Mono compatibility

A

AnguZ

New member
Hi guys,

I'm having problems with the mono compatibility of my piano midi sound.
It's doesn't disappear but changes significantly when I check it in mono. I'm using a default piano sound on Ableton live. Could the delay be causing this problem? I mean, causing phase cancellation?
Any tips?

Thank you!
 
Your description would indicate that some kind of phase change (chorus or 'stereo enhancement' maybe?) is being done to the signal.
 
It could be a stereo reverb (really likely on a default piano patch). Delay isn't as likely, since a lot of those don't alter the stereo image of the initial sound too terribly much (unless it's a stereo delay or you're going with really extreme settings). Have you checked the sends and inserts to see if it's sending to a reverb? If it's sending to a reverb, try muting that and see if the phase problem goes away. If it's the reverb, and you have to have reverb on it, play with some different reverb settings (or a different reverb plugin) switching in and out of mono to see if there's one you like that doesn't throw the phase out as much.

Reverb is highly overrated (IMO), and sometimes overused (IMO), so think about if you REALLY need it in there. Maybe you don't (subjective).

It could also be one of the other tracks that's causing phase cancelation in the piano when you sum it to one mono channel. How does the piano react when switching in and out of mono when it's soloed. Same thing? If on solo, the phase problem goes away, try process of elimination. Go down the track list soloing them along with the piano to see which one causes the problem.
 
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Thanks for your reply guys,

I've tried with no/different stereo effects/sends but you can still hear that "comb" sound. Also when it's soloed.
Could something from the sample be causing this problem? I'm duplicating different parts of the piano with an electric one, a synth bass and a lead synth but it doesn't seem that they are causing the problem. It's not a complete phase cancellation but it loses too much punch when checked with a utility.

Thanks again.
 
AnguZ said:
Thanks for your reply guys,
...It's not a complete phase cancellation but it loses too much punch when checked with a utility.
Click to expand...
What utility?

Render it. Preferably to separate files for L and R, and compare. Try just one note at a time, maybe a few different notes across the keyboard. Does the audible effect change for different notes, or is it pretty much the same for all of them? Look at the files. Are all of the peaks aligned for all of the different notes? Is there a delay from one channel to another? Is that delay consist across the keyboard?

It probably is just baked into the sample, though. Once you diagnose it, you'll probably find there's nothing to do but swap out the samples or the synth, so the time spent figuring out what's wrong with it might just not be worth it.
 
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Yeah....MIDI presets/samples often come with over-the-top processing....'cuz the guys who created them wanted to make them sound larger-than-life, and they weren't considering anything more (like that maybe you wanted to mix it in with other tracks. etc).

So if you can't lose the problem by removing all the preset shit, then it may very well be part of the sample.
 
Well… apparently it is part of the sample. Quite annoying when you've already mixed a whole EP with that sound.
I've tried everything but the problem is still there.
Thanks for your tips anyway.
 
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