Panning instruments in a tune is important as it makes your tunes come alive. Think about an orchestra or live band, with instruments placed to the right and left of a stage. The instruments are spread out and the sound from each instrument reaches the audience with slight differences in timing. Our brain can recognise these slight changes in timing and as a  the tune will sound better in stereo (2 channels – left and right) with instruments panned to each side.

What not to pan? The Kick drum, Bassline, Sub Bass, Bass effects, Lead Vocal and all of the lower frequency effects should stayed panned to the centre of the mix. The reason for this is that it would sound terrible having the bass only coming out of one speaker and you track will not be as loud! That’s no good when you are trying to blow your audience away with a chest-full of bad ass bass. If you don’t believe me try panning one of these elements just slightly and listen to your mix. Yuk!!

So what should you pan? Basically every other element in your track can be panned to a varying degree. Try experimenting with slight panning, just a few % to the left or right can give your mix a whole new added layer of depth. Of course if you go over the top the instrument may not sit right in the mix. Use your ears to determine what sounds good and what doesn’t. There are no rules when it comes to how much you should pan for each instrument. Panning depends on the style of music you are making, although if you don’t use any panning your tracks may sound crowded.

Here’s an idea to try… open up an old tune and pan every instrument and sample that you can pan, (except the bass elements of course!) varying amounts to the left or right. It should make your track sound less crowded and more interesting. If it doesn’t, you have probably panned the elements too far and you should pull them back to the center a little.

Also try using the Fruity Stereo Enhancer. The stereo enhancer works  by slightly delaying the right and left channel causing the phase centre to shift. You can also vary the stereo separation with this plugin. Remember what sounds good is right!

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