To track mono or stereo that is the question...

[Farview]

I always track in stereo...even when tracking with a single mic. Why?...because many of the effect plug-ins only affect stereo tracks in a desired way.

You aren't tracking in stereo, you are tracking in mono on a stereo track. There is a difference.

 

[gordone]

WOW! That's a waste of hard drive space.

N-Track has an option to take a mono track and expand it to stereo during playback (on-the-fly) so it works with stereo plug-ins without a problem. I can't remember what the option is, but it's on the track properties dialog.
I would think the other (more expensive) DAW software would have a similar option.

I always track in stereo...even when tracking with a single mic. Why?...because many of the effect plug-ins only affect stereo tracks in a desired way.

 

[David Katauskas]

...You aren't tracking in stereo, you are tracking in mono on a stereo track. There is a difference...

Thanks for the terminology update.

...N-Track has an option to take a mono track and expand it to stereo during playback (on-the-fly) so it works with stereo plug-ins without a problem...

I'll need to look for that. That would save some space...although that really isn't a issue for me. Hard disk space is cheap these days...however, I am CPU bound Thanks for the info.

 

[gullfo]

most DAWs allow you to track mono (for instance in SONAR I typically track any DI instruments like vocal, bass, or electric guitars in mono since there is no "room" space to be had...). In SONAR, after tracking, I'll switch to stereo mode to add delays, reverb, and other stereo effects on a given track. I also use the surround 2.1 mode to allow me to set the "width" of the stereo image within the overall panning field.

this allows me to keep a single mono track for a given mono instrument and then create the space needed via effects. now if I'm recording acoustic guitars or mic'ing the guitar amp, or drum kit, I'll use stereo to get some depth on the instruments. it also works with mic'ing several singers - have a close and a "slightly distant" mic (keeping your phase rules in mind...) and you get the room acoustics + another depth to the vocal performance... takes more space and tracks but definitely sounds different than simply using effects to achieve the space...

 

[LeeRosario]

Blue Bear read my mind....




I generally learned how stereo was good (and when it was good) and when other things where better mono.


A while back I had a surprise visit at home from a very heavy duty salsa engineer. Of course the man sorta fell out of the loop (drugs and gambling debts), but he did mention one very simple thing when I asked him about vocal technique....


"Vocals....why dont you just try a good figure 8? You record the voice, but you also record that ambience and relfection of the room which gives you a very realistic single take."

 

[tourettes5139]

oops. I voted for stereo without reading the whole question. I really meant to say mono.

 

[ljguitar]

..."Vocals....why dont you just try a good figure 8? You record the voice, but you also record that ambience and relfection of the room which gives you a very realistic single take."

Hi LR...
This is good advice - when the room sounds good. There are many small studios where the room has significant defects, and it's probably better to try to avoid recording it by moving the mics in closer, and facing the singer toward a sound absorbing panel.

 

[slidey]

I don't know who wrote that, but he/she is full of shit. Whether to track in mono/stereo or to use one/two/many mics is entirely situation specific. There is no rule that it must be done one way or the other. Do what sounds right and is appropriate to the song. If one mic is sufficient, then that's all you need.

Geez, I can't wait until a bunch of people start following this advice and we have stereo mics on each drum in the set and two mics for each string on the guitar.

just get yourself a 96 000 000 000 000 000 input desk

 

[tarnationsauce2]

I always track in mono.
Even overheads I track in dual mono.

 

[BigRay]

Yeah, Bob Katz has no idea what he was talking about. Just who does he think he is??One of the top engineers in the business or something?

 

[surfmaster]

i always track dual mono, one track input one, another input two. theres no reason not to, i just throw up another mic just to see if it might have something nice or different in its interpretation of the source. then i can balance them the way i want or delete it alltogether.

 

[lexluthor]

I would say.... it depends.

 

[tarnationsauce2]

I get what he's saying.

Track in stereo, with mics that have a distance from eachother.

Then when you mix, and if you want a bongo to sound like it's coming from the Left... Pan the main track to the Right and leave the other track Center-or just past to the Right but turn it down so that it is not the focus.

That woay you hear the time delay and a bit of the room, yet the bongo will appear to come from the left.

Helps the mix not sound too dry or plain. Without having to use a delay or verb.

I just tried it out and it does sound good!

 

[LeeRosario]

Hi LR...
This is good advice - when the room sounds good. There are many small studios where the room has significant defects, and it's probably better to try to avoid recording it by moving the mics in closer, and facing the singer toward a sound absorbing panel.

yes, presisely. I left out the room detail because this thread really relies and implies using a good room. So i think it was emphasised already. But worth mentioning again.

Yeah, Bob Katz has no idea what he was talking about. Just who does he think he is??One of the top engineers in the business or something?

.


I know right. I mean, he only learned from the top mastering dawg for all the motown stuff.....I mean, how important can that be?

 

[slidey]

I always track in mono.
Even overheads I track in dual mono.

me to...........

threadsters----------information taken from the thread that the young Mr. Rosario posted "a day with a legend" has reverbolutionised my vocal mixing (for the project that is recording as we speak) tweeking pre-delay & decay time with some EQ on the verb

it has added a sense of depth (without decay) that was lost on the initial playback of the concert & I wouldn't have played around with those parameters had I not read the mentioned thread about Bob Katz

Cya

 

[BMWerks]

"Use artificial reverberators that enhance depth and space and do not sound flat, plastic or "cheesy."

Use artificial delays to locate instruments in space, not just simple panners".

Excellant advice. You must be an "old timer" in this art&craft.

 

[brendandwyer]

Yeah that's a wierd piece of advice. I suppose if you have unlimited tracks and want a lot of mic options at mixdown, it makes sense. But placing a condensor next to an sm57 to get vocals in both is not stereo miking. Multiple mic options and stereo miking are not the same thing. And furthermore, i don't trust anyone who says to "Always mic every instrument in stereo." Always???? Every??? those are big statements.

 

[BMWerks]

"This is because the ear decodes the natural space and delays picked up by those microphones, actually enhancing their definition in the mix (if the room acoustics are good)."

Takes a lot of experience to get to say this. I would recommend listening to this person for further instruction for your recordings.

 

[brendandwyer]

You're kidding, right?

Bob's point is that it's better to mic a source in stereo to gain depth as opposed to mono and trying to use crappy reverbs and effects to get the depth you could have gotten in the first place by mic'ing in stereo.

Of course it's situation-specific, but many novices have no real understanding of stereo to begin with and wouldn't know the advantage. (Even many non-novices believe running a mono track through a stereo reverb makes it a "Stereo" track!)

Blue, i trust your advice from Tweaks and other spots. That being said, isn't it going a little far to say that EVERY instrument, EVERY time should be tracked in stereo (and by stereo, he means more than one mic, not necessarily a stereo miking scheme right). i think we'd find a lot of people with 8 track recorders balking at this one.

I thought we were arguing that, not that stereo miking has it's benefits in a lot of scenarios. I just found it odd to say every instrument.

 

[tarnationsauce2]

Sometimes it's hard enough just to get one mic on a tom.
Though I guess the overheads pretty much have the same effect to what Katz is saying.