Panning done differently

Tweaking of the stereo spectrum can be both a powerful effect in itself, as well as a great way to subtly position different audio tracks in your mix. But it can also be achieved through slightly different methods.

A regular pan knob (the one that comes with almost every DAW) simply alters the volume on either the left or right channel. This results in a difference between left and right, which our ears then interpret as if the sound comes from the stronger side. This method is a straight-forward way of positioning the audio, but it doesn't really accurately reflect how our hearing works, at least not by itself. But there are more ways to position audio.

Our ears (or rather, the brain) also detects the minute time difference it takes audio to travel between the ears, and use this extremely small difference to calculate the direction of the sound. If a sound comes from the left, it will arrive at the left ear before the right ear.

The sound's frequency distribution is also analyzed by the brain. If the sound comes from the left side of the head, the right ear will hear a slightly more "filtered" version, since it is on the opposite side of the head. This mainly affects the higher frequencies.

All of these processes happens in realtime, with zero latency, which is pretty awesome. Also, the whole system is constantly re-calibrated as the components get ”worn-out” over time.

We set out designing Pana to use both these minute time differences and frequency distribution concepts in combination, to achieve a more natural sense of positioning. This makes Pana a very versatile tool for most types of sounds – and having these features, delay and filtering, in one plug-in makes for a great mixing experience. We also felt that a crossover filter, making it possible to leave the low end frequencies untouched, thus keeping the bass fully centered, would be a great feature.

As it becomes more and more common for music consumers to listen to their favourite songs through headphones, although the concept is still as valid for loudspeakers of course, attention to the stereo spectrum really should be one of the top priorities for any music producer. As is often the case when the Klevgrand team decides to do a specific plug-in, we ourselves felt we needed a tool to really help us finesse this area in a more elegant way. So we made Pana, and quite possibly there are some of you as well, who will find a tool utilizing these techniques, helpful in getting that all-important balance just right.