Drum & Perc tracks is Mono

[MeltdownStudio]

Hi all,

I produce House, Hardhouse,Trance & Techno, my question is i went to a studio about 2 years ago and the engineer told me a few tips one of them was always to have my drum & perc tracks in mono and also my pads & bass due to the large amount of mono systems in clubs, i have been doin this lately, now this might seem like a dumb question but if i wanted to pan some hi-hats would i have to go back to a stereo track or can this be done with a plug in on a mono track i use cubase by the way, everything else is in stereo, i have even started to go back over my old productions and mix them down again, but what are your views on this, am i doin this right, or am i wasting my time, because i have 40 tracks that i would like to mixdown again because i understand the whole process a lot better now so any tips would be great

Thanks

Jay

You can listen to some of my productions here if interested JayHatchell's Spotlight page on SoundCloud - Hear the world

 

[mjbphotos]

Mono = same sound coming out of left and right, stereo = different sound coming out of left and right. One microphone/mono sound source can be panned in a stereo MIX to either side, in the center or any place between

 

[MeltdownStudio]

Mono = same sound coming out of left and right, stereo = different sound coming out of left and right. One microphone/mono sound source can be panned in a stereo MIX to either side, in the center or any place between

Yes i understand this thanks, my point was really, should i always have my drum tracks in mono and not worrie about panning the drum tracks for House/HardHouse?Trance & Techno

 

[miroslav]

I would still do the drums in stereo, just tighten up the spread and put your Kick/Snare dead center. If you have the drums done well, even when collapsing to mono, they will hold up.
I guess if your music will only be played in mono...then do it always in mono, but if not, you may want to have some stereo spread too.
Find a good balance between stereo and mono...then just hit the mono button on your DAW/console and compare. If it sounds really weird in mono but great in stereo....adjust the tracks as needed.
The issue will not be so much about the panning....but rather the EQ and levels. When in stereo, things have room to breathe, and frequencies don't "pile up" as much. So you can also do like some folks, and set the levels and EQ in mono until all the tracks sound good....then pan them out to stereo. You'll find that they will collapse to mono very well.

 

[MeltdownStudio]

I would still do the drums in stereo, just tighten up the spread and put your Kick/Snare dead center. If you have the drums done well, even when collapsing to mono, they will hold up.
I guess if your music will only be played in mono...then do it always in mono, but if not, you may want to have some stereo spread too.
Find a good balance between stereo and mono...then just hit the mono button on your DAW/console and compare. If it sounds really weird in mono but great in stereo....adjust the tracks as needed.
The issue will not be so much about the panning....but rather the EQ and levels. When in stereo, things have room to breathe, and frequencies don't "pile up" as much. So you can also do like some folks, and set the levels and EQ in mono until all the tracks sound good....then pan them out to stereo. You'll find that they will collapse to mono very well.

Thanks very much for this info its all starting to make sence now after years of producing music lol