Favorite way to pan acoustic guitar recorded on 2 mics. . .

[jaguarundi]

You've recorded an acoustic guitar with the two typical mics, one pointing at the neck around the 12th fret and one on the body. The recording is either extremely or relatively sparse, maybe just vocals and some sparse percussion.
How do you pan the 2 mics, hard left, hard right. Or rather "put" the guitar some where (since you have 2 channels maybe it can have a little width?), maybe on one side and have it's reverb or a slightly delayed version to the other side. Or something completely different? Also, for a denser recording, how would your approach change? Curious to hear some opinions...

[sessionsatstudiom]

In a sparse setting I would go maybe 10 and 2 and then add a verb to add the rest of the width. But this is all speculation without hearing the track. I do not mind mono. But to allow for vocal room I would do the panning that way.

In a dense mix I might only go with a single mic at the 12th fret or nearby to give the feeling of the guitar without having to take up too much sonic real estate. I would pan that to a spot where it made sense for the song.

Mike

[Sean Sullivan]

Usually with acoustic guitar, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, or dobro if I double-mic the instrument I usually pan them 2 degrees apart (like 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock), mono, or wide stereo if it's just a solo instrument and vocal. It really depends on how much "space" I want the instrument to take up. With fiddle, I usually always pan it 2 degrees apart to give a fuller sound.

[chris harris]

Whether it's a sparse or dense mix, where I place the acoustic guitar is entirely dependent on how it works in context with the other instruments.

If the only thing in the mix is those two acoustic guitar tracks, then I'd probably hard pan them... unless the tone improved as I brought them closer to center. If there's even one other track, then my favorite way to pan the acoustic guitar would be in proper context with that other instrument. And, if it's that sparse, then, for me, I'd also take into consideration how the previous song on the album will end and the next song will begin.

[Snarl 12/8]

Might sound cool to have those 2 guitars at, say noon and 3 and the vox at 9. Or the vox at 10 and the gits at 1 and 4. (whatever balanced vox on one side vs. git on the other.) I'm guessing body mic more towards the center. That would definitely be something I would at least try if I was mixing just those two [three] things. I think it would depend on all the other factors, song, recording, performer, arrangement, blahditty blah blah on whether that would sound appropriate or not.

[cjogo]

All depends what else is in the mix -- but generally for us 8 & 4 0'clock and then the effect is panned to compliment.......

[jaguarundi]

Cool yeah I've been experimenting with those ideas. The main thing I get concerned about with that setup is having the "omnipresent" guitar sound that seems to be coming from everywhere rather than existing somewhere in the stereo spread but I've been noticing that often one of the mics seems to take precedence and the guitar seems to be more on that side. Would love to hear any comments on that. Dealt with it, don't care, like that sound, whatever. . .

[cgarges]

I deal with this kind of thing all the time and I move them around all the time. It really depends on what's going on. And even that isn't necessarily consistent. I spent the last few days mixing a musical where the ensemble stayed exactly the same throughout the entire show (with the excpetion of flute/clarinet doubling) and I found myself moving the pan positions for all the intruments (and cast members) slightly (or drastically) for each song, depending on the tempo, the key, the range that other instruments were playing in, and how much I wanted each instrument to be "featured" as opposed to blending into the overall ensemble sound. It only takes a few seconds to juggle the pan knobs around.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[KennyLusk]

All depends what else is in the mix

FWIW, I'm with all the other's that have said this.

There just never seems to be a steadfast hard-sticking rule on this one. Totally dependent on the material/song.

[jaguarundi]

I was messing around with a track last night with double mic'd fingerstyle guitar, vocals in the middle and a simple light percussion track up the middle, kinda backgroundy for a pulse.

10 and 2 o clock for the guitar mics seemed to work the best. That was a great suggestion whoever said that sometimes that can focus the sound more than having them panned hard R and L, I totally noticed that in this case and it sounded a lot better. And as we're still building the track up and adding to it, creates space to put some other things hard R and L.

[dgrieser]

I've been experimenting with some new mandolin family recordings using a close mic and an omni room mic. I panned the close mic about 2 o'clock to one side, and the room mic fairly hard to the other side, reduced the room mic in volume just so it's there, and added reverb on the room mic. Seems to give it lots of space/depth, and it still seems to be sitting at the 2 o'clock position in the mix.

I don't have anything finished/posted yet using this new (to me) micing method.

[jaguarundi]

I've been experimenting with some new mandolin family recordings using a close mic and an omni room mic. I panned the close mic about 2 o'clock to one side, and the room mic fairly hard to the other side, reduced the room mic in volume just so it's there, and added reverb on the room mic. Seems to give it lots of space/depth, and it still seems to be sitting at the 2 o'clock position in the mix.

I don't have anything finished/posted yet using this new (to me) micing method.

I like that idea a lot I'll have to give it a try, thanks!

[Freakmagnet451]

Finishing up a recording of acoustic guitar and vocals. We opted for a very intimate sound meaning no reverb or added "room" ambiance.

So far, hard panning the guitar left and right with one track slightly delayed (12-30 ms), no feedback and mixed all wet is sounding nice. It leaves the vocal strong in the center and makes the guitar sound wide, sort of cradling the vocal.

[AASteveo]

I like to split the tracks up and send each to their own stereo aux track and process them separately.

The mic at the hole has more body and fullness so I pan it harder maybe 85% L/R. Add more reverb to it, boost the lower mids. Transient designer with more sustain.

The mic on the neck has more presence so I like to pan it more towards the center like 45% L/R. Less reverb so it's more dry & in your face. Transient designer with more attack, less sustain. Boost the high mids for that plucking sound.

This usually brings some more life to the instrument. Of course it all depends on what the mix is doing and where you want it to sit. But I'm insane about having balanced left and right and giving each signal its own sound and place in the mix. Most people just see a couple of mics on the same instrument and immediately pan them out and process them both the same, that's just boring to me.

[jaguarundi]

cool idea, like the different approach, will definitely give that one a try sometime. Especially in a situation where it's just guitar and vox, why not give the gtr as much life possible under those vox.