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Panning is one of the most important aspects in the makeup of your beats “stereo image”. A stereo image basically has two perspectives, left to right and front to back. Panning knobs control the left and right axis of your sounds. Volume, reverb, delay, filtering and ambiance create the front and back effect.

Imagine yourself sitting in the front row, watching the live performance of your beat. Where is your drummer? Where is your keyboard player? How about your violins? All these things are very important when creating your “stereo image”.

Perhaps the most important tip for a good stereo image is to give each instrument its own space. The main thing here is to keep instruments out of the way of each other so the listener can hear them clearly. What happens when you put two guitar players on top of each other? Its best to keep them on separate sides of the stage.

Drummer: Dead Center rear
Guitarists: 10 and 2 o’clock
Vocalist: Center front

Let this classic rock band example be the guide and then go off from there. Center the kick and snare, let the cymbals go a little to the side. If their is a conga player, put them on the left end. Woodwinds, perhaps the most melodic of the orchestra, are centered. As you go to the right, the sound goes from soft to hard, from sweetness to brassy trumpets and tubas. As you go left, it gets more delicate, with soft horns, piano or harp. In the back, you have your short and louds, like Piatti (cymbal) Snare, Bass Drum and Timpani. In the front, you have the long and softs, the strings.

Remember that in the end, less is always more. You rarely have to pan anything 100%, you rarely have to max any one fader or effects send out. Just little bits of signal going to alternate audio paths goes along way towards giving you a breathtaking stereo image.

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