Panning dual mono

scorsesefan

scorsesefan

Veteran
I am new to recorders with mixing options and I just picked up a Tascam dr-680. If I am using a shotgun mic in channel 1 and a lav mic in channel 2 do I need to hard pan them L/R or should I center pan them? I would imagine it would be easier to monitor one channel or the other if they are panned...

Thanks
 
Yes, you are on the right track (no pun intended). Keep everything as separated as possible.
If you start mixing things while recording you will loose the possibility to discern which microphone is doing what.
 
Richard Crowley said:
Yes, you are on the right track (no pun intended). Keep everything as separated as possible.
If you start mixing things while recording you will loose the possibility to discern which microphone is doing what.
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K, thanks, Richard... Another quick question: if you add a third source how do you decide which side to pan it to?
 
scorsesefan said:
K, thanks, Richard... Another quick question: if you add a third source how do you decide which side to pan it to?
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With only two sources, you have two iso record tracks PLUS the stereo mix. Panning hard left and hard right essentially gives you two sets of iso tracks.

Once you add a third source (then a fourth, fifth, sixth), panning is not going to do you much good. Each mic is recorded to its own iso track, so keep everything centered. At that point, the stereo mix serves as your daily/rush. You could pan some of them left and some of them right, but that may or may not help you in monitoring. Richard brings up the ability to figure out which mic is dong what; you can isolate any one inout to the headphones at the push of a button (or two).

I have a DR-680 and I find it to offer loads of bang for the buck, but when it comes to mixing multiple sources in the field, it is not the most efficient since there's only one rotary pot that has to be assigned to one function on one input/track at a time. It can be done, but it is a challenge.
 
Thanks guys. As usual great info... So Alex, are you saying that I should just center all tracks after the first two?
 
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Generally speaking (pun intended), 'dialog' is assigned/panned to center. If you recorded a dual mono (stereo) file, this should be easy to change (depending on your NLE/DAW). In Sony Vegas, for instance, this takes about five seconds to choose the clip's left, right or both channels; left or right by default would be panned to center and would come out of both Left-Right speakers equally.

As I recall, the DR-680 has internal mode options as well: Mono, Stereo or Poly. In the Mono mode, track/files 1-6 are separate single channel (mono) files... Example: 140914_001_mono1.wav if so selected in record-ready) In the Stereo mode, One to three pairs of 2-channel 'stereo' track/files. In the Poly mode, all tracks recorded to a single multi-channel file. What's best, would depend on what post wants.. and not all NLE/DAW's can open poly files.
 
Thanks for the info!... Another quick question: I read somewhere that you should not put the limiter on when recording with the 680 but I'm a bit weary of the lack of clipping warning when monitoring (no yellow/red lights) -- any opinions on this?
 
Limiters can be useful but don't push them too hard as they are there as a safety net for any sharp dynamics that may overload the signal chain.
 
"I read somewhere that you should not put the limiter on when recording with the 680 but I'm a bit weary of the lack of clipping warning when monitoring (no yellow/red lights) -- any opinions on this?"
> The 680's limiters are after the A/D converters and will only prevent 'digital' overs.. and would not prevent input stage distortion.
As Gary stated, if used as an occasional peak "safety net" should not have any negative effect on the sound.
 
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I would test out the limiters first. The SD limiters are great but a lot of "limiters" on recorders operate more like a AGC unit and are slow to dip and slow to recover. I would guess Tascams are better than most but I would definitely try them before you need them.
 
scorsesefan said:
If I am using a shotgun mic in channel 1 and a lav mic in channel 2 do I need to hard pan them L/R or should I center pan them?
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Whatever works best for you I'd say, but I usually prefer to have them separate when recording, as you described. Then, you can adjust in post as you want. If you prefer one over the other, you have 2 clean signals to work with. That's what I'd do and what I've been doing for a while.
 
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