Your favorite producer’s reason behind LCR panning might not be what you think…

Let me tell you a story.

There was a young couple who lived together.

The wife used to cook a big roast on Sundays but she always cut the meat in half before putting it in the oven.

When the husband asked her why she always put two pieces in the oven instead of just the one she’d reply:

That’s how my mother used to do it and it always cooked great!

Even though he wasn’t completely convinced, the husband didn’t think too much of it.

However, the next time they were invited to his in-laws they had a nice big roast.

Or rather, two medium pot roasts.

He used the opportunity over dinner to ask his mother-in-law why she cut the roast in half like that.

She responded the same way as her daughter:

That’s how my mother used to do it and it always cooked great!

The husband couldn’t shake the feeling there was something more than meets the eye here but he just shrugged and carried on eating his dinner.

Finally, at Christmas time they were all together at the in-laws again. This time Grandma was around as well.

He was so curious about the roast that he couldn’t help but ask Grandma why she always cut the roast in two before cooking it in the oven.

Her response?

Oh…back then we were so poor and our oven was so small that was the only way it would fit!

And that…ladies and gentlemen, brings me to Andrew Scheps.

In a Q & A session with Mix With the Masters he was asked about whether he used LCR panning as a hard rule.

The answer was surprising but so very understandable.

Andrew said:

“The real answer to that is that I mix on an old Neve console and it has a button for the left speaker, a button for the right speaker and if you want to pan in between you actually have to switch in a pan circuit…and I don’t like that”

He’s used to a certain workflow that works for him because of the equipment he uses regularly. Not because he’s zealously against anything other than LCR panning. It’s a convenience thing that’s become something he just does. As he explains:

“It’s something I’ve gotten used to and now I kind of like it.”

Engineers and producers get their workflow from quirky things like that, just like old Grandma’s roast is cut in half because there’s simply no room in the oven.

It doesn’t mean that’s the only way to do things. It means that you should do whatever works and sounds good to you.

Have a great weekend!

Björgvin

Image by: gelund

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