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How do you use that pan control on a mixer?
I keep getting into this argument with my sound man.
He wants to keep the mix flat, no pan.
I want to pan the mix so it sounds like
the sound from the person who is playing
is coming from where he is playing.
who is right?
Well actually it is my rig.
But I guess I wanted mostly to know
what sound technicians do when live.
Someone else said to pan the guitars,
but pan them opposite to the way they
are standing on the stage.
The other thing, is this sound man
although unpaid, walks away from the rig
can't figure out how to provide more volume because he give himself no headroom, walks onto the stage to a free mic and start wailing (badly) on a harmonica, stomping on the lead part. Forgets repeatedly to record the gig so we can produce a press kit and see what went wrong, etc. etc. So when he says it has to be flat, I don't really trust him.
1 Answer
- SaulLv 71 decade agoFavorite Answer
Not enough details. Is this a recording situation or a live situation? What type of sound system are we talking about? How many mic's, how many people, what type of genre, what type of room or venue are we talking about?
Depending on the circumstances.... well, it really depends. Two guitarists, bassist, drums, vox.... if its a big enough mixer/PA system.... dunno.
Gah, there's too many variables, too many unknowns.
It isn't necessarily *wrong* to pan everyone center, but it isn't necessarily *right* either. Overheads tend to get panned hard right and hard left, but that's only if you're using overhead mics, which you usually won't in a live mix. Kicks, bass, and vox are almost always run center, regardless. Guitars it depends.
Remember that in a live rig, anything other than flat may end up being much weaker and might be more likely to be lost in the mix.
I dunno.... in a general sense, if you aren't paying him, blow it off - its not your rig, and you don't really have the right to tell him how to run *his* rig.
Saul
