Old 09-12-2013, 03:58 PM   #1
Alsklaftsk123
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Default panning of drums?

Hi, i use ez drummer for drums, and by default it pans the overheads, hihat and toms as you would be sitting behind the kit (so the hihat would be in the left ear). In most recordings i know the drums are panned the other way (so hihat would be in the right ear). This would feel like you are watching the drummer (so you stand in front of the kit). This is easy to reverse in a button in ezdrummer, but i did not think of this before now. I got alot of finished songs with the set panned so it feels like you sit behind the kit (ezdrummer default). On my newer songs i pan it the other way (so it feels like you stand in front of the kit). The problem is that im planning to make an instrumental guitar ep that will contain both previous finished tracks and newer tracks. So the kit will probably be panned different for different tracks. The thing is that this annoys me. It just feels wierd that the kit is different panned. Is this really a big deal? Will pepole notice, or dont i have to worry?
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Old 09-12-2013, 04:09 PM   #2
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No, it's not a big deal. Nobody will ever notice.

If it will bother you forever, fix it anyway.
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Old 09-12-2013, 05:18 PM   #3
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What if the drummer is left-handed?

All in all, I don't think the general listening public gives a rats cahoot about which way the drums are panned. Other mixing engineers, maybe. Other musicians, maybe. But for the most part, no. I wouldn't worry about it. There are much MORE important things to worry about when it comes to mixing.

But like he said, if it is going to bother you forever, go back and fix it.
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Old 09-12-2013, 06:04 PM   #4
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just pretend you are standing in front but facing backwards....
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Old 09-12-2013, 06:09 PM   #5
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It won't matter at all, to anyone who is listening to, and enjoying the music.

If it bothers YOU, then by all means take action.
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Old 09-12-2013, 08:17 PM   #6
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People who air drum might notice...
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Old 09-12-2013, 10:46 PM   #7
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I was about to go Oi! because I'm a left-handed drummer but Jeff beat me to it.

I pan kits that way around through habit, and then fit the stereo image around it so it rarely gets altered afterwards, but it really is arbitrary. I suppose an exception is mixing to video where if you're behind the kit or the drummer is left-handed then you swing the pans about.

I certainly wouldn't lose sleep over it -worse case reverse left and right on the mix/master the drums will be "right" and who's to say what the stereo image of the rest of the band should be? It's not for a video, is it?



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Old 09-12-2013, 10:56 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy Hamm View Post
People who air drum might notice...
Funnily enough, this is why I pan it from the drummers perspective.

Most people won't notice, but if someone has more fun air-drumming then that's cool.
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Old 09-13-2013, 04:38 AM   #9
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No hard and fast rules. It doesn't even matter if somebody notices that the kit is panned differently in different tracks - that can not be considered a mistake.
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Old 09-13-2013, 05:07 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by planetnine View Post
I was about to go Oi! because I'm a left-handed drummer but Jeff beat me to it.
My wife says I'm quick like that... ummm... wait...

Quote:
Originally Posted by planetnine View Post
I suppose an exception is mixing to video where if you're behind the kit or the drummer is left-handed then you swing the pans about.
I don't think anyone would notice or care...
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Old 09-13-2013, 08:13 AM   #11
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I love creative mixing in all it's variety.

I still enjoy true mono drum sounds, especially like on "The Doors" first ablum, or many "Beatle" songs, where bass and drums are all on one speaker.

Talk about separation!
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Old 09-13-2013, 09:21 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dea-man View Post
I love creative mixing in all it's variety.

I still enjoy true mono drum sounds, especially like on "The Doors" first ablum, or many "Beatle" songs, where bass and drums are all on one speaker.

Talk about separation!
Yes. And if I remember correctly, I at one time checked out the later beatles and stones songs for how they panned things and the beatles were all over the place with drums AND bass, but the stones were mostly dead center. I'm talking about later stereo records. I think ringo's solo stuff was from audience perspective though. I will have to check them out again.
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Old 09-13-2013, 09:30 AM   #13
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Funny. This always made me wonder. I always pan per the audience perspective because that's what I think is right.

Listen to a lot of commercial recordings. It's all over the place!
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Old 09-13-2013, 10:18 AM   #14
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Oh crap,
another thing to worry about. Thanks OP for making life just a little more difficult!
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Old 09-13-2013, 01:53 PM   #15
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I think it will be useful for you https://stash.reaper.fm/theme/1229/MIDIPanner%20VST . But you should insert it after your vsti.
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Old 09-13-2013, 10:38 PM   #16
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As a drummer I always pan them whichever way sounds best!
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Old 09-14-2013, 01:39 AM   #17
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I think kick and snare should be in the center. Other drums you can pan with MidiPanner, I gave a link on it in the previous post.
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Old 09-14-2013, 04:27 AM   #18
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I think it matters when there are other instruments and how they are panned relative to the drums to make it balanced.
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Old 09-14-2013, 04:31 AM   #19
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When sitting at a drum set, the snare is just a tad off center, left or right depending on whether the drummer is right or left handed. Using the kick as the "centerpiece" I usually will pan the snare about 5% and the hats about 10%, leaving the kick straight up center.

On a stage, the bassist's amp is not sitting in front of the kick drum, but I want to keep the relationship with the kick close so I pan the bass guitar 5% to the opposite side of the snare.

Since people are "listening" to the song, meaning they are in front of the band, I try to pan the drums from the perspective of the audience watching a right-handed drummer.
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Old 09-14-2013, 12:13 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeffsounds View Post
Since people are "listening" to the song, meaning they are in front of the band, I try to pan the drums from the perspective of the audience watching a right-handed drummer.
But if you're in the audience watching a band, the drums are going to sound like they're all coming from one place, or very nearly so. From your vantage point, the snare isn't going to be anywhere close to 5% away from the kick. Unless you're extremely close to the band, the entire kit only covers a couple of degrees.

To be honest, I don't worry about trying to make my recordings sound like a real band on a stage. While there are certainly exceptions, I'll almost always put the following dead center: kick, snare, bass, lead vocal. Everything else is moved around to create a balanced sound. If I'm going for an effect where I want drum fills to move across the stereo spectrum, I may pan the drums wide. But a little of that goes a long way. I find it to be a distraction, but every now and then it can add to a song. I'll usually only give the drums a few degrees so the kit sounds alive, but more like a single instrument, then put guitars, keys, backing vocals, etc. further out.

But that's me, and there are certainly no right or wrong answers. As long as it sounds good and is pleasing to the listener, do whatever works.
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Old 09-14-2013, 12:54 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tls11823 View Post
But if you're in the audience watching a band, the drums are going to sound like they're all coming from one place, or very nearly so. From your vantage point, the snare isn't going to be anywhere close to 5% away from the kick. Unless you're extremely close to the band, the entire kit only covers a couple of degrees.
Exactly. So a couple of degrees isn't going to matter much to the listener. But in a mix, it certainly helps not having things stacked up in the center. But like you said, there are no right or wrong answers. This is just the way I like to do it.
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Old 09-14-2013, 02:02 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by @non View Post
...serious though we have 180 degree spectrum
cant put every thing in the middle
what goes on the sides?

i figure snr vox same place =Bad Idea
Luckily in most cases the frequency spectrum of snare drum and vocals does not conflict -and that's without considering the transitory nature or the instrument.

Watch them on a spctrogram, listen to them, they don't have much opportunity to conflict and they are quite easy to separate by instrument choice/ musical arrangement/ corrective EQ.


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