Panning Sound

Sound panning is used with stereo audio in order to create a dynamic viewing experience. This involves the audio set up having more than one speaker, by having more than one speaker you are able to pan the sound into either speaker to make it appear to be coming from different directions. For example, some surround sound speakers have a speakers behind you so you are receiving audio from all directions. This helps immensely with immersion as it feels as if you are in that environment.

Panning is also used in the music industry and each genre of music uses a different panning setup. For example, the Motown genre had to record two sets of drum kits at the time so they could have the drums in both ears, but as technology as grown over the years, we can now mix our songs to pan them to our liking.