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
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!