Topic: A little Audacity wierdness - Panning vs. Balance?

[Roving Sign]

I recorded a show last night with my stereo mic - and the L and R channels are bit too discreet sounding...not enough bleed from the rest of the stage. So I wanted to pan the channels together and give the recording a bit more of a mono focus.

In Audacity - Import audio > Split Stereo Track

Then I used the "Pan" control to pan the left channel 20% to the right and the right channel 20% to the left.

Make Stereo Track

However - now the "L--------R" balance control on the Stereo view reads "Pan 20% Right"

I would have expected that control to be in the middle.

Now - test this - Import Audio

Then - in the stereo view - slide the L---------R control to 20% right...then split stereo track...

Not the same!

I think its a bug in the display - because it sounds like it did what I asked it to do (basically put some left on the right and vice versa)

These controls are confusing - the call it "Pan" but it seems more like a "balance" function...

[Church-Audio]

I recorded a show last night with my stereo mic - and the L and R channels are bit too discreet sounding...not enough bleed from the rest of the stage. So I wanted to pan the channels together and give the recording a bit more of a mono focus.

In Audacity - Import audio > Split Stereo Track

Then I used the "Pan" control to pan the left channel 20% to the right and the right channel 20% to the left.

Make Stereo Track

However - now the "L--------R" balance control on the Stereo view reads "Pan 20% Right"

I would have expected that control to be in the middle.

Now - test this - Import Audio

Then - in the stereo view - slide the L---------R control to 20% right...then split stereo track...

Not the same!

I think its a bug in the display - because it sounds like it did what I asked it to do (basically put some left on the right and vice versa)

These controls are confusing - the call it "Pan" but it seems more like a "balance" function...

In most multitrack programs pan is an individual control of the each track. In a stereo pair if you go hard left that track or side of the stereo pair becomes left if you go hard right it becomes right. Balance refers to the level of each track in the stereo field. So if you wanted more left then right you would use more balanced. If however you wanted to add a bit of both tracks together and that's exactly how to do it. By using pan on the individual tracks. You did it the correct way. I don't know that program very well. But hey if it sounds right then you got it.

[Roving Sign]

Well - I might try it a different way...

I noticed there is a gain penalty using the process I described...I'm down 1.9 db...

So it might be better to create a duplicate set of stereo tracks, reverse them and mix them to taste...

[BayTaynt3d]

When using panning on a stereo track in an editor, there are usually multiple modes that can be used. There are modes that simply raise/lower the volume of the channels, there are modes that mix one channel into the other channel as it's panned, and there are modes that attempt to keep the "power" (think RMS) of the panning constant. Some editors do only one, the good ones let you do them all, and they all have there uses. So, head's up on that.

But for what you describe, I'd go one of two routes. If you can find an imaging plugin that's pretty nice, I'd go with that. The Waves S1 Imager lets you squeeze or expand the image easily and is a great plugin for this use -- just make the field more narrow and be done with it. Another approach that doesn't require a plugin would be to do something like this: (1) get two copies of the stereo file into two seperate tracks, so you have a stereo file in one track, and a copy of the same stereo file in the other track, perfectly synced. Then change the properties of one of the copies to be left channel only mono, and the other to be right channel mono only. Then hard pan the right channel to the right, and the left to the left. At this point, it should sound exactly the same as it originally did. Then do what you tried to do the first time, bring the panning in a little on both tracks. Each editor will be different in how you acheive this, but the concept is the same: get a mono track of just the right, and a mono track of just the left, put them each in their own track, and THEN pan.

[Church-Audio]

Well - I might try it a different way...

I noticed there is a gain penalty using the process I described...I'm down 1.9 db...

So it might be better to create a duplicate set of stereo tracks, reverse them and mix them to taste...

Yes that is the down side... Pan will always make you lose gain... Unless its a really good pan control and then it will make up for it. The other way to do this is make a copy of the tracks and reduce the volume by 80% and "mix" the 20% left in to the right channel and 20% right into the left channel via the multitrack view in your software. That will do the same thing. You might have to exparament with the blend it might be as high as 50% then you have to mix it all back down into two tracks....