01-03-2021, 03:52 PM
(01-03-2021, 03:58 AM)Mattias Westlund Wrote: Nayrb, it's funny you should bring this up because I've been doing some thinking along the same lines lately. Every since I started using Reaper I've used the Stereo Pan for stereo sources, and the default panner for mono sources. Most of the time it works just fine, but sometimes I feel the Stereo Pan has undesirable effects on the sound source. I don't know if this is simply down to pan law, but some instruments with a wide stereo image tend to sound sort of weaker and narrower the further from the center they are placed. This makes sense in a way, I suppose, since what is basically happening is that an entire stereo image gets shifted to the side. So that got me thinking. Are there any other ways to do it?
Turns out, there are.
ITDPanner is a panning plugin that uses a method called Interaural Time Difference (which is a form of delay-based sound placement I guess?) and I've been using this for the strings and brass in my new template. I don't know if it's just confirmation bias, but I actually think it makes a difference. Panned instruments sound more natural, and I'm not hearing that detrimental effect I get sometimes with Reaper's Stereo Pan. Again, I could just be imagining it, but so far I like what I'm hearing. It's a free plugin, so give it a shot if you're curious.
Thanks for the tip! I will check that plugin out.
Actually, I've had some pretty good results the last few days using time delay and stereo balance together. I'm using Reaper's stock Channel Time Delay plugin and the stereo balance mode on the mixer. Otto, who used to frequent the forum, is a proponent of time delay panning, and he advised me to start by plugging in a very small delay on the opposite channel (0.66 ms, to be exact). After that, I just adjusted the stereo balance by ear. I only did this for stuff on the far sides of the mix and stuff in the back that needed more audible space but also some kind of obvious sense of placement, too. I should also mention that I used the free TDR Nova plugin to slap a HPF on the sides of some of the wider, boomier percussion (my out-of-control True Strike timpani, for example).
All of this has been surprisingly effective. Like you, I was worried it would just sound good to me because it was different, but there is a definite sense of cohesion and none (that I can really hear) of the outright mangling of the patches that I was worried might occur. I get a sense of space and clarity that I just couldn't seem to get before.
I mixed on headphones (as I usually do these days). Like Sam says, there is a bit of a difference between the phones and the monitors. I haven't spent time "tuning" my room or anything, though, and I have closed-back headphones.
In any case, this example below is just noodling, and the panning is probably way too wide, but it's just kind of a proof of concept sort of thing.
Delay Panned Orchestra Noodling
