I've read some of the posts on this newsgroup and have noticed that
most of you pros prefer sparse mixes opposed to "wall-of-sound" mixes.
I've recently been trying to become more sparse `cause I am beginning
to get sick of my really dense mixes. I can't hear individual
instruments as well as I'd like to.

I recently tracked the following for a pop number,

Midi pop drums (kick, snare, hihat and treble loop). These are fairly
broad sounds with good fatness. The kick is a 909 type and the snare
is a fat-ass bottom heavy snare. The hi-hats are bright etc.

DI bass - Regular tone with no added EQ

Piano - tracked in mono playing arpeggio notes in the higher register
above guitars

Distortion Guitar 1 - Mesa boogie fat tone with distortion. Registers
just above the bass notes.

Dist Guitar 2 - A double track of the above panned opposite

Deep 303 Synth - From a novation synth

Lead Female Vox

4 BV's sung by the lead vox.

I soon realized that there is no way in hell I can blend all those
tracks together without sounding like a squashed pancake. Not to
mention they all play together in the Chorus! I tossed the right
distortion track and it IMMEDIATELY made the biggest difference. I
then had to raise the volume of the left over distortion track in
order to hear a bit more of the tone of the guitar since it dropped in
volume when I muted the other one. I raised it by 2 DB and could
actually hear more of the guitar tone than I could when the other
guitar was in and panned to the other side. The guitar actually
sounded bigger by itself than with 2.

I got carried away when I recorded the doubled guitars since I am so
used to recording it that way for standard rock mixes that have just
drums, guitars, bass and vocals. I've concluded that doubletracking
guitars in pop tunes with synthesized instruments just plain sucks.

Now the track is sounding more sparse than it did before but I can't
seem to find a place to pan the single distortion track. I can't have
it in the middle `cause that's where the lead vocal is and I can't
have it on the sides because that's where the the piano and 303 is.
Besides, it sounds weird having a distorted guitar on it's own on one
of the sides. Even having it a bit to one side throws you off when
listening with headphones.

You see, It's so much easier to pan doubled guitars. You just go left
and right and they usually sound great. In this mix, I know I must use
only 1 guitar but I've NEVER dealt with a single distortion track so i
feel slightly confused. I must admit I have a history of taking the
easy way out and doubling lots of acoustic instruments so that I don't
give myself a headache trying to pan single tracks. It's caught up to
me now because I've noticed my mixes getting heavier and more
congested.

What are some suggestions for panning/reverbing/delaying a single
distortion track so that it can't immediately be spotted as being
either L, C or R.

Thankyou for any help!

Dave