Sometimes stereo is just not as cool as mono. I know that is an opinion, but hey, this is my blog! Seriously though, sometimes that big wide stereo piano (or keyboard, organ, etc) is just not what you need, especially in a complex part of a mix. Today’s tip is another simple one (don’t you love those?) and is a little old school as well.
Pan It Mono People
If your piano is just creating a wash of sound in the mix by being panned left and right, help yourself out by simply panning one side to match the other and go mono. It will put the piano in a defined place in the mix, thus making it more audible and simultaneously carving out room for the rest of the band. Enjoy the video!
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I have alway kept piano close to center, definitely going to try this one!
Also consider just panning less widely. Try “10 and 2 o’clock” panning, or “9 and 1 o’clock” to move the image slightly to one side. This can keep some width and interest without pinning the sound right down to mono.
Hey Graham,
I assume this goes for stereo-mic’d acoustic guitar as well? Sometimes I find it’s just better when the acoustic isn’t meant to be prevalent to dump one of the stereo-mic’d tracks altogether. Sometimes fighting with phase and the issue of the sound kind of being all over is too much work. Just curious if you found that to be the case, too, or if i’m just doing it wrong.
Brilliant. I’ve been a jackass and always runnning it in stereo with the pan knobs lefy from thestandardsetting for stereo tracks. One of my weaknesses. You just blew my mind with this.
The same holds true for acoustic guitar. Just because you recorded it in stereo doesn’t mean you’ll even be able to HEAR the stereo image in the mix, unless it’s just a guitar/vocal track.
I LOVE stereo-acoustic, but you’ve got to realize when it’s just taking up space in a mix, and when it’s actually doing something useful.
Stereo piano is best for solo piano recordings. Otherwise, mono is probably best.