Panning Stereo Tracks?

[NickT]

I've just read that Panninga a stereio track in most DAW's really only adjust the volume of the one side or the other.

There is really no way to controll the stereo image of the track without:
a) splitting the track to two stereo mono tracks or

B)using a plugin Like

http://www.pacificsoundcraft.com/software/directx/stereomixer/

http://www.voxengo.com/product/msed/

http://www.bluecataudio.com/Products/Product_GainSuite/

http://www.kellyindustries.com/stereo_tools.html

Just something to think about!

Nick

[Gerk]

Great info Nick, I've run into this problem just recently ... someone sent me a ton of stereo tracks and then decided that they wanted things panned differently than how they were on export :/

Mark

[CosmicDolphin]

I use the Waves S1 Stereo Imager which seems to work well, although I prefer not to take things in stereo for a mix from people if possible, unless there synth parts tec. but i'd rather just take the midi file if I have the same instrument.

CosmicDolphin

[groverk]

Can you explain a little what panning is. I thought it was pretty much reducing volumes on left or right channels. 

Ken

[NickT]

Mono track: The same info on both sides.

Stereo track: Different info on both sides. Like piano. Or maybe a stereo tom track. Different notes are in different positions in the stereo field. So lete's say I wanted that info on the floor tom closer towards the center without losing the volume of the that tom. How would you do it with a conventional pan. If I pan the stereo track more left, the sound of the floor tom in the right will go down. If i go full left, the floor tom info will be gone.

Did I say that right?

Nick

[Cary]

You did.

It gets even deeper than that.   A dry stereo track containing an instrument placed somewhere other than L, R, or center can be easily corrected with splitting the track or using some of the tools you pointed to in the first post.

I find the biggest problem I face is when someone has supplied a stereo track with too much reverb.  If the track contains real stereo reverb, then you can use some M/S decoding to reduce the side information.  The Voxengo plug is very simple and does the trick.

[Gerk]

The only problem with doing the M/S thing though I've found is that you can also seriously mess with the phase of the audio in that track, which can lead to hair pulling later down the road!

Best bet, just say NO to stereo tracks unless there's a good reason for it (like was said before, a stereo keybaord patch).

Now back to this prog project I'm working on that's ALL stereo tracks and no hope at getting anything different at this point in the game, grrrr hehe

Mark

[Cary]

Best bet, just say NO to stereo tracks unless there's a good reason for it (like was said before, a stereo keybaord patch).

Amen.  I totally agree.  Nothing like getting a stereo bass track huh?

But you know, when we're called upon to perform a major miracle, M/S can make it happen,

[Gerk]

Yep M/S works in a pinch!  Sadly it doesn't help to get rid of all the non-reverb bad effects we may run into from time to time

Mark

[jeff]

Nothing like getting a stereo bass track huh?

   Guilty 

[Letizia]

Jeff - i thought you were sending DI on one side and POD on the other. that's an entirely different thing than what's being discussed here. it just gives the mixer more options... at the expense of a bigger file. may be unnecessary in many cases, but as long as you remember to do it properly, it certainly won't cause any problems.

course my memory could be off.

[jeff]

Yes, that was something I was starting to do. Then the Bass POD malfunctioned and stopped powering-up. *sniff*

I'll post mono until I replace the processor.

Jeff

[groverk]

Hey Jeff,

Call up their service dept. I had a problem with my pod xt and they fixed it even though it was well out of warranty. I just paid for shipping one way.

Ken

[jeff]

Will do. Thanks for the tip

Jeff

[Studioplayer]

Best bet, just say NO to stereo tracks unless there's a good reason for it (like was said before, a stereo keybaord patch).

Amen.  I totally agree.  Nothing like getting a stereo bass track huh?

But you know, when we're called upon to perform a major miracle, M/S can make it happen,

Ok I'm trying to wrap my brain around mono and stereo.  Why is important to get mono tracks such as the bass? Also do you prefer that for guitar? When I record electric guitar to stereo it seems to have much more life to it than a mono track. Also if I take a stereo track and convert it to mono why has it also become lifeless. Don't quite get it.

Dave