Contrast: panning

First, let’s start with the obvious. There’s only one of me, and you hear me through two ears. The world isn’t in stereo.

You are. And if you hear me out of this side and this side, it’ll sound like I’m coming out of the middle. And that is mono.

And that’s not always straightforward. For example, when you’re mixing in headphones, this ear doesn’t hear this speaker. And vice versa.

Which means when you’re mixing, anything that is in the center is actually going to be about 3 dB quieter in headphones. That’s also a function of something audio engineers call a pan law, which is a subject of another video. But while audio engineering is largely about science, music production is largely about contrast.

And just like with images, where contrast allows you to see the lines of your subject, contrast in music allows you to focus the attention of your listener. So instead of taking the same guitar and putting it left and right, take two guitar performances and put them left and right. And what you will have is a wide soundstage.

And with a wide soundstage, you create space to place something in the middle. Panning wide elements creates a cradle for things like a vocal or a snare. And you should be cautious about clouding those stereo elements with things like a wide reverb.

But I also want you to be really generous how you frame your understanding of contrast. And this is some higher level production stuff. It’s not a tip or a trick.

Contrast is the difference between loud and soft. It’s low versus high. And space versus speed.

Harmonic simplicity versus complexity. It’s stereo width. And it’s why we’d rather teach you about music and audio engineering like you’re in art school, than only explaining to you what that button does.

And if that sounds like someone who belongs in a Beat Kitchen class, share this post.