Balance and Stereo field in modern DAWs

Automation, balance and blend

• Balancing a mix involves finding appropriate levels and positions for the different instruments

• Automation can be used to control any plug-in parameter during mixing. This is useful as it is unlikely that all parts will stay at same volume throughout

• Reverb can help to blend the whole track together, by putting all of the instruments in the same acoustic space

• If a song integrates live recordings and MIDI, the live parts will need compression since they have a wider dynamic range.

Stereo field and Panning

• Panning is more a mixing technique - referring to the placement of sounds in the stereo field.

• Auto-panning could be thought of as an effect - shifts the sound in the stereo field.

• Panning in 1960s was commonly polarised with drum kit on one side and vocals on the other.

• Lead vocals, bass guitars, kick drums and snares are normally positioned at centre of mix

• Multiple guitars and backing vocals are often separated but left and right side should be equal

Stereo Widening

• Delay can be used to create a wider stereo image. Our brains don’t perceive very short delays (a few ms) as echoes or repeats, but as alterations in position of a signal.

• Setting complementary EQ settings on left and right channels or duplicates can create a sense of stereo width

• Stereo reverb can be used to give mono tracks some sense of width

• DAWs often integrate plug-ins to achieve stereo widening, such as ‘Stereo spread’ in logic.

• Stereo widening can have a negative effect on mono compatibility, so it is important to check before bouncing down if the mix is likely to be played back on a mono system.

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