help with single stereo track

[morgansolstice]

hi. I just purchased a Edirol FA-66. I plug my mic or guitar in the appropriate area at the front (INPUT 1/L or INPUT 2/R). When listening to the playback in the monitors i can choose to hear the sound in stereo (L and R) or mono. But when the sound gets into my computer software (through a firewire) its only being read as a mono track even though there is an option in my software (Cakewalk Guitar Tracks) to record in mono L, mono R, or stereo, and I've selected the stereo option.

this doesn't really bother me for the guitars, its more for vocals and bass, i want to have them come through as L and R tracks. is this something that can be corrected through windows? or is this actually how recording with such a product is done? i don't want to have to redo my bass and vocal tracks twice just to get a centered sound, cuz that sounds off. Thank you so much.

 

[jimmy2sticks]

When you listen back, you are summing the mono. Meaning, it's not really stereo, but its distributing the mono send to both L/R. What yo uare recording is mono. A single audio channel. If you want to record stereo, you need two mics and two tracks to do it. You could also record your guitar once, then take another pass on a second track of the same thing and you will have a stereo guitar take to play with.

 

[bennychico11]

why do you want to record a stereo track? your guitar, bass and vocal are mono tracks (use one microphone).
One=mono
If you record a single microphone onto a stereo track, you're basically just using two tracks up when you could have gotten the EXACT same thing with one track. In other words, you're using more disk space up when you don't need to. There's no benefit.

Listening back in stereo is different than recording in stereo. A mono signal panned in the middle plays back through both speakers evenly. More likely, when it asks you to record Mono L/Mono R or Stereo, it means that it's calling Mic input 1=L, Mic input 2=R, Stereo=L/R together at the same time and recorded onto one stereo track.
You just need to choose which microphone you're working with and somewhere in the mixer or something, pan the track in the middle. That way it will come out both speakers evenly.

 

[jimmy2sticks]

why do you want to record a stereo track? your guitar, bass and vocal are mono tracks (use one microphone).
One=mono
If you record a single microphone onto a stereo track, you're basically just using two tracks up when you could have gotten the EXACT same thing with one track. In other words, you're using more disk space up when you don't need to. There's no benefit.

Dude - Have you never wanted a stereo guitar track? it can be very pleasing to the ear; acoustic or electric. I have so many professional recordings with stereo guitar tracks. What are you talking about?

 

[bennychico11]

Dude - Have you never wanted a stereo guitar track? it can be very pleasing to the ear; acoustic or electric. I have so many professional recordings with stereo guitar tracks. What are you talking about?

a mono (meaning one microphone) recorded onto a stereo track is only going to get you the exact same thing on two tracks. You'll get the same result if you just duplicate a mono track or if you turn the volume up 3dB on a mono track.
this was my point.

the original poster was talking about using one microphone or plugging his guitar in direct...this will give him a mono track. He doesn't need to make it a stereo track. If he's recording using two microphones at two different places on the guitar...then this is a whole different topic of discussion, and yes he can use a stereo track because he's using two microphones. although, typically, I'd still want to use two mono tracks....in some software programs, using stereo tracks doesn't allow you as much flexibility as using two mono tracks would.

 

[morgansolstice]

wow that was fast.

both you guys make sense, and i appreciate you helping me out.

so upon reading the info you've provided this is where i am at:
i am using one mic, and i am getting for example only the L in my mono track. what do you do in order to duplicate that into the R mono track? do i need a plugin to flip L to R? to get my Holy Grail Stereo sound.

thank you so much

 

[jimmy2sticks]

a mono (meaning one microphone) recorded onto a stereo track is only going to get you the exact same thing on two tracks. You'll get the same result if you just duplicate a mono track or if you turn the volume up 3dB on a mono track.
this was my point.

the original poster was talking about using one microphone or plugging his guitar in direct...this will give him a mono track. He doesn't need to make it a stereo track. If he's recording using two microphones at two different places on the guitar...then this is a whole different topic of discussion, and yes he can use a stereo track because he's using two microphones. although, typically, I'd still want to use two mono tracks....in some software programs, using stereo tracks doesn't allow you as much flexibility as using two mono tracks would.

Oh, Ok...I see what you mean now. Sorry about that. I thought you were trying to say that recording a guitar in stereo is not a good idea. I misunderstood. But you are right, haveing a stereo track of the same thing is not worth it. And I also always make 2 mono tracks in Pro Tools. I can't stand a stereo track unless it's an aux send for stereo reverb.

what do you do in order to duplicate that into the R mono track? do i need a plugin to flip L to R? to get my Holy Grail Stereo sound.

No, no plug in needed, but I would advise against this. This will not be true stereo. You should recorded the guitar a second time on a new track to have two distinct sounds on both sides.