Stereo vs Mono

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Rockr56

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Just curious about when it's best to record in stereo rather than mono or vice versa. Pertaining to guitars, vocals, background vocals, background noise like tambourine, shakers etc. I understand it's probably a matter of taste. But is one better than the other in certain situations? Thanks!
 
Well....how many tracks do you have to throw around? I'm limited to 24, so that is a big factor on my choices. I'm often limited to stereo drum overheads and a few stereo key patches. If I had 96 tracks I might do more in stereo.
 
for the most part stereo v. mono it is a matter of taste and mono is better. cool people record in mono, lame people record in stereo. it is that simple.

my rule of thumb is to think about sound source size to intended listener position. are you supposed to be "in the small rehearsal room" with the drums? then stereo is cool. are you supposed to be in the same theater with the drums, then i go mono-- maybe a stereo room mic but no stereo OH certainly no fucking stupid across the board tom panning. that shit is dumb. have you ever listened to a band and mainly heard the floor tom in your left ear?

for a "stereo" guitar, you would have to be like within 2-3 feet of the thing to hear that... so if you want the listener to feel like he is REALLY close to the guitar... go ahead.

of course the exception here for panning is if you are referencing a 60's style of extreme panning. which i approve of.
 
"cool people record in mono, lame people record in stereo. it is that simple."

i am hoping this comment was sarcastic because you sound lame. It is completely a matter of taste as to whether you record in stereo or mono.
 
As the dude said, mono or stereo is totally a matter of preference. You should consider the characteristics of the two types of recording to determine when to use each. Stereo will give your mix a sense of movement and bigness, while mono will isolate and focus your sound more. If you have a mix with a lot going on, you may want to choose to place mono instruments to keep from cluttering your space. Or for that big electric guitar sound with a sense of power and space you may go stereo and pan hard. The choice is up to you, and there is no 'better than'. But you definitely should hear what each sounds like and decide based on creativity and not cmfort.

A trick I picked up a while back was even if I am going to focus an instrument hard left or right I will track stereo and maybe only space the tracks 10-20 degrees apart, then place them on the left or right. This gives the mix a bigger/fuller sound that seems to move more without cluttering things up too much. I will track in stereo most of the time and make mono later if I don't want stereo. (You can't go the other way) Number of tracks is a consideration, although, I have quite a few and have never ran into that as a deciding factor.

Hope this helps.
 
starch said:
Or for that big electric guitar sound with a sense of power and space you may go stereo and pan hard.
I was just curious what you meant by pan hard. I know it means to the left or the right. But witch way and how do you know?
 
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eeldip said:
for the most part stereo v. mono it is a matter of taste and mono is better. cool people record in mono, lame people record in stereo. it is that simple.
????????

:confused:
 
Reggaesoldier said:
I was just curious what you meant by pan hard. I know it means to the left or the right. But witch way and how do you know? forgive me im new.
For example, pan hard left means all the way to the left... and pan hard right means all the way to the right... you'll know "when and where" when it sounds right... in other words, experiment... when it sounds good, you've nailed it.
 
When you record everything in stereo, the result is "big mono". With so many location cues in the mix everything sounds muddy. Record each track in mono and then pan to make it stereo.

Drums are a special case...I record in stereo on drums so the tom isn't coming out of the high-hat.
 
alright, so basically record in stereo and pan hard left and right for both sides? Thats what I was tryin to find out. Sorry the first question was so vague. BTW, when recording in stereo and panning both left and right hard, it doesnt seem to make that much of a difference. Or maybe I just did it wrong.
 
Reggaesoldier said:
alright, so basically record in stereo and pan hard left and right for both sides? Thats what I was tryin to find out. Sorry the first question was so vague. BTW, when recording in stereo and panning both left and right hard, it doesnt seem to make that much of a difference. Or maybe I just did it wrong.
Yes, that is what "pan hard" means... and if it doesn't make that much of a difference you must be doing something wrong or have something hooked-up wrong.
 
lpdeluxe said:
When you record everything in stereo, the result is "big mono".

lpdeluxe, I really don't know what this means. Could you please explain?

I think what the general theme here is, it's not a matter of what is better, or more appropriate, it's what is better and more appropriate for you to accomplish what you want. Stereo adds another dimension to sound from mono, which can add movement and space to a recording, but it also poses unique sonic challenges. Do what is appropriate to reach the projects goals.

Good luck
 
Reggaesoldier said:
alright, so basically record in stereo and pan hard left and right for both sides? Thats what I was tryin to find out. Sorry the first question was so vague. BTW, when recording in stereo and panning both left and right hard, it doesnt seem to make that much of a difference. Or maybe I just did it wrong.

Starch mentioned this;
"A trick I picked up a while back was even if I am going to focus an instrument hard left or right I will track stereo and maybe only space the tracks 10-20 degrees apart, then place them on the left or right. This gives the mix a bigger/fuller sound that seems to move more without cluttering things up too much."

This might be a case for a pair of mono tracks. The panning options are different with two monos Vs a stereo track. With stereo, you can only collapse it toward one side Vs total width and pan control with a mono pair.
Wayne
 
I'm just starting to record at home. I am doing a solo piano thing and I'll be using a digital piano. Note...there are no other instruments or tracks, just the one keyboard track (I'm guessing in a band situation you'd record the keyboard in mono since you'd have several instruments to pan).

Is it better to record in stereo using the keyboard's stereo out or record the keyboard in mono and then get a stereo spread when I mix? I'm assuming that some of the stereo spread coming from the keyboard is coming from the built in reverb...and is that how I'd get stereo in my mix if I record in mono (using stereo reverb)?

Thanks.
 
I do everything in mono except for a stereo overhead pair on drums, and then use panning to place everything along a horizontal axis to give a stereo image of the entire song.
 
Starch, what I meant was that the overall mix is "stereo". That is, the lead vocal is in the middle (for example), a backup vocal is on the left, a lead guitar is on the right, and keyboards and so on are distributed around where there's space and [hopefully] they sound most natural. In this mix, each individual signal is mono so that it can take its place in the final conglomeration.

If you record that lead vocal in stereo, the end result (assuming you have equal signal on each side) is that you hear a mono vocal in the center. If you record that backup vocal in stereo, and pan the result left, you have a signal that seems to be coming from 2 different places. The result is that the listener's ability to locate that voice in the mix is diminished. You have at least devoted more hard drive space to that data (as a stereo track) than it needed (as a mono track).

I had never particularly thought about this until a couple of years ago when a local bluegrass guy who records at his home complained that "the better his stereo micing technique got on individual instruments, the worse his mixes sounded".

I may have the details wrong but it's certainly an effect you can hear.
 
sparadiddle said:
... Note...there are no other instruments or tracks, just the one keyboard track (I'm guessing in a band situation you'd record the keyboard in mono since you'd have several instruments to pan).

That's a big factor -how much space gets allotted to an instrument or voice.
If the keyboard's notes are spread out L-R (not just the verb) and you want that kind of larger spread, than the stereo out would be the way to go.
Part of the consideration is also your 'stage' picture. (There's a better way to say that..:rolleyes: ) Even with only one instrument, you may want to have the listener back in the audience a bit as opposed to to the player being up close, wide and in you face. In that case you would tend to pan the stereo inst. in some (or go mono), and let the ambience do the 'wide' part. Check out the stereo vs dual-mono panning options too.
Wayne
 
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