Drum Sample Packs Containing all Stereo Samples?

A

AtomiK9

New member
All of the sample packs I've purchased/downloaded contain stereo samples. Most of the samples contain equal information on both channels, so I guess they're actually dual mono tracks. As someone who wants to mix my drum/bass samples in mono, I'm not too sure what I should do.

I can split the stereo track into two mono tracks, and delete all except for one of the mono tracks and pan it center. However, I feel like doing this is wrong for some reason. The creator of the sample pack clearly intended for these samples to be used as stereo tracks. If i delete one channel and pan the other center, the result is a weaker and thinner sounding kick, for example.

1) Is this simply because the dual mono track was just a doubled version of the single mono track, or could each of the dual mono channels have been half of the actual mono signal, and by deleting one side i'm losing half of the overall sample?

2) If i leave them as they are (dual mono panned hard L/R with identical info on each side), they sound great on their own, but is the result an actual stereo sound that eats up more of the sound field? Is the playback actually mono, and they are just visually stereo?

Really can't seem to wrap my head around why these samples are in stereo if they are not "true stereo" sounds. Especially when it comes to deep kicks and 808 bass samples. I know it's usually best to keep these types of sounds in mono, but they are all in stereo!!

Any advice/knowledge that you can drop?
 
A utility plugin will be able to condense your track into mono. Keep in mind stereo imagery is just altering the levels of the left & right channel. Your samples are played at equal volume in the left and right making them appear to play in the centre. Mixing down stereo in your DAW will do this same affect. But I would recommend as you suggested to start with mono samples, especially important drum bits
 
I'm pretty sure you're talking about the Haas effect, where two copies of the same signal are panned hard L/R and one of the copies has a slight delay to the other. If you're getting these loops and samples from quality samples packs then the kicks will Always be in mono. The hihats/claps/percussion sounds might also be in mono or stereo, just depends on how they created it. But the kicks itself -- Are obviously going to be in mono.
 
There is no delay, so it isn't the Haas effect. Each channel is IDENTICAL, which brings me to another question...should I be worrying about phase issues?
I'm pretty sure the sample packs I have are quality. One is the Vengeance Dubstep Essentials pack, one is TrapDrumsHQ, and another is a sample pack created by Bassnectar himself. All of these packs contain only Stereo samples.

If each channel is identical panned hard L/R, is the result technically mono? Because if a mono track is played through a stereo output, isnt it essentially is playing that mono sound identically through the L/R channel, just at lower volume?
 
1) if they are exactly the same in both channels there will be no phase issues
2) if they are exactly the same in both channels then this a mono sample in a stereo file (some people do not get that you should put mono into mono and instead duplicate the track and pan each hard left and right: result mono with 6dB boost)
 
Thanks that clears it up for me! So there would be no issues using these stereo samples as stereo files
 
I would convert them to mono and use them that way - for two reasons

1) file size per sample is reduced which can be important later on (a 3gb session is not uncommon if you do not watch your file sizes to begin with)
2 )taking the mono version (only one side of the stereo sample) means that you have more headroom on that channel (6dB to be precise)
 
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Cool makes sense...
So its better to convert to mono by using one side of the stereo track as the mono file rather than buss the stereo track to a mono track? (which would be combining the two channels rather than separating them)
 
Dude, just use the samples, you're not going to have any phase issues, they're created by mixing engineers I'm pretty sure they know very well about phase issues..
 
AtomiK9 said:
Cool makes sense...
So its better to convert to mono by using one side of the stereo track as the mono file rather than buss the stereo track to a mono track? (which would be combining the two channels rather than separating them)
Click to expand...

taking only one side of a file that contains duplication in the other side lowers your perceived level by 6dB (1/2 of the previous level) which gives you more headroom overall on the channel and in the mix but it is your call as to whether you then want to work harder to get back the punch that most folks associate (probably incorrectly) with louder kicks
 
They aren't actually stereo files, they're dual mono, just like you said. So use a utility or batch mode to take 100% of one side and convert to mono and use those.
And to the other guy, not all samples are created by competant engineers. The other advantage to this in some instances is if they accidentally panned a little bit and the kick is a little bit off center for example. This happens alot in samples I've found off the internet. It's dumb but true.
 
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