The type of Panning needed for a Stereo Track is called, "Equal Energy Panning".

Some early DAW programs (I seem to recall the old Cakewalk pro 9 being one) the setting was manual and set by the user. Many users did not know about the thing and likely hurt themselves when attempting to mix.

In Realband (and PT as well), the function is automatic.

If you have a Stereo Track, which is easy to tell because you will see two audio graphic waveform tracks one above the other on one track, RB/PT automatically knows to use the Equal Energy Panning algorithm.

So you can just use the PAN control on any track, stereo or mono, and achieve the proper result.

While most times for most instruments we can use a Mono track, there are indeed times when use of a Stereo track for the one instrument has its advantages.

For example, a good Stereo Grand Piano, whether from MIDI samples or from the real, it is the mic'ing that makes the huge difference in sound quality - and if you listen closely you will hear that the lower side of the piano's notes favor the mic that is over the bass bout of strings, while the treble or high side is favoring the other channel, where the mic is typically placed not over the strings but over the hammers or bridge of the piano. Panning that sound using Equal Energy Panning allows us to still be able to place that stereo grand piano somewhere in the L to R soundstage, but still preserving that desired full sound.

Another good example would be the mic'd Acoustic Guitar, where it is often the case that we can get a great sound by mic'ing the area near the soundhole in one channel while simultaneously mic'ing the area above the high end of the fretboard in the other channel, capturing both the low end to mids of the box while at the same time capturing the strings and the fingering sounds. Again, this type of stereo track responds very well to the Panning and can be placed anywhere in the soundstage's horizontal aspect without losing that full stereo sound of the instrument.

An important aspect of mixing stereo should be mentioned here.

I always-always take a listen to my work in Mono before releasing a mix.

To do that, I use the switch on my monitors' preamplifier to sum both channels to Mono easily, but this can also be done in software in a lot of DAWs, handy for those that perhaps use powered monitors without a Mono switch available.

Listen to your Stereo Mix in mono at low "conversational" levels, for any phase cancellation problems. If a certain instrument sounds "thin" or chorused in Mono mode, that indicates that there is a Phasing problem that should be solved in the mix.


--Mac

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