More music on the left than right?

[jdimitri]

Is it just me or is music (mostly recent ones) has more music goin on the left than right?

I mean, when i'm taking out one earbud to talk to people at the same time, i always take out the right one, because if there's a weird stereo thing going on the vocal/guitar is usually on the left..

Did anyone else notice this or do i just have slightly dumb hearing?

 

[Advil]

OH MY GOD!

I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO POINT THAT OUT FOR SO LONG!

I've just thought I was weird for the longest time! I always check my plugs to make sure they're all the way in, and they always are.. but the left channel is ALWAYS louder than the right one.

'bout time. jeez.

 

[cantsleep]

time for crossfeed..

 

[infinitesymphony]

I've noticed this phenomenon, too. If you want an instrument to stick out, you must either turn up its volume / EQ it, or adjust the panning. If you choose to pan it, which direction do you choose first? I figure choosing left over right is just an extension of our tendency to read left to right.

 

[lator]

It seems to me as well that there is more going on in left channel more often than in right channel. After swapping to MPX3 I have not sensed this feeling that often as before though. Might have something to do with stepped atteunator and improved channel balance.

 

[Aman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by infinitesymphony /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've noticed this phenomenon, too. If you want an instrument to stick out, you must either turn up its volume / EQ it, or adjust the panning. If you choose to pan it, which direction do you choose first? I figure choosing left over right is just an extension of our tendency to read left to right.

People don't just randomly pan an instrument. They pan an instrument to re-create a performance environment through a stereo image. When an engineer pans an instrument during the mixing stage, it's because he's trying to position the instrument on a certain place in the sound stage.

Sometimes recordings just have more going on through the left channel intentionally. However, if one channel is ALWAYS louder than another one, then you need to repair your stereo gear.

 

[trains are bad]

Quote:

People don't just randomly pan an instrument. They pan an instrument to re-create a performance environment through a stereo image. When an engineer pans an instrument during the mixing stage, it's because he's trying to position the instrument on a certain place in the sound stage.

I wish that were true. It seems to me that often, instruments are indeed panned randomly. Much of the industry seems to have forgotten what stereo is supposed to be for.

 

[jonyao0323]

This has happened to me before, and then I spent the rest of the day switching sources and headphones...all the same effect. Thought something was wrong with my hearing....

 

[Schalldampfer]

Yep... this literally kept me awake at night. I'd be listening to fall asleep, and I kept thinking to myself that there is so much more going on in the left channel, is my hearing damaged? I actually tried swapping the clips of my KSC75 to see if I could still tell which one was supposedly the left channel. Lo and behold, yes. There was not only more vocal, but also more of the higher strings, like violins. Solo's seem to be concentrated there, too.

 

[Aman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by trains are bad /img/forum/go_quote.gif I wish that were true. It seems to me that often, instruments are indeed panned randomly. Much of the industry seems to have forgotten what stereo is supposed to be for.

If you're listening to alternative rock or other popular rock music, which makes up less than five percent of modern albums released, then this may be true. That is when artistic license comes into effect.

But for the majority of music (particularly with jazz, classical, folk, bluegrass, and other minimal recordings) this is not the case. The majority of music is mixed for realism still, and not for effect.

 

[bpower]

I was expecting a good ol' liberal vs conservative flame war

 

[Debaser86]

I've noticed this too. Though if it is intentional, maybe it's a good thing considering that the auditory cortex of the right hemisphere of the brain is where rhythm and pitch are primarily perceived, and the inputs it receives would be coming primarily from stimuli of the left ear because the major auditory projections from each ear decussate at the trapezoid body and the inferior colliculus and are eventually sent to the contralateral hemisphere.

The other thing I've noticed is that the vocals tend to be louder in the right ear... which also makes sense when compared to brain anatomy, since the linguistic processing areas of the brain are all in the left hemisphere.

 

[trains are bad]

Another interesting thing, is that one of the channels of my red vinyl of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots is louder than the other. I first noticed this when I went to record it, and one of the tracks was noticeably fatter in audacity. None of my other LPs do this.

 

[epaludo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdimitri /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is it just me or is music (mostly recent ones) has more music goin on the left than right? I mean, when i'm taking out one earbud to talk to people at the same time, i always take out the right one, because if there's a weird stereo thing going on the vocal/guitar is usually on the left.. Did anyone else notice this or do i just have slightly dumb hearing?

Notice that too.
I was thinking that could be one of the following two:
-My ears weren't simmetric anymore;
-My setup was not callibrated anymore ...

 

[Comfy]

I've been battling with this issue for months now. I've been through all of my equipment lots of times trying to find a reason for this, without success. I guess that I have diminished hearing in my right ear, but I'm not really sure about this. When listening to a loudspeaker setup in the sweet spot, the singer's voice is dead in the center, but when listening with headphones, it's usually slightly to the left of center.