jazzbass12 wrote: hi,
Any suggestions on best panning on these 2 sensarios:

Recording 1 vocal with one acoustic track...( would i center vocal and clone the acoustic track then pan hard left and right?)

Recording 1 vocal and 2 different acoustic tracks (vocal center acoustoic 1 hard left acoustic 2 hard right).

When I listen to other similar recordings it seems as if the acoustic is kind of center but behind the vocal.

Thanks

Well, if you clone a channel and then pan the resulting 2 channels hard left and right, you will have a mono channel, only about 3 dB louder than your previous mono channel. So, that's not really a viable option.

If you want to record only one track on each (which is a perfectly viable technique) then you will want to apply reverb to each device. My advice would be to set up a reverb on a stereo aux send and then bus the acoustic to it at one level and the voice at a slightly lower level.

It will still sound somewhat mono with a little ambience, but in reality, this is kind of what it would sound like in nature. You don't need wide imaging for this kind of track. (Unless you're playing a 12 foot wide guitar with a hefty Samoan behind the guitar.) :lol:

If you record a stereo pair on the acoustic track, it doesn't make sense to hard pan them. Pan until it sounds natural, then stop. Most importantly, listen over good monitors in a good room. You'll easily hear the distinction between good guitar panned well and good guitar panned too wide.

J. 8-)

I am not familiar with the use of "acoustic" as a noun. Could you clarify? Acoustic Bass?, Acoustic Guitar?

Acoustic Guitar

I guess I should of clarified. I meant acoustic guitar. Trying to find the best way to record/mix 1 acoustic guitar (recorded with 1 mic) and 1 vocal. I guess it should be fairly easy but, just looking for input from others with more experience than myself.
Thanks

a (very) conservatively set stereo-chorus effect will keep the guitar sounding natural while creating some space for the vocals down the middle. A touch of reverb on each from there and you should be set...

acoustic recording

howd eh!

Have you ever tried moving the guitar through different eq filtering, panning, reverb settings and delay with 4 different aux tracks, in different parts of the song?(i know, it sounds a little excessive but you have only 1 guitar and 1 vocal and a whole stereo field to play in)

If you are looking to increase some parts of the song and wash the background this effect will allow say lower octave notes to be placed behind the singing, say below 200 hz, then have that crossover to a 200hz to 800 hz sweep panning out to the left.....

Play around with some crazy ideas you have, other than a good mic and preamp for capture the possabilities are endless.

Know where recording doesn't take away from the song, and push the limit!!!!

L8'r

Well my end result is too be a intimate type ballad. Finger picked guitar with a single vocal. I have heard several recordings where the acoustic sounds centered but behind the vocal yet the entire mix still seems balanced. I have had a tuff time re- creating that image.

Thanks for all the suggestions......

I have always thought the best approach with this combo is a single coincident stereo pair. While you cannot balance guitar and vox separately, this is something the talent should do.

You can move the stereo pair to slightly favour the vocal if this is required.