A real panning knob

[Kibosh]

Hey guy's,

Just learned that in Ableton we don't have a "real" panning knob. See this YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGi9WPjF-n0

So when you have a stereo sound, left being a high sound and right being a low sound. Panning in Ableton 9.1 will make the one off the two dissapear. It's more a stereo balance knob, instead of panning.

So my request, how did you know? Yep, the ability to actually pan a stereo signal.

[sporkles]

+1, and thank you for the reminder - I've been meaning to see if there's a Max for Live device for this, and there is - I'm gonna try it out right now:

http://www.maxforlive.com/library/devic ... an-enabler

[H20nly]

yes please.

*bookmark*

[HamHat]

Thanks for posting this. I know most Ableton users won't care because this feature might be to advanced for them. But this is unacceptable and needs to be implemented immediately.

[sporkles]

For now, if you are a Suite owner, you can create a track containing the Max for Live device I linked to, and save the track as a default track, which will make all new tracks' pan knobs true stereo panners.

I think Ableton should simply add a similar panner as an option, where a) the current control would be renamed "stereo balance" and the new one would appear beneath it on the channel strip as "pan" or b) you could right-click the pan control and choose your preferred one.

[Matt_Quinn]

Not sure if this will help, but saw it the other day:

https://www.ableton.com/en/blog/pan-law ... att-agard/

[TheNobleNemesis]

Bumping.
I want this feature to be implemented sooner than later. I can't believe I haven't noticed this already.

[mauronedj]

+1000
It's really a pain to use another plugin to pan my tracks every time because Live does not implement a basic feature!

[Michael Hatsis]

Do u guys actually really care about this? Has his ever gotten in the way of your work? or did u see this youtube video and wanted to complain? Lets see some examples

Mike

[mauronedj]

No mike, I rarely pan from Live until I see this issue...i know that something behave wrong but I really don't understand what's going on.
When I tried Reaper to pan I hear the difference really well.
Sometimes I use the haas effect to pan but it's really not mono compatible.
I think it's a good addiction for everyone to be able to switch to 2-3 panning law

[sporkles]

@Michael: it's not really a huge deal if you have full control of the sound throughout the signal chain, but if you're working with sampled acoustic instruments with real reverb, possibly already placed left or right in the stereo field, panning after the fact in Live can alter the sound significantly.

I think Utility should simply be upgraded with an option to pan like the M4L device I linked to (personally, I hardly ever pan with the track pan control; I use Utility almost exclusively).

[ze2be]

Is it the same thing with the Auto Pan plug? Just curious.
(Im on 3G atm and cant see the videos)

[Kibosh]

Do u guys actually really care about this? Has his ever gotten in the way of your work? or did u see this youtube video and wanted to complain? Lets see some examples

I actually worked on a track where two background sounds where in the same EQ range. I wanted to pan them both a little to the left and a bit to the right to free op some space. But when I did that, one sound lost some dynamics. I couldn't place it at that time untill now I discovered it's not a real pan. It explains everything. So yes, I actually care, and so should you. You need this for a good mixdown.

@ze2be: You can test this very easily. Take two different channels with two different sounds. For example with 2x Operator and play two different notes, a high and a low note. Pan these two seperate channels completely away from each other. One to the left and the other to the right. Group these two and then you get a third channel. In that channel, with a real pan, you should keep hearing the two sounds together but in Ableton, you wont at this time.

From there you can test what you want, just put everything you want to test inside the group channel chain.

[regretfullySaid]

+1, and thank you for the reminder - I've been meaning to see if there's a Max for Live device for this, and there is - I'm gonna try it out right now:

http://www.maxforlive.com/library/devic ... an-enabler

Ooh, he straight up connected it to the track Pan. NICE.

[Angstrom]

Its worth mentioning that most DAWs pan the same as Live. They alter the relative balance of the L and R signals. It's not some weird thing they have done, it's very normal. EG Logic, Reaper, Sonar, Performer it is the same as Live, in Cubase its switchable, ProTools uses two knobs (to send L to R and vice versa)

In Live if you want a Protools style two knob pan you can make one in a rack really easilly. Two chains with utilities in, set each utility chan input to L or R, assign the output field positions to macros, done!

Personally I DON'T position stereo Items with a basic track pan, I like to use psycho-acoustic positioning techniques as I find they sound more natural. I mean - stereo EQ, small rack reverb positions / pseudo-haas panning, that sort of thing. In the real world sounds dont just vanish from one ear. Try it: put your right ear 3 feet from a speaker playing music, then put your finger in the ear facing the speaker, what is your left ear hearing ... Is it dead silence? Nope.