5 Quick Panning Mixing Tricks - Warren Huart: Produce Like A Pro

Panning helps us create space in a mix. It can also help us create a more immersive musical experience for our listeners.

Making sure we have just the right amount of space can sometimes be complicated. To help you out, I’ve put together 5 panning tricks to get you started!

5 Panning Tricks Featured:
1. Pan Affected Source Opposite Of The Dry Source For More Stereo Width
2. Create 'Ear Candy’ and additional movement With FX and Panning
3.Create Excitement With Automating Panning On Harmonies
4. Panning Cymbal FX For More Excitement
5. Using Panning To Differentiate A Section Of A Song

I wrote this song with the singer of the band “Little Empire.” I wrote this song and recorded it at the same time. It is one of the most simplistic songs I think I’ve written and recorded in years. Not necessarily the writing of it. Melodically, it’s quite interesting. I’ve got kind of a dark Police 9th chord going through it all the time. But the production is INSANELY simple.

We did this song in no time. Not that we were rushed, it’s just simple. For example, the drums have no cymbals!

Produce Like A Pro is a website which features great tips to help the beginning recordist make incredible sounding home recordings on a budget.

[lassebang]

When panning that reverse cymbal, seeing Warren be proud and impressed by his own mastery is perhaps one of the most wholesome things I've seen.

[TheDilligan]

TRICK 1: Guitars

Guitar 1
- 50% Left
- Sends to Reverb on that is 100% Right

Guitar 2
-Duplicate of Guitar1 with 1/64 delay
- 100% Right
-Volume is lower than Guitar1
-You can add a little modulation to help with phasing
-No Reverb on Verses

At the chorus
- Guitar 1 goes 100% left
- Guitar 2 is already 100% right, but starts sending to reverb 100% left.
- Guitar 2 volume comes up to fill some space


TRICK 2: Subtle, Percussive Ear Candy
-Take a drum loop
-Distort the crap out of it
-Make it flip flop between hard left and hard right.
-Put it on the choruses.


TRICK 3: Vocals
- Chorus Backing vocals are panned to 30% Left/Right
- At the final chorus, they go wider.

TRICK 4: Cutting stuff out
- Bass and Second Guitar cut out
- Main Guitar gets centered.
- Width is lost for a section so that it is more surprising when it comes back.

TRICK 5: Cymbal Sample Trick
- Reverse Cymbal
- Pan goes from Left to Right as the Cymbal fades in.

TRICK 6: Guitar Stereo Tremelo-esque effect
- maually automate panning between hard-left and hard-right on a section.
- Stereo reverb to make the flip/flop a little less sharp.

[jonathanbyrdmusic]

Warren, you have produced an incredible DIY production school.

[MrGuitarist]

Absolutely Great. I never miss your videos Warren. How come you did not get rid of the right angles in panning automation to get rid of the clicking? Very slight slope to the panning automation would get rid of the clicks but not mess with timing (probably). P.S. What you did with the drum loop going through a guitar amp was incredible. Have a great week!

[Producelikeapro]

Hi Friends, Panning helps us create space in a mix. It can also help us create a more immersive musical experience for our listeners. I opened up a very simple song with me playing every instrument, one guitar, bass and the simplest Drum part ever! With that I had some fun creating 5 quick Panning tricks! Have a marvellous time trying out these panning tricks! Please let us know some of your ideas!

[tonypistilli]

Waffle on as much as you please Warren!! That's why I love your channel....well, that and the great info...ha ha.

[TaffmanGuyo]

Thanks Warren for these superb ideas, as a newbie [aged 66 years] there is much to consider & for experimentation. Best wishes from the UK, & thanks for your energy, enthusiasm, & expertise.

[peterbrandt]

Funny. and I mean that in the most positive way- Whenever you read something like "5 quick...whatever" here on Youtube, you have videos, which are hardly 5 minutes long and are missing any details. Yours? More than half an hour and I love it. Thanks!

[darlenesheffield]

A M A Z I N G Tips! It's wonderful being able to watch you work in real time! Most video last 20 mins on one minor detail here you do 5 in the same time !!

[sacstudiosargentina]

This is a master piece of production. Thank you so much Warren. Cheers from Argentina

[josealejandroreyesamaya]

The best panning tutorial I have ever seen. Thank you very much.

[marcsoad]

I loved that loop at the "wrong" place at 16:37, it sounded awesome. I'm a big fan of your channel,

[SirEggbertfartalot]

I have to say, what an amazing series this is Warren.
I have enjoyed and learned from them all, but this one is the best so far (for me).

Just sitting back and watching you enjoy yourself, doing what you do best, taking something simple, and making it truly interesting.

Doesn't hurt that I like Lilly's Vocals too, because I'm going to need to watch this one quite a few times, there's so much in it ;0)

Thank you again.

[remembermewell]

Left and right channels are switched i think. or ive been mixing for months on monitors that are not connected right haha. when you said "reverb on the right", the sound came out of my left speaker

[matthewpelletier]

Seriously Warren, you provide THE most valuable content available online for audio education. There are better tips in this video than in courses I've paid for! I am truly grateful for all the knowledge you share with us on a daily basis. I continue to get better as a mixer because of it! You are top notch! THANK YOU!

[paullucas]

Wow, panning, automation, production choices and mangling of audio in one video. Thanks Warren

[chrischavez]

Thanks for the great time and fun and how to be creative instead of lost in the science of. Again I can walk away and actually use these tips all over the place

[PurpleMusicProductions]

I joined the academy over the weekend and this video further solidifies the Panning Cheat Sheet being put into practice. Very informative.

[teemunknee]

Videos like this prove Warren is a mad scientist, but a benevolent one!

[ElisabethKitzing]

Wow! It was not just enlightening but just plain fun. Thanks! The reverse cymbal + automating the pan is a must.