4 ms·

that's very interesting. I had learned that no one bothers to pan bass frequencies because IRL they are difficult to localize. For example, no one at a live sh

by tricky 17y ago

that's very interesting. I had learned that no one bothers to pan bass frequencies because IRL they are difficult to localize. For example, no one at a live show could tell you if the bass rig is on stage right or left. So, a recording with hard panned bass would just sound wrong.

tricky 17y ago
I always thought that's why most systems have a single subwoofer. What's the album with the hard panned bass? I'd love to hear it (or know why they chose to do that)
- daydream 17y ago
  Electroputas "3" is the record I was thinking of. There's basically no high end on it. It was so noticeable that I actually emailed the label about it, thinking I got a bad press or something, but to their credit they admitted that the bass panning made it impossible to master the vinyl cleanly. (Electroputas are a really good band, by the way. Not sure if they're still around.) Stories like this abound. The more bass you want on a record, the wider the grooves need to be, which gives you less time per side; the more playing time you want on each side, the narrower the grooves need to be, and you don't get as much dynamic range, loudness, or frequency bandwidth. Another example: there's some Yo La Tengo record, I forget the name (it's been a while), but it's a one sided 12". The running time on that one side was extreme for a rock record - something like 28 minutes or so - and as a result, it sounds terrible.
daydream 17y ago
For live sound this is mostly true, but for recorded music there can be artistic reasons to pan low frequencies to one side or another. (Just like there could be artistic reasons to do just about anything.) It seems to be more common in electronic music rather than rock, and there certainly are jazz records where the upright bass isn't dead in the middle.

4 ms·

that's very interesting. I had learned that no one bothers to pan bass frequencies because IRL they are difficult to localize. For example, no one at a live sh

by tricky 17y ago

tricky 17y ago
I always thought that's why most systems have a single subwoofer. What's the album with the hard panned bass? I'd love to hear it (or know why they chose to do that)
- daydream 17y ago
  Electroputas "3" is the record I was thinking of. There's basically no high end on it. It was so noticeable that I actually emailed the label about it, thinking I got a bad press or something, but to their credit they admitted that the bass panning made it impossible to master the vinyl cleanly. (Electroputas are a really good band, by the way. Not sure if they're still around.) Stories like this abound. The more bass you want on a record, the wider the grooves need to be, which gives you less time per side; the more playing time you want on each side, the narrower the grooves need to be, and you don't get as much dynamic range, loudness, or frequency bandwidth. Another example: there's some Yo La Tengo record, I forget the name (it's been a while), but it's a one sided 12". The running time on that one side was extreme for a rock record - something like 28 minutes or so - and as a result, it sounds terrible.
daydream 17y ago
For live sound this is mostly true, but for recorded music there can be artistic reasons to pan low frequencies to one side or another. (Just like there could be artistic reasons to do just about anything.) It seems to be more common in electronic music rather than rock, and there certainly are jazz records where the upright bass isn't dead in the middle.