How To Mix Live Music Chapter 14 - Pan — Transcript

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1. 0:07We’re having a lot of fun here, learning how to mix live music.
2. 0:11We’ve got setup, we've tuned the PA to suit the room,
3. 0:14and EQ’d all the inputs.
4. 0:17Now we’re going to jump down the mixer to the pan and faders.
5. 0:24The pan position will normally stay static during a performance,
6. 0:29but the fader is the most frequently adjusted control on a mixer.
7. 0:34Hence it being the most tactile:
8. 0:37put one finger on each, and you can adjust 8 at a time.
9. 0:41And unlike a touch-screen,
10. 0:43you can keep you eye on the stage while mixing with your fingers!
11. 0:50Before we continue,
12. 0:51let’s be sure all the inputs are routed to the Stereo Master.
13. 0:56Otherwise, we’re not going to hear any panning!
14. 0:59On the MGP mixer, make sure the red “ST” switch by the faders is pressed.
15. 1:06On the TF mixer, go to the HOME view
16. 1:09and scroll up to check the ST indicator is highlighted red.
17. 1:14Switch on each channel and bring all faders up to around 0 dB.
18. 1:22Now let’s think about the panning.
19. 1:25“Pan”: short for “panorama”.
20. 1:28When listening to music in headphones,
21. 1:31this gives you a 180 degree “panorama” of sound.
22. 1:36When listening to a stereo hi-fi at home,
23. 1:38you might get a 60 to 90 degree spread of sound between the two speakers.
24. 1:45But in a live music event,
25. 1:47everyone in the audience will get a different perspective,
26. 1:50depending on the position of their seat.
27. 1:53Bearing that in mind,
28. 1:55you shouldn’t do such extreme panning as you hear on some recordings.
29. 2:00For example, if a violin is panned hard-left,
30. 2:04it would be too quiet for all the people on the right side of the audience.
31. 2:09In some cases the audience is spread out much wider than the stage.
32. 2:14In that case, the wider the audience, the more subtle the panning should be.
33. 2:20Anyway, as a general rule in live mixing,
34. 2:24never pan a mono channel
35. 2:26harder than 9 o'clock to the left or 3 o'clock to the right.
36. 2:31For stereo channels,
37. 2:33of course you can pan hard-left and hard-right if you wish.
38. 2:38The reason to use panning is to make a broader sound image.
39. 2:43It allows instruments which operate at similar frequencies
40. 2:47to be separated a little,
41. 2:48giving each one more space in the mix.
42. 2:53Sound can also be placed
43. 2:55to enhance the physical positioning of the instruments on stage:
44. 3:01if a trumpeter is standing towards the right of the stage,
45. 3:05as you are looking from the audience’s perspective,
46. 3:08then it makes sense to hear the trumpet sound
47. 3:10coming from that side of the PA system.
48. 3:14But not so far to the right that the left side of the audience don’t hear it!
49. 3:20So now is a good time to refer to your stage plot.
50. 3:24Again, remember, we drew this back in chapter 3.
51. 3:29Start by panning Instruments on the far left to 9 o'clock,
52. 3:33and instruments on the far right to 3 o'clock.
53. 3:37Instruments and mics in the center, keep them panned centrally.
54. 3:42That’s a good starting point, but it may not be musically satisfying.
55. 3:47If there are two instruments sharing the same pan position,
56. 3:51they could sound crowded, or one could mask the other.
57. 3:55In that case, try several different pan positions
58. 3:59and check which one sounds better.
59. 4:03Now, the keyboard is a stereo instrument,
60. 4:06so its sound can be spread wider.
61. 4:10Try the right side panned hard-right,
62. 4:14and the left side panned to 10 o'clock.
63. 4:17That will allow it to be heard through both sides of the PA system,
64. 4:21but with a focus towards the right side.
65. 4:25Do the opposite with the 2 percussion mics on the left side.
66. 4:31This will correlate with the instruments on a stage.
67. 4:36Of course this concept of following the stage layout only works
68. 4:40if the band is positioned (in the) center of the stage.
69. 4:43But that may not be the case in a theater show or a house of worship.
70. 4:48In that case, you can feel free to be creative.
71. 4:53But remember to spread out instruments with similar frequency ranges
72. 4:57and tonal character.
73. 4:59If there are two guitars for example,
74. 5:01try panning one at 10 o'clock and the other at 2 o'clock.
75. 5:07As a general rule, always pan the strongest instruments,
76. 5:10or the most important ones, centrally,
77. 5:13like kick drum, snare, bass and lead vocals.
78. 5:17There are foundations of almost all styles of contemporary music.
79. 5:22So keep them close to the center for a stable balance.
80. 5:26Arrange other sounds in a balanced manner,
81. 5:29as if placing bricks on a see-saw.
82. 5:32So for example, if keyboards are panned towards the left,
83. 5:36balance them out with another sound panned to the right.
84. 5:40An even overall balance will be stable and satisfying.
85. 5:46What about the rest of the drum kit?
86. 5:49It can be nice to spread the sounds of each drum mic a bit, but not too much:
87. 5:54we want to preserve a central focus.
88. 5:58So keep all drum mics within 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock.
89. 6:04Put the overheads in these positions,
90. 6:08then the hi-hat mic to whichever side mirrors the kit setup
91. 6:13depending on whether the drummer is left or right-handed,
92. 6:17and the floor tom mic to the other side.
93. 6:20Then any additional tom mics can be spread within this range.
94. 6:28You can have a lot of fun playing with the pan
95. 6:31in a studio or with headphones on.
96. 6:34Though I recommend you try sitting in various seats
97. 6:37around the audience during a sound-check,
98. 6:40and hear if the panning is too extreme for certain positions.
99. 6:45You need to find a creative compromise,
100. 6:48because there may be thousands of seats around the venue
101. 6:52all wanting to hear a good mix!
102. 6:55It’s definitely worth the time to adjust the pan for each channel.
103. 7:00You’ll soon learn a formula that works consistently.
104. 7:04Then you can set the positions before the band are even set up.
105. 7:09Take a listen to the two examples:
106. 7:12one with no panning so everything is central.
107. 7:17The next with a modest pan suitable for live sound.
108. 7:21You should notice the second example makes all the instruments sound clearer,
109. 7:26while giving the vocals more space.
110. 8:02So that’s a few good tips about pan.
111. 8:05In the next installment,
112. 8:06we’re going to learn how to adjust faders
113. 8:09continuously throughout a performance
114. 8:12to keep a mix interesting and dynamic.
115. 8:17See you again soon.