Stage locations and panning

Dorico
1

Hello,

Working with a trio in Dorico and trying to play with instrument locations in the stage. Panning seems predefined even with all instruments at center in the mixer. Opening the stage window and moving sources does make a change but there is bias: some instruments sound louder in a given stereo location compared to its opposite. Not sure if anyone has experienced this but stage location and panning can be important to isolate timbres, etc…

Thanks in advance.

2

Hi @spin, I am not sure I understand the nature of your issue (and, as you didn’t receive any other reply, I imagine others also didn’t quite understand).

Can you explain again, possibly with an example (Dorico project file) and describing in detail: what would be the expected behaviour and what instead is the unexpected behaviour? Thank you.

It would be important to know which instruments and which sound library are you using, and please upload a minimal Dorico project that presents the issue, so we can experiment.

3

Do you mean something like, when the instrument is on the left in a certain location, moving it to the right to the same (exact opposite) location, it sounds quite different?

4

I’m interpreting what he said as that it’s as if some instruments are pre-panned at certain locations, like the violins are mostly on the left let’s say, and that he CAN pan them to an extent, but since they are starting from a position other than centered… That is a choice/characteristic of some VST libraries as you know, especially with certain mike positions. I thought we might start with asking what he is using? I was also thinking that I’ve had the appearance of that with a bad cable sometimes, or I wasn’t paying enough attention to how everything is configured if you start putting other software and hardware in the mix :thinking: Just some things to check.

5

Thanks for the replies so far. In Dorico’s mixer there is a ‘Live Stage’ button which opens a window that shows the placement of instruments. Take, for instance, a trio of flute, clarinet and bassoon, or a quartet, or anything else. From my understanding, this Live Stage window would enable you to place the instruments where you’d like. To some extent, it works and affects the panning and dry/wet reverb level (distance cue), but it’s not precise. Perhaps this comes down to predefined pan/reverb settings in sample libraries. By the way, in chamber ensembles, one sees all the instruments on top of each other at center the first time the Live Stage window is opened.

I would say that perhaps this needs revisiting so that one can take full control, especially in chamber music. In orchestral ensembles, there are set locations, yes, but even this, on a further level, could be manipulated. Berlioz’ Symphonie, for example, uses an english horn offstage…

6

I’m not understanding the problem. You can position the instruments wherever you want. Just drag them around the Live Stage.

7

Yes, you can. But pay attention to the mixer levels. Each instrument lies on a stereo track. The levels should be symmetrical with regard to center panning position.

Anyway, Dorico is a great joy to use. This is feedback for reflection on whether the virtual stage positions and implied playback need revisions/corrections.