should i record vocals in mono or stereo?

[mixaholic]

i use adobe audition to record vocals with. should i put the setting on audio to mono or stereo when recording vocals? thanks

[Greg_L]

i record 2 vocal tracks at once - both in mono - pan them to taste, and add whatever effects to each track. thats just me though

[mixaholic]

thanks. does that make the vocal sound wider?

[Greg_L]

Originally Posted by mixaholic

thanks. does that make the vocal sound wider?

not to me. if its one recording done to 2 mono tracks, its still the same as one stero track split in half. the reason i do it that way is because i usually like to add different delay and reverb times to each vocal track and pan them wide. i think it gives a nice effect. it sounds like one vocal track right in the middle until you hear a slight touch of varying delay times in each ear.

[mixaholic]

thanks alot man

[bennychico11]

vocals are a mono source...record them in mono.
mono=one
one microphone=mono

width or whatever is created by use of timebased effects (ie. reverbs or delays)

[eh91311]

Vocals. Mono. Keep them in the center of the mix. Stereo reverb is good. Panning vocals, especially lead ones, no. Backgrounds, sometimes. Leads, no.

[Elton Bear]

Unless you double-track them... but even then I'd use two mono channels, not one stereo...

[Farview]

Originally Posted by Elton Bear

Unless you double-track them... but even then I'd use two mono channels, not one stereo...

How would you sing it twice at the same time into two mics to get a stereo track?

One voice into one mic is mono, it doesn't matter how many tracks you send it to, it's mono. Don't waste hard drive space.

[Greg_L]

Originally Posted by Farview

How would you sing it twice at the same time into two mics to get a stereo track?

One voice into one mic is mono, it doesn't matter how many tracks you send it to, it's mono. Don't waste hard drive space.

how is it a waste of hard-drive space if you want 2 vocal tracks to pan and add effects to?

[Farview]

It is a waste of harddrive space to record a mono signal on a stereo track.

[Greg_L]

Originally Posted by Farview

It is a waste of harddrive space to record a mono signal on a stereo track.

oh okay. i agree with that.

[Clogs]

Sounds good to me to sing 2 mono separate takes, makes the vocals "wide" and loads of presence (IMO).

[NYMorningstar]

I know I'll catch hell for it but I am going to be the descenting vote here and say record them in stereo. I think you should track everything in stereo when possible. This gives the listener more audible cues describing where the instruments and singer/singers are in the presence of the other musicians in the same actual space where the performance takes place.

The space utilization shouldn't be a consideration any longer because memory is cheap, real cheap. Tracking an instrument stereo using a d/i wouldn't make sense either because it won't add a thing.

The all stereo tracking concept needs an acoustic environment that supports the music being played since this is the primary contributor to the sound of the air around the musicians and to how they react to the interaction of the sound of their instruments within the space they are performing. In your room, bass traps and your early reflection points take on an added significance in setting up your stereo field. Try setting the mics in a different location for the backup vocals(hint: in the back )

Anyhow, Happy Monday! now flame away

[leddy]

If you record the vocals in stereo, the result will depend a lot on what stereo technique you use. If you put an x-y pair up close, the vocals will probably move around between left and right a lot as the singer slightly moves his/her head. If you put a spaced pair of omnis a little further back, small head movements should not be as noticable.

I don't record vocals in stereo, but if I did I would probably try mid-side. That way, you have a mic pointed right at the singer getting the sound you are used to hearing, and you can dial in some stereo width later if it works for you.

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Originally Posted by mixaholic

i use adobe audition to record vocals with. should i put the setting on audio to mono or stereo when recording vocals? thanks

Notice he's asking how to set his software, not how to record vocals.

If you're using just one mic, set AA to track in mono. If you're using two mics, then track in stereo.

G.

[jimmy2sticks]

I would record vocals in mono as well. Like people said before, sending the main vocal track to a stereo aux track with delays or reverb will "widen" the image for you. Recording vocals in "stereo" seems a little excessive.

Also, I read up there that someone records everything in stereo. Are you in Def Leppard?

[Farview]

Originally Posted by NYMorningstar

The space utilization shouldn't be a consideration any longer because memory is cheap, real cheap.

But processing power isn't. Once you get 6 or 7 vocal tracks, all with compression, EQ, etc..., if you record them in stereo, you have just doubled the CPU load. Not to mention the fact that the singers movments would become very distracting in a mix. I'm trying to think of a style of music that would lend itself to having a single vocalist mic'd up in stereo and I'm coming up blank. Help me out.

[Greg_L]

Originally Posted by Farview

But processing power isn't. Once you get 6 or 7 vocal tracks, all with compression, EQ, etc..., if you record them in stereo, you have just doubled the CPU load. Not to mention the fact that the singers movments would become very distracting in a mix. I'm trying to think of a style of music that would lend itself to having a single vocalist mic'd up in stereo and I'm coming up blank. Help me out.

polka rap.

[NYMorningstar]

Originally Posted by Farview

But processing power isn't. Once you get 6 or 7 vocal tracks, all with compression, EQ, etc..., if you record them in stereo, you have just doubled the CPU load. Not to mention the fact that the singers movments would become very distracting in a mix. I'm trying to think of a style of music that would lend itself to having a single vocalist mic'd up in stereo and I'm coming up blank. Help me out.

Tracking in stereo is not going to double your cpu load although it will increase it. Processing power shouldn't be the deciding factor anyhow because you can always freeze tracks once you've apply all the compression and eq you need.

If you're having problems with the singer moving you have options.

Why make the style of music a limiting factor? Most styles of music don't have a single singer but even for those that do would have an added option for the singer to use panning as you go without being stuck to a knob.

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Originally Posted by NYMorningstar

Why make the style of music a limiting factor? Most styles of music don't have a single singer but even for those that do would have an added option for the singer to use panning as you go without being stuck to a knob.

The way I see it is tracking a vocal in mono actually gives one more options. A mono track can alway easily be copied and converted to a dual-mono stereo track if one wanted to apply stereo processing to it, so you can have the best of all worlds. A stereo track - one that is a true stereo recording and not just dual mono track - does not always transparently convert to mono however - there are often phase or comb filtering issues - so recording to stereo limits ones options.

Again, it's a different story if one is recording stereo for a specific sonic purpose (e.g. to get the room, to get different nearfield timbres, etc.) But if one is recording a mono source with stereo miking mainly just to have a stereo track, that's what you gotta work with unless it sums ok, no good options.

G.

[Farview]

Originally Posted by NYMorningstar

Tracking in stereo is not going to double your cpu load although it will increase it. Processing power shouldn't be the deciding factor anyhow because you can always freeze tracks once you've apply all the compression and eq you need.

If you're having problems with the singer moving you have options.

Why make the style of music a limiting factor? Most styles of music don't have a single singer but even for those that do would have an added option for the singer to use panning as you go without being stuck to a knob.

Do you have any examples? It would seem to me that stereo micing a vocalist to get the room sound would take away from the focus of the vocal. It would also make punching in more difficult because now you have to make sure the singer is standing in the same place side-to-side as well as the same distance from the mic. There must be something that I am missing.

[mixaholic]

yea i was talking about setting up the software to mono or stereo like Southside Glen said not tracking the vocals in mono or stereo. so after reading this i guess it's best to record vocals in mono. i should record addlibs and overdubbs in mono too right?

[RAK]

Originally Posted by mixaholic

yea i was talking about setting up the software to mono or stereo like Southside Glen said not tracking the vocals in mono or stereo. so after reading this i guess it's best to record vocals in mono. i should record addlibs and overdubbs in mono too right?

Like Southside said before, if you're recording a mono source, then you just need a mono track. If it's just one mic, then one track is all you need.

Now (and this may be getting off track) if you want to take a mono source, send it to a effects processor (say like a delay) and then return that to a stereo track (because the delay is stereo), that is a pretty normal thing to do. The input into the delay is mono (your 1 microphone), but output is in stereo (because the delay effect is stereo).

[Farview]

Originally Posted by mixaholic

i should record addlibs and overdubbs in mono too right?

Here is what you seem to confused about. In order to have stereo, you need to have a stereo source. One microphone will never be a stereo source. Even if you send that signal to a stereo track, it is still mono. So, you might as well record it on a mono track.