Topic: Pan function in audacity to improve unbalanced soundstage

[hobbes4444]

I have a recording from the old Mountain Winery in Saratoga that was done with omnis on the floor, 11th row left of center.  The set up in the past was a wide flat floor with small flying PA at the far edge on each side.  So my spot was off center so i was picking up more direct sound from the left stack and more ambient sound from the right.  The levels are fairly equal, it's just the soundstage is heavily balanced to the left.  Over headphones it's a bit distracting, so . . .

is there a simple fix to improve the soundstage/image of the recording in audacity?  i did some research here and the fixes were kinda complicated involving swapping and mixing channels, etc.  Would the pan function in audacity help improve the balance?

Thanks. . .

[rjp]

I guess the best thing to do is to try it.

You could also split the stereo track into separate left and right tracks and then pan them individually. Click on the the track title bar (with the little triangle), and choose "Split Stereo Track" from the menu. After splitting, make each track a mono track and then pan them to your liking.

Keep an eye on the level meters when playing back - if they show that you're brickwalling, then back off the level sliders equally on each track.

Once you get the sound the way you want it, then export to WAV or FLAC.

[boojum]

This may seem obvious but there is not much you can do to fix a bad recording.  The trick is to get the mics in the right spot.  More than 90% of the game is mic placement.  Show up early to get a good spot; do whatever.  Because it is very, very hard to fix this kind of problem in post. 

You will be able to make it better.  But it is not going to be 100%.  So do not be too disappointed when it does not come out that way.

Cheers     

[Roving Sign]

Audacity - not really that complicated...

Split stereo track

Project > Add audio track

Put the cursor in the right(ambient) channel and Edit > Select All > Copy

Put the cursor in the new, empty tack and Edit > Paste

Next, on the track drop down menus, set the left (direct channel) to "Mono" and the other ambient channels as "Left" and "Right"...follow that with "Make Stereo Track"

Now you should have a "stereo" set and one mono track...next Export...

I suspect the ambient channel is the one that creates more of an impression of space...putting that info on both sides should even out the lopsided feeling...this will really be a mono mix, but not that great of a sin...