Whenever I come across a song with specifically rapidly switching and ping ponging or warbling right/left effects, I get chills. But it’s hard to find exactly what I mean.
The only two songs that I know of that exemplify this are:
- Such Great Heights by The Postal Service
- Slow Me Down by Emmy Rossum
I heard the latter song first and I’ll never forget that moment I was sitting in front of the stereo and hit play, not knowing what to expect. I kept repeating the beginning of the song over and over again to hear that effect in the intro, amazed at what my ears were hearing.
There are a few more songs I’ve listened to that do this, but I’ve lost them and can’t remember what they were called sadly. I’ve been combing through my music library but haven’t found them again.
An example of songs that do NOT fit this criteria are Left and Right by Charlie Puth or Runaway by Kanye West. I don’t really care that the lyrics switch ears. It doesn’t provide that indescribable experience that the songs I posted above give.
I’m finding that this is such a hard thing to Google. A lot of people link to songs simply with “right left stereo effects”, but I’m looking for something more specific as in the above. I’m specifically looking for rapid right left switching effects, and NOT just instruments occasionally played in a different ear.
My genre of choice is pop/EDM and modern pop, but I’m open to others. Thanks all, I’d really appreciate it.
Edit: Sorry I haven’t been keeping up with the responses, guys. There are so many songs to wade through. Thanks!
Pink Floyd’s song interstellar overdrive has a section near the end where they throw the pan back and forth, and slowly pan a drumroll around your head in a cool way. Highly recommend headphones. It’s psychedelic rock, so not one of the genres you mentioned, but its a fun one.
This is a good example of what I’m looking for, thanks! I wish it were easier to search for this. Searching for “stereo” or “panning” in Google just doesn’t cut it and instead usually yields slowly panning songs.
This track is off their first album ‘Piper at the Gates of Dawn’ which was with their original front man Syd Barret, who was really out there. So the album is weird, and is probably an acquired taste, but pretty much every track has some weird panning stuff going on, just not as extreme as interstellar overdrive.
Try search ping-pong delay (pedal)
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There’s that one instrumental part of a whole lotta love by Zeppelin
You might have luck with searching for panning, or stereo panning. I found this playlist after a quick search, the first track seems to maybe fit the vibe? And one of the songs you listed is on here as well.
The problem is thatthe majority of these songs aren’t what I’m looking for. That’s what I mean when I said I’m having a hard time googling it. I come up with playlists like you’ve linked
Most songs that have a stereo panning effect do it very slowly. Or they simply put some lyrics or instruments in a different ear. Check out the Elvis song in that list to see what I mean. When I Google it, that comprises a majority of the songs that pop up.
What I’m looking for is not instrument separation or a slow pan effect. I am specifically looking for a rapid ping pong stereo effect. The first song in that playlist does a decent job of what I’m describing, but the vast majority of them do not.
Edit: This user on Reddit is describing exactly what I am referring to, but unfortunately didn’t get many responses. https://www.reddit.com/r/Music/comments/3m36lg/songs_that_pan_left_and_right_quickly/
Try search for “frisson” there used to be a whole community on the other place I’m pretty sure.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frisson
It’s not specific to the panning effect in music you describe but it does cover the result of you hearing that.
Well that was an interesting rabbit hole
You can also try adding “binaural” in your searches but you’ll get mostly ASMR stuff
The 2022 remaster of Tomorrow Never Knows by The Beatles (spotify) has lots of sounds that pan left and right, but they may not be the kind of “rapid panning” that you are talking about.
Yeah, it’s easy to Google and simply find songs with stereo separation, but I’m specifically looking for a rapid switching effect. It seems to be hard to Google. I decided tmthat it’s best for me to start a playlist of these sorts of songs as I stumble into them because I guess it’ll just have to happen organically over time unfortunately. Searching reveals stuff like you describe instead of what I’m looking for.
Pantera - Domination. Probably not your cup of tea, but it does pan the guitars like you describe. Towards the end, at least.
@dingus Are You Shivering by Coil. Weird as heck.
Maybe try the intro to Keller Williams - Freeker By the Speaker
Look into “binaural” music.
Here’s something in EDM that I think may be close to what you mean… https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RvMNQun_ugI
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Popcorn!
The main synth melody in Nine Inch Nails’s “Ringfinger” has this kind of effect.
Fast stereo ping-pong panning.
Kinda fun fact: Opus No. 1 by Tim Carleton (the default Cisco CallManager waiting music) has this.
Yes! Seriously, listen to it on stereo speakers. It’s a shame phone calls aren’t in stereo. This song is actually good.
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listen to it on stereo speakers
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