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What should be in mono in tracks?
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| Sonic_c |
I had a kick drum that was perfectly balanced in stereo but then for some reason when I used a stereo compressor on it the left was like 3db higher that the right. So I made it mono to fix it and found it sounded better bit more punch to it, and it got me thinking what other elements might benefit from mono.
What do you guys have in mono in your tracks if anything? |
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| alanzo |
| Kick and sub bass. That's about it. |
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| Sonic_c |
| I thought as much had seen a few threads about mixing in mono so wondered how everyone goes about stereo imaging in their tracks. |
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| Nick Cenik |
I typically make the kick, sub-bass, and snare all MONO right off the bat (although I may send my snare to a stereo reverb bus).
From there, I decide on a per sound basis. |
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| kitphillips |
Most sounds should be mono up until you apply send effects to them IMO.
So anything coming out of an instrument should be mostly mono unless you have a good reason otherwise*. Then you pan it, then you run it into your delay/reverb/whatever. This might neccesitate the use of a lot of width plugins, but I think it results in a cleaner and more focused mix.
*good reasons otherwise would include the use of chorus, flanger, unison, etc. It would probably not include the use of fancy panning effects within the synth patch itself - unless you have a good reason otherwise.
Oh yeah, and it always helps to run anything under 250 hz in mono using some sort of stereo mannipulation tool, like ozone etc. |
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| Eric J |
About 80% of my tracks in a typical production are in mono. Kick, Bass, snares, hats, all drums, any "sequence elements" type synth parts. Then I'll pan slightly if necessary.
The only things I generally put in stereo are things like pads, parts with stereo delays or other widening effects, and even then I'll narrow the stereo field on those. I find that saw-based pads on a lot of synths tend to be overly wide, so I'll put a Direction Mixer on it to narrow it down a bit. The Virus is particularly bad about this. |
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| evo8 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Eric J
About 80% of my tracks in a typical production are in mono. Kick, Bass, snares, hats, all drums, any "sequence elements" type synth parts. Then I'll pan slightly if necessary.
The only things I generally put in stereo are things like pads, parts with stereo delays or other widening effects, and even then I'll narrow the stereo field on those. I find that saw-based pads on a lot of synths tend to be overly wide, so I'll put a Direction Mixer on it to narrow it down a bit. The Virus is particularly bad about this. |
Yeah i tend to be making stuff less stereo myself these days - choosing a mono delay instead of stereo, less chorus/phasing, narrowing dual-filter pans etc
Live's utility program is handy for that as well, even just going to 50% on the width can make a good difference
On basses, deep pads and that ill use the brilliant otium fx basslane that im sure everyone knows about by now
By making the majority of the stuff mono you will find that whatever you have in stereo will actually stand out a lot more
I put some tracks that i bought into Wavelab and switched between normal width and mono and was surprised how little change there was really |
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| Tomas Klein |
very useful thread. In logic i've never had a problem with stereo imaging, but I will start by making kick and sub bass mono in some of my tracks to see if there is a noticeable difference. I usually do use a lot of stereo panning in my tracks for percussion and effects, because I think this adds a layer of depth and interest.
keep in mind. If you pan something to a side it clears out the other side with space for another instrument, so panning can even be used to make more room in a track. |
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| Sonic_c |
| quote: | Originally posted by Tomas Klein
very useful thread. In logic i've never had a problem with stereo imaging, but I will start by making kick and sub bass mono in some of my tracks to see if there is a noticeable difference. I usually do use a lot of stereo panning in my tracks for percussion and effects, because I think this adds a layer of depth and interest.
keep in mind. If you pan something to a side it clears out the other side with space for another instrument, so panning can even be used to make more room in a track. |
yeah but another thing i heard is as most night club systems are mono if you hard pan something then it virtually disappears. Is that true? I mean it doesnt matter if your only playing on home systems but im being played out now so be good to know. |
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| Tomas Klein |
| I wouldn't know what the norm for most night clubs is, every event I have set up we have set up stereo systems. You may be right though. |
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| Eric J |
| quote: | Originally posted by Sonic_c
yeah but another thing i heard is as most night club systems are mono if you hard pan something then it virtually disappears. Is that true? I mean it doesnt matter if your only playing on home systems but im being played out now so be good to know. |
That's going to be a phase cancellation issue. In a lot of cases, an overly wide pad or other elements will get lost when played in mono. The best ways to combat this are narrow the element a bit. You can also try the "deadmau5 dump to audio and pan it" trick. He explained it on here a few months ago and it works great.
The moral of the story is "always check your mixes in mono". A lot of producers tend to use WAY too much stereo channels in a track. It is not necessary and can actually contribute to a loss of clarity. In general, use mono channels whenever possible and only use stereo for a very good reason. You'll find your mixes sound better for it. |
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| adi_hanson |
I have now stopped using stereo seperation on the back of the last thread and personally I think my stuff has definiatly benifited from it.
Seems more , I dont know , kinda more crisp and clear. |
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