Learning the ropes: Panning 101

A bit of pre-mixing (including panning) can be done
on the keyboard itself at the time of recording.

Today I taught myself about panning by reading great articles about the topic and experimenting with my tracks. I didn't know much of anything about it before, but now I am having fun incorporating this technique into my tracks!

Here are some of the basics. Even if you aren't planning on mixing and producing music anytime soon, I think this is something all music-listeners should understand so that they can enjoy it and appreciate it!



Mono VS Stereo
To understand panning, you first have to understand the difference between mono and stereo recording. Mono tracks have one layer, while stereo tracks have two: a right and a left. These two layers correspond to the right and left speakers in which listener is hearing the song. It also applies to listening to music with headphones.

What is panning?
Panning is basically a sophisticated-sounding term for adjusting how much of each track/instrument plays in which speaker. For example, "pushing a walking bass line 20% left" means that it will be left-dominate by 20% (the walking bass line will be 20% louder in the left speaker than the right speaker).

You can't effectively pan your tracks without
high-quality headphones, right?

Why pan?

An example of
panning in a song
from the album

Complex songs that have many instruments playing at once can benefit from panning because it gives each instrument a little bit of "space." For example, my jazzy song is very polyphonic, meaning I have a lot of different tracks (instruments) layered on top of each other. Instead of it being a muddy mess of sound thrown at the listener, each instrument has its place. The listener gets the illusion that they are in the middle of a room with a band playing in different locations around them! It sounds very cool. Panning is especially effective when enjoyed through a surround-sound stereo system! Headphones/earbuds work, too. It has been my experience that computer speakers -- although most are equipped  with a left and right speaker and do support stereo tracks -- swallow the effect. Not to say that the experience is poor if you listen through computer speakers (you'll still hear the great music without a problem!), but you may miss out on the special effects a track has.

The drawbacks
Sometimes people will want to "share" an iPod to listen to a track, giving one person each an earbud. If the song is heavily panned, each person gets only a portion of the song! Even if the panning is subtle with 20% or 30% dominations, the effect is lost and the listener experience is hindered. Also, if one of the listener's earbuds or speakers aren't working properly, the same happens!



I love learning about the huge world of recording, producing, and mixing music. My elementary knowledge barely scrapes the surface of this huge, important, and extremely complex job. I'd love to see a professional do it and see everything that is happens to make a song sound perfect!

This project has definitely given me a new appreciation for music recorded and mixed in studios; the job is far from over after recording, and even with the most talented musicians, the mixing and producing is so important for the song to be great.

Side note: If you normally listen to music through computer speakers, grab some headphones and listen to a song that way -- you'll be surprised at how your favorite songs have an added extra touch that you never knew about!