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songs that move from speaker to speaker

musicismylife78musicismylife78 Posts: 6,116
edited February 2009 in Other Music
This can really only be heard at least by me, when I listen to a record, with headphones on.

The best example I can think of is Voodoo Chile. At first I thought my copy of the album was flawed. the song sounded odd. it kept shifting from left speaker, to right, then back again. Now I know it was supposed to be that way.

You rarely hear this discussed in reviews of albums or on boards or anything. I dont even know the name of this technique. But there has to be other songs out there that employ this.

what is it?
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments

  • Who PrincessWho Princess out here in the fields Posts: 7,305
    It's called panning. Think of it like in a film when the camera pans from one side to the other.
    You heard a great lick from one of your speakers, then the next one came from the other speaker.
    It was very popular in the early 70s. Led Zep, lots of bands used it. Sometimes it was effective, sometimes it was contrived, but it quickly became overused. Just one of those fads that ran its course.
    "The stars are all connected to the brain."
  • prytocorduroyprytocorduroy Posts: 4,355
    Kurt uses it very tastefully in the solo of Breed.
  • DewieCoxDewieCox Posts: 11,431
    Panning is often what takes an amateur album and makes it sound professional.

    I've found headphones and car stereos really accentuate it.
  • Thorns2010Thorns2010 Posts: 2,201
    Foo Fighters have used it in a couple of songs as well. Sadly I can't think of the song names right now......

    I'll be back!
  • tybirdtybird Posts: 17,388
    I believe that some of the interview voices on Dark Side of the Moon use this effect
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  • gabersgabers Posts: 2,787
    Sunglasses at Night - Corey Hart 8-)
  • ryanrunningryanrunning Posts: 427
    Revolution 9 by the Beatles on the White Album pans from speaker to speaker. Though i doubt this is a song anyone goes out of theiir way to listen to ;)
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  • Tom KTom K Posts: 842
    What is and What should never be... Zep

    ba nump ba nump
    ba nump ba nump
    ba bum bum
    I'm gone ..Long gone..This time I'm letting go of it all...So long...Cause this time I'm gone
  • ZosoCatZosoCat Posts: 176
    Tom K wrote:
    What is and What should never be... Zep

    ba nump ba nump
    ba nump ba nump
    ba bum bum

    yeah thats the best example I can come up with also.
  • Who PrincessWho Princess out here in the fields Posts: 7,305
    TW97526 wrote:
    Tom K wrote:
    What is and What should never be... Zep

    ba nump ba nump
    ba nump ba nump
    ba bum bum

    yeah thats the best example I can come up with also.
    Definitely the one that always comes to my mind when trying to explain it.

    One of my favorite albums that uses panning well is Fleetwood Mac's Then Play On. It's a great album anyway but that's one of the many things that add to it.
    "The stars are all connected to the brain."
  • gabersgabers Posts: 2,787
    I want to say Overblown by Mudhoney has this effect also.
  • BinFrogBinFrog MA Posts: 7,309
    I use the effect, sparingly, in some of my basement recordings. It's pretty simple to do: I record in mono, then split the track out to another channel. I pan one track 100% to the left, and the other 100% to the right. Then when I want to use the effect, I slide one of the volume knobs up while the other goes down and vice-versa.
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  • merkinballmerkinball Posts: 2,262
    Feeling Yourself Disintegrate by the Flaming Lips uses this at the beginning of the track too. There's a vocal track that moves from side to side. (And then there is Zaireeka by the Lips, which was meant to be played on 4 cd players at once, so it moves around the room, moving from speaker to speaker, and system to system).
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  • JordyWordyJordyWordy Posts: 2,261
    check this out, puts it to amazing use. close your eyes and use headphones:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUDTlvagjJA (The Virtual Barbers)
  • StaffanStaffan Posts: 606
    the guy chasing the fly in the end of "grantchester meadows" leading into "several species of small furry animals gathered in a cave and grooving with a pict" from UmmaGumma by Pink Floyd
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  • PearlJamaholicPearlJamaholic Posts: 2,019
    i know nin used it too, but i cant think of the song(s). it is a neat effect. i always liked it when not overused. really adds space to a song.
    http://db.etree.org/PearlJamaholic
  • DewieCoxDewieCox Posts: 11,431
    I just thought of a fantastic one.

    Prophet's Song by Queen

    Oh Oh people can you hear me????????
  • Red_DotRed_Dot Posts: 1,454
    Pink Floyd use it on money I think. And a few other tracks.
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  • DewieCoxDewieCox Posts: 11,431
    M.G wrote:
    Pink Floyd use it on money I think. And a few other tracks.

    It's all over DSOTM and WYWH.

    Hell, they even tried to take it live. Sometime right around DSOTM they used. an early version of surround sound for their shows. Quadrophonic somethin rather.
  • BinFrogBinFrog MA Posts: 7,309
    DewieCox wrote:
    M.G wrote:
    Pink Floyd use it on money I think. And a few other tracks.

    It's all over DSOTM and WYWH.

    Hell, they even tried to take it live. Sometime right around DSOTM they used. an early version of surround sound for their shows. Quadrophonic somethin rather.



    DSOTM was mean to be heard in quadrophonic format. It was recorded onto 16 tracks and a lot gets lost in translation when mixed down to stereo. That's part of the reason why the new(er) hi-fi 5.1 and 4-channel releases are absolutely mind boggling.
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    Typo Man: "Thanks kidz, but remembir, stay in skool!"
  • CosmoCosmo Posts: 12,225
    edited February 2009
    Listen to the end of the drum solo in 'Tank' of the 'Tarkus' album by Emerson, Lake and Palmer... on headphones. Your head explodes.
    ...
    Correction... 'Tank' in on the first E.L.P. record.
    Post edited by Cosmo on
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  • JordyWordyJordyWordy Posts: 2,261
    the guitar solo in Me & My Friends by Chili Peppers
  • spatspat Posts: 644
    May This Be Love by Hendrix. Wow. the ending instrumental is when it comes in. the guitars and percussion trade sides over and over. real trippy. great post!
    My favorite Pearl Jam song: "Corporate Greed Boat Asshole Behind a Counter in the Oval Office"
  • spatspat Posts: 644
    JordyWordy wrote:
    check this out, puts it to amazing use. close your eyes and use headphones:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUDTlvagjJA (The Virtual Barbers)

    that was crazy! i closed my eyes and got freaked out cuz it really sounded like the guy was here in the room with me.
    My favorite Pearl Jam song: "Corporate Greed Boat Asshole Behind a Counter in the Oval Office"
  • DewieCoxDewieCox Posts: 11,431
    spat wrote:
    May This Be Love by Hendrix. Wow. the ending instrumental is when it comes in. the guitars and percussion trade sides over and over. real trippy. great post!

    I just listened to Electric Ladyland and it shows up in quite a few songs. Crosstown Traffic, Voodoo Chile, and quite obviously 1983..........
  • WobbieWobbie Posts: 30,875
    Tom K wrote:
    What is and What should never be... Zep

    ba nump ba nump
    ba nump ba nump
    ba bum bum

    For sure.....at the 3:30 mark

    But isn't it more like:

    <Duh nuh
    Duh nuh>
    <Duh nuh
    Duh nuh>
    <Duh nuh nuh>

    :mrgreen:
    If I had known then what I know now...

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  • JordyWordyJordyWordy Posts: 2,261
    spat wrote:
    JordyWordy wrote:
    check this out, puts it to amazing use. close your eyes and use headphones:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUDTlvagjJA (The Virtual Barbers)

    that was crazy! i closed my eyes and got freaked out cuz it really sounded like the guy was here in the room with me.

    hehe, its quality isnt it? especially the where he suddenly just whispers
  • rriversrrivers Posts: 3,698
    Tom K wrote:
    What is and What should never be... Zep

    ba nump ba nump
    ba nump ba nump
    ba bum bum

    That is what came to mind when I started reading this thread. I was thinking it was "Whole Lotta Love", but you are right it's "What is".
    "We're fixed good, lamp-wise."
  • Who PrincessWho Princess out here in the fields Posts: 7,305
    rrivers wrote:
    Tom K wrote:
    What is and What should never be... Zep

    ba nump ba nump
    ba nump ba nump
    ba bum bum

    That is what came to mind when I started reading this thread. I was thinking it was "Whole Lotta Love", but you are right it's "What is".
    Which kind of illustrates what I was talking about earlier. Panning was a killer effect when Hendrix recorded Electric Ladyland. By the time Zep blasted this one out of your speakers it had become a very tired cliche.

    I like the way a lot of artists have resurrected it. The key is not to overuse it.
    "The stars are all connected to the brain."
  • rriversrrivers Posts: 3,698
    whoprincess wrote:
    rrivers wrote:
    Tom K wrote:
    What is and What should never be... Zep

    ba nump ba nump
    ba nump ba nump
    ba bum bum

    That is what came to mind when I started reading this thread. I was thinking it was "Whole Lotta Love", but you are right it's "What is".
    Which kind of illustrates what I was talking about earlier. Panning was a killer effect when Hendrix recorded Electric Ladyland. By the time Zep blasted this one out of your speakers it had become a very tired cliche.

    I like the way a lot of artists have resurrected it. The key is not to overuse it.

    I think it works well on Led Zep II, cliche or not. Just look at the number of people in this thread who pointed to it as the go to panning song.
    "We're fixed good, lamp-wise."
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