Stereo track...pan is just a balance knob...?

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C_corie
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Stereo track...pan is just a balance knob...?

Post by C_corie » Tue Jun 17, 2014 8:55 pm

Using a Scarlet 2i2...works great. Was doing some drum tracks...2 mics into one stereo track (so that the EQ/Comp would apply to both) and realized later the pan knob just works as a balance control in this setup. I'd like to control the width of the stereo split but can't. I don't want two mono tracks bussed because then I have less control over the EQ unless I do separate EQs on each channel. Am I missing something simple??

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Anthony Alves
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Re: Stereo track...pan is just a balance knob...?

Post by Anthony Alves » Wed Jun 18, 2014 5:44 am

Your right about needing 2 mono tracks to acomplish this mixing technique. Sending them to a Buss is the right answer for a one shot EQ setting for both or simply save the EQ setting and then select that saved setting for the other mono channel. As well if the 2 mics are slightly out of phase from one another than it is very important to have each mic on its own track in order to phase reverse one of the tracks. Only a mono sound can be swept across a stereo path by panning. Looks like you already had the right answers. Cheers and good luck with your mix.
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Spud
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Re: Stereo track...pan is just a balance knob...?

Post by Spud » Wed Jun 18, 2014 6:10 am

They aren't 'cross feeding' though in this arrangement though are they? Ie left is only bussed to left and right is only bussed to right? If you want it less/more 'stereo' don't you need a mid/side level plugin? Maybe I've got it wrong....

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Anthony Alves
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Re: Stereo track...pan is just a balance knob...?

Post by Anthony Alves » Wed Jun 18, 2014 8:05 am

In a live mic situation especially with drums being so loud, both mics will capture other parts of the drums. In order to have full control over this signal they must be on seperate tracks. When you record into Auria onto a stereo track the L/R channels are not seperateable unless you tell Auria to do that to a stereo track that's already been recorded. So if you pan the single pan control for that stereo channel you will be lowering the level of the other side but not pushing it's position to the L/R any further than was originally stampted onto the wav file. This is because the 2 mono mics that were used and then mixed into Auria and recorded in stereo as a stereo file, is your stereo mix. In order to change your mind about the position of a mono source within a stereo image you must do this before creating the stereo file. Once mono tracks have been assigned their stereo image position and recorded into a stereo track, that remains their position permanently. So usually one doesn't change the pan knobs in a stereo track, it is left centered to preserve the intended stereo image of that track. The Pan control knob now acts as a balance control between the L/R channels. As for a mid/side plugin that would work if all he wants to do is spread the stereo image out a bit more. This can be done fairly well with stereo delays. I think this is what he is experiencing. Hope that explains things more clearly. Cheers.~~_/)~~~*

MikeDee
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Re: Stereo track...pan is just a balance knob...?

Post by MikeDee » Wed Jun 18, 2014 9:28 am

You can copy the stereo track and paste it to the subsequent track (at the exact point on the timeline); then pan one track hard left and the other hard right.

No matter which way you do it, you cannot go any wider than your hard L/R positions (without employing, say, M/S techniques). You can, however, narrow the stereo image and/or shift it toward the left or right (within the hard L/R boundary).

HTH,

Mike

C_corie
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Re: Stereo track...pan is just a balance knob...?

Post by C_corie » Wed Jun 18, 2014 9:47 am

I'd actualally like to take the width down to a more narrow spectrum. I just don't like how the buss eq is so basic, but I also don't like that since I did a Glynn John type method the stereo image (since it's recorded/panned) hard sounds a little too dramatic. Also I worry about using EQ/Comp settings on 2 separate tracks will further decrease my available memory/processing power. (I'm using an iPad 2)

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Re: Stereo track...pan is just a balance knob...?

Post by Washboy » Wed Jun 18, 2014 12:31 pm

If you insist on processing a stereo image, why not record the drums as two mono tracks, pan them to taste and bounce them down to a stereo track. Then you can process that stereo track as you please.

mrufino1
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Re: Stereo track...pan is just a balance knob...?

Post by mrufino1 » Wed Jun 18, 2014 2:20 pm

Quick n dirty hack to reduce the width- insert a stock delay plugin, set it to no delay, full wet, reduce the stereo spread. I don't like super wide stereo drums either.

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Anthony Alves
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Re: Stereo track...pan is just a balance knob...?

Post by Anthony Alves » Fri Jun 20, 2014 9:57 am

The way I would so this if the audio has already been recorded and the session is over than I would take the stereo track and do a mixdown under the menu option and select SPLIT STEREO. This will now give you a track for the left channel and one for the right. Both will now be in mono. Now pan the mono tracks as needed. Cheers. ~~_/)~~~*

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Re: Stereo track...pan is just a balance knob...?

Post by mrufino1 » Fri Jun 20, 2014 8:55 pm

That is a good idea, and both approaches have advantages, depending on your processing needs. If you do the delay trick then you can process in stereo, if you do the split stereo then you can use separate mono processors and use a bus for any stereo processing. Different workflows depending on what you need. I've never used the split stereo option, I'm going to try it.

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