PROTO·DOME Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Right. So I've done a lot of audio stuff now and I've never bothered to give my mono, combined image much thought. Listening to ANYTHING I've done in mono is a terrible, terrible experience. Phase cancellation, odd reverb tails and distant sounding leads. Trying to work around this problem results in bland soundscapes where complex textures and synths are avoided because they just sound too weak in mono. So the question is, what do you do and should I really be mixing to cater for all sound systems? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frederic Petitpas Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Don't fuck your mixes for the 2 or 3 people on Earth who don't got 2 speakers. (my opinion) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Don't fuck your mixes for the 2 or 3 people on Earth who don't got 2 speakers. (my opinion) ^this^ totally. I wanted to reply to this post but couldn't find the words... but this is what I wanted to say, exactly. Haha! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argle Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Don't fuck your mixes for the 2 or 3 people on Earth who don't got 2 speakers. (my opinion) Any time your mix gets played in a store, restaurant, PA system, or anything similar, that's mono. Any time someone puts their speakers in some goofy ass placement, that's nearly mono. Some radio stations will sum your track to mono. In other words, more than 2 or 3 people on earth might hear your track as mono. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexstyle Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 A really good stereo mix will sound good on mono as well, although these days I'd just say aim at your intended listener base. If 99.9% of everyone will be listening to the mix on a stereo set, you're almost certainly safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frederic Petitpas Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Any time your mix gets played in a store, restaurant, PA system, or anything similar, that's mono. Any time someone puts their speakers in some goofy ass placement, that's nearly mono. Some radio stations will sum your track to mono.In other words, more than 2 or 3 people on earth might hear your track as mono. Stereo sum to mono is not mono as Left channel only mono.. I'd say that a mix should sound fine when checking the L+R sum tho, yes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garpocalypse Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 oh man I remember the furor that arose the last time this question was asked about a year or two ago. Even though I still have a ways to go, I found that switching to mono for some EQ'ing after getting my levels set really helped the quality of my mixes. It stacks everything so you can hear what is clashing much easier. It's a matter of preference and what you are used to but it's another tool to use and it's only one button click away to check it. Why not mess around with it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannthr Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 It's good to check your mix in a digital sum as well as in a natural mono situation (like check your mix by walking outside the studio and listening through the open door). With that said, there's some great music out there that is totally shit in mono. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anterroir Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 (edited) it depends where your material is played. In the good old days every medium had a separate master. So if you're targeting the Iphone/Headphone/Youtube crowd - well .... most don't even hear a difference between a 128/320 mp3 so .... . For radio, club and everyone else out there try to be reasonable and aim for a decent mono downmix (we haven't even touched vinyl yet). It doesn't need to shine - but when your hats are gone and the bass is missing there's definitely something wrong Originally Posted by Argle Any time your mix gets played in a store, restaurant, PA system, or anything similar, that's mono. Any time someone puts their speakers in some goofy ass placement, that's nearly mono. Some radio stations will sum your track to mono. In other words, more than 2 or 3 people on earth might hear your track as mono +1 -> most big clubs drive there music systems mono because of the venue size Edited February 6, 2013 by anterroir I don't haz words and don't seet hings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrap McNapps Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 I personally check the mix to see if it will sound good in mono. If it's mixed fine it shouldn't make a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PROTO·DOME Posted March 5, 2013 Author Share Posted March 5, 2013 Yeah, I've started paying more attention now to my combined mono mix. Thanks guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillRock Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 I've been told by Prophecy (credit where it is due ) that you should do level mixing/EQ etc in mono. If it sounds clean in mono, it'll sound amazing in stereo. I tried the method, works like a charm . So yes, make your mixes mono friendly. Mono friendly = stereo friendlier! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argle Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 I've been told by Prophecy (credit where it is due ) that you should do level mixing/EQ etc in mono. If it sounds clean in mono, it'll sound amazing in stereo. I tried the method, works like a charm . So yes, make your mixes mono friendly. Mono friendly = stereo friendlier! Yup. Your mix might be a muddy mess, but because it's spread out across the stereo field you don't hear it. Once you sum to mono, holy crap. Quiet sobbing in the corner. But fix the sonic clutter and it'll sound even sharper in stereo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ad.mixx Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Even though you already have your answer, PROTO, just gonna put my 2 in for the topic. Lots of systems and people listen to mono, more than you might think. If you're just catering to the guy who's going to come on OCR and listen to your mixes on his headphones while playing games, then sure, don't mix in stereo. But my thing is that you should always mix like a professional does, taking into consideration everything your mix plays of - from your crappy labtop speakers, to those cheap 1 dollars headphones (which by the way are GREAT for listening to midrange in some cases), to your car speakers, professional headphones, iPod headphones, monitors, to your tv speakers, etc. Pros mix in mono - so mix like a pro IMO. Of course you won't always have the resources (or the time) to do what a pro does, but do the best you can. Especially if you make money off your music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Williamson Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Don't fuck your mixes for the 2 or 3 people on Earth who don't got 2 speakers. (my opinion) What this guy said all the way. No one listens on one speaker anymore. Seriously. Ever since "hi-fi" came around back in the 60s or whenever it was, two speakers and panning has been the thing. Heck, the Beatles probably sounds absolutely awful on mono. But nobody listens to it that way. And they're one of the greatest artists of all time. So changing a mix to make it work with mono is just a waste of time. I make music sound the way I want to hear it. I honestly don't care about what the audience thinks about my music as much as I do. I'm not sure that's a good motive, but I just like to do music my way. I don't want someone else telling me how to do music. If someone doesn't like my music, that's their problem. Feedback to make something sound better is a different story. But I feel I may be getting slightly off topic here, so I'll shut up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timaeus222 Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 I think you guys are confusing listening on one speaker with listening as mono. It seems like you're thinking of listening to only left or only right speakers, when PD was thinking of merged mono. I just listened to two of my mixes on merged mono, btw, and they actually still sound pretty good. Sweetness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Williamson Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 I think you guys are confusing listening on one speaker with listening as mono. It seems like you're thinking of listening to only left or only right speakers, when PD was thinking of merged mono.I just listened to two of my mixes on merged mono, btw, and they actually still sound pretty good. Sweetness. I know the difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PROTO·DOME Posted March 5, 2013 Author Share Posted March 5, 2013 It's not necessarily the mixing/levels element that's the problem, it's more what happens to those fancy reverbs, stereo flangers/phasers and stereo synths when summed to mono. They just don't sound good. Yeah, I guess it's all down to target audience. I might put a "Made for Stereo" disclaimer label on my album covers from now on. It'll be fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Williamson Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Yeah, I guess it's all down to target audience. I might put a "Made for Stereo" disclaimer label on my album covers from now on. It'll be fun. That's not needed. I've listened to a lot of famous songs on mono for the heck of it and it all sounds like crap. Mono is only good when it comes to recording a specific track in a song that way (like recording mono for vocals, because obviously you aren't using two mics to record yourself--unless you are) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garpocalypse Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 I've been told by Prophecy (credit where it is due ) that you should do level mixing/EQ etc in mono. If it sounds clean in mono, it'll sound amazing in stereo. I tried the method, works like a charm . So yes, make your mixes mono friendly. Mono friendly = stereo friendlier! Quoted for truth and that it can't be stated enough. Switching to mono is a tool not a consideration for people who have one speaker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argle Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Heck, the Beatles probably sounds absolutely awful on mono. Actually, a lot of the Beatles tracks sound better in mono. Here's the thing, checking your track in mono is not for the faint hearted. It usually sounds awful, and requires some deft EQ to get things sounding things ok. Will it ever sound as good as stereo? Course not. But it's a useful tool in your arsenal to getting a good mix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonicThHedgog Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 (edited) When I make effects heavy electro songs, I mix in mono because if my songs aren't mono friendly, no label will even bother listening to the song. Songs that arent mono friendly tend to sound suboptimal on devices other than the device it was mixed on (what I noticed imo). If your song is going to be played live, then your instruments should be centered or the audience will not get a balanced sound no matter where they are in whatever venue. the only thing stereo if the master for the song is a "live version" is probably delay effects, reverb etc... What I noticed too is that EQ'ing conflicts with other instruments is easier when the mix is in mono (excluding using the eq for sound design reasons) and sometimes leveling tracks can be easier when the track is in mono. Then again I dont EQ conflicts unless its a very serious problem. I started noticing that the more effects of any type of effects even for production purposes tend to gently chew off quality of the sounds I am working with IMO. Some people have mono headphones since some people have a hard time listening to stereo on headphones (please note that I am a speaker fan, and I think headphones should stick with MP3 players and cellphones). Same thing with laptop speakers, older TV's that dont have stereo. And as said some radios stations play their songs in mono. there are alot of reasons to have your songs mono friendly, and there are probably more reasons. If your audience is not that big and most of the people you know who listen to your music are probably listening on a stereo device, then maybe you should not worry too much on your mixes being Mono friendly. Edited March 6, 2013 by SonicThHedgog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonicThHedgog Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 When I make effects heavy electro songs, I mix in mono because if my songs aren't mono friendly, no label will even bother listening to the song. Songs that arent mono friendly tend to sound suboptimal on devices other than the device it was mixed on (what I noticed imo). If your song is going to be played live, then your instruments should be centered or the audience will not get a balanced sound no matter where they are in whatever venue. the only thing stereo if the master for the song is a "live version" is probably delay effects, reverb etc... What I noticed too is that eqing conflicts with other instruments are easier when the mix is in mono (excluding using the eq for sound design reasons) and sometimes leveling tracks can be easier when the track is in mono. Then again I dont EQ conflicts unless its a very serious problem. I started noticing that the more effects of any type of effects even for production purposes tend to gently chew off quality of the sounds I am working with IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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