{"id":20113,"date":"2014-11-19T12:30:03","date_gmt":"2014-11-19T16:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/?p=20113"},"modified":"2014-11-19T12:30:03","modified_gmt":"2014-11-19T16:30:03","slug":"panning-laws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/2014\/11\/19\/panning-laws\/","title":{"rendered":"Basics: Five Questions About Panning Laws"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Craig Anderton<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just a good idea, it\u2019s the law\u2026panning law, that is. Let\u2019s dispel the confusion surrounding this sometimes confusing topic.<\/p>\n

What does a panning law govern? <\/strong>When a mono input feeds a stereo bus, the panning law determines the apparent and actual sound level as you sweep from one side of the stereo field to the other.<\/p>\n

But why is a \u201claw\u201d needed?<\/strong> Doesn\u2019t the level just stay the same as you pan? <\/strong>Not necessarily. Panning laws date back to analog consoles. If a pan control had a linear taper (in other words, a constant rate of resistance change as you turned it), then the sound was louder when panned to center. To compensate, hardware mixers used non-linear resistance tapers to drop the level, typically by -3 dB RMS, at the center. This gave an apparent level that was constant as you panned across the stereo soundstage. If that doesn\u2019t make sense\u2026just take my word for it, and keep reading.<\/p>\n

Okay, then there\u2019s a law. Isn\u2019t that the end of it?<\/strong> Well, it wasn\u2019t really a \u201claw,\u201d or a standard. Come to think of it, it wasn\u2019t a specification or even a \u201crecommendation.\u201d Some engineers dropped the center level a little more to let the sides \u201cpop\u201d more, or to have mixes seem less \u201cmonoized\u201d and therefore create more space for vocalists who were panned to center. Some didn\u2019t drop the center level at all, and some did custom tweaks.<\/p>\n

Why does this matter to a DAW like SONAR<\/a>, which doesn\u2019t have a hardware mixer?<\/strong> Different DAWs default to different panning laws. This is why duplicating a mix on different DAWs can yield different results, and lead to foolish online discussions about how one DAW sounds \u201cpunchier\u201d or \u201cwimpier\u201d than another if someone brings in straight audio files and sets the panning and faders identically.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A mono signal of the same level feeds each fader pair, and each pair is subject to different SONAR panning laws. Note the difference in levels with the panpot panned to one side or centered. The tracks are in the same order as the descriptions in SONAR\u2019s panning laws documentation and the listing in preferences. Although the sin\/cos and square root versions may seem to produce the same results, the taper differs across the soundstage between the hard pans and center.<\/em><\/p>\n

This sounds complicated, and is making my head explode\u2014can you just tell me what I need to do so I can go back to making music?<\/strong> SONAR<\/a> provides six different panning law options under Preferences, so not only can you choose the law you want, the odds of being able to match a different DAW\u2019s law are excellent. The online help describes how the panning laws affect the sound. So there are really only two crucial concepts:<\/p>\n