Cody Casey
Panning is an essential part of every mix, allowing you to place elements throughout the stereo field to create space and width. While conventional panning involves positioning sounds at particular locations in the stereo image of a mix, sometimes it isn't enough, and a more dramatic effect is desired. This is where panning outside of the speakers comes in. By flipping the phase on one channel, you can create the illusion of sounds originating from outside the physical boundaries of your speakers. This technique can add interest and immersion to your mixes, enhancing the listening experience.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Panning outside the speakers | To create a more dramatic effect than conventional panning |
| How to achieve it | Flip the phase on one channel |
| Duplicate a track and hard pan left and right, then apply time-based processing like a delay to one of the tracks to create a psychoacoustic effect | |
| Use the Haas Effect or precedence effect, which uses phasing cancellation to trick the ears into perceiving sound from outside the monitors | |
| Pan the audio as usual, but invert one of the channels | |
| Use a stereo imaging plugin | |
| Use binaural hearing, which refers to hearing with two ears placed in two different locations, to create the perception of sound coming from a specific point | |
| Use soft panning, which involves moving elements around but not committing to 100% left or right |
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What You'll Learn
Panning outside the speakers to make sounds seem wider
Panning is an essential part of every mix, allowing producers and musicians to create a wider sonic experience. It is the process of moving things to the left and right speakers or leaving them in the centre. This is referred to as the stereo field or the stereo image of a song.
To make sounds seem wider, you can duplicate a track and pan them hard left and right. By applying time-based processing like a delay to one of the tracks, you can create a psychoacoustic effect that causes the listener to think they are two different signals, making the track sound significantly wider. This is known as the Haas Effect or the precedence effect.
Another way to make your mix sound wider is to use a stereo enhancement plug-in. For example, GROW, one of the four modules in the ANIMATE plugin, makes it easy to increase the width of the selected frequencies using the precedence effect.
You can also try panning an instrument towards the centre from one side and then panning it away from the centre on the other side. This will make it sound like the instrument is moving around your head.
The maximum image width is determined by the physical separation of the speakers. So, if you have two sets of speakers, one set that is 40 inches apart and another set that is 55 inches apart, the placement of a panned source will change in degrees/distance, but not in relative distance from the centre to the extreme of the stereo panorama. For example, if you have a saxophone panned 30% to the left, it will remain at 30% left even when you switch to the wider speakers, but the perceived angle will increase from 10 degrees left of centre to 14 degrees.
It is important to keep the frequency content and volume level of the left and right sides of your mix as balanced as possible. A perceivable difference between the two speakers can be very fatiguing to listen to.
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Using the Haas/Precedence Effect to create a psychoacoustic effect
Panning is an essential part of every mix, creating space and width by placing elements throughout the stereo field. The Haas/Precedence Effect is a psychoacoustic phenomenon that can be used to create a sense of space and make it seem like a sound is coming from outside of the speakers.
The Haas Effect, named after Helmut Haas, occurs when a listener hears two duplicate sounds that are separated by a very short delay as a single sound event. The perceived origin of the sound is determined almost entirely by the sound that arrives first, even if the two copies come from different directions. This effect is particularly noticeable when listening to sounds in enclosed spaces, as the direction of a sound source can be determined even with wall reflections.
The Precedence Effect, also known as the law of the first wavefront, is a binaural psychoacoustic effect concerning sound reflection and the perception of echoes. When two versions of the same sound are presented with a very short time delay, listeners perceive a single auditory event, with the location dominated by the first-arriving sound. The Haas Effect is often considered a special case of the Precedence Effect, observed within a critical delay time of around 30-50 ms.
To create a psychoacoustic effect using the Haas/Precedence Effect, you can try duplicating the left and right channels into rear speakers or using mono-summing in the rear speakers. You can also experiment with different delay times between 10 and 50 ms to find the right balance for the desired effect. Additionally, you can play with volume automation and reverb to create the sensation of sound moving from front to back or vice versa.
It's important to note that the effectiveness of these techniques may depend on the specific system setup and the type of content being played. Experimentation is key to understanding how to best utilize panning and the Haas/Precedence Effect to create the desired psychoacoustic impact.
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Binaural hearing and how it affects panning
Panning is an essential part of every mix, creating space and width by placing elements throughout the stereo field. Binaural panning is an increasingly important technique in immersive audio, simulating the feel of hearing real 3D sounds with your two physical ears in real life. Binaural sound immerses the listener in the sound, with panning available for left, right, forward, and even behind and around the listener.
Binaural panning relies on the natural distance between the ears and the delay of sound to create a sense of space. This is a complicated process, but in simple terms, our brains determine the origin of a noise by assessing the differences in the sound as it reaches each ear. This includes the time difference between the sound reaching the left and right ears, and frequency differences as our bodies block some frequencies from being as prominent on one side. Binaural panning can also simulate a sound moving up and down, but this is highly dependent on the exact acoustics of our individual ears.
Binaural panning is particularly effective when heard through headphones, as reflections from a room can ruin the effect, bouncing high frequencies back to our ears that spoil the illusion of sounds behind us. It also doesn't translate correctly to loudspeaker listening, as each output channel is heard in both ears, throwing the levels out of whack. However, some engineers have experimented with mixes that combine both conventional panning and binaural panning to produce mixes that sound fine on speakers but are still more immersive when listened to on headphones.
When creating a mix, it's important to remember that panning usually makes a sound stand out to listeners. Soft panning is a technique that moves elements around but doesn't commit to 100% left or right, getting them out of the center without being too distracting. Core mix elements like kick, snare, bass, lead vocals, and guitar solos usually stay in the center. However, panning doesn't have to be stagnant, and automating your stereo field can add interest to a mix. For example, you could have a pre-chorus vocal that comes from the left channel before dropping into the center for the hook.
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How to make sounds move from front to back
Making sounds move from front to back, also known as stereo imaging, requires some trial and error. The goal is to create the impression that each sound is coming from a different place. Accurate stereo imaging will make the sound seem like it is moving around the listener, from front to back. Here are some tips to achieve this:
Firstly, ensure proper speaker placement. Try to achieve about 4 feet of separation for bookshelf speakers or 8 feet for floorstanding speakers. Position the speakers so that the tweeters (the small drivers handling high-frequency treble) are at ear level. Place the speakers at least 2-3 feet away from the nearest wall to minimize sound reflections. Angle the speakers inward, pointing them towards the listener, or slightly behind the listener's head.
Another technique is to invert the phase of one channel of the stereo signal. This trick is commonly used in moviemaking. By rotating the phase of the left or right channel, the listener perceives the sound as coming from behind rather than in front. This effect is more pronounced when using headphones. Plugins like WaveArts Panorama, Kontakt, and Waves MondoMod can simulate a 2D sound coming from behind.
Additionally, consider using binaural audio techniques. This involves recording with a microphone in each ear to capture the sound from behind. Techniques like the Roland RSS algorithm and Ableton's Convolution Reverb can also help create the effect of sound moving from front to back.
Finally, remember that the perception of sound is influenced by factors such as time, intensity, and pitch. By adjusting these elements, you can tweak the results to achieve the desired effect.
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Panning with drums: audience vs drummer's perspective
Panning is an essential part of every mix, creating space and width by placing elements throughout the stereo field. There are two approaches to panning drums: from the audience's perspective or the drummer's perspective. With kick and snare in the centre, the hi-hat and toms are then moved to different sides of the stereo field.
The audience perspective involves panning the hi-hat to the right and each tom to the left. This approach is often used in live performances as it matches the visual that the audience sees. It can be jarring for the audience to hear the drums being played from left to right while watching the drummer play from right to left.
The drummer's perspective is the opposite, with the hi-hat on the left and the toms on the right. This approach is typically used in recordings, as it is argued that the listener is used to hearing the drums being played from left to right, which is the standard way most drummers play. It is also argued that this approach feels more natural because we read and watch films from left to right.
Some people argue that it does not matter which perspective is used, as most listeners will not notice the difference. It is more important to ensure that the instruments do not overlap and create a cluttered mix. However, others argue that the drummer's perspective should be prioritised as it is how the drummer imagines the piece, and it can be confusing for drummers when the drums are panned from the audience's perspective.
There is no right or wrong way to pan drums, and it often comes down to personal preference and the specific context. Some people prefer to use the audience perspective to create a live experience, while others prefer the drummer's perspective to provide a different feel for the drums. Ultimately, experimentation is key, and it is worth playing around with both perspectives to see what works best for the specific mix.
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Frequently asked questions
Panning is the process of positioning sounds at particular locations in the stereo image of a mix. It allows you to place instruments from left to right, determining the left and right walls of your mix.
To pan outside of speakers, you can try inverting one of the channels. You can also try the Haas Effect or precedence effect, which uses phasing cancellation to trick our ears into perceiving a sound from coming outside of the monitors.
Judicious application of panning is important. While panning can make a mix sound big and full, it can also be distracting if overused. Kick, snare, bass, and vocal tracks are usually panned directly in the centre as they form the heart of the song.
