title: Panning
---
+<p>
+ <dfn>Panning</<dfn> is the process of distributing one or more signals
+ across a series of outputs so that the listener will have the
+ experience of them coming from a particular point or area of the
+ overall listening field.
+</p>
+<p>
+ It is used to create a sense of space and/or a sense of motion in an
+ audio mix. You can spread out different signals across the space, and
+ make them move over time.
+</p>
+
+<h2>Types of Panners</h2>
+<p>
+ The way a panner works depends a great deal on how many signals it
+ is going to process and how many outputs it will send them to. The
+ simplest case is distributing a single signal to 2 outputs, which is
+ the common case when using a "mono" track and a stereo speaker
+ setup.
+</p>
+<p>
+ But panning in Ardour could theoretically involve distributing any
+ number of signals to any number of ouputs. In reality, Ardour does
+ not have specific panners for each different situation. Currently,
+ it has dedicated panners for the following situations:
+</p>
+ <ul>
+ <li>1 signal distributed to 2 outputs (the mono panner)</li>
+ <li>2 signals distributed to 2 outputs (the stereo panner)</li>
+ <li>N signals distributed to M outputs (the VBAP panner)</li>
+ </ul>
+<p>
+ Even for each of these cases, there are many different ways to
+ implement panning. Ardour currently offers just one solution to each
+ of these situations, but in the future will offer more.
+</p>
+<p>
+ In addition to the panners, Ardour has a balance control for subtle
+ corrections to existing stereo images.
+</p>
+
{% children %}
projects / ardour-manual-diverged / blobdiff