Amplified Instrument Processor 05 - Stereo width controls for space, separation and drama
Now can we play with the EQs and the compressor, please?
NO!
The next thing I adjust is.... the STEREO WIDTH.
I like my mixes like I like my food. I like to be able to taste every ingredient. I like to eat something, and if I think, "Basil," I can taste the basil. If I think, "Cheese," I can taste the cheese.
Likewise, in a mix, I want to hear all the stuff in there. It shouldn't all be equally loud (that isn't a mix, that's a mess) but if I think, "little keyboard part," I want to hear it. I'm not a believer in "You kind of feel it but don't really hear it." I want to feel it, and I want to hear it.
I also grew up listening to things on headphones so I like it when things move around in my head and are wide and spacious. I dig stereo. I even like hearing only one channel in one part of a restaurant.
So, playing with STEREO WIDTH is next for me, as a way of making space and increasing clarity in the mix, and for creating some dramatic moments.
I typically don't adjust stereo widener for every subgroup. I usually start by spreading out the reverb returns about as wide as I can get them by sliding that fader toward the right a bunch. If I have things hard-panned - like guitars - I'll add some width to push them out of the speakers a bit - I refer to this area as, "the corners of the mix." I want to fill up the corners.
The more dramatic the part, or the part’s moment in the mix, the more I'll use STEREO WIDTH to accentuate that. So, swirling keyboard parts, call-and-response vocal parts, solos or lead lines that can be panned... yes please, sir! More width, sir! But also think about the distraction factor of something moving all over and around the listener's head. Would that pull them out of the song? Would it make concentrating on the song difficult? Is it better to add the widening for a specific moment in the song? Suddenly the vocals get really wide, and then they tighten down?
Sometimes, though, things need to be closed up and tightened down. If drums are feeling a bit too spread out, then I’ll push that slider to the left to move them to MONO. Sometimes I’ll use an AIP on just the room mics, compress them and push towards MONO, to accentuate the snare and kick.
Think in circles. What is in the center circle? What is a little wider than that? What is wider than that? What is way out there on the fringes, out in the corners of the mix? Then, by using panning and stereo widener, try to place sounds in those circles.
STEREO WIDTH is an M/S processing function, and typical to M/S processors, if you increase the side channel you tend to increase the amount of ambiance and leakage on a track, and pushing it towards MONO tends to make it seem more apparently dry.
Some other ideas: think about how you want people to visualize the space. Is this recording a document of a real event—a band playing live—or are you creating an imaginary space for this music, such as a beach on a foggy night? A space in the clouds? A cave? A tomb?