Using the “LCR” Panning Approach for Wider Mixes

Proponents of LCR panning argue that it is an especially good technique for dense mixes and for obtaining significant width.

If you’re like me, you start making panning decisions for instruments early on in the music production process.

Many of us assign each new element to an initial starting point in the left-right spectrum as early on as the recording stage, planning to tweak positions later on during mixing.

Once you do get to the mixing stage, and are ready to do your final adjustments, there are two primary methods of panning that most adopt.

Method one is to place sounds in relation to a live performance, as if matching the perspective of a listener facing a stage. In conjunction with the left/right placement of tracks, reverb, delay, and even EQ can be used to create a forward/backward illusion as well, with drier and brighter sounds appearing more up-front, and darker or wetter seeming as if they come from further back behind the speakers.

Another common method of panning is to work more in terms of balancing the stereo spectrum, rather than emulating an authentic live perspective. Here, sounds are panned in a way to complement each other.

With this approach, the dominant sounds of a lead instrument or vocal, snare drum, kick drum and bass fill the center space (0%) while other instruments complement each other. For example tambourine 25% left, shaker 25% right; electric guitar 50% left, acoustic guitar 50% right and so on. Hi hats and toms might be panned close around the center, to create a sense of width while avoiding an unnatural sounding drum kit.

But there is a third and somewhat lesser-known panning method that you may not be as familiar with. It is called the “Left-Center-Right” technique, or “LCR” panning. In the LCR method, each track is placed in one of only three positions: 100% left, 100% center or 100% right.

This is not a new concept at all, and some early mixing consoles only allowed this kind of panning selection at all! It is however, a much debated concept. Some say it’s all they ever do for panning and some say they would never use LCR! Though the technique has its skeptics, a surprising number of major mixers swear by it—at least as a starting point.

The concept here is simple. The usual center instruments still occupy the center. But everything else you choose to place either hard left, hard right or also straight up the center.

Stereo parts like synth patches might be converted to separate mono tracks, from which many proponents would often choose to use just one of the two tracks. In many cases the “stereo” output of a synth is really just a washy mono feed, perhaps with slight delay or modulation on one side.

If you have a really stereo-sounding track, then you might opt to use both left and right, panning one hard left and the other hard right. But you might choose to throw one side away even in these cases. A mono piano panned left, offset by a mono synth or electric keyboard panned right may end up sounding more impressively wide than a single stereo keyboard, after all.

The simplicity of approach is one of LCR’s selling points. It makes mixing easier and quicker. Fans of LCR mixing say it is an especially good technique for very dense mixes adding space and creating much wider more open mixes, without sacrificing clarity or punch. Detractors say the practice leaves holes in the soundstage and makes for wasted space.

There is no right and wrong in this debate. Like all artistic decisions, the quality of the results is subjective to the observer. The only way to tell for yourself whether it will work for you is to get hands-on and give it a try. I’ve done this myself, revisiting some recent mixes. One quick technical note is that you may want to consider the panning law setting of my DAW, especially if moving the session from one DAW to another.

Most DAWs allow user controlled setting of “pan” or “panning” law. The pan law determines the volume of a mono signal relative to its placement in the stereo field. This kind of automatic adjustment is necessary because without a pan law in place, signals in the center, which come through two channels, would be significantly louder than panned signals, which may come through just one. My DAW’s choices for pan law are between a:

0dB dip in the center with a 3dB boost of signals panned left and right

-3dB dip in the center with no boost of signals panned left and right

-6dB dip in the center with no boost of signals panned left and right

Balance Control, no dip in the center or boost of signals panned left and right

After giving the LCR treatment to a couple different tunes, I would definitely agree that this method really opens up and adds space to a mix. As for the complaint that it leave holes in the mix, these can be filled in by panning your fx returns in the center to fill that space. Or, simply consider LCR as a starting point.

If the holes are bothersome, go ahead and “break the rules”. Move some instruments to fill the spaces if you like. Based on my experimentation, I think you may find that having a much more open and wide LCR mix—even just as a starting point—will be refreshing.

Fans of LCR feel they get a more consistent stereo field that better translates to different headphones and speaker systems. They also claim better mono compatibility. There are a lot of good reasons to give this technique a try. Check it out and add your voice to the big LCR debate!

Michael Nickolas is a music creator who works in Massachusetts. Recent placements of his music include CBS’s “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and Showtime’s “Shameless”.

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