Mixing in mono

[teeboy]

My interface has a button that is named mono but when i turn it on i still hear on both of my monitors and that to me is still stereo,i stand to be corrected. Pls explanations

 

[mjbphotos]

Same sound coming out of each speaker = MONO. Different sound coming out of each speaker = STEREO. Of course if your signal is MONO (same thing on left and right) you won't hear a difference!

 

[Massive Master]

"Stereo" is the difference between left and right. 100x "this" is still mono.

 

[sixer2007]

I think I know what the OP means because my interface has a mono/stereo switch that does nothing.. I just use a mono button on a stereo imaging plug inserted on my master buss instead.

 

[CoolCat]

you can check mixes in Mono, this puts everything in the same position and allows setting eq and volumes.
some say "if it sounds good in mono it will sound great in stereo"....
an Abbey Road engineer mentions it in some article too.

it can help force masking issues out /crowding freqs, and volume levels are magnified in mono, in a way.

mono everything is in the center... sometimes I'll record in mono, numerous tracks = all panned in the center.

Reaper has it on its mixer too, I use it sometimes to see if anything is waaay out there, too loud or too much going on in one frequency area.

I guess if you want to make a fast mono mix you can hit the button, and compare your stereo mix to the mono.

Maybe someone will add more....

 

[grimtraveller]

An argument from silence, a conclusion until further notice......

"Stereo" is the difference between left and right.

I've seen Massive state this now for a few years and no one has ever contradicted it or disagreed with it so that's my definition of stereo until further notice !

you can check mixes in Mono, this puts everything in the same position and allows setting eq and volumes.

But won't these alter once you set things in stereo ?

some say "if it sounds good in mono it will sound great in stereo"....

I'm still waiting for someone to explain how a stereo mix gets to sound right in mono.

it can help force masking issues out /crowding freqs,
I use it sometimes to see if anything is waaay out there, too loud or too much going on in one frequency area.

But won't masking be more of an issue in mono ? Wouldn't it be the case that alot of those kind of issues disappear once you're putting sounds in different non competing places in the 'stereo field' ?

sometimes I'll record in mono, numerous tracks = all panned in the center.

Is it possible to 'pan in mono' ? Someone mentioned it in one of these mono discussions a while back.

 

[CoolCat]

my interpretation of what I heard some time ago was like..Tracking in Mono, for example.
Everything is forced to the "center" or ..and basically after tracking and having the right tones/eq and the volumes set, then the engineer would go stereo and make slight adjustments and obviously panning, but minimal if any eq or volume changes.

i check my stereo mixes with the mono button and sometimes some tracks disappear or seem too loud, and I'll mess around.

i cant delve into real examples because I dont care for my mixes, and lose interest after thew recording and rough draft is done usually.

but its kind of interesting how on most good mixes you can go to mono and back to stereo and both sound good.

and that has something to do with the ability for the tune to transfer around from different environments and still sound ok.

there has to be some reason for the MONO buttons use, or else why would so many slap it on the mixer and interfaces? right?

 

[CoolCat]

I think I know what the OP means because my interface has a mono/stereo switch that does nothing.. I just use a mono button on a stereo imaging plug inserted on my master buss instead.

what do you use the mono button for specifically?

 

[sixer2007]

what do you use the mono button for specifically?

I mix over half of the time in mono. For the reasons you have described above. My EQ and compression decisions have been much better since trying to mix that way.

But won't masking be more of an issue in mono ? Wouldn't it be the case that alot of those kind of issues disappear once you're putting sounds in different non competing places in the 'stereo field' ?

This is exactly the point of mixing in mono! Masking is more, so you aren't being tricked by the stereo separation that becomes less and less and less as you move out of the sweet spot between 2 speakers.

 

[ashcat_lt]

Yep. If you are absolutely sure that everybody who ever listens to your mixes is always going to listen in exactly the same stereo situation (headphones, sweet spot...) then you can ignore mono compatibility. There are all kinds of great fun things you can do which will make it sound epic in perfect stereo and absolutely fall apart in anything less.

I personally have never yet made a mix decision monitoring in mono which made the stereo mix worse. I think the only way to convince the skeptics is to make them try it. We'll see how that turns out...

 

[moresound]

Collapse your stereo drum tracks down to mono to check how they fit together!

 

[Massive Master]

I personally have never yet made a mix decision monitoring in mono which made the stereo mix worse. I think the only way to convince the skeptics is to make them try it. We'll see how that turns out...

I don't even touch the pan controls until the mix sounds decent in mono. I'd dare to say that it's almost "universally" true that if a mix sounds "right" in mono, it's going to sound "right" in stereo - But it's not at all necessarily true the other way around. And on the flip side, the best sounding mixes almost "universally" sound good in mono also.

 

[grimtraveller]

I personally have never yet made a mix decision monitoring in mono which made the stereo mix worse. I think the only way to convince the skeptics is to make them try it. We'll see how that turns out...

Sometimes, the 'skeptics' as you refer to them are not being skeptical. They're posing questions because they are seeking to learn and get their head around a concept that they happen to find difficult.

I don't even touch the pan controls until the mix sounds decent in mono.

I'm still trying to figure out this whole mono thing so hopefully, you can help me here.
Say you've got the mix sounding decent in mono, are all your settings going to remain the same once you start panning stuff or do you alter anything ?
I find it quite interesting that in the 'old days' albums came in both mono and stereo format. The engineers had specific mixing sessions for both. Obviously a mono mix will work in stereo because there's no difference in the information {if I take your definition}. How can a stereo mix work in mono ? Thus far, whenever I've asked the question, the replies I get concern things like masking and balances and settings. But where I have a problem understanding is this; if stereo is the difference between left and right and mono has no difference, then how can stereo mixes work in mono ?

 

[CoolCat]

wow..i didnt know mono-button was used so heavily, but reading the last few posts it sounds solid, and totally confirms my laymens thoughts.
when someone opens a post like this its always interesting, mono versus stereo world...when does one start panning away, which can really alter everything.

so for those who do it... if you record a cd/album of say...10 songs, would it be normal for engineers to track everything in mono, focusing on the eq and masking..and not start the pan until the mixing starts?

in another way to ask that, do you not pan and have the bands headphones in stereo during tracking?
just keep it in mono world, get it best you can and then add the "wow" factor during the the stereo mix later?

 

[grimtraveller]

in another way to ask that, do you not pan and have the bands headphones in stereo during tracking?

I sometimes do track in stereo but most of the time I do so in mono. But then, it depends on whether I'm overdubbing. Initial tracking with drums or percussion and bass or guitar is generally done in mono. It feels unbalanced otherwise.

 

[Massive Master]

I'm still trying to figure out this whole mono thing so hopefully, you can help me here.
Say you've got the mix sounding decent in mono, are all your settings going to remain the same once you start panning stuff or do you alter anything ?
I find it quite interesting that in the 'old days' albums came in both mono and stereo format. The engineers had specific mixing sessions for both. Obviously a mono mix will work in stereo because there's no difference in the information {if I take your definition}. How can a stereo mix work in mono ? Thus far, whenever I've asked the question, the replies I get concern things like masking and balances and settings. But where I have a problem understanding is this; if stereo is the difference between left and right and mono has no difference, then how can stereo mixes work in mono ?

If you can get all the elements in a mix to "play well" with each other while coming from a single point, they will still sit just as well if you start moving them around in the field.

I'm sure you've heard plenty of rock recordings with big giant guitars panned hard to the sides that when in mono, those guitars nearly vanish -- If those guitars were treated differently, EQ'd differently, perhaps recorded in a different manner, (A) that potentially won't happen and (B) the mix will just sound better "naturally" (for lack of a better term). On those "better" sounding recordings, you might notice that one guitar is very "crunchy" and the other rather "fuzzy" sounding -- and they collapse well to mono.

But that's also one of those things to think about when you start a mix in mono -- You're not hearing what's potentially being canceled out until you start panning things around. If you get those guitars to feel right in mono, they might be way too loud once panned out - But that's an indication of them not really "playing well with each other" too -- And if you can find the cause of that and fix it, you'll almost always have a better sounding mix in the end.