Why not mix an album in mono?

  • Thread starter Thread starter curtiswyant
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ez_willis said:
I see the problem now. You're from the land down under, where women glow and men plunder. Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder? You better run, you better take cover.
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:D
Willis, you're confusing him more than ever. I have an uncle named Mark from Australia. There it's pronounced more like "Mack" than "Mock" though. Mack Stereo doesn't make any sense at all.
 
An example of how an old lp mixed in mono can be better than the stereo is found in the first Pink Floyd album The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn. The band was involved (band members actually moved the faders during the mixdown) in the mono version. In the stereo version, the technology was too new to allow the band to be involved or, the band lost interest or were busy, etc. because at this time mono was the official release and stereo was a novelty. This album was recorded in Abbey Road the same time as Sgt Pepper. The result is the mono version of Floyd's first album is significantly better than the stereo version.
 
Why not mix in Quad? :D - is there any place for irony here! if not i'll stop. im not sure it translates as text anyway


P.S Pet sounds is in mono Because Wilson is deaf in his right ear and therefore cannot hear in stereo - but god I wish he could!
 
RAMI said:
Not Sgt. Pepper.
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Yes, EVEN Sgt. Pepper. This is probably an old thread, but I'll have a go anyway...

All of the Beatles' albums (with the exception of Abbey Road) were tracked with mono in mind, for the primary purpose of ending up with a mono master. These mono master mixing sessions were the only ones that the Beatles themselves were present for.

The stereo mixes for the released stereo LP versions were completed almost as an afterthought with whatever four tracks the engineers ended up with, after having done numerous 'reduction mixes' (which were also completed with mono in mind).

And just to be technical, even with the released stereo versions, there are actually very few, if any, aspects to the individual sounds that resemble true stereo, apart from perhaps a bit of sound picked up by other microphones a few feet away.

Just my two cents.
 
Wow. I actually just looked. This IS an old thread. :)

Anyway, yes. Let's all mix in mono.
 
swoosh

curtiswyant said:
Lots of "classic" 60s albums were mixed in mono...Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper, Kinks Village Green, etc...everyone seems to want that sound, why not mix it like they intended back in the day?
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why not press it on a wax cylinder too
and listen to it with a big horn direct from the needle
 
Mitchie2010 said:
That would be awesome.
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There used to be a regular on this board back when this thread was still current who recorded to cylinder all the time. I forget his name now, but if you search the BBS for threads more than two years old containing "cylinder" or "wax cylinder", you'll probably find him.

Speaking of when this thread was still current, back then this thread was relevant because "stereo" was brand new back then ;). Let sleeping threads lie.

G.
 
I actually like Good Friend's mindset.

In regards to the latter half of this thread and wax cylinders, older forms of technology are sort of coming back, at least in more underground music, especially vinyl. I really can not speak for most genres but, black metal in particular is a big one for bands new and old releasing stuff on vinyl and, the odd cassette.

One more OT mention, though relative again to Good Friend's post. I just found out last week that a particular album that had a big impact on the BM genre and still holds a lot of reverence, was purposely recorded through a small, maybe 15 watt solid state amp via a headphone mic in a proper studio back in the early 90's. Point being, to create the right atmosphere.
 
Bitter Dawn said:
i just found out last week that a particular album that had a big impact on the BM genre and still holds a lot of reverence, was purposely recorded through a small, maybe 15 watt solid state amp via a headphone mic in a proper studio back in the early 90's. Point being, to create the right atmosphere.
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you saw until the light takes us, too? ;)
 
curtiswyant said:
Lots of "classic" 60s albums were mixed in mono...Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper, Kinks Village Green, etc...everyone seems to want that sound, why not mix it like they intended back in the day?
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Well, since I'm bored and this one's back from the dead anyway...

I don't think they necessarily "intended" a mix to be mono; rather, the technology wasn't there.

Then Floyd released "Dark Side of the Moon," everyone flipped, and suddenly mono wasn't the default choice anymore.

On another note, it'll be interesting to see how and when (and maybe if) 5.1 catches on.
 
ez_willis said:
i saw it on the sundance channel a few weeks ago. i'm not a fan of that genre but the flick was good.
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It's better than most other documentaries on the subject, as the people themselves tell the story instead of some one else with second or, third hand information.
I can't say I anticipated finding any fans or musicians of the genre on this forum. However, whilst looking through some old threads I did find one fellow who is or, was on here getting help from you guys while he recorded his first album for the band "Nordicwinter", so that's a bonus.
 
curtiswyant said:
Lots of "classic" 60s albums were mixed in mono...Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper, Kinks Village Green, etc...everyone seems to want that sound, why not mix it like they intended back in the day?
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I'm not at all sure "everyone" does want that sound. Many of us want certain elements of the 60s sound, but many of us also want elements of sounds from many epochs too, which weren't mono. We want the whole lot ! And EZmix too ! :D

BUT SERIOUSLY FOLKS !

I'd be surprized if a significant number of people could tell the difference.
 
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