Just discovered this yesterday.

In Reaper (and other DAWs ??) the default pan mode for a stereo track is called "stereo balance" which means when you pan left the volume of the left part of the stereo image is increased and the right part of the stereo image is reduced, and visa versa for panning right. So it's not like a pan control on a mono track where the audio is actually being moved right or left. The audio stays in the same place, just the volume on the left and right sides is being changed.

But in addition to the stereo balance mode there are two other pan modes for stereo tracks.

First is called "stereo pan" that actually shifts the stereo image left or right instead of just adjusting the volume of each channel, and in addition has a "width" control that determines how wide the stereo image will be. You can adjust from full stereo to full mono and everything in between.

Second is called "dual pan". This mode gives you two pan controls, one for each channel. So you can pan each side of the stereo audio independently of each other wherever you want in the stereo field.

Always nice to learn something new! Just passing this along in case anyone else finds it useful, here is the video that talks about it:

I have found using the dual pan mode is really good for giving a great spread. For example two guitars, piano, bass and drums. Put one guitar 40% / 100% left the other guitar 40% / 100%right the piano 10% left 30% right with bass and drums in the centre gives a full spread with good separation. Also things sound cleaner. (Obviously with more or different instruments the percentages or even positions change.) Have been doing it in that fashion for some time.

I use the right click on the pan button to select Dual Pan on stereo tracks to get them set. Then use the mixer lengthened to check the levels (as well as my ears).

Thanks for the heads up.

Tony

Thanks for the tip, Tony, I'll experiment on my next song.

Man, I can't believe I just discovered this yesterday after using Reaper for almost three years now!

Yeah, how you use panning in a given DAW is important.
That's why my default work method is to make a stereo track become two MONO tracks instead .. then you can manually control the volume/placement of the L/R volumes for any track.
I've argued this in various threads as some assume some kind of magic adjustment happens when panning in their given DAW, but to my knowledge the only true way to have total control in any DAW is to handle a stereo track as two MONO racks and point/adjust them where you want to.

Sure, other methods may work fine in a given situation or DAW, but there is a good argument (in my eyes) to handle them as mentioned if you really want total control.

Reducing/boosting Left or Right in a stereo field is NOT the same as pointing both tracks a little left or right and still controlling how much 'left or right' we hear.
Example:
Stereo piano has the upper register more right and the lower more left.
If I reduce right and boost left by using only Pan on a stereo track I may get more upper register and no real panning difference (position in the soundstage).
If I can pan both L/R to one side and still control how much upper/lower register I get I have more control.

Sorry if this isn't clear to some or I haven't explained it well enough.
Mixing stereo tracks can have many nuances that you can have more control over if you simply treat them as two MONO tracks.

I did for a while expand (explode or whatever the terminology is) stereo into two mono tracks then adjust each. The dual panning in Reaper appears to pretty much do the same and it is far easier. One can put each track (side) of the stereo where you want in the mix from 100% each side to any other place.

The advantages of the dual panning comes when adding plugins, automation or adjusting volume etc. When expanding the tracks in Reaper it does however basically put both sides into a folder under the “original track” so automation etc can be put on the “original” track.

Putting the stereo tracks to mono may help when getting rid or reducing noise such as fret slur (not as drastic as cutting both sides). Also if you want to have different effects on each side but that is not all that common.

I often duplicate the drums track that I pull in from BIAB so I can filter the kick drum and lower toms from the snare and higher end so I can adjust the drums mix a bit. Maybe there is a better way to do this.

I guess we all have our own way of getting the job done.

Tony

Yes, that's exactly what it does, and it's a very cool feature. I was experimenting with it yesterday for a while, very powerful.
Not sure if this is an ability that all modern DAWs have?? I came to reaper from an ancient version of Adobe Audition (V3) which definitely did not.

Dave,

Like you, after many years of using Reaper, I discovered the Pan Modes, too. I've used Dual Pan a few times since and it seems to provide an easy way to manage and visualise stereo spread.

My experience is that Reaper is like Band In A Box... there's always something new to learn just around the corner.

All the best,
Noel

Logic Pro X has a track plug-in (Direction Mixer) that also addresses those issues.

Thanks to Dave for getting me once again to check out Kenny Gioia on Reaper. I have been looking for a way to easily reduce acoustic squeak as Kenny calls it. He used Spectral Edit and it works. Easier and not as destructive as a split and reduce volume.

Kenny has a heap of videos on http://www.kennymania.com/reaper-videos/#reaper-5-explained whilst they are aimed at Reaper the principles can be applied to other products and situations. They include mixing tips and ways to use plugins.

Sorry to be a little of topic but it is sort of related.

Thanks again Dave (BlueAttitude)

Tony

Tony,

Thanks for mentioning that Kenny had put together a video on spectral editing. I hadn't realised that it was now available. I've been wondering how to use the spectral editor for a while and Kenny's video is excellent (as his always seem to be). I have to say, it's a brilliant tool! I love the concept of being able to so easily edit specific frequencies in a given region. I can see that this is going to be one of those important tools in my musical tool chest.

Appreciate the heads up.
Noel

For removing clicks, pops, squeaks and other unwanted noise this Spectral Editing really makes it easy. It is often difficult to eq noise out and cutting things such as squeak out of nice acoustic guitar parts is destructive. Using spectral editing is faster with less damage (I think).

Always learning new tricks
Tony