Panning Snares and Kicks

[notstewart]

I have a question regarding how you pan the snare and drum tracks (since there are two of each).
In Superior there is a top and bottom snare and also a kick and kick ext.
I know there are no solid rules for mixing, but I wondering if you guys tend to spread these instruments out (left side/right side), or keep them on the same side. For example…snare top and bottom panned to the same side with one under the other, or do you place the snare top on one side and the snare bottom on the other?

thanks,

Paul

Samplitude Pro X3 Suite, SD 3, Tascam UH7000

Topic

[Robshi]

I guess from my side of things I treat superior like I would a regular drum kit and so so I set panning to mimic the panning of the kit as it’s set up. So that means I’ll keep all the different mics for a kit piece panned to the same positon – afterall when you hit a drum you don’t get the top sound from one side of the room and the bottom sound from the other. The point of the different mics is to enable you to mix the mic signals to get the sound you prefer. Want more fizz on the snare then use more of the bottom mic, prefer it with a bit more of the head thwack then add more top mic.

I guess at the end of the day you can always try different panning ideas as hey you may find that extra special something you were missing but for a more conventional drum kit sound I would keep mics for pieces together and pan them as per kit position.

Rob

[notstewart]

Thanks Rob!

panning of the kit as it’s set up

That makes sense to me.

The snare (at least in my latest song) seems to dominate especially with both snares close together. I guess I just have to play more with adjustments/settings etc.

Paul

Samplitude Pro X3 Suite, SD 3, Tascam UH7000

[Mark Farrell]

I wouldn’t realy mess with panning the snare and kick. Traditionaly they stay central. You could mess with panning these for maybe an accent in the song, like an opening fill for effect? But that’s just me. But I suppose there are no rules, do what you think is going to work in the mix.

[Butter Buns]

i always bus the kick and snare mics and pan the busses center. i noticed some of the mix presets have the kick and snares bussed but they are not centered. i always thought the kick and snare should be centered traditionally and they do sound better to my ears this way

[Whitten]

I also wouldn’t separate the two bass drum and snare mic options.
They are for flavour.
The outside kick mic adds low end chiefly. The bottom snare mic adds sizzle/buzz.
You have them as separate mic options so you can eq, compress, balance them to taste – almost always as the top snare mic and inside bass drum mic as the primary.
It would be very odd to pan them separately – – – but I guess there are no rules.

[notstewart]

Thanks for all the replies guys!

It now makes sense to me to keep them together pan wise.

I usually keep the kick near the centre, but rarely place the snare there.
But I still have a far way to go when it comes to mixing.

Samplitude Pro X3 Suite, SD 3, Tascam UH7000

[Mark Farrell]

On the topic of panning, are there any drummers out there that actually like the overheads etc panned as though your in front of the drums, not behind???? ewww it makes me sick when i hear that! its like watching lefty’s play drums on youtube? its like, i cant believe they still make you? At least mirror the vid or somethin ehh????

ahh lefty’s, soooooo wrong. 😛

[Whitten]

As a listener to music it doesn’t bother me one bit, in fact I can’t say it even registers with me.
I guess as an e-drummer it would feel odd to play a ride on my right and have it sound in my left ear.

[Scott]

When tracking live drums, I always make sure that the drums a panned to the drummer’s perspective or mono. After that, all bets are off. 

Scott Sibley - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[jbraner]

As a non drummer – I don’t think it makes sense to hear drums from the drummer’s perspective. Surely most people hear drums form the “other side” 

Of course when you’re tracking you’d need to hear it from the drummers perspective (as Whitten says), bu twhen mixing – I’d always go from the audience perspective.

John Braner
http://johnbraner.bandcamp.com
http://www.soundclick.com/johnbraner
and all the major streaming/download sites.
-------------------------------------------------
Reaper 7 x64 (latest version), Windows 11 Pro 64 bit, AMD Ryzen 3950x, 32GB RAM, MSI MAG X570 Tomahawk Wifi mobo (not using wifi though), NVIDIA GEForce GT710 video card, MOTU Ultralite AVB audio interface

[Mark Farrell]

Yeah look as you’ve said, of course track from the drummers perspective and when playing e-drums etc. Maybe im a minority then? when i listen to music i pick up very quickly if the drums are from perspective or not, and it just sounds sooooooooo wrong! thats why my original question was

are there any drummers out there who find this uncomfortable to listen to as well?

My thinking is that wouldnt a NON drummer not care what perspective was used?? ok maybe ‘not care’ was the wrong word there, but you get my drift? Surely then we should be catering for the most valuable, most talented, (generally) the best looking guy in the band???? 😀 😀 😀 I BLOODY WELL THINK SO!!!

When im listening to a CD im never picturing the band playing live anyway so to hear the drummers perspective seems right, live shows are mono but i can understand why you would reverse the drums for live DVD, or BlueRay videos.

But lefty’s, stick with the gee-tar please. 😛

[Michael]

I’m not a drummer ( i know, you want a drummers input) but I actually get p***ed when I hear a mix with the “audience perspective”. I cant really justify or explain it, but hearing a ride in my left ear, a hat in the right and a tom roll down going from right to left…uugghhh…. it does something to my brain that triggers overwhelming (unreasonable) anger at the producer/mixer/ who ever thought that was a good idea. Like i said, no real justification for it, but i’m glad i’m not the only one; but i’m quite sure a non-musician would never know the difference. Personal preference.

[jbraner]

the producer/mixer/ who ever thought that was a good idea

They probably thought it was a good idea because when you go to a club and see a drummer play – his hats are on the RH side and the toms go (high to low) from Right to Left 😉

Unless of course it’s a left handed drummer. 😉

John Braner
http://johnbraner.bandcamp.com
http://www.soundclick.com/johnbraner
and all the major streaming/download sites.
-------------------------------------------------
Reaper 7 x64 (latest version), Windows 11 Pro 64 bit, AMD Ryzen 3950x, 32GB RAM, MSI MAG X570 Tomahawk Wifi mobo (not using wifi though), NVIDIA GEForce GT710 video card, MOTU Ultralite AVB audio interface

[Michael]

yeah i know the theory behind it, its just PERSONALLY hate it. Like i stated before, no real justification or anything. Plus, to me, the only way that is an audience perspective is if you are standing 2 feet in front of the drums; it usually all seems to come out mono in the venue’s house system anyway. I just prefer the way it sounds from the drummers perspective. Maybe it’s just i’ve heard it that way so much, my brain cant process it well in reverse. Like i said though, a non musician would probably never even know the difference; or if they DID, not give 2 s***’s.

[Miroslav]

.

• This post was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by Miroslav.

[Author]

Replies