Panning Instruments After the Scoring Session

You should be aware that it is practically impossible to change the panning of an orchestral recording in the mix. As you use the signal from the decca tree in the room as your main mix signal, you can place the (usually mono) spot microphone signals somewhere else in the stereo field, however it will sound quite awkward when the spot mic signal of the oboe comes from somewhere else in the stereo field than from where it sounds on the decca tree signal.

If you’re going to mix the session yourself or hand it over to a mixing engineer who isn’t present at the recordings you should make a small sketch of the seating order of the orchestra as you might need to re-pan the spot mic signals when you work in a different software than the one that has been used on the scoring stage.