Mixing and Panning

[jb]

See? That's so unprofessional.

[Dan-O from Five-O]

I don't know JB, it seemed to capture pretty much what Jefff was going for.

I think it would have been better if he had Stereo panned the "Shut the" to the left and the "Fuck up" to the right and put the "John Benjamin" straight up the gut, but he might have been using headphones when he posted so I can forgive it.

Sorry, back to the show.

[Nigel (spOOn) Clements]

A great deal, and made loads of sense...

What an excellent post, thanks I've been experimenting with this sort of thing, but I'm certainly going to take your diagrams away, I usually do everything in headphones, then do a final draft (if you like) through speakers, just to try to get the best of both worlds, but then again some headphones are different from other headphones and some sets of speakers are better than other sets of speakers.

Probably the best way is to just use what you got, but use it to it's maximum potential...

I hope I've not offended anyone

[deshead]

There's no shortage of examples, I know, but my two favorite albums for sound stage reproduction are The Mars Volta - Deloused In The Comatorium and Ryan Adams - Cold Roses. The second one, especially, marries the ambience of a live recording with the intimacy of close-mic'ing better than anything I've ever heard. And while it's not all done with creative panning, that's definitely a major component.

Next, let's take a closer look at panning for a drum kit. Drum kits are a band's worth of instruments, on their own.

Another way to look at this is that the drum kit is just another stereo instrument, like a piano, and one wouldn't mic the strings in a piano individually. (I know you agree with me, I'm just pointing it out.) A lot of people, myself included, prefer to capture a "whole kit" sound, and beef up the kick and snare only if needed.

[boltoph]

Another way to look at this is that the drum kit is just another stereo instrument, like a piano, and one wouldn't mic the strings in a piano individually.

Yes, absolutely. In that case, all of the toms and cymbal mics might be replaced with merely two overheads, on either side of the kit, panned left / right to some degree, to create the proper stereo image...however, a piano is different in that an equal part of a piano is the resonance of the wood, containing the strings. Then again, part of the drum kit is the room and how the shells echo in that room. I would defer back to you:

It's hard to go wrong with Glyn Johns's drum mic setup.

Indeed, especially on a budget.

However, my panning thoughts/diagrams are also geared towards to the idea of midi drums, where each instrument is its own instrument, and each drum piece is on a separate channel (unless yer in a program like BFD where overhead "tracks" are offered). Besides, in a perfect world with an unlimited budget, we'd have each drum piece mic'd up plus the overheads, right? right? Not to mention a couple of those earthworks mics on the floor in the far corners of the room...then we could pick and choose what tracks to use for the final drum mix.

If you go with Glyn Johns's setup, you still might be trying to achieve the same sort of panning, but with only two overheads. It may be a fun challenge...or if you're real picky about where each part of the kit is panned, it could be a massive headache, with compromises involved; eff. I like to think of it as a fun challenge. Besides, to Gert Johnny, everything is a fun, dirty escapade, with a shit-eating grin to boot.

[Kill Me Sarah]

Okay, I'm really trying to understand the links that deshead posted and I'm doing okay, considering my lack of background knowledge. I was wondering if anyone knew a good link to an explanation of sonic frequencies...like for instance which instruments reside at which frequencies, etc.

[anti-m]

"Concert A" -- the "A" note above middle "C" on a piano is 440Hz. The more it hertz, the higher the note, heh heh.

Check this out!

http://www.tnt-audio.com/topics/frequency_e.html

[deshead]

[deshead]

[Kill Me Sarah]

Oh jeez, you guys are so awesome!