guitar jacks

[Jacksondog]

I just recorded my first track with my electric bass on nTrack. I plugged directly from the "send" (or line-out) into line-in on the sound card. I used a 1/4 to 1/8 adapter, on the guitar cord going into the sound card (ensoniq pci). This might be a stupid question but I will ask it anyway.

It recorded and played back in mono. Is this correct?
Should it record and playback in stereo?

Thank you,
Trevor

 

[esactun]

Did you set the file to be recorded in stereo? Often there is a choice (I haven't used n-tracks yet) of mono or stereo, preferred sample rate and 8- or 16- or 24- bit recording...

Also, even if your 1/8 plug adapter is a stereo plug, the line from your amp is still a mono guitar cord. Even if you are recording to a stereo file, it will still be mono sound. If you want the bass in stereo, you'd need to record with two microphones (or add effects, etc. after tracking).

Mono should be OK for bass, however. It's not terribly directional, sonically speaking. I do bass in mono. It sounds like everything is working correctly to me.

 

[Jacksondog]

Thank you!
I did choose stereo playback, but wasn't real sure anyway. So, thanks again.
One more question, will it convert to stereo eventually? Like, say when it gets mixed down to one track with everything else?

Trevor

 

[Scooter B]

Since I am still finacially stuck in 4-track cassette land I mostly record in mono and run the guitar/bass etc into a stereo effect unit that acceps mono in and outputs "simulated stereo" to the returns during mixing wich gives me an instant stereo track.

One caveat: Truly using two mics to record in stereo and "simulated stereo" are two different things. I just finished reading an interview with Rupert Neve at the Tape OP website where he disussed the difference between "true stereo" and "two tracked mono" as he put it. You can find it at www.tapeop.com and look under the bonus articles.

Most of your listeners would never notice the difference but I had to add the disclaimer before I was corrected by one of the more knowledgable people here.

 

[Jacksondog]

One more thing...

I also have on my Crate bx-100 amp a balanced line-out. Would I be better off to use that going into the sound card? Or, stick with the send (direct out)?

 

[AlChuck]

If you record a duplicate signal to two sides of a stereo track all you have is twice the data.

There's no reason to record a bass, guitar or anything, really, in stereo unless you are attempting to capture the real acoustic space by stereo micing (which is difficult and requires a great deal of skill), or if the instrument outputs are already in stereo and pre-mixed already (the output of a synth, a stereo guitar...)

You make the final result stereo by panning (which places the mono source in the sound field) and stereo effects (for example, a delayed signal panned elsewhere than the uneffected signal).

 

[esactun]

will it convert to stereo eventually? Like, say when it gets mixed down to one track with everything else?

Trevor

I'm not sure what you mean by "convert to stereo," so I'll make a few guesses.

When the song is mixed down, it will be a "stereo" file (2 channels, left and right). A mono sound will be in both channels equally. It's a perfectly accurate reproduction of the same sound in a one-channel file. (That is, unless it's panned somewhere.) This is what I think ScooterB means by "two-track mono". The sounds are all mono, 1-channel sounds, even if panned across two channels.

"True stereo" is had by matched-pair micing or "stereo simulation", where sonic information is somewhat different on each track. If you use Windows, listen to the startup sound. It's panned center, but you can detect frquencies moving about from side to side. It's in stereo, and cannot be accurately reproduced with one channel.

Mixing down will not convert a mono sound into a stereo sound. You can mix down into two channels, panned etc. like I said above (for Pseudo-stereo, 2-channel mono, what have you), but the bass track, ferinstance, will still be a mono sound (just in two channels). This is not necessarily a bad thing; some instruments may sound flat that way, but bass handles it fine.

Am I talking out my ass, or merely confusing the issue? Did this make any sense whatsoever? And to think I haven't even opened my beer yet...

 

[Jacksondog]

..."When the song is mixed down, it will be a "stereo" file (2 channels, left and right)."

That makes sense to me. Thanks for all your advice.

But one more thing, balanced line out or direct line out from my bass amp (into soundcard)?

Trevor

 

[Scooter B]

Kudos to AlChuck,

You explained it better than I.

The Rupert Neve article I mentioned in Tape OP was very interesting conseptually. It got me thinking about what Mr Neve called "true stereo" and what he called "dual mono".

AlChuck touched on this by pointing out that when you record with stereo microphones the two channels are not identical and some of the phasing that occurs gives us spatial information. Mr Neve kind of got into surround sound and 3D stereo sound field perception. By panning the volume of a sound or instrument from left to right we can create the illusion of movement or placement of a sound source. According to Mr Neve in the real world of hearing things live; our brains process some of the phasing and delay that occurs naturally to detect locational information more than volume.

I guess an example would be sitting right behind a drum kit while playing it the snare and high hat could be at exactly equal volume but our stereophonic ears could still tell us that the snare and high hat were on our left.

This is getting way deeper than Jacksondog's original question but I have only heard of "phasing" in negative terms so far as something to be avoided in recording so it was an epiphani to find out that a certian type of phasing is essential for us to place where sounds come fround in our environment.