How to get the most out of a "mono" recording

[NL5]

I have a total nebie question. I have a bunch of old tapes that were mixed from a portastudio. They wre mixed down to 1 track for some reason, can't remember why. Anyway, I have dumped them into my daw as two mono tracks, and would like to create a psudeo-stereo mix. Is this possible? How?

I was going to eq the two channels differentlt, to move certain instruments slighlty to one side or the other. After that, I am pretty well lost.

Thanks in advance,

NL5

 

[reel buzzer]

Don't dump as two mono tracks.

Keep it one track and mix it through some stereo effects like a quadraverb.

 

[sathyan]

Why does it need to be stereo?

I've come across plenty of great mono recordings (Furtwangler, early Walter, some Cannonbal Adderly, etc) . But almost universally the "electronically remastered for stereo" LP releases of the 50/60s sound horrid.

So just consider whether a stereo sound stage will enhance your project.

 

[Texas Slim]

i'd use a bunch of parametric eq's inside your DAW to bring out specific freq's, but instead of boosting a bunch of freq's and adding more noise....try cutting problem freq's.

 

[Uno]

Sending mix through stereo reverb or imager will undoubtely change some important sound characheristics of recording but I remember working on Piano&vocal mono recordings some year ago sending them through Waves Trueverb which gave them very nice stereo wideness without drowning them in reverb. Trueverb is expensive and kinda tricky to master but it helped me more then some streo imagers when working with mono waves.
It depends on music genre as well, in classical pieces it can do wonders not sure about rock oldies though.