Starting with guitar. Guitar should be panned off to one side about 20%. It needs to be louder during solos and instrumental sections, and lower during vocals.
Rhythm Guitar should be centered, but lower. The Rhythm Guitar should be treated as part of the Rhythm section and used to drive the song, it should not be louder than the lead guitar. Unless it is a focal point of the song.
Bass should be panned off to the other side about 10%. It should be at a fairly low volume through the whole track. The bass should mix with the drums to create your rhythm section. Unless it is a focal point of the song.
Drums should be panned in relation to where the drum being hit, is on the drum kit. Your kick drum should be centered. Snare drums should be panned 10 to 50% to either side depending on their location on the drum kit. Hi hat should be panned 50% or so, to the side it’s located on the drum kit. cymbals can be panned anywhere, as can other percussion. The idea is to give the impression of sitting in front of the drum kit while it’s being played.
Keyboards should be panned to the same side as the bass at about 30%. Depending on the style, determines the volume keyboards should be played. Obviously during keyboard solos; or parts that emphasize keyboards, they need to be louder.
Vocals should always be panned to the center. During verses, and the chorus the vocals should be the loudest element of the song. Additional vocal elements can be panned and set at a volume appropriate for the effect desired.
Standard rock music, and pop music arrangement is as follows (while variations are used for all songs, this is the basic structure used in most rock and pop music):
intro – hook (the into can be the hook) – verse – chorus – verse – chorus – Solo – intro return – chorus – finish
This arrangement, however is typically set aside for more story oriented songs.
For example ‘stairway to heaven’.
This is an example of a ‘building song’.
In this arrangement the song starts low and slow, then builds to a grand finale that ends; typically, with a slow finish.
Bohemian Rhapsody, is also a good example of this kind of arrangement.
A jam song, generally has no set arrangement. Lyrics are frequently improvised, as are various elements of the song. Grateful Dead songs, particularly on their live albums exemplify this kind of free form arrangement or non-arrangement.
How you arrange your songs tends to be personal, and the song it’s self often “knows” where it wants to go once it starts being crafted. Musicians sometimes say that a song seemed to write it’s self. I think all songs can do that, and we are the ones that keep them from doing it.