# Panning (audio) > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Panning_(audio) > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Panning_(audio).md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panning_(audio) > Source revision: 1307770448 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Distribution of an audio signal into a multi-channel sound field}} '''Panning''' is the distribution of an [audio signal](/source/audio_signal) (either [monaural](/source/monaural) or [stereophonic](/source/stereophonic) pairs) into a new [stereo](/source/stereo) or multi-channel sound field determined by a pan control setting. A typical recording console has a pan control for each incoming source channel. A pan control or '''pan pot''' (shorthand for ''panoramic [potentiometer](/source/potentiometer)''),{{cite web | title=What is Panning? Everything You Need to Know | date=14 May 2022 | url=https://www.nfi.edu/what-is-panning/ }} is a control with a position indicator that can range continuously from the [7 o'clock](/source/clock_position) when fully left to the [5 o'clock](/source/clock_position) position fully right. [Audio mixing](/source/Audio_mixing_(recorded_music)) software replaces pan pots with on-screen virtual knobs or sliders which function like their physical counterparts. ==Overview== Pan pots split audio signals into left and right channels via an internal architecture that determines how much of the source signal is sent to the left and right buses.Hodgson, Jay (2010). [https://books.google.com/books?id=64otjpfHbNUC ''Understanding Records''], p.162. {{ISBN|978-1-4411-5607-5}}. "Pan pots split audio signals into left and right channels, each equipped with its own discrete [gain](/source/Gain_(electronics)) ([volume](/source/amplitude)) control." This signal distribution is often called a taper or [pan law](/source/pan_law). When centered (at [12 o'clock](/source/clock_position)), the signal is sent equally to each bus. If the two output buses are later recombined into a monaural signal, then a pan law of −6 dB is desirable. If the two output buses are to remain stereo then a law of −3 dB is desirable. A law of −4.5 dB at center is a compromise between the two. A pan control fully rotated to one side results in the source being sent at full strength (0 dB) to one bus (either the left or right channel) and zero strength (−{{math|∞}} dB) to the other. Regardless of the pan setting, the overall [sound power level](/source/sound_power_level) remains approximately constant. Because of the [phantom center](/source/phantom_center) phenomenon, sound panned to the center position is perceived as coming from ''between'' the left and right speakers. Panning in audio borrows its name from [panning](/source/panning_(camera)) action in moving image technology; the term ''panning'' is derived from ''[panorama](/source/panorama)''. An audio pan pot can be used in a mix to create the impression that a source is moving from one side of the [soundstage](/source/Soundstage) to the other, although ideally there would be timing (including phase and [Doppler effect](/source/Doppler_effect)s), filtering and reverberation differences present for a more complete picture of apparent movement within a defined space. Simple analog pan controls only change relative level; they don't add reverb to replace direct signal, phase changes, modify the spectrum, or change delay timing.Hodgson (2010), p.163. Panning can also be used in an audio mixer to reduce or reverse the stereo width of a stereo signal. For instance, the left and right channels of a stereo source can be panned straight up, which is sent equally to both the left output and the right output of the mixer, creating a dual mono signal. An early panning process was used in the development of [Fantasound](/source/Fantasound), an early pioneering stereophonic sound reproduction system for ''[Fantasia](/source/Fantasia_(1940_film))'' (1940). ==Stereo-switching== Before pan pots were available, "a three-way switch was used to assign the track to the left output, right output, or both (the center)".Owsinski, Bobby (2006). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=L8ZAzQEACAAJ The Mixing Engineer's Handbook]'', 2nd Edition, p.20. Cengage. cited in Hodgson (2010), p.161. Ubiquitous in the Billboard charts throughout the middle and late 1960s, clear examples include the [Beatles](/source/Beatles)'s "[Strawberry Fields Forever](/source/Strawberry_Fields_Forever)" and [Jimi Hendrix](/source/Jimi_Hendrix)'s "[Purple Haze](/source/Purple_Haze)", [Stevie Wonder](/source/Stevie_Wonder)'s "[Living for the City](/source/Living_for_the_City)".Hodgson (2010), p.161–162. In the Beatles's "[A Day In The Life](/source/A_Day_In_The_Life)" Lennon's vocals are switched to the extreme right on the first two [strophe](/source/strophe)s, on the third strophe they are switched center then extreme left, and switched left on the final strophe while during the bridge McCartney's vocals are switched extreme right.Hodgson (2010), p.161.{{cite web|title=What is Panning|url=http://www.dawsons.co.uk/blog/what-is-panning|website=Dawsons|publisher=Dawsons Music|access-date=17 June 2015|archive-date=22 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322111429/http://www.dawsons.co.uk/blog/what-is-panning|url-status=dead}} ==See also== *[Pan law](/source/Pan_law) *[Balance](/source/Stereophonic_sound) ==References== {{reflist}} ==Further reading== * Rumsey, Francis and McCormick, Tim (2002). ''Sound and Recording: An Introduction''. Focal Press. {{ISBN|978-0-240-51680-6}} Category:Stereophonic sound Category:Audio mixing [ja:パン (撮影技法)](/source/ja%3A%E3%83%91%E3%83%B3_(%E6%92%AE%E5%BD%B1%E6%8A%80%E6%B3%95)) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Panning (audio)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panning_(audio)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panning_(audio)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.