Mono or stereo for best "natural" acoustic sound?

[philips]

I've always recorded my live vocal/acoustic guitar music in stereo, using 2 mics. I've always "assumed" stereo was better, because that seems to be what almost everyone believes..........the theory being we've got 2 ears so we hear in stereo, therefore if we want to make an acoustically "accurate" recording of acoustic music (meaning vocal/guitar) it's best to record in stereo.

Well, a few days ago I started to think a bit about this "we hear in stereo" theory, and now I don't think we "really" hear in stereo, certainly not the type of full blown stereo people use in recordings. If someone sits in front of you and sings and plays an instrument I now believe we hear the music in "mono", because our ears are so close to each other they are hearing the music from "almost" the identical location. That's pretty much "mono". Also, the music being played/sung is also coming from virtually "one" location......that's mono. (Keep in mind I'm not talking about music where some musicians are at one side of a stage, some in the middle, and others on the other side of the stage during a performance). I'm basically talking about a sound source from a single general location, or close to that.

So I then decided to put the theory into action and recorded two live versions of the same tune, one stereo (2 mics with each mic recording both vocal and guitar) and one mono (using just one mic).

To my ears the mono version sounds MUCH more acoustically "accurate", meaning it sounds MUCH more like the music "really" sounds like when it is actually being played.........more natural.

I'm considering dropping stereo recording altogether.

Does anybody else have any thoughts regarding "acoustic accuracy" in recordings, in relation to stereo vs mono?


PS: Oops!! I just realized I should maybe have put this in the "recording techniques" section.

 

[rayc]

All of the extra sounds, late & early reflections would still make what you describe stereo.
Have you listened, with headphones, to a stereo binaural recording? Something like Lou Reed's Take No Prisoners Live is a very good example of binaural stereo (based on the angles, reflections & spacing of ears). It doesn't really work with out headphones though.
Do you "stereo" mic recordings take into account possible phase issues etc that may be compromising your listening?
Having said all of the aboev I have quite a few mono recording, most of which were specifically mixed FOR mono - Odessey & Oracle, Pet Sounds, the Spector Back to Mono box set. & they sound SUPERB but do not approach a life like reproduction of a performance.
& then the whole argument about a recording being an archive of an event and of a studio album being a manipulated piece of art come into view.

 

[ofajen]

Well, a few days ago I started to think a bit about this "we hear in stereo" theory, and now I don't think we "really" hear in stereo, certainly not the type of full blown stereo people use in recordings.

(snip)

I'm considering dropping stereo recording altogether.

Does anybody else have any thoughts regarding "acoustic accuracy" in recordings, in relation to stereo vs mono?

Here are just a few thoughts...

Kudos to you for considering the issue and trying some different things out! Recording mono tracks may well give you recordings that suit you better, but your first statement could scarcely be more incorrect. Please remember that "stereophonic" actually means "having to do with sound in three dimensions", not just the dumbed down idea of attempting to recreate sound in three dimensions with two audio channels.

Human hearing is a complex, three-dimensional process, though far from perfect in localizing sounds in three dimensions. That humans hear and locate sounds in three dimensions, at least to a certain degree, is well documented in a number of respects and is a settled question.

OTOH, when you are working in audio, there is a collection of "stereophonic" techniques that are worth understanding and using. I heartily recommend "The New Stereo Soundbook" by Streicher and Everest for anyone who wants to understand hearing and stereophonic sound better.

One basic decision you need to make is whether you are trying to create a "you are there" recording or a "they are here" recording. The binaural recordings rayc mentioned are about as good as may be at the "you are there" idea. However, they aren't so great on speakers.

If you want to create a "they are here" recording that sounds good over speakers, you may just want to record the parts in mono and pan them across a stereo field.

I'm not sure if you're suggesting you would just track in mono or also mix in mono, but giving up on stereo audio as a mix medium really has its limitations. One huge difference is that stereo reproduction allows your ears to distinguish source from ambience much more easily using location cues. If you are limited to mono, you must keep the reflected sound (ambience) at a much lower level or the recording will sound muddy. Concert hall studios for old mono recordings, for instance, were much "deader" than concert hall studios used for stereo recordings.

I hope that helps.

Cheers,

Otto

 

[tdukex]

Well, I like a single mic in a pop/country/rock mix. With proper micing technique I can get the track to sit in the mix and perform the exact task that is needed for that particular song. But for solo acoustic stuff a two mic recording almost always wins for me. No expert here, but mics affect your sound more than anything except the instrument:where you place it (nearer-farther, left-right, freq response, polar pattern, off-axis response, proximity effect, transient response, etc., etc.). And an acou guit is a complex instrument; it radiates different sound from different places. It is much easier for me to get a sound I like for a particular piece with two mics.

 

[3rd&4thT]

We have two eyes but we can only see forward. We have two ears but we can hear 360 degrees around us.

If you are listening on speakers, you are listening in a physical space, whether interior or exterior. That means you are listening in surround. Stereo is just a convention, an advance on mono, but not an accurate representation of what we hear either.

A vocal tightly spaced with guitar may seem like mono, but you're still not listening to a point source. If the guitar sound also came out of the vocalist's mouth recorded in an anechoic chamber, you'd have live mono. Since that's impossible, be aware of the room you're tracking in and avoid a six-foot guitar.

Mono has a satisfying focus if you've been away from it for a long time, but a better choice is to experiment some more with stereo technique or perhaps your monitoring setup has problems.

One thing you might play with is mid-side recording. This way you can mess with the width endlessly after the fact, and find a comfortable breadth for your stereo. Because breadth you have.

3rd&4thT

 

[JordanD]

im lookin foward to 3d sound!