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Mixing Tips

Panning:

Panning is used to differentiate sounds in a stereo field. It helps the listener to perceive the sounds as coming more from the left, center, or right. Without panning, a lot of the tracks would interfere with each other and be difficult to pick out as seperate sounds. When you pan a track more to the left you are increasing the level of signal sent to the left speaker, while decreasing the level sent to the right speaker by the same level. This sound is then perceived as originating more from the left of the listener. There is no absolute rule for panning, but there are some accepted guidelines.
In a band setting, bass guitar is generally left in the center position. Drums are panned out in a stereo image as a whole drum kit: bass drum is left in the center, snare is panned slightly right, hi-hat is panned right, floor tom is panned left, rack toms are panned accordingly, and left and right overhead cymbal mics are panned left and right. The result is a clear stereo image of a drum kit. You can close your eyes while listening and hear the hi-hat to the right, with the floor tom to the left. You can almost point to where they would be in real life. This is the effect of good panning. It gives the listener the illusion of a sound stage from left to right. In jazz combo settings, you may want to pan the drums to less extremes, or pan the drums apart from each other, but to the side as a whole. This can leave space for an upright bass to the other side, and a soloist in the center. There is no one right way to pan a mix. Panning can depend largely on the overall sound desired, and the number of tracks in a single song. You may want to experiment with different stereo placement of individual tracks until the desired sound is achieved.