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How to Pan in Cubase 5

Cubase's Mixer section emulates a hardware recording mixer.
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Panning tracks is one of the key processes in mixing music. It allows you to move instruments to the left or right of the mix, which prevents similar sounds from clashing with one another. Use different degrees of panning for different instruments, rather than panning each track either all the way left or all the way right. Panning also can help tracks sound fuller by duplicating a track and applying opposite panning effects to the two tracks. Panning a track in Cubase 5 is as easy as moving a slider.

Double-click the desktop icon for Cubase to launch it. Click "File," then "Open." Double-click on the project on which you want to work. Press "F3" to switch to the Mixer window.

Click on the pan control for the track you want to adjust. Each track's pan control is located directly above its volume slider.

Drag the pan control to the left or right. Hold down "Shift" and move the pan control to make fine-tuned adjustments. To return the pan control to the center position, hold down "Ctrl" and click on it. Repeat this process for every track you want to pan.

Change the pan mode, if desired, by right-clicking the pan control. Choose from "Stereo Balance Panner," which is the default panning mode, "Stereo Dual Panner," which splits the track into two channels and applies a pan control to each channel, and "Stereo Combined Panner," which applies the Dual Panner effect, then links the two channels.

Tip

Use Cubase's SurroundPan plugin to create surround-sound panning effects.

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