1) with a mono track fed by the Tone Generator set to a sine wave. To see how the different panning laws affect signal levels, I created a test setup (Fig. THE “WHAT-THE-HECK-DO-PAN-LAWS-DO” TEST SETUP This lets different channels follow different pan laws. Although most programs set the pan law as a global preference, Studio One includes the Dual Pan plug-in, which offers five different pan laws.For stereo, they act as a balance control. The panpots in Studio Once’s channels default to the traditional 3 dB dip, so there’s perceived constant level as you pan a mono signal from left to right.Others wanted a linear change that didn’t dip the signal at all.įortunately, Studio One has a rational approach to pan laws, namely… Some engineers didn’t want equal power over the panpot’s entire travel, but a slightly different curve. If a DAW does the latter, when you import a normalized file and pan it hard left or hard right, it will go above 0 and clip.īut wait! There’s more. To complicate matters further, some mixers lowered the center signal compared to the sides, while others raised the side signals compared to the center. You could accomplish the same result by adjusting the channel level and pan, but the additional drop was sort of like having a preference you didn’t need to think about. (Before your head explodes, please note you don’t need to learn all this stuff-it’s just to give you an idea of the complexity of pan laws, because all we really need to do is understand how things work in Studio One.) For example, some engineers preferred more of a drop in the center, so that audio panned to the sides would “pop” more due to the higher level, and open up more space in the center for vocals, kick, and bass. However, there are other panning protocols. As a result, traditional hardware mixers tapered the response as you turned a panpot to create this 3 dB dip. Dropping the level when centered by 3 dB RMS accomplishes this.
Ideally, you want the signal’s average level-its power-to have the same perceived volume, whether the sound is panned left, right, or center. In the center, there’s a 3 dB RMS volume buildup because the same signal is in both channels. You pan a mono signal from left to right. But to dispel some of the confusion regarding an oft-misunderstood concept, keep reading. Spoiler alert: We’ll get into some rocket science stuff here, which probably doesn’t affect your projects much anyway…so if you prefer something with a more musical vibe, come back next week.
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