Standard pan controls in DAWs and mixers let us position the signal in the stereo panorama regardless of its frequency content whereas spectral panning gives us the ability to divide the signal into frequency bands and pan these bands individually. In this article, Ufuk Onen explains what spectral panning is, the benefits and how to use it using a free plugin.

Conventional Level Based Panning

When we pan a signal to the left speaker or the right speaker, or somewhere between these two, we change the position of all frequencies in that signal.

In most cases, this is fine, of course. That's what we all have been doing for years anyway. However, in some instances, we might benefit from a different approach to panning.

Let's assume that we have a prominent instrument in the mix with dense low-frequency content. If we pan this instrument somewhere between the centre and the left speaker, the mix will tend to lean to the left. The reason for this is that low frequencies pull the weight of the mix into their direction. This phenomenon is especially noticeable when we listen to the mix with headphones.

So, what is the remedy for this?

Enter spectral pan: The frequency-based panning technique!

Frequency-Based Panning

Frequency-based panning also called spectral panning gives us the ability to divide the signal into frequency bands and pan these bands individually.

For example, with spectral panning, it is possible to keep the low-frequency portion of an instrument in the centre and pan the high-frequency part to where we want in the stereo panorama.

This makes spectral panning an excellent technique for creating a sense of space while preserving balance and weight.

It is not only great for bass-heavy instruments but others as well, especially when there are two similar instruments, like guitars, for instance.

Panning Two Guitars With Spectral Panning

Here we have 2 guitars. We can select a crossover point, say 500Hz, and divide the guitar’s frequency content into two bands. Using spectral panning, we can leave the lower portions of both of the guitars in the centre and pan the upper parts of the first and second guitars to the left and right, respectively.

With this technique, the guitars will sound in the same space but with a wide stereo image, yielding a rich and exciting mix.

Spectral Pan Plug-ins

There are plug-ins with spectral panning capabilities. One of them is MSpectralPan that comes with MeldaProduction's MFreeFXBundle. It is a free and a great tool to help you step into the beautiful world of frequency-based panning.

Other Plugins Offering Spectral Panning…

Goodhertz Panpot

Goodhertz’s Panpot spectral panning works by changing the timbre of the stereo image, focusing higher frequency sounds toward the pan direction. The Spectral algorithm mimics the type of head shadowing that occurs in nature and can sound hard-panned without feeling ungrounded or off-kilter in the low end.

Nugen Audio Stereoplacer

With fully adjustable curves (bell, high and low shelving and even additional linked-harmonic overtones), Stereoplacer from Nugen Audio can redistribute stereo information with subtlety, or make powerful corrections – even moving hard-panned frequencies from one side to the other – without affecting the overall level balance of the material.

With each node, it is possible to add a number of additional harmonically linked bell curves, all referenced from the one ‘root’ control point.

Brainworx bx_panEQ

Using one of the three independent EQ bands in bx_panEQ from Brainworx, it is possible to reduce excessive energy at the point in the panorama at which it occurs, rather than reducing the frequency across the whole stereo panorama. If a conventional EQ were used it would reduce the cut frequency in all elements of the recording. In this case, that would impact on the floor tom and kick drum but because those elements sit in a different area of the stereo field they are relatively unaffected.

Nugen Audio Monofilter

Monofilter by Nugen Audio is a very powerful yet simple to use tool that enables users to control the stereo width and phase correlation of low frequencies. It defines the centre of your bass, so easily lost through stereo effects processing, synth sound generation, unwanted phase inconsistencies and live recording microphone bleed.

Boz Digital Labs Pan Knob

Pan Knob from Boz Digital Labs is designed to overcome the limitations of traditional panning schemes with an algorithm that centres low frequencies while panning higher frequencies for superior balance and mix translation.

Pan Knob lets you depart from standard panning schemes while still sounding natural, and doesn’t cause the balance problems common to ear-bud and headphone listening.

ST1 from TBProAudio is designed to enable you to control the width and the panorama of a stereo audio signal. It includes a mono-to-stereo function, a stereo field enhancer, a rich panning knob that includes spectral panning, and a bass-focus feature. The phase and correlation meter visually monitor the panning position and stereo width.

Over To You

We hope that this article will encourage you to give spectral panning a try! You'll love it!