph! How do you get it to sound "thicker" but without getting sludgy and too busy sounding? Especially with complex widdley riffs.

Any tips would be muchly appreciated

[techjsteele]

I'm seeming to get good results with 2 mono guitar tracks panned 80% L, 80% R, with a single mono bass track down the center. I have an example clip that I recorded this way that I posted here.

[Mattayus]

That sounds good i'll try mixing the center field in a touch more then.

Any more suggestions?

[Bound]

I do the same as techsteele, not that I'm producing any high quality recordings or anything, but I like the mix with a little bit right down the middle....

[keithb]

For heavy stuff, I usually do four guitar tracks panned 100%/100% and 80%/80%. Tightening up the playing will solve the sludgy sound (which is something I struggle with as well - usually takes me a few tries to get four usable takes)

[JBroll]

Less gain, too - with multitracking you have more 'apparent' gain so you don't want to overdo it with the distortion. I'd say cut down by about 25% for the average high-gain stuff when doing two tracks a side.

Also, there's nothing wrong with just doing two 100L and two 100R - plenty of big-names do that, too, and it sounds just fine.

Jeff

[bobbyretelle]

i pan 2 100% left and right and 2 50% left and right and then put the bass in the middle

[Mattayus]

awesome. i've checked elsewhere and apparently my method is fine, but if i were to do the centered track with a little less volume but a touch more mids then it will appear a bit 'bigger'. a good tip, i must try it. tightening up the playing is one way to get less sludge, but even so there's still a bit of clarity missing when you double track on one side i feel. i'll still try it though.
how about two tracks 100% L/R but each side has two slightly different guitar tones? Anyone tried this?

[JBroll]

Cutting gain is going to be helpful because you'll have more 'fizzle' than you need with multitracking.

That method works, and it's also common to have entirely different amps for contrast. I like to load up the 5150 and Marshall rigs in Amplitube and run those at different settings (one middy, one scooped, different gain settings accordingly), and with proper tweaking and using impulses instead of the built-in cab sim it sounds great.

Jeff

[Mattayus]

yeah i cut the gain alot when multi-tracking, it definitely helps.

thanks for the advice, i'll let u know when the new tracks up so u can hear the difference