FALKEN
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question about hard panning guitars, like a doubled rhythm track. how do you deal with the fact that in mono the mix balance will be different?
TheChikenMaster
I'm Unbalanced
I don't worry about it, cuz I don't mix for mono
YorkshireTrippe
New member
set the levels of the two sides so they're the same volume, the mono balance will be roughly equal, if its atill way out then move the pan positions in a bit instead of going hard L and R 
mattr
Resident moody teenager
I don't worry about it, cuz I don't mix for mono
You should always check a stereo mix's mono "compatability" as you want to make sure that it sounds as good as possible when played back in as many ways as possible, right? Though not as bad, this is kind of the equivalent of saying that there is no point trying to get a good translatable mix because you are only ever going to listen to it on the monitors you mixed it on. Yes, most people will have a stereo speaker setup, but you can't be sure... some people might have their speakers very close together, etc.
In general, hard-panned separate takes will collapse to mono reasonably well, and are really quite difficult to screw up in this sense
You're much more likely to have problems if you start recording with 2 mics or more on an amp (and you would have problems using faux-stereo tricks) than hard panning duplicate takes recorded with a single mic.
FALKEN
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I have had a completely different experience. with distorted guitars I notice a huge difference, maybe 3 db, between the perceived volume level hard panned versus center. am I alone in this?
miroslav
Cosmic Cowboy
That's not unusal...but I wouldn't worry about it.
The only thing I check for in mono is to make sure nothing is completely cancelling out...but if you mix for stereo, especially a wide-stereo image with hard-panned elements, it will never sound the same in mono.
The only thing I check for in mono is to make sure nothing is completely cancelling out...but if you mix for stereo, especially a wide-stereo image with hard-panned elements, it will never sound the same in mono.
FALKEN
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so.....what to do ? in the past ive mostly ever mixed mono..
miroslav
Cosmic Cowboy
Mix it the way you want to...you can never account for every playback system in the world.
bunt
Hand-Crank Mixer
Just an opinion here, but I don't think hard panned stuff works well in cars... and lots of people listen in cars. If you are the driver, you tend to hear the passenger side (front speaker) because the driver side spkr is down there by your leg and shoots across to the other side. It does get balanced out somewhat by the rear speakers, but still.... I don't know of any cars with the steering wheel in the middle
miroslav
Cosmic Cowboy
Yeah...and a lot of people listen to iPods with earbuds....so, how many ghosts do you wanna end up trying to chase down when you make your mixing decisions???? 
Screw the car...it's one of the dumbest places to listen to music IMO, as the balance and EQ is always way off. Besides, most people adjust their Left/Right and Front/Back balance in their cars to favor their driving position rather than leaving it perfectly centered.
Mix so that it sounds good on your best studio monitors...and let everything else fall were it may.
Screw the car...it's one of the dumbest places to listen to music IMO, as the balance and EQ is always way off. Besides, most people adjust their Left/Right and Front/Back balance in their cars to favor their driving position rather than leaving it perfectly centered.
Mix so that it sounds good on your best studio monitors...and let everything else fall were it may.
bozmillar
New member
I'd say as long as it doesn't sound really awkward in mono, that's all you can really do for it. Nobody listening in mono is going to be listening critically to the song, so as long as nothing disapears in mono and it still ends up sounding like a song, then I don't think there's any reason to sacrifice the stereo mix to make the mono mix better.
bunt
Hand-Crank Mixer
Screw the car...it's one of the dumbest places to listen to music IMO, as the balance and EQ is always way off. Besides, most people adjust their Left/Right and Front/Back balance in their cars to favor their driving position rather than leaving it perfectly centered.
.
Well that was an insightful statement, miroslav... my favorite parts are "dumbest" and "most people".
darrin_h2000
Banned
I went and changed my car stereo to favor drivers postion by utilizing the rear speakers as the pair...and mounted 2 8" free air subwoofers in the doors...and peerless 5 1/2" midbass drivers with a pair of lineum tweeters mounted in the top rear.
Now my SUV is a pretty good place to hear mixes...Ive heard more than one A & R guy say that the best way to know if you have a hit is to listen to it in the car.
Now my SUV is a pretty good place to hear mixes...Ive heard more than one A & R guy say that the best way to know if you have a hit is to listen to it in the car.
miroslav
Cosmic Cowboy
What's your point?
Yes...mixing your music with a car stereo in mind is dumb, because it's a dumb place to listen to music if you are going to be critical about how it's mixed and how it sounds in the car.
Nothing wrong with listening in your car...but it's an awful place to try and be critical about it.
And yes...most people know how to adjust the balance in their cars to offset that whole L/F F/B imbalance so that it's not as bad as it can be when left centered.
Anything else?
samth3mancgp
New member
I was having trouble mixing a song recently where the lead and rhythm guitars were just a midrange mush no matter what EQing I gave them. After Hard panning the mic and DI lead guitar tracks to opposite sides, the mix just came to life.
jtourangeau
New member
Did you run bolth lead/rythm one DI,then bolth lead/rym mic.Or rythm L/DI R/DI,then lead L/MIC R/MIC? Did you mic and line out the amp at the same time and pan for one take ? I'll stop the 20 q's.