mix in mono?

  • Thread starter Thread starter paresh
  • Start date Start date
Mix for yourself. Are you going to be listening in Mono? No? Then don't worry about it. People who are listening to songs blasting through an iPhone speaker are not people who are going to even listen to your music.
 
You could extend that further and ask are your listeners going to have reference monitors? Well, what's the point then?
Just mix on a soundbar or earbuds or whatever the listener's likely to have.

Admittedly mixing in mono probably isn't a great concern for most here, in terms of having listeners with mono systems,
but it's a great approach for identifying fundamental mix issues early on and making sure every part of the mix has its own space.
 
You toil and slave over your mix.

You invested gobs of money, probably more than you can comfortably afford to get the highest quality of recording gear.

You put your heart and soul into your craft.

And in the end you’ll make no money and no one cares.

Most, except for audiophiles and fellow musician/producer/engineer types, won’t even have the equipment to hear the music as intended.

In the ‘real’ world expect as best someone listening on a set of earbuds or maybe in the car.

So to hell with everyone else. Do the best you’re capable of. Please yourself. Most wont care.
 
95% of the music I listen to is in mono (bluetooth alexa speakers, or crappy laptop/phone speakers.

All music sounds good on stereo speakers, it's hardly mixing is it if you can't get something sounding good in mono or on harsh phone speakers and what have you
 
grimtraveller said:
But if you're panning from the get-go, doesn't that take care of masking ?
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NO.
if you hard pan, yea, maybe.
but in general, the frequencies that build up, are typically the low end,
and you are almost always panning bass, kick drum, centered...

maybe a synth introduces some more low end that masks, and even if you center a stereo sound, and even if it DOESN"T phase out weird when collapsing to mono, it may mask as well.

you always want to check you mixes in mono, for a host of reasons which pro mixers talk about everywhere on the web.
and even in the written word!!
heheh, which a lot of people don't seem to know about anymore....
 
GONZO-X said:
you always want to check you mixes in mono, for a host of reasons which pro mixers talk about everywhere on the web.
and even in the written word!! heheh, which a lot of people don't seem to know about anymore....
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It not as common to check mixes in Mono and Stereo - for one thing there is little reason to do it - most people are listening on stereo systems - and those that adhere to mono are not worth the extra money to mix it differently - that said It's fun to mix in Mono - but I'm older and appreciate it - but it's like showing a B&W film to a kid - they don't like it or see the point.
 
you should always check you mixes in mono.
that's what the pros do, and they do it for a reason.

some people don't understand why, and i get that.
 
GONZO-X said:
you should always check you mixes in mono.
that's what the pros do, and they do it for a reason.

some people don't understand why, and i get that.
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I'm a pro - I record for a living amount other musical pursuits - and checking mixes in Mono is only done sometimes - like if you think music is going to played back in a venue an they don't mix in stereo.
 
Do what you want,
No one is suggesting you change what you do.
 
I have my music on so many formats,
Who knows when it will be streamed thru Bluetooth speakers that fold stereo down to mono...
It happens.
 
The point isn't "who knows when it will be played on mono speakers" it's "who cares if it's played on mono speakers", unless you're the one listening on mono speakers, but WHY? Don't you want to enjoy listening to the music? I mix for Headphones... that's the #1 way that I enjoy listening to music. Sure... you want it to sound good in a Car or from a Stereo System (if you have one), but otherwise... why are you catering to people who don't care about music? Especially your music...
 
paresh said:
Sorry for such a basic question but is it a good practice to mix in mono? I'm just rediscovering this after too many years. thanks.
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Don't do it. Just get a mono speaker and toggle back and forth between that and stereo to check your mix.
 
Dude, some bass synths were mono, why do you think. For example classic Moog Prodigy.
 
Don't know if it's been discussed but mono mixes can be a creative choice. I knew a few guys who would only mix their songs in mono, because of how it sounds. Well, obviously it's very rare nowadays, but mono has it's fans.
 
It helps you catch phase issues and make sure everything sits right without relying on panning. If it sounds clean in mono, it'll usually sound better in stereo. Doesn’t mean you have to mix the whole thing that way, just check in mono now and then.
 
Looks like this is an old thread bump, but I'll contribute.

I do most of the heavy mixing in mono, before panning my elements (and I often do tweak the post-stereo mix a ton, but whatevs). This isn't for mono capability, this is just so I can get the mix clean and pristine as possible with everything spatially together. Then once I pan, voila! Everything opens up and sounds beautiful.
 
Seafroggys said:
Looks like this is an old thread bump, but I'll contribute.

I do most of the heavy mixing in mono, before panning my elements (and I often do tweak the post-stereo mix a ton, but whatevs). This isn't for mono capability, this is just so I can get the mix clean and pristine as possible with everything spatially together. Then once I pan, voila! Everything opens up and sounds beautiful.
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Hi - I'm the OP & that's pretty much what I've arrive at as well.
 
IF you are going to mix down to mono don't do it on headphones and ideally use a single speaker with the two channels properly summed. A phantom image from "stereo" speakers is not quite the same thing.

Dave.
 
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