Noob helping, stereo/mono

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mugaz84
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Noob helping, stereo/mono

Post by mugaz84 » Mon Aug 24, 2015 1:01 pm

Hey guys, as the newbie i am. I just looked at some mastering tuturials and the guy was eqing the snare and set the pro-q to mono only to finetune a wierd sound from the snare.

So i feelt like a complete dumbass ''again' here i creating EVERY tracks in Auria in stereo without knowing why, so.

Is there any sounds/instruments of the song that should be in mono? and if so, why? like for example low sub bass and snares?

thx

rickwaugh
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Re: Noob helping, stereo/mono

Post by rickwaugh » Mon Aug 24, 2015 1:53 pm

Be interested in hearing some replies also. As far as I can tell, the only reason to create a stereo track is if you want to put a stereo effect on, such as a bouncing delay from timeless. Otherwise you're needlessly eating disk space and memory.

Aeron
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Re: Noob helping, stereo/mono

Post by Aeron » Fri Aug 28, 2015 2:01 am

I'm no expert but have been recording for a while and record all instruments in mono. I suppose it depends on the source, I don't use samples or midi just live instruments and add very few effects and plugins. Even when recording my drums and want a stereo image, I do this into two mono tracks and pan them left and right. There may be situations where you have a stereo instrument output in which case a stereo track would be best but I haven't come across any myself.

Stereo files are basically twice the size of a mono file so apart from wasting valuable storage, there is no need and if, for example, you record a live guitar track into one input but its a stereo track, then you only have signal on one channel, so how do you then pan that where you want it without losing signal?

You could add a stereo track and plug a guitar into one input and mic into the other but again panning is then a problem and any effects you add will affect both guitar and vocal, so two separate mono tracks is the way to go. I am assuming of course that you have an interface with at least two inputs.

Final output is to a stereo file and the panning of each track/instrument is what makes up that stereo image.

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martygras
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Re: Noob helping, stereo/mono

Post by martygras » Fri Aug 28, 2015 10:50 am

I'd say about 80% of what I record that is mic'd is usually on a mono track, but using IAA or AudioBus the tracks are almost always stereo.

Some things that are regularly stereo tracked for me are drum kit OH, or using 2 room mics for an amp or piano, groups of singers.

I love recording choirs. It's the easiest gig because choirs usually have their act together and you mostly work with the director.
Marty Schulte [I'm a drummer. So, there's that.]
iPad AIR(128), Akai EIE, Akai EWI USB, illudium q-36 explosive space modulator
Head First Audio (live sound for Southern Oregon, USA)

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