panning?

[mickomoo]

I don't quite understand the purpose of panning. I'm still trying to learn how to mix in general, and while I've experimented with using EQ, reverb, compression, ect in my songs, I've never panned. Is it terrible to have everything centered? How do you determined if something should be moved to the left or right?

[Kanthos]

The main purpose is to provide space, just like EQ provides space. You wouldn't say that a mix is well-EQed if the bass drum, bass guitar, and lower end of the synth pads are all competing for the same frequency range and creating a mush, right? You want to be able to hear each instrument clearly, so you cut some unnecessary frequencies.

Panning is similar. If you leave everything centered, there's very little spatial depth to your music (more noticeable on headphones, IMO, but it matters regardless of what you listen on). Think about an acoustic concert, in any genre of music. The sounds of individual instruments are stronger in one ear or the other based on where they are on the stage in front of you. If an entire orchestra could somehow be flattened to one player's worth of space in the middle of the stage, the sound would be more dense and cluttered, since you'd have so many more things going on in exactly the same sonic space. Even as a keyboard player, panning makes a big difference in my sound when I have the opportunity to play in stereo; I'll layer several pads together and use panning to spread them out a bit.

As for what gets panned where, that depends on your genre, but having the most important instruments in the centre is always a good idea. If there's anything you want your brain to focus on more easily, because you're hearing it more in both ears, it's things like lead vocals or an instrumental solo.