First, put an instance of the DP Trim plugin on the track, and narrow the stereo width from 180 degrees to something narrower. Straight up and down in the Trim plug is mono, but it contains both left and right signals. That way, when you pan the flute, all of the sonic data will remain within the sonic spectrum.

Otherwise, when you pan a stereo sample, the moment you start panning is the moment you begin to "fade out", as it were, part of the sound. Let's say you pan the stereo flute patch 90 degrees to the left. You will have, in effect, completely lost the entire left channel of the sample with most all of the right channel of the sample remaining on the left side.

Using Trim in DP (or something similar in another DAW) will enable you to keep 100% of the sample's data integrity within the stereo spectrum.

JWL:
Thanks for helping! Ok, I tried it and you´re totally right, it does work nicely.

But I´m still not sure, then is it good to record ALL the instruments in Stereo? Or should I record them in mono (meaning the L AND R from the mixer into ONE mono track in DP?

Doing what you suggest, then I assume I would have to use the Trim plug in for every instrument (if I recorded in stereo). Would that be a "normal" way of working, or is it just like a temporary solution. I mean, is that the way you usually do it? Or, there is a better solution to avoid repanning by trimming?

Thanks for your insight.

Well, one way to do it would be to Trim them all to mono, if that's the sound you want. At least all the sample data from L/R will be included and in phase.

I prefer to have a bit of stereo spread, even over a narrow spectrum, so the smallest radius I use is about 20 degrees (down from 180) for the strings. That enables me to pan strings into clearly defined spaces across the entire mix, if that is called for. On other occasions, I find it nice to have the inner strings overlapping adjacent strings sections slightly just to "unify" the string section a bit more where so much separation is not needed.

Trim doesn't take much CPU, so depending upon your computer and RAM, it doesn't hurt much of anything to have multiple instances of Trim on each VI track. For the most part, I'll wait until I'm done with the sequencing and expression editing before inserting Trims on each track. This, for me, is the beginning of the mixdown phase. By that time, I'm nearly ready to render each track as audio anyway.

With the audio files ready to mix, I'll create a new project with audio-only just to save resources-- and I'll remove the loaded VIs in favor of other signal processing. Sometimes, I find that I'll need to make an adjustment in the MIDI track, so it's easy enough to open the original sequence, make the edits, and then run a new audio file for that track. Because VI doesn't rely exclusively on MIDI velocity editing the way a lot of other orchestra libraries do, I find the need to go back and re-edit files fairly rare.

There are those for whom this method is too tedious, and it is likely the very reason why many users insist upon running VI's and fx live right until the very end of the project on a multi computer network.

The truth is, there's no single "right" way to do it. If you're getting the sound you want, then you've found the "right" way.

JWL:
Thanks so much for clarifying this for me! [:D]

@Another User said:

I prefer to have a bit of stereo spread, even over a narrow spectrum, so the smallest radius I use is about 20 degrees (down from 180) for the strings. That enables me to pan strings into clearly defined spaces across the entire mix, if that is called for.

EXACTLY. You nailed it, man.

So, just to be totally clear: once I have the stereo field for a particular instrument under control (by applying the Trim), THEN I would go ahead and pan the audio track normally, right? For instance, if I have an oboe section in audio already, then by trimming to mono (or near mono), then I could opt to pan it a little bit to the left (around 1 'o clock) by using the regular panning controls in the DP mixer, correct?
So , if I understand you correctly, if I do pan the audio file a little bit with this method, I won't "loose" any sound for the file because it was trimmed evenly, thus, when I pan it will sound fine. Did I get the idea?

So, you also DO record your "mono" instruments in stereo, right?

Please, if I misunderstood anything let me know. I'll start remixing this way tomorrow morning. I can already hear a clearer, more defined and spaced sound.

Thanks for your advice!
If anyone does something differently, please feel free to chime in.

Best to all,

Fernando

Fernando:

You've got it. Trim narrows the spectrum, but it does so with the same center point straight down the middle.

You can pan the narrowed sound anywhere you want, but I would avoid panning all the way left or right. That way you will not *lose* part of the stereo image. Trim allows for better use of the pan knob this way.

Yes-- these Trimmed tracks are recorded as stereo. Trim can be adjusted as you go, and you might want to retain the stereo image as you adjust it.

I use other sample libraries as well, and just to be clear, if the original sample was in mono and no Trim was used (no Trim would be necessary in that case) I just leave the track as mono and record in mono. Otherwise, I prefer to record everything in stereo wherever possible even on Trimmed tracks- unless for some reason I trimmed the sound all the way to mono.

Yes-- if anyone has other advice, please chime in!!

Cheers, Fernando, and good luck with your mix!
JWL

I'm not using the same software but you could have a look at my mix chart from my VSL and Tech page. I use Direction Mixer as the panning, this is a logic plugin, and I don't use the track mixer at all.

I use this to not only pan, but also to control the stereo width .. some instruments are narrower than others.

It may be useful to you as a mix guide. It's on my site at www.elvenmusic.com.

Head along to the VSL and Tech page .. scroll down until you hit the mix chart.

JWL and Hetoreyn:
Thanks, guys. You rule!

Man, I love this forum.
It´s great when you leran something new, especially when you GET it. It´s like a huge bell in your brain that goes TOOIINNGGGGGG. That means, you´re not confused anymore, and everything makes sense.

Thank you guys for making that bell ring loud and clear on my head.

Saludos,

Fernando

Hetoreyn:

Very cool chart! Very useful. Thanks for providing that.

Cheers.

Yeah-- Hetoreyn-- thanks for the info. Helps me, too!

Fernando-- it's always a pleasure to BE of help, especially when so many here have helped me. Glad you're on your way.

Saludos!!

No Problem guys. Although I defer to Beat Kaufmanns far more superior knowledge of mixing I'm glad that my chart can help. I'm improving it all the time as I find out more .. and I also try to put this help into the podcast aswell, share the knowledge so to speak.

All the best