L C R Panning & Mixing in Mono - Warren Huart: Produce Like A Pro
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- Опубліковано 5 лют 2025
- 🛑STOP! Before you start mixing, make sure you download the LCR Panning & Mixing and Mono Cheat sheet:
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The song featured in this video is ‘My Final Hour’ by Snakebite.
✅ You can mix this song yourself if you get the Mixing Rock with Ulrich Wild course: bit.ly/2IjEfGe
I often think about a conversation I had with David Foster, who I recently had the pleasure of working with on a Diane Warren song- he talked about walking around a Mall and going in and out of stores.
What do you hear?
Predominantly Vocals and Drums.
This goes to show that in any mix the centre, the area unaffected by stereo imaging, is THE most important part of our mix!
While most Mixers don’t mix in Mono, they do very often check in Mono.
Understanding the basic concepts of LCR is a great tool to add to your mixing arsenal!
Most professional mixers have a great understanding of what EQ points work to help support the sides and the centre.
“If you don’t understand the concepts of EQ and Compression at a very bare-bones level, if you’re not making the right moves, throwing an expensive plugin or hardware compressor on it won’t help you at all.” - Phil Allen
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Hi Friend, while most Mixers don’t mix in Mono, they do very often check in Mono. Understanding the basic concepts of LCR is a great tool to add to your mixing arsenal! Please check out the video and please give me your opinion and share what you do! Do you sue LCR or Mix in Mono?
Truly amazing content
THE best information as usual Warren!
I do both. During the choruses I LCR and during the intro and verses I do like you said in the video about panning 50% on each side. Also I mix in mono during the initial mix set up before doing the EQ stage and then check often in mono to check the low end and so forth.
Mia Sampaoli thanks ever so much!!
joseph valo perfect!! I’m with you my friend!!
I love Warrens no nonsense or ego based attitude, one hell of a generous guy to be sharing all this incredible knowledge with us .................. greatly appreciated Warren, as always.
i always listen to my mix in mono to check if the vocals is too loud or its too low and checking phase issues etc...
Great Video Warren !!
Wonderful MK.Productions! Agreed 100%!
Try mixing in mono for the whole time except for the end of the mix bro, i feel like i end up with a perfect mix every time and i dont end up having to second guess myself. Maybe just me but try it lol
@@030yk So true, recently i started mixing in mono and once you get it to sound good in mono then u really dont have to second guess...
@@441snipes yuppp
One of my favorite videos of yours. This a really well put and clear explanation of this subject.
Hi David! That's ever so kind of you my friend! I'm so glad to be able to help! Have a marvellous time recording, many thanks Warren
@@Producelikeapro I have to agree with David! I would love to see an update to this video with a response to the recent videos Dan Worall has made addressing the various issues inherent in LCR and Stereo mixing! I feel like he shifted the conversation by introducing the concept that side elements drop in relative volume when shifted to mono, meaning that LCR mixes inherently break when summed to mono. Even if they still sound OK, the engineers vision for the ideal balance is lost unless you’re actively mixing in a way that works for both stereo and mono simultaneously. Phase is of course as much of an issue as ever, but that’s not the only way summing to mono can break an LCR mix. I’d love to know your thoughts on the topic!
Such a great explantation of LCR mixing the use of high pass eq in guitars. And checking in mono!
You truly are an inspiration to many of us who follow your tutorials and footsteps, thank you so much for sharing your years of experience in audio engineering with us for free🙏
Wow! Thanks ever so much! That really means a lot! I hope you get to check out my book! It took three years to write haha!
EXCELLENT advice as always. Another tip a guy I worked with gave me (just something to try, no rules) is to start off your initial quick sweep mix (leveling, pannings) in mono, really speeds up that initial process- when dealing with a dense mix (metal especially). We would do this very quickly like quick 5 minute pass after you've got your session fully setup. Quick pass in mono, and do your panning and leveling in this pass, you'll be amazed at how much accuracy mono panning and leveling will speed up the rest of your moves through the mix.
thanks again !!!
Thank you for this and for all your videos! I'll admit, I used to mix without high-pass filtering because I was afraid of losing low end. You have opened my eyes and ears with your videos and, ever since I started high-pass filtering, I have realised that not doing it was precisely the reason why I was losing low end in the first place! You always give out a lot of pieces of great advice, but if I had to pick the one that totally changed my mixes, it's the high-pass filtering tip. And to anyone who is currently not high-pass filtering, get in the habit. It'll change everything. Thank you, Mr. Huart!
This video makes so much sense, and is actually liberating. Checking in mono sounds so much more sensible than reinforcing ‘mixing in mono’. I’d like to add: The high pass on the bass followed by the low pass technique was brilliant. Such an intelligent way to bring it out ... then clean it. I never stop learning from Warren. Thank you! 🙏🏻
Being very much the neophyte to mixing I must emphasize my appreciation for how many questions this video in particular has answered. Brilliant! Thanks so much!
Aaron Doering wow!! That’s so maxing to hear! Very glad that I can help in any way I can!
As always, great material! Thanks Warren, have a marvelous time recording&mixing! See you on live.
Thanks! See you soon!!
Solid Gold! Answered so many questions I had.
Well, it took a while (more than a year), but this video has changed my life. I feel like I have a fundamental tool for the mud in my mixes. Thanks!
Thanks, Warren. Always good stuff. I spend about 80% of my time in mono with my finger on dim solo for levels, EQ and compression details, then jumping back to stereo for levels of delay effects.
Mike Hay fantastic! Thanks for sharing your workflow!!
Man, I just found your channel/videos a few days ago and have already implemented a lot of your suggestions. I was just thinking about how I'm struggling with panning and mixing in mono and this video pops up! You're reading my mind dude! Thanks for all the advice!
Hi Michael Westneat thanks ever so much! I’m glad to be able to help!!
Warren I'm not gonna lie .. you are amazing brother. I truley can't explain how many videos of yours I have watched countless times. Really appreciate the work you do. I'm finishing school , about to intern at clear track studios and already got a job working and booking sessions for recording/mixing at a studio. Too sum this up I am 100% confident I will get to meet you soon. I just know it! Thanks for everything and all the people you help man
LCR isn’t merely assigning parts/instruments strictly left, center, or right. It’s a time-honored way to pan individual tracks, but you still end up with elements all over the stereo field, including the infinite number of in-between positions. Think of a stereo pair of drum overheads. LCR says pan those mics full left, full right. The kit ends up spread across the stereo field, and the width of that field is determined by how the mics are placed. Snare will be centered, while a tom might be off-center, even though the mixer is adhering to LCR. Think also about a two-mic acoustic guitar recording. Assign the mics full left, full right and you get a nice stereo spread rather than the guitar assigned only to left, center, or right. Just seems that too many folks don’t really understand what LCR really is and what it’s advantages are. If you take a mono source and try to place it 30 degrees left, for example, the only person that will ever hear that source at 30 degrees will be the one sitting perfectly between the speakers. It’s going to move around for everyone else depending on how far off-axis they happen to be. LCR can provide a more stable and predictable image, while still using the entire stereo field including the “in-between” position.
your knowledge and skill is incredible. I'm never going to be brilliant at any of this but you're far and away the best teacher on UA-cam, your explanations make sense and your ability to show exactly what you want things to do is a notch or seven above pretty much everyone else I've seen. I assure you, I've seen way more YT teachers of this subject than could be considered healthy.
I and many others agree.
Warren and team, are right up there with the best educators on the tube.
Thanks ever so much my friend! You Rock! sticky74351! I am so glad to be able to give back!
That delay trick at ~14:00 is a marvellous technique! I always start a mix in mono to get general levels and find the masking early.
Thanks for the video Warren! I recently started mixing in mono but I was getting very frustrated as I mix very busy mixes with heavy guitars so it sounded very cluttered and muddy. Thanks to you I know that I should reference in mono instead of strictly mixing as it depends on the genre! You’ve saved hours of frustration with this video. Cheers!
Thanks! Very good explanation. Will use the tips!!!
That's ever so kind of you my friend! I'm so glad to be able to help! Have a marvellous time recording, many thanks Warren
This is such a helpful episode. I’ve been mixing for several years now and I don’t rightly remember where I heard that it is always better to mix entirely in mono. So that’s what I’ve done all along, right or wrong. When I start arranging a new track I slap a mono utility on the master channel and it never comes off for one second until I am happy with the mono mix. When I’m happy with the mix I bypass the mono utility to listen to the track for the first time in glorious stereo. Of course some tweaking is in order, but usually only minor tweaking. Now however, after watching this vid I’m not so sure this is the best way. Maybe I should mix in stereo and frequently switch to mono to check for phasing issues. Maybe I’ll give it a try on my next track.
I like to end up my mixes in mono. For the final touches I usually spend the last hour on my auratones in mono. They are so good to spot mid-freq errors and usually translate great.
Hi Warren! Great Tutorial as always! Just one thing about the 3 Channel Cinema Setup (3 Ch recording) you mention at the end of the Clip. For Cinemas with their large screens and wide Auditoriums, this made perfect sense: Other than in a typical audio-setup at home, there are listeners in the theatre, sitting WAAAAY off the sweetspot and e.G. pretty close to the right speaker. If dialog comes through both speakers at equal power, the more you go to the right speaker, the more the dialog seems to come from there. (This is due to two facts: 1. The signal from the right speaker reaches you at a higher level, 2. The 'Law of the first Wavefront' tells the brain to locate the source there.) Thus the dialog would seem to wander from the picture (when using L/R instead of L/C/R) which is annoying. This is remedied by placing a third speaker behind the screen, getting all the dialog (and center signal.)
See: Makes absolute sense for Cinemas.
Best,
Ralf
This is one of the most helpful and well explained mixing AND engineering demos I've ever encountered. Extra well done, sir!
I really dig when you upload fundamental recording/mixing techniques like this one! I'm comfortable with panning, but when I try to create depth with reverb I start to lose the mix. Time to review your reverb tutorials!
Awesome, excellent bits about bass recording too!
Thanks for all the knowledge you share Warren! Been working through your In the Box Mixing tutorial. Great stuff! Each time you make a change I find myself going for CMD S as an auto response , driving myself crazy! Think I'm going to sign up for the big bundle offer as your tutorials are so great! Cheers!
Thanks for this great summary Warren! There were songs when I spent a lot of time mixing in mono on a small Behritone speaker at a very low level. It was amazing to hear how well all the instruments sat in the mix after switching to the stereo nearfields. The downside is that a mono signal is not that inspiring ... so it's kind of redemptive when you switch to stereo, haha! :-) But mixing in mono definitely helps to translate the song into real world listening conditions, for instance a car or a party where you listen to music in a less than perfect stereo environment.
Hey Warren, another great video! You always put out great stuff! I love your technique of using time adjuster for phase alignment. The thought of flipping the phase (180 degrees) with a plugin and then decide if it’s better or worse was always a little flawed to me. What if your two tracks are out of phase by 90 degrees? Reversing the phase puts you at 270. Still out of phase 90° from the zero point. In this case, you won't hear a difference by doing a listening comparison! The tone will be thin but obviously not as much as 180. We’ve all had great success using a plug-in to flip the phase (180) on something like a snare that has a top and bottom mike pointed toward one another. However, I get better results using a sample delay to more precisely phase align the waveforms of the 2 mics. Thanks again for the great videos and for all you do!
Your videos are phenomenal! You explain these concepts so well! Thank you so much, you have helped me greatly in such a short period of time. Keep up the great work!
Thanks ever so much! You're very welcome!
Warren, I do the reverb panning trick all the time thanks to you. It works incredibly well! Sometimes though I find that I don't pan the R reverb hard L, but maybe 80% and vice versa. Seems to give a little thickness.. thanks!
Great advice! I love summing guitar mics at the source and I use the 80hz HP on the way in but I'll do a similar 6db/oct slope at 200hz during mix. For heavy rock and down-tuned metal, it's absolutely necessary.
Also, YES to mono checking!
Great tips. Ya, checking your mixes in mono is key. I discovered for myself that phase inverting one side (e.g., right) of a mono low-end instrument such as a bass guitar in the stereo field can create some nice effects: the bass appears more in the center and has a deeper low end; however, if the mix is now checked in mono, there will be no bass--complete phase cancellation. It was a blunt lesson for me that something can sound good out of phase in the stereo field but become dull/quieter or even non-existent when it is collapsed into mono.
Great tips, probably the best video I've ever seen on the subject Warren, by far!
Harmony Studios thanks ever so much!!
What I learned: Genre specific choices. Not everything needs to be pushed forward. Groove is created differently, like the early Aerosmith records and early Van Halen. It’s not just interesting panning; it’s effective in creating movement through interplay in spaces. Thank you👍
I recently did a track where I (for some reason I cannot recall) liked to use a different DAW with different build-in effects... Sounds great in stereo, forgot to check mono... Lose almost my complete guitar in mono I found out later...
Lesson learned the hard way...
Thanks for reminding me a year later! Great tips as usual!
Really enjoyed this video! Thank you for taking the time to make it (and all the other videos you do). You rock!
Cheers Warren!! For certain genres I love creating a sonic landscape with panning, but it's sometimes really tough now that every element has to be all up IN YOUR FACE. It's nice to get that lying-on-the-floor-with-your-headphones-on mix every once in a while :)
Jonas Bambrough agreed! Thanks for sharing your experiences! Everything as loud as everything else does not equate for beautiful art!
As a new producer this is pure gold. I love it ! Thanks. Subscribed. And Im not even a rock producer. :-) This is just the universal language of sound engineering.
I do hear what you mention at the mall. I use the mall music speakers for navigational purposes. Ha! I used to use the sound of the fountains but they took them out. Recently started testing out audio description headphones in the movie theaters. Sometimes there will be no description, but the noise canceling headphones still let me adjust the volume of the rest of the sound. I often turn the over all volume all the way down letting the headphones protect my hearing from the physical pain of the volume inside the theater without headphones. This makes for a more enjoyable experience. I still can still hear everything, and just not have as much ear pain and then also still be able to find my way home afterwards. I used to go to the movies all the time several years ago, and it didn't seem this painful. I know I don't have any "magical powers" of compensation when it comes to hearing, it's just a development of skill. The extreme volume in the theaters lately is kind of horrific. I take emergency earplugs everywhere I go now, and I'm not exactly a snowflake about it, but even those are not enough by themselves at a theater.
Audrey Sims wow! I hear you! The levels at Theatres is out of control at times!! Thanks for sharing your experiences
always so many "toss off" lines that are actually amazing information 20:30
thanks for sharing your breadth and depth of knowledge
Thanks ever so much Adrian! I try hard to get as much information in these videos as possible!!
Thank you Warren for another great video! Love your generosity of sharing. One note if I could add my two cents... would be to Mono with only one speaker. You will truly hear everything out of one source to help pinpoint issues.
Hi Jeremy, yes, indeed! I've seen Engineers do that!
Haven't seen an LCR video yet and this is great!
Thanks ever so much Eric!!
FINALLY! Waiting this vid for so long. Thank you so so much!
Eduardo Sam fantastic!! I’m glad to be able to help my friend!!
Man, you NEEEEED to to a video on how to EQ and compress bass! That sound is freakin massive!!
Hi stormshadow2k thanks ever so much! I have done many of them! I’ll post some links for you soon
Thanks Warren and team.
Funny really, after decades of trying to get information out of a groove, I'm now learning how to put information into a groove !
And it's even more fun ;0)
SirEggbertfartalot fantastic to hear my friend!! I hear you! It has taken me a long time to get this together! I’m still learning!
Never stop learning mate, it's what keeps us young ! ;0)
This man could really do Elvis impersonator gigs on the weekend if he wanted! Thanks for the helpful tutorials
Sweet sideburns dude. Love the channel!
Excellent discussion, Warren. Thank you.
Hello Warren, than you so much for these videos! I was having issues with LCR panning and applying reverb... I noticed that two of the reverb plugins I have, have zero output to the opposite speaker when I have a (soloed) guitar panned all of the way to one side (which is unnatural as a room would reflect a little opposite the source). The Inspirata reverb plugin didn't do this, but the Sunset Sound and Abbey Road Plates did. I figured out on the SS that if I turn the "width" knob to "0", I hear a little reverb in the opposite speaker and it sounds like it should - seems totally counterintuitive. For example, if I wanted that early VH sound I would pan a guitar hard, but then need to set the "width" knob to "0" on the chamber or it would all just stay on the same side. I discovered that the Abbey Road Plates has a "crosstalk" lever that does the same. I didn't realize it was happening until I soloed a channel. I thought something was wrong with the plugin at first. This would mean that if ttwo guitars where panned L&R right in a bus, their reverbs would only stay on their respective sides? Does this sound correct or do you think there an issue on my end? It's the same whether I'm using Studio One or Luna, BTW. Thanks!
Hi Warren, thanks so much for the awesome video.
You're very welcome Steve! You Rock my friend!!
I saw a video with Bob Horn using a new UAD plug called Phase Mistress. I thought it was an interesting tool as it allowed you to dial between 0 and 360 degrees of phase and basically find the phase/sound you like.
Agreed Steve! That looks like an amazing plug in!!
Thank you so much!
You are a huge inspiration on my life
Aw shucks thanks ever so much Ohad!!
Hey I just wanna say that when I opened your video, I thought: "How the hell does that guy expect to be taken seriously with those stupid iLoud speakers," but then you talked and I subscribed in three minutes. Well done;-) Thanks for the super pedagogical approach, very clear and thought provoking.
You're amazing Warren! Thank you for sharing your knowledge!
THE best information as usual Warren!
Darlene Sheffield thanks ever so much! I’m so glad you enjoy the information!
Great video. Keeping low frequencies dead center is especially important if you plan to have your music released on vinyl. The NUGEN Monofilter plugin can be a really handy tool.
Hi Warren, thanks for a cool vid and for clearing up that we should reference our tracks in mono and not solely mix in mono. Thanks again for your wise tips and excellent channel. awesome!
Thanks a lot for this awesome video Warren!
Thank you ever so much Martjin!!
Thanks Warren, another super useful explainer video!
Really glad to see those iLoud micro monitors, makes me feel better about my choice to use them - as a hobbyist, having 8" powered monitors wasn't an appealing thought (especially if desk space is at a premium), but I've been very happy with the iLouds.
you are a Legend Warren
Hi Eugene Michael thanks ever so much!!
Amaizing teacher thank you so much
Another great video from THE mixing tutor! Thanks.
You are far too kind my friend! I am glad to be able to help!
....................and now my "go to" mixing and producing guru as well, I just found you a week or so ago, and the difference your tips and advice has made to my tracks have been invaluable ............. I,m still in a state of bliss after managing to do Sidechained delay and reverb in my antique version of Cubase SX, God bless you Warren . :)
Picking the brain of a master. Love it. :)
That's ever so kind of you my friend! I'm so glad to be able to help! Have a marvellous time recording, many thanks Warren
I've started using the Boz Width Knob plugin for automating stereo width in buses. I drop the plugin on some instrument bus, e.g. a "wall of guitars" bus. I can get my rough mix going in LCR. Then in sections where I want to bring the sides of the bus closer together, I can automate in the plugin with the stereo width dialed down and then back to 100% for the wide sections. I could just automate the panning in Pro Tools, but somehow this seems easier to me.
Amazing tips !!! Especially that low end advice on Bass (D.I. vs Mic) thank you so much !
Just a thought: the great band NomeansNo as a trio, have their bass track (quite an overdriven sound) panned slightly left and gat to the right to balance the track. With trios this seems to work, so you don't have one guitar panned left or right, unbalancing the mix, with bass down the middle...I know it's generally verboten to pan the bass, but for some set-ups, it seems to work better.
Thanks ever so much for sharing!
You could still go with both, making bass and sub mono below 300-500 Hz and keep the Stereo info on the Highs and pan them. Will always give movement and a lil bit of dynamic.
I love you Warren!
Warren, you have made me an infinitetly better musician!
Amazing content Warren!
Mia Sampaoli you’re very welcome!! Glad to be able to help!!
Thank YOU Warren!
CANGA anton you’re very welcome!!
Hi Warren, thanks ever so much for the clarification on these two topics, highly informative as usual.
You're such a great teacher! Bravo :)
Wow! You’re very kind! Thanks ever so much
subtractive EQ .. it is the way to think .. give each instrument its own space.
GREAT lecture, Warren. I HEAR IT!
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!
You're very welcome Utsav! - Thank you for watching and commenting!
Good video Warren, as usual.
Thanks ever so much my friend!!
Great video with very good information - thanks a lot!
Really enjoyed this topic, cheers!
This is the video I needed to see. Thanks a million.
That's ever so kind of you my friend! I'm so glad to be able to help! Have a marvellous time recording, many thanks Warren
Thanks for recomending me a nice band from my country.
Ken Andrews loves to use the panning field to increase and decrease the size of the mix. Check out his work on Para-more, Year of the Rabbit, Failure, or ON. great stuff. Cheers!
Hi Stephen Ronsonette yes, indeed! Ken does amazing work!!
Greatt vid
Awesome video! Thanks Warren!
You're very welcome trollstjerne! You rock!
Great video as usual.👍
Thanks ever so much my friend!!
Very useful stuff. Thanks, Warren! ✌️
Thanks David!! I really appreciate it!
Hi warren, here's a tip I've heard and probably you'd like to tear it apart (or maybe not?). The thing is, it doesn't seem to work for me, and I don't know if I'm doing it wrong or it is just BS.
So, I've heard that it's recommended to use a multiband tool in the mix bus to make everything mono from certain frequency (50Hz for example) all the way down. Even from lower mid frequencies. It is supposed to clean up the low end and make it more punchy, defined, etc.
I'd like to know your thoughts about this. Cheers!
Hi Octopus On Fire Marvellous comment! THE best way to get focussed low end is to mix that way from the get go! Yes, can use a fix it in the Mix approach by putting it on the Master Bus, however if you haven’t High Passed properly beforehand you’ll have a mess of low end from other instruments! It’s best to make sure that the super info is always panned Center! Thanks for the great question!!
Thanks. Super informative as always.
Gonna be applying a lot of this thinking to my next mix. Need to cut out space like crazy for melodic death metal!
Thanks man!
Great lesson. I learned so much more than I came looking for!
My understanding is that early stereo mixing consoles often had a pan switch with just hard r/c/l as 3 options - no incremental pan available at all.
I always felt late 60's early 70's records always had super hard-panned stuff compared to later music, from rock to folk scare stuff. Maybe a result of hard panning in combination with comparitively sparser arrangements. And the fascination with newfangled "hi-fi" systems.
Yes, a lot of that 60s stuff has pretty crazy panning with the vocals on one side or the other etc. In some ways it makes it more "psychedelic" I think because there's such separation and on speakers I think those records still sound good. on headphones it can be a bit offputting.
Excellent advice once again, thanks!
Wise council as ever Warren
Thanks ever so much my friend!!
you are giving away such amazing things!! thank you so much!
That's ever so kind of you my friend! I'm so glad to be able to help! Have a marvellous time recording, many thanks Warren
most of my recording and mixing is instrumental rock & metal type music. i have been using the melody guitar in place of the vocals. are there any other things that can make these mixes even better? Also im on my first few days of Produce like a pro, enjoying it thus far, thanks.
TheWilliamlong1 welcome! Great to have you there my friend! Yes, I will tear the melody guitar in instrumental exactly like I treat a vocal! Same is true of a guitar solo in a song!
Thnx again for another amazing lesson!
David Ben deWaard you’re very welcome!!
I tried this technique of using the clean DI for low end and mic'ed cab for the remaining freq. in a mix and sounded awesome, even in a not so good recording.I wonder if its also used in live situations? Thx, have a great weekend.
Tnx 4 your tips Sir...