q: for someone whos been here since the dawn of time

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There is a big difference between a stereo recording and a stereo mix.

[edit]steve.h explained it well.[/edit]

agreed....

and i believe in the question, recorded was specified....


how many vocal tracks, on every song ever recorded has been recorded in stereo?
or maybe a more general answer

nord
 
agreed....

and i believe in the question, recorded was specified....
Exactly my point. If you are trying to recording something in stereo, there has to be some stereo aspect to the source. A single vocal, especially close mic'd, has no spacial component to capture. So, you really can't record it in stereo, no matter how many mics you try to use.
 
A single vocal, especially close mic'd, has no spacial component to capture. So, you really can't record it in stereo, no matter how many mics you try to use.

Not so: however, you're correct in that it would only serve to amplify any undesirable qualities of the space the voice is being recorded in. I guarantee you 100% that almost anybody could tell if somebody used two mics separated by the same amount as your ears, vs. one of the same mic in the middle. The differences become less and less as the environment is removed from the equation, absolutely, but it is a fallacy to state that there is absolutely no spacial component to capture.
 
I was listening to a Bjork CD and some pretty wacky things were going on with panning the percussion and her voice. I'm talking about the one where she looks like Natalie Portman in that crazy Star Wars Episode 1 getup....

Also, my wife is an opera singer.... her demo was certainly not done in stereo, but most recordings of that genre are in stereo. Room sound is kind of the point--- operatically trained singers use the room as part of their instrument, as far as I am concerned.
 
Stereo vocals for video

Hi,

On topic but off question.

When I shoot videos I often use a stereo pair and record the room. I choreograph my videos so instead of me being still and the camera moving around me the camera is still and I move to frame the different shots. Since I am moving when I am singing the stereo image has me moving around the room while you see me moving on the video. Because the audio motion correlates with the video this seems very natural. Listening to some of these tracks without the video can be pretty weird.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry
 
Not so: however, you're correct in that it would only serve to amplify any undesirable qualities of the space the voice is being recorded in. I guarantee you 100% that almost anybody could tell if somebody used two mics separated by the same amount as your ears, vs. one of the same mic in the middle. The differences become less and less as the environment is removed from the equation, absolutely, but it is a fallacy to state that there is absolutely no spacial component to capture.
If you have the mics 6 inches apart and the vocalist a foot away, you aren't micing the singer, your micing the room with a singer in it. The singer is still mono. The room is the space.

Just like micing a guitar cabinet. Even if you have two mics up close, it's still mono. If you back the mics off, you get a spacial component. But that is the room, not the cabinet.

Besides, the OP was asking if people actually record vocals in stereo... The answer is no for single voice.
 
If you have the mics 6 inches apart and the vocalist a foot away, you aren't micing the singer, your micing the room with a singer in it. The singer is still mono. The room is the space.
Agreed, but by that same token, you can't possibly record a "singer" if the singer is in a room, you are *always* recording the room!

Anyway, we both agree that recording vocals in stereo is pointless :)
 
If you have the mics 6 inches apart and the vocalist a foot away, you aren't micing the singer, your micing the room with a singer in it. The singer is still mono. The room is the space.

Just like micing a guitar cabinet. Even if you have two mics up close, it's still mono. If you back the mics off, you get a spacial component. But that is the room, not the cabinet.

Besides, the OP was asking if people actually record vocals in stereo... The answer is no for single voice.

so who is to say at what point you are no longer micing the singer and are micing the room?
 
Agreed, but by that same token, you can't possibly record a "singer" if the singer is in a room, you are *always* recording the room! :)
Semantics. If the guy is 3 inches from the mic and he's singing pretty loud, or if the room is completely dead, you aren't recording the room. (or, at least you don't intend to)
 
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