drum panning

Is there a rule for panning drums? Do you pan from the drummers point or the audience?

I have always done this from the audience position but recently heard its a preference.

I have a couple questions for some gurus out there.



First of all, what is the best way to mix two guitar tracks when they are both playing melodic lines (a la Killswitch Engage, Trivium etc)



Should they be panned to the extreme left and right or maybe halfway, or between half and extreme?

Hello, this is my first post here and i am hoping to get some advice on panning the drums. The kit i am working with has



2 Kicks D6 mics

3 Toms D2, D2, SM57

1 Floor Tom D4

Snare D1

For years i have been panning the drums in my mixes from the drummer's perspective. So when you are listening to a mix, it is like sitting behind the kit.



Now i have been told that it should be from the audience perspective, like you are standing in front of the kit when listening to a mix

i was wondering how you guys pan the drum overheads. i had always done a hard left/right pan with the overheads until i read an article recently that suggested a tighter spacing made for a more realistic soundstage (something like 10 and 2 o'clock).



what does everyone else do? do you pan differently based on how you mic'ed the kit (xy vs spaced pair)?

ok, i've started doing the fletcher-esque 3 mic drum kit thang, but i'm not entirely sure how to pan it.



specificaly, the snare always is [kinda obviously] louder in one channel.