recording tracks in stereo

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lo-Fi Mike
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Lo-Fi Mike

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I’m using an aardvark q 10 (the inputs are mono only) and am having trouble recording stereo tracks. I’m running Cubase LE. I know it has something to do with sending the inputs to selected places, but I just cant figure it out. The help would be greatly appreciated. :D
 
You have to click the button in your track inspector to switch between mono and stereo. When it is set to stereo and you go to select which imput it is going to recieve from the Q-10, the inputs will be linked in pairs (ie., inputs 1+2, 3+4 ect..). Select the two inputs you are going to use to record your stereo source. Record. You now have a stereo track.

Alternatively, you could just record the two inputs to two mono tracks, a trick Blue Bear taught me that gives you a bit more flexability after you are done recording. Pan out each side to choice for your stereo effect.
 
are you saying that I have to physically put a signal in to input 1 and input 2 of my
interface(Q-10), and send them both to one track( which will leave me with only 4 simultaneous stereo tracks)? Is there a way to record stereo tracks using all 8 inputs at once, or am I just getting you all wrong?
thanks for your help.
 
First question would be ..... What is it that you are trying to record in stereo?
When you record a stereo track, you normally would be recording two channels of material (ie Left and Right) containing different material (or maybe slightly different .... think stereo image).
If you are recording ...say just a guitar track with no stereo effects (stereo delay or what not) ... you will only have the one output of the guitar material (no form of stereo image). That single audio signal would normally be recorded to a mono track and panned accordingly in the mix. No need to send one signal to a stereo track, as that would be a larger file size and be the same thing as having a mono track panned center.
You can, however, expand a mono track to stereo if you are wanting to use some form of stereo effect (plugin) on that track.
In essence, if you are trying to capture a true stereo image .... yes you need to use two inputs for the stereo track, or as has been said .... use two mono tracks and pan accordingly.

HTH
 
Lo-Fi Mike said:
are you saying that I have to physically put a signal in to input 1 and input 2 of my
interface(Q-10), and send them both to one track( which will leave me with only 4 simultaneous stereo tracks)? Is there a way to record stereo tracks using all 8 inputs at once, or am I just getting you all wrong?
thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

A stereo track by nature, is a two channel track, one left and one right, so yes, you would only be able to record 4 simultaneous stereo tracks with the 8 inputs, (or 5 if you use the digital inputs on the q10). However, as I stated before, you CAN send the two inputs to two seperate mono tracks and adjust the panning yourself which would be the same as one stereo track.

I am guessing that you are overthinking the importance of stereo tracks in the recording phase. When you listen to a recording on a CD or on the radio or whatever, most of what you are hearing are mono recorded tracks, that then are panned and work together to create the final stereo mix. You don't need to record in stereo, to end up with a stereo mix. As Blue Bear pointed out to me early in my recording life, unneccisary stereo tracks can actually by harder to fit in the mix, and after experimenting I discovered how true this was. About the only thing i will record in stereo is keyboards (and even there I often will go mono unless there is a really needed stereo effect to the patch), and certain effects that call for stereo imaging.
 
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