The process of visually representing the spacial imaging of a mix is a good exercise for critical listening as it forces you to pick out individual tracks and parts in a mix and place them physically on a stereo field. It allows you to see what works well in the centre of a mix and what works well on either side. It also allows you to gain a greater understanding of which frequency ranges are appropriate for which instruments. I think it would be useful to make this a common practice as over time it will become easier and easier to place each part. I will definitely be doing this more in the future with tracks that I enjoy as not only will it give me a greater understanding of how to arrange a mix but also give me a greater appreciation for the music I am analysing and let me know why it sounds as good as it does.
I used one of my reference tracks -Bleujen an Howl- for this and it was difficult to differentiate some of the string parts but I do think that through repeated use of this exercise it will become easier. I found that the guitar was mainly in the centre of the mix but at times some higher notes would pan to the left and some lower would pan to the right, sort of like a call and response. The guitar was sandwiched between a rich string section to the left and right of it with the vocals sitting just above.
