Mixing in mono...on one speaker.

rushofblood · Post by **rushofblood** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 12:59 am

Anyone do it? Why wouldn't you?

lee · Post by **lee** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 7:44 am

i think that a lot of people begin a mix in mono, i do it. if you leave the pan at 12 o'clock and work on the mix like that for awhile, you will get a more depthful and balanced phonoscape. if you start panning right away, it will make mixing more confusing, and you will end up will a lesser result. panning sound be one of the last steps.

JohnDavisNYC · Post by **JohnDavisNYC** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 7:58 am

all the time, but opposite of lee. i tend to listen in mono on a small speaker towards the end of a mix, when i am just making small adjustments and making sure everything is there.... when i am getting drum sounds i will often pan everything to one side and kill one side of the monitors to hear how mics are interacting in true mono.

john

DGoody · Post by **DGoody** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 8:22 am

I still do it over the course of a mix a few times, BUT, I do think it's vastly overrated now. I think there is very little need, and I disagree about a mix becoming more confusing. I think you need to pan early on, in order to exploit and/or repair harmonic relationships between different things...... panning helps a great deal in that.

Also, I pan drums/bass a lot to one side, which makes it necessary for me to pan right away,.,....

rushofblood · Post by **rushofblood** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 8:35 am

but more specifically, just using one monitor to track and mix

ashcat_lt · Post by **ashcat_lt** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 9:28 am

I don't, and I wouldn't. I'm a stereo soundscape kind of guy. I guess if I had a singer/songwriter (just guitar and vox) or something real simple I might try it out, but most of what I do requires all kinds of stereo happiness.

But it does bring up a point a co-worker of mine asked me about just last night. He asked why people spend so much money for a special mono speaker. "Can't I just click that little button is Sonar to check mono?" I told him that he could, and it would tell him everything he needs to know about phase relationships and mono compatibility, but wouldn't be exactly the same.

Anybody got a more precise explanation of what would be different between mono in one speaker versus two?

vvv · Post by **vvv** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 10:01 am

ashcat_lt wrote: Anybody got a more precise explanation of what would be different between mono in one speaker versus two?

Volume, and room reflections, and two locations of the source sound, which are going to give you some type of filtering, even something of an apparent stereo effect...

drumsound · Post by **drumsound** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 10:46 am

When I'm stracking I usually start with things panned hard left while I check of phase relationships. A lot of times I start the mix in mono. I also have a little pair of Rat Shack speakers and one of them blew a while back. Now when I switch to them I also hit the mono button. I've even put some actual mono mixes on records.

wedge · Post by **wedge** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 11:04 am

ashcat_lt wrote:I don't, and I wouldn't. I'm a stereo soundscape kind of guy.

Some of the most soundscapey music ever recorded was mixed, initially in mono, probably with one speaker, and *then* in stereo, almost as an afterthough. The producer and engineer felt very strongly that *space* was best created by mixing in mono. To be fair, though, they also thought that stereo was just a fad, but there's no denying the brilliance of the final results...

Of course, I'm talking about the Beatles in their summer of love era -- Pepper and Mystery Tour...

Imagine if you had to create a psychedelic freak-out in mono... How that would tax and test your knowledge and skills... Quite the challenge!

swelle · Post by **swelle** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 11:59 am

I wish that Forever Changes was in mono... a car stereo mix, if you will.

Artifex · Post by **Artifex** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 9:25 pm

I'm actually planning on doing this for an upcoming project. That's only because were trying to record it mostly "period correct" for the 50s/early 60s.

imsodasad · Post by **imsodasad** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 3:44 am

for all i know..
(for working in DAWs)

dual mono = stereo, but panned CENTER
true mono = panned hard LEFT/RIGHT (or unplugging one speaker)

i try to "fix" things by checking for phase/room relationships in true mono, and on a pair of 50s aka "no low-end" true mono headphones (ie. onle the left side/ring og the jack, is connected).

@?,*???&? · Post by **@?,*???&?** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 1:59 pm

Because in Pro Tools, anything you pan wide will drop by 3.5 in level. When you eventually listen in stereo, you might be a little surprised. Getting a vocal balance in mono though and doing vocal rides in mono is extremely helpful.

drumsound · Post by **drumsound** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 2:56 pm

I never thought of doing vocal rides in mono. That's a great idea.

RefD · Post by **RefD** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 3:01 pm

*makes a note for personal workbook*

Message Board

Mixing in mono...on one speaker.

Mixing in mono...on one speaker.

Who is online