How to Get More Mix Width – Wider Mix Tips

Aside from just sounding good, a common trait between a lot of your favorite commercial mixes is likely the mix width the producers are able to achieve. A wider mix typically sounds better and it’s not just about the size. A wider mix also sounds cleaner because there’s plenty of defined space for every element and instrument in the mix.

With all of that in mind, let’s talk how to get more mix width in your next mix.

Mix Width Tips

mix width

Let’s cover a few tips on how to get a wider mix which I use in every mix I work on.

Use Smart Panning

I’m sure I won’t surprise you when I begin by saying one of if not arguably the most important way to get more mix width is through an effective use of panning.

Panning refers to the left and right positions of each track in the stereo field of your mix. Spacing out the various instruments which make up your mix and utilizing the full spread of said stereo field makes the mix sound appreciably cleaner in addition to the obvious benefit of width.

Here is a snapshot taken from my complete audio panning guide designed to separate the various instruments in your mix based on their fundamental frequency profiles, thus avoiding frequency conflicts and creating a larger, cleaner sounding mix:

audio panning

While there are no hard and fast rules for panning and you’re encouraged to experiment, this is simply an example of panning positions which are arguably the most popular and common because of their benefits and clean sound.

For instance, you generally always want your kick, snare, bass, and (lead) vocals centered in the mix because these are the anchors and focal points. As such, we want their presence to be consistent for the listener regardless of where they’re standing relative to the center of the stereo field when they’re listening.

Double tracked rhythm guitars and double tracked acoustic guitars always sound great when split wide opposite one another.

Double tracked vocals can also sound good and make the mix sound wider when you pan them hard against one another as I demonstrate in my overview of panning backing vocals:

panning backing vocals

The hi-hat and a single miked piano in a dense mix sound good when set about 30-50% on either side panned against one another.

Speaking of drums…

Drum Panning

I also did a dedicated drum panning guide which makes your drum set sound larger which greatly contributes to mix width itself:

drum panning

Again, the kick and snare sound good centered in the stereo field, but elements like the hi-hat and toms can be situated between the center and extreme left or right positions.

It’s common to pan the various tom drums out and away from themselves to really drive home the width of the mix particularly on tom heavy fills as you hear it moving left to right or vice versa.

The overhead microphones sound good when panned wide against one another, as well, to add width to the kit and with it the mix.

Mixing in Mono

As I mentioned earlier, the above overall audio panning guide takes into account the predominant frequencies associated with each instrument.

You can have a well panned mix, but if you’ve got frequency conflicts with instruments in or near the same position in the stereo field, it will make the mix sound cluttered and less impactful.

This is why many mixing engineers still swear by mixing in mono – the idea being when everything is one top of another in that one forced position, if you can make it sound good there by addressing all the frequency issues, when you go back to stereo, it makes the mix sound that much wider.

LCR Mixing

In a similar vein to mixing in mono, you have LCR mixing, or left, center, right mixing. This is where every single track in your mix is limited to one of three panning positions: left, center, or right with the left and right being extreme left and right:

lcr panning

LCR mixes sound very wide because there’s a ton of space between each of the three positions, and they’re more common in popular music than you might think or notice.

LCR mixing works in a similar concept to mixing in mono in that you work to ensure each panning position sounds clean and that you’re eliminating all conflicts when the tracks are sitting on top of one another.

I like to use a plugin like FabFilter’s Pro-Q 3 which allows you to identify frequency conflicts between two or more tracks with instances of the plugin on them via its Analyzer and “Collisions” features:

fabfilter pro q analyzer

You can then make adjustments via simple EQ cuts on one or both tracks or even use sidechain EQ like in the very common application of sidechaining bass to your kick to duck the bass out in the frequency fundamental range the kick needs (typically around 60-80Hz) when that kick triggers to give the kick a clean pocket in the center of the mix when it triggers.

This is important regardless of what kind of panning you’re doing, but panning is always much more effective, particularly LCR mixing, when you can eliminate those frequency conflicts at specific panning positions.

Automate Panning

While static/conventional panning is a great way to create mix width, automating it is a great way to really make your listener appreciate the width you’re creating, not to mention keep them engaged with the mix.

When I say automate your panning, I really mean two things.

One is to hold back instruments which are panned wide(r) until key moments of the song, like the chorus hits. By keeping the mix relatively tighter in terms of panning and more mono sounding for a verse, it can make a chorus hit so much more effectively if you hold back certain instruments which are panned hard left and right for when the chorus hits.

Another two is to literally vary the panning of elements of the mix as the song progresses via mixing automation.

While you can apply this to specific tracks, sending them farther left/right at key moments, I also occasionally like to add a mono/width plugin to the master bus and automate the width of the entire mix with one single controller as the mix progresses.

For instance, my DAW, Ableton Live, has a simple “Utility” plugin which, among other controls, has a width controller:

utility plugin

You can tie automation to this so that your entire mix is only using say 50% of the stereo field until the chorus, then remove that limitation and go back to full 100% spread when that moment hits.

This is a lazy yet effective way to not have to worry about changing the panning positions of individual tracks but instead making the chorus yield so much more mix width simply by contrast by reinstating the full range at that instant.

Time Based Effects

Reverb is a time based effect which adds depth by sending tracks farther back in the third dimension of the stereo field. Most reverb plugins feature width controllers so you can set the mix width of the reflection(s) of the audio you apply it to.

FabFilter’s Pro-R 2 allows you to exclusively place that width on the sides, keeping the middle of your mix cleaner while pushing the boundaries of the edges of the mix to give it more width and size.

Reverb also makes your mix sound wider and larger than it is by creating more unique spaces for each mix because you’re now spacing out tracks by that third dimension as opposed to just left and right.

I like to create an instance of my favorite reverb as a return/aux track with these settings then blend in different amounts to different tracks to taste:

best reverb settings

These are the best reverb settings for creating more depth and space across your mix, especially when blended in to different amounts via the various tracks’ send knobs in your mix.

I even like to use a bit of reverb on the master bus at times, albeit properly EQ’d via the Abbey Road Reverb Trick to keep those artifacts which reverb creates out of the muddy or low frequency areas:

reverb on master

Alternatively, delay is a great way to achieve mix width because it can add stereo width but without the side effects of reverb.

Delay particularly works well on vocals when you need that extra size to add mix width at key moments in your song on one of its most important elements in the vocal(s):

vocals delay

That’s taken from my overview on vocal delay and is a great way to add width without having to EQ out those muddy reflection-based artifacts you get with reverb.

Chorus is a modulation based effect which affects the timing and pitch of audio via an LFO to create authentic sounding duplicates. This is a great way to get more size on individual tracks (used as an insert one a single track or as a send via an aux/return track) to give your mix more size.

I also like to use a plugin like Microshift from Soundtoys when I want to blend in some size on any tracks which need it:

microshift

I like the dirt-simple interface of simply choosing one of the three modes on the “little” variety of the plugin for some sneaky lazy effective mix width on anything I apply it to.

Use Stereo Imaging

Stereo imagers are a special subset of width affecting effects which do just that – they create more size and stereo spread within your track.

I love Izotope’s Imager for doing just that, adding (or taking) width to each band:

izotope imager

As you can see from the image above and as I covered in my overview on stereo imaging, you can control each band, then adjust their respective sliders to push them farther out left and right, not to mention take up more real estate in the stereo field.

If you add this to a relatively buttoned up, tighter mix which doesn’t already have a lot of width to it is an incredibly satisfying, effective, and lazy way to instantly achieve more mix width.

Applied to a mix which already has a ton of width to it, it eeks out that much more, making it sound that much larger.

I still generally like to keep the bass band untouched and find it works best to add size to the higher frequency bands.

Mix Width Tips

  • There are many ways to get more width out of your mix, starting with smart panning choices.
  • Keep the most important anchor elements of your mix in the kick, bass, snare, and lead vocal all centered so they’re consistent across the stereo field.
  • Keep instruments/tracks which share similar fundamental frequency ranges farther away from each another, panning them opposite one another left and right in the stereo field.
  • Try mixing in mono to identify frequency conflicts; if your mix sounds clean and you can hear every track even when it’s in mono, it’s going to sound that much BIGGER when you go back to stereo.
  • LCR mixing, or assigning every track in your mix to one of three panning positions: hard left or right or the center, is a popular choice even amongst the biggest names in the game because of the mix width it creates via very clear separation.
  • Automating the mix width with a utility style plugin is an artificial yet very effective way to create mix width by holding back the stereo width until key moments hit to make that contrast hit harder for the listener and make your mix seem so much wider.
  • Time based effects like reverb, delay, and others mentioned above are great ways to add mix width by way of individual tracks or even on the master bus (when used conservatively).
  • If you still don’t have the mix width you’re looking for after everything else, try adding a stereo imaging plugin to the master bus to give more size to certain frequency bands and push them even farther across the edges of the stereo borders.

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