what is panning and when is it usually used and why?

1. Answered: 1178 day 2 h (0) | Permalink

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   Jay Moore

   Panning is simply the term used for placement of sound in the stereo stage...like how far left or right it is. So if I "pan" something to the left, I'm moving the sound from where-ever it was to the left channel. The term can be used for normal stereo where you're working with two channels...or with multi-channel setups.

   Simply..it's used in the mixing process to create a stereo or surround mix. That might sound basic...but that's the actual reason. You can create a stereo mix by panning tracks (instruments) left or right and you create a surround sound mix by panning things not just left or right, but front and rear too. Very very few things these days are actually mixed in mono, so panning is pretty much universally used all the time, although there are some cases where an engineer/producer doesn't. 

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2. Answered: 1178 day 2 h (0) | Permalink

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   Martin Swain

   Panning is where you're putting a certain instrument in the stereo field. In other words, it's whether an instrument is coming out of the left or right speaker. It's used to liven up the mix, to compliment the other instruments or make them sit well in a mix and also to make certain instruments stand out from one another so it doesn't get lost in a mix.

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