Let's say you're producing a track which includes a standard rock band in
the 70's style, with a drummer, rhythm guitarist, bassist, lead guitarist,
keyboard player, and vocalist. Which if any of the following methods do
people here like to use for putting together pan settings?

Assume the band is static, with instruments located in one place that never
moves?

Assume the band is performing, with "mobile" instruments (vocals, bass, and
guitars -- you can't very well wander around the stage with a rack of
synths or a drum set) moving around to some degree?

Assume the listener is static, sitting in one and only one optimal spot in
the middle of the band?

Assume the listener is in front of the band at some distance, turning his
head to follow the "action" and thereby causing the *entire* band to pan as
a cohesive unit?

Or just place individual instruments and parts in the mix without any
concern for where the performers are on the stage, considering only the
desired musical effect?

What I was thinking here was, given a guitar solo, you could either drop it
dead center (reasonably common), pan it around from place to place as if
the guitarist were playing to the crowd in the typical fashion for live
shows, gradually move it from one side to the center as the listener's
attention "shifts" and then keep it there, or move it from one side to the
center and then pan the rest of the band around as though the guitarist was
moving but the listener's attention was remaining focused on him.

How do people find these methods to work in practice? Anyone have thoughts
on this? In the case of a listener in the center of the band, is it
generally considered preferable to "swap" on a focus change, e.g. the
existing center sound just moves over to where the new centered piece is as
the new central instrument migrates to the front, or to rotate the entire
band around the listener?

Secondary question, has *anyone* here had any luck taking an individual
vocal sample and producing the effect of a crowd shouting it? I keep asking
this question, and no one ever answers it. Should I just run the sample
through a stack of three or four chorus effects in series with
progressively more extreme spreads?

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