[SOLVED] Mixing In Mono

[danny.guitar]

Lately I've been doing my mixes completely in mono, and not converting to stereo until the mono mix sounds good. I do all EQ, effects, and levels in mono first. I notice this helps when trying to make each instrument sit well in the mix. It makes the stereo mix sound a lot more "open" and clear.

But what if you have two tracks, say, a doubled acoustic guitar, and you want to put a slight delay on one of the tracks?

It sounds great in stereo but sounds like crap in mono.

Should I just mute the 2nd (doubled) track while working in mono?

Should I not worry about the crappy comb filtering sound I get in mono and keep it how it is, and ignore it during mono mixing?

How are things like this handled by pros when working in mono? Are delay effects just not used?

 

[Massive Master]

Use mono as an advantage to *not get the comb filtering* in the first place. Adjust the delay or pitch it up or down a notch. It'll still sound "a bit too thick" perhaps, but probably better in the long run.

 

[photoresistor]

I've never mixed in mono before but i wanted to hear what one of my mixes sounded like.... and basically you cant hear any guitar (was double tracked and panned hard l/r)... is this not normal? it sounds good to me when i listen in stereo...?

thanks

 

[danny.guitar]

Use mono as an advantage to *not get the comb filtering* in the first place. Adjust the delay or pitch it up or down a notch. It'll still sound "a bit too thick" perhaps, but probably better in the long run.

The delay is only 15-20ms.

It was around 30-40 which is what gave me the bad sound. 15-20 sounds better but still not good. Sounds like one of the guitars is playing off time.

Also, the doubled track is just a copy of the original, it wasn't recorded twice.

 

[TexRoadkill]

I would think using faux stereo delays would be kind of against the point of learning to make things sound good in mono.

 

[masteringhouse]

?

How are things like this handled by pros when working in mono? Are delay effects just not used?

Delay effects are used extensively particularly for creating early reflections to help pull tracks forward and back in a mix. Mono compatibility is used to check for the phasing problems you are talking about.

One way of helping to get around the issue is to EQ the sides differently. Rather than just delaying them you might also try using a slight amount of pitch shifting. Both help to make a faux guitar double sound more realistic.

Of course the best way to create a doubled guitar though is by actually doubling it. I would use the effect that you're talking about more for a solo guitar where you don't really want two parts playing at once.

 

[danny.guitar]

Delay effects are used extensively particularly for creating early reflections to help pull tracks forward and back in a mix. Mono compatibility is used to check for the phasing problems you are talking about.

One way of helping to get around the issue is to EQ the sides differently. Rather than just delaying them you might also try using a slight amount of pitch shifting. Both help to make a faux guitar double sound more realistic.

Of course the best way to create a doubled guitar though is by actually doubling it. I would use the effect that you're talking about more for a solo guitar where you don't really want two parts playing at once.

The part I'm using it for is a short 10-15 second intro to a song where it's just the guitar playing.

It didn't have a "full" enough sound to it so I doubled the tracks and added a little delay with one panned center and the other off to the left a little.

When I tried actual double tracking, it gave me some weird reverb-like effect that I didn't like even though my timing was good.

What about songs that use delay/reverb as a main effect? How do they get the mix to sound good in mono?

 

[scrubs]

I've never mixed in mono before but i wanted to hear what one of my mixes sounded like.... and basically you cant hear any guitar (was double tracked and panned hard l/r)... is this not normal? it sounds good to me when i listen in stereo...?

thanks

No, that's not normal (or, at least, it shouldn't be). The tracks are disappearing because the waves are cancelling each other out. Read masteringhouse's post about how to get the two guitar parts to sound a little different.

 

[rayc]

I usually begin a mix in mono & only start creating a stereo image when I'm generally happy with the internal balance of volume & tones.
There are sooooo many great mono mixes out there to listen to & learn from.