Thankfully, BIAB renders truly stereo individual tracks as "stereo" even if the option is set to render all tracks as mono. This keeps drums and (often) piano the way they were recorded. I've always had trouble, however, mixing when any of the individual tracks are stereo. It's very hard to find a spot in the stereo field for other instruments where they do not clash.

Is there a set "distance" for how far right-left a stereo piano track goes if it is set to "center"? Any other info that might help?

I hope that makes sense. Thanks.

This may be kind of a confusing answer, but it's my opinion nonetheless

When mixing, I like stereo tracks to be handled as 2 individual MONO tracks. It helps me define the 'width' of the stereo field for the tracks as well as the placement (and volume/EQ of the individual L/R signals).


"how far right-left a stereo piano track goes" is defined by the sample or recorded track(s), unless you separate them to MONO, then you can put L or R anywhere you want .. though you you are still stuck with how much of the L/R is bleeding between the two tracks.

I was rendering to mono tracks till very recently. I just switched back to stereo tracks on my last couple songs. Instead of panning the tracks I used izotope Neutron to spread the stereo field for each track. I got the idea from working on EDM tracks where many synths are mixed this way to give a wide and full stereo sound to the music.

Listen here...
https://soundcloud.com/user-742389722/love-is-a-poker-game

That's a fine idea. I can hear it working best on tracks that aren't too wide. Even mono tracks rendered mono can be handled that way. Would it work on a stereo piano (high keys further and further right, low further and further left) or moving drums hits to still get that full spectrum?

You're spreading certain tracks "this" much and other tracks "that" much? Would the opposite work--narrowing the field?

Great song, by the way, and the mix is clear as day.

I tend to put all BB tracks to the centre before I export the wav files. I then pull them into Reaper (or Cakewalk if I am adding special midi bits). In Reaper initially I normalise all tracks to about -10 dB or less (depending on the number of tracks). I might split stereo tracks into two mono tracks (most often piano tracks) panning each resulting track to where I want it in the mix. Other times I leave the stereo file as is (usually guitars) and pan it.

I found leaving them panned before export really limited the panning options. Maybe it’s just me.

Tony

I use stereo tracks only for keyboard and drums. And I tend to always mix keyboards near center (picked that up from floyd). Sometimes I'll use Ozone's imager to widen them.

DAW's handle stereo tracks in different ways when you pan them. Mine, Logic Pro, will, e.g., pan the left side of the stereo track more if you pan left. Not always good. However, Logic has a plug in called the Direction Mixer that will let you pan a stereo track in a many different ways to make it sit nicely in the mix.

Bud

My rule of thumb on mixing is as follows for stereo and mono tracks.

Stereo tracks: these are generally left as "centered" since for the most part they are already set up as stereo with slightly different audio information in the right vs the left side of the track. My main concern with a stereo track is the level of the track. A great example of this for me is the RB B3 tracks. Just use the track centered and vary the volume with automation as needed. That said.... Yes, you can pan the stereo tracks off center but you then start losing the audio data from the slighted side. If you really need to pan a stereo track, first, convert it to mono so you have 100% of the sound data, then, pan it where you want.

Mono tracks: These can be panned as needed or centered depending on the track.

regarding how far to pan the track. centered to 100% fully left or right..... nothing is off limits. Looking at the tracks individually probably isn't the best idea.... so I always look at them in the context of the mix. And it's kind of like an algebraic expression..... what you do on one side you have to do on the other. So, if for example, I have an acoustic guitar and I want to pan it 50% right, there should be something, perhaps a different guitar or a piano panned 50% left to balance the mix. I often use a pair acoustic guitar tracks, both playing a very similar, or the same part, recorded independently, and panned 100% left and right to give width to the mix.

Yes, basically each instrument is spread a different percentage to sit in its own space in the stereo field. Make sure to set the pan on all of your BIAB tracks to center before exporting though.

Yes, you can also narrow the stereo field using Neutron.

Attached is a quick diagram that generally shows how I spread the tracks.

Yes you can spread the piano wider and wider, but more importantly you can narrow it in a mix. Most mixes should not sound like you are sitting on the bench with the piano player listening to it, if there are other parts to the mix.

Example of narrowing: the piano is on the left side of a stage; you can have the highs and lows still have 'some' spread, but hear it mainly from the left side of the recording/mix (both the left/right channel panned varying degrees left) and still also have the ability to make one side louder if needed, like if you want the higher notes louder and less piano bass ...