This is a question that is itself the answer....
#1 No formulas - do what works....
#2 Listen to mixes/songs/albums that you think are mixed right - make notes and do your best to emulate
#3 Pay attention to the genre - I mostly do Orchestral stuff so therefore Violin 1's are always left through double basses to the right wth brass back right, percussion spread with typanni in the center and higher pitched percussion to the left with the exception of the bass drum which in some orchs is back left or center left
#4 I mention my orchestra experience because when I am doing my tracking of non-classical stuff I adhere to the sound stage approach as if the audience were listening to a chamber ensemble - regardless of the genre. I really like to create a 3D sound stage.
#4 Some freqs are better at localization than others - said differently as I get below 100Hz I like to stay center - I avoid above 7Khz+ (fundamental) panned very hard - this blurs the center to me - but I am trying to avoid some formula here. Just respect the bandwidth of the instruments you are mixing and choose what it is you are trying to replicate - something realistic or artificial in the sound stage
I once saw a working drawing for Paul McCartney's second self-titled album (just after his japanese incident) he used colors to represent the sound stage in a 3D manner - I use a very similar guide in my class when describing mixing for an optimal sound stage.
Good luck - listen to stuff that you think sounds good....(and get some symphony tickets - listen to the room as much as the orchestra - what a blast - real 3D stereo)
-D
post edited by DonM - 2005/12/11 19:03:24