Mixing Mono Vs Stereo

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Ðësantis

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I am a newer producer and have read many tutorials about having your kicks always be in Mono, why is this? What other things should be in Mono While I mix, what should be in stereo? What exactly is Mono and what exactly is stereo? Sorry if the question was very newbish :D
 
if you were to record your sources (rather than use samples or sample playback options) most of them would have a single microphone and therefore a mono recording interface

i.e. you would not record a voice, guitar, a bass, individual drums on the kit using X-Y/A-B/or M-S techniques

You might use overhead pairs on a real drum kit to capture the parts of the kit that are not mic'd

In a live recording you might record using one or more of the above different yet entirely compatible stereo micing techniques

some sounds from synth modules are naturally in stereo and so should be used as stereo tracks

from a logistics point of view unless there is stereo information present in a track, all a stereo sample of that instrument does is double the intensity of the signal - i.e. gives +6dB boost.

In most cases this makes it harder to mix everything as each sound is already twice as loud as the original source

converting back to mono maintaining the same bit depth and sample rate reduces file sizes by half (and also halves bitrate (they are expressions of the same concept, although bitrate is time independent))

to place individual mono sources within the stereo filed use panning during mixing, then adjust levels and eq and fx to taste
 
Any instrument/vocal track that you need to stay in the middle of the mix after mastering, since a lot of stereo enhancement/widening is done while mastering, must be mono in your mix. For instance Kick, snare, bass guitar main vocal etc
 
If you sample drums from vinyl i would make them mono.
But if you pick from random drumkits it usually sounds better stereo cause a lot of those sound are made to sound best in stereo. i think
 
Ðësantis said:
I am a newer producer and have read many tutorials about having your kicks always be in Mono, why is this? What other things should be in Mono While I mix, what should be in stereo? What exactly is Mono and what exactly is stereo? Sorry if the question was very newbish :D
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Don't worry about it being "newbish" lol.

Mono is when you "sum together" (or simply "add") the different parts of the stereo so that there is no difference between the L and R speaker output. Stereo is the opposite and contains "stereo information" (difference in L and R speaker output).

The thing is, tracks that are in stereo can seem to drop by several dB in loudness when it's listened through a mono source, ie your typical consumer speaker:
Those little iphone speakers u see everywhere are mono - there is only 1 speaker so it cannot give you both a L and R speaker output. It can only give you the mono (literally "one") version

You don't exactly want the main vocal track dropping several dB when it's heard on an iphone speaker or equivalent mono source so that's typically "summed to mono" during the mixing phase.

Kicks are also summed to mono because they contain mostly low frequency information which require the output of 2 different speakers to produce. Having a kick panned to either side will sound like crap because you're asking too much out of any one speaker to produce those low frequency, powerful sounds.

That being said, you could layer the kick with something higher pitched like a shaker and make the shaker in stereo. The shaker will sound like it's part of the kick cuz they're played at the same time but the kick itself should be center panned and mono.

I hope that makes sense lol best of luck!
 
So say I have a sample playing the main melody with a drum beat already in it, but layered with your own kicks and snares. Would it all be in stereo?
 
Stereo = different content in left and right channel. Mono = same content in left and right channel. No way for us to give a reliable answer since we can't hear it. If everything is exclusively in the center (no panning, exact same signal from left & right monitors/headphones), then it is in mono. If there is any difference between what is played in from the left & right monitors/headphones, it is in stereo. Most music will be in stereo.
 
Sorry, maybe my question wasn't asked clearly...I wasn't referring to the entire song, I meant would the layered drums have to be put in stereo or mono? This was in reference to mark1234's statement about sampled drums from a song vs your own kit.

Adrian-MarQ said:
Stereo = different content in left and right channel. Mono = same content in left and right channel. No way for us to give a reliable answer since we can't hear it. If everything is exclusively in the center (no panning, exact same signal from left & right monitors/headphones), then it is in mono. If there is any difference between what is played in from the left & right monitors/headphones, it is in stereo. Most music will be in stereo.
Click to expand...
 
if you would have a layered drum loop with your own kicks: 1. your kicks should be mono, you want to distribute low frequencies over both your speakers equally and by making your kick mono your'e making sure both the left and right speakers are playing exactly the same. 2. to find a balance in the rest of the drums i like to think of how it would be mic'd up in the real world. the snare would have it's own mic and the toms would too or they would share one. the cymbals would be recorded with multiple overheads. so: if its recorded with one mic it would be mono like the snare. the cymbals are recorded with multiple mics thus they can be in stereo.
quick tip: listen to your favourite artists drums and see how they mix it, it can clear up a lot.
quick tip 2: only make things stereo if it's needed, panning a mono sound is far more effective for creating stereo width and also a lot easier to mix :)

btw, i'm not an expert (yet) so feel free to correct me if i'm wrong everyone!
 
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