Recording tracks in stereo or not...that is the question

[Jagular]

Ok, so I'm pretty new to this. In my very little bit of experience recording and mixing I usually record all instruments in mono and then locate them somewhere in the stereo field. When I listen to a lot of other recordings, I hear some very nice interaction between the left and right on certain instruments indicating that maybe they were recorded in stereo. Either that or there are some "tricks" being played with effects (delay, reverb or sth). Or do people double instument parts (say acoustic gtr) and pan one L and one R with a slight delay or different strumming patterns or something.

I read something once that said you don't want to record all your instruments in stereo as you would have a harder time making space for all the instruments.

I know this sounds like a general ramble, but I don't know what the hell I'm doing and I want to get that nice sound I keep hearing. Any advice would be very helpful.

Remember...me=noob

TIA for any thoughts

 

[Cyrokk]

Recording mono signals and panning them in various places is what most people do. A lot of times what you may be hearing is a guitar, say, being played on the left and it's reverb played on the right.. Usually this is done by sending the signal and the reverb unit to separate channels on the mixer, panning them accordingly..

How people double parts is a matter of choice. Copying the guitar track, slightly delaying it, and panning it opposite the first one is an easy method to beef up the sound of guitar tracks.. Another method is to play the same rhythm to a separate track, which some contend allows for a more varied and interesting sound.

Cy

 

[littledog]

Depends on the instruments and styles.

I usually record piano, marimba, harp, vibes, congas, timbales, bongos, and drums in stereo. Note that many of these are "big" instruments, and recording in stereo can help portray their size. Or else they have a distinct left and right component (like bongos). On the other hand, I don't record ALL big instruments in stereo - like tuba and bass, for instance.

I'll usually record solo acoustic guitar in stereo. If there is an amplified or electronic instrument that has a distinct stereo component in its built-in effects (like stereo vibrato, leslie speaker, etc) then I'll usually record that in stereo as well. Many synths are programmed today to sound more interesting if heard in stereo.

 

[zer0sig]

i do acoustic/vocal type stuff typically, and i do the guitar in stereo, and the vocs in mono (anything after that i have to think harder about) i find that stereo vocal takes thin out and get complicated to work with, whereas a strong mono track is very consistent. anything else on top of that i decide later-usually mono, though i may pan it some.