so mono and stereo

[ESPplayer7]

i understand that mono is 1 and stereo is both speakers, but i was wondering in what situation would you record what, i am completely lost on the subject. Would i do guitar stereo or mono, why? If i record in mono does that just mean if i have two speakers both will play the same thing? maybe someone could give me an explanation on when to use which, it would be greatly appreciated

 

[Farview]

If you are recording with one mic, that is mono. If you are recording 1 instrument with 2 mics, that can be stereo.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Whether you have a mono track or a stereo track is not related to the number of speakers at all, and having a mono signal only means it will be "in both speakers" an equal amount if you have that track panned dead center.

To start out with, record one mono track per "source"; source here meaning a sound source like a microphone or a line in. It's possible to have two mics on one instrument (e.g. stereo overheads on drums or two mics on different parts of an acoustic guitar); in those cases you can record them to a single stereo track, but it's often - if not usually - more flexible to still record those to single mono tracks each and then set their playback levels and pan positions individually. Pan them on your mixer or in your computer (depending on equipment you have) to sit where you want in the left-to-right stereo image.

If this is all new information to you, do a search on this forum for Bear's Recording 101 before going any further.

G.

 

[Dani Pace]

Lots of the time I record guitar with one mic (on one mono track) and one line in (on a second mono track) The miced track usually dosent get much done to it, I add any effects deemed nesassary to the line in track. A little panning and blending turns the two mono tracks into one stereo track then mix in with the rest of the tracks. There are probably better ways of doing it but for my limited knowledge this is what works for me.