Using Plugin's in Stereo or Mono Question

G

GFunkEra408

HipHop
Hey guys, I'm just trying to understand the correct way of using plugin's in either Stereo or Mono on different elements in the mix. I just purchased my first 3rd party plugins from Waves and for each plugin they have Stereo and mono. So correct me if i'm wrong here,w but do I use the stereo plugins on my instruments (keys, organs, guitar, and drum loops) and mono just for Vocals, kicks, bass, ect ...? Hopefully someone can explain to me when to use mono/stereo and when not to.

Thanks!
 
GFunkEra408 said:
Hey guys, I'm just trying to understand the correct way of using plugin's in either Stereo or Mono on different elements in the mix. I just purchased my first 3rd party plugins from Waves and for each plugin they have Stereo and mono. So correct me if i'm wrong here,w but do I use the stereo plugins on my instruments (keys, organs, guitar, and drum loops) and mono just for Vocals, kicks, bass, ect ...? Hopefully someone can explain to me when to use mono/stereo and when not to.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Hello there, here's a couple of related ideas that could be helpful:

-some mono plugins will 100% switch any in-coming audio to "mono", if originally the input source had some amount of left-right material simultaneously (stereo). This side effect could perhaps be of niffty utility if you desire to change a stereo track to mono with out much hassle (like DAW rendering with panning tricks to change source content etc)
-some mono plugins will not 100% switch in-coming audio to "mono", if originally the input source had some amount of left-right material simultaneously (stereo). This second possibility will occur if the plugin is designed to only process the mono content of the in coming signal, not necessarily eliminating simultaneous left-right present content. One example (i stress this is just one possibility bc plugin design varies so much, depends on coding intentions/errors etc)--- a mono compressor plugin that only "processes" any present mono content sent through it could perhaps only apply mono compression to stereo tracks such as a pair of summed piano microphones, here the mono processing compressor plugin could lack the ability to independently compress signal variations between the left and right (frequencies per panning/channel side). Here the compression applied would be no different than link left-right channel processing on a stereo compressor. There are actually too many variations of this type of panning-compatibility issues to go through all...

If I could suggest apply these ideas yourself, I would say your decision could relate to each individual track. A good plan=mono plugs on mono sources, stereo on stereo. Perhaps obvious ideas but stereo content present on one channel could benefit from a stereo processor plugin, or if the same "track" has individual left and right channels in the DAW then stereo plugins would not be 100% necessary as any panning on the mono tracks would (very likely) be post fx or inserts (*thus input into the mono plugs would still be mono, and panning post channel inserts would then change the mono to stereo). And again, for example, just watch your VU meters or whatever trackmeters you have and see if your stereo sources accidentally switch to mono with certain plugins...or just use the ol trusty ears here and there *wink wink.

wishing all the best
-MadHat
 
The point of having mono-plugins is mostly for a situation where you're recording live instruments, in which case a lot of the signals are gonna be mono.
Using a mono-plugin allows you to keep them that way, while going from mono to stereo, back to mono, then back to stereo could change the sound in unwanted ways... in general: don't process unless necessary!
But that's especially the case if you're trying to convincingly recreate the sound of an instrument recorded with multiple mics.
If you're mixing for something like jazz, the idea is to represent the performance as played in the best way possible, not to artificially enhance it with your studio magic..

If you're making electronic music, working in the box, you don't have these concerns and a mono-plugin is simply a way to quickly make a sound mono and maybe save some CPU.
Personally I prefer plug-ins with mid-side capabilties, that let you pick between left/right or mid/side.. that gives the most flexibility (everything becomes a stereo-imager!) and for club music
it allows you to add a sense of space without slanting your stereo-image, which traditional panning would do.
 
MadHat33 said:
Hello there, here's a couple of related ideas that could be helpful:

-some mono plugins will 100% switch any in-coming audio to "mono", if originally the input source had some amount of left-right material simultaneously (stereo). This side effect could perhaps be of niffty utility if you desire to change a stereo track to mono with out much hassle (like DAW rendering with panning tricks to change source content etc)
-some mono plugins will not 100% switch in-coming audio to "mono", if originally the input source had some amount of left-right material simultaneously (stereo). This second possibility will occur if the plugin is designed to only process the mono content of the in coming signal, not necessarily eliminating simultaneous left-right present content. One example (i stress this is just one possibility bc plugin design varies so much, depends on coding intentions/errors etc)--- a mono compressor plugin that only "processes" any present mono content sent through it could perhaps only apply mono compression to stereo tracks such as a pair of summed piano microphones, here the mono processing compressor plugin could lack the ability to independently compress signal variations between the left and right (frequencies per panning/channel side). Here the compression applied would be no different than link left-right channel processing on a stereo compressor. There are actually too many variations of this type of panning-compatibility issues to go through all...

If I could suggest apply these ideas yourself, I would say your decision could relate to each individual track. A good plan=mono plugs on mono sources, stereo on stereo. Perhaps obvious ideas but stereo content present on one channel could benefit from a stereo processor plugin, or if the same "track" has individual left and right channels in the DAW then stereo plugins would not be 100% necessary as any panning on the mono tracks would (very likely) be post fx or inserts (*thus input into the mono plugs would still be mono, and panning post channel inserts would then change the mono to stereo). And again, for example, just watch your VU meters or whatever trackmeters you have and see if your stereo sources accidentally switch to mono with certain plugins...or just use the ol trusty ears here and there *wink wink.

wishing all the best
-MadHat
Click to expand...

Thank you, very informative
 
localspace said:
The point of having mono-plugins is mostly for a situation where you're recording live instruments, in which case a lot of the signals are gonna be mono.
Using a mono-plugin allows you to keep them that way, while going from mono to stereo, back to mono, then back to stereo could change the sound in unwanted ways... in general: don't process unless necessary!
But that's especially the case if you're trying to convincingly recreate the sound of an instrument recorded with multiple mics.
If you're mixing for something like jazz, the idea is to represent the performance as played in the best way possible, not to artificially enhance it with your studio magic..

If you're making electronic music, working in the box, you don't have these concerns and a mono-plugin is simply a way to quickly make a sound mono and maybe save some CPU.
Personally I prefer plug-ins with mid-side capabilties, that let you pick between left/right or mid/side.. that gives the most flexibility (everything becomes a stereo-imager!) and for club music
it allows you to add a sense of space without slanting your stereo-image, which traditional panning would do.
Click to expand...

Ok, I am working in the box (Meaning that I am using loops for my production that I get from Splice or Logic Pro).

My thought process on using mono/stereo plugins is to use mono on kicks, snares, bass, vocals, and for pianos/synths/pads to use stereo. Is this right? or like you said it doesn't really matter if I'm using loops? Plus when using mono plugins on a signal- does the path of that signal continue to get mono treatment till it hits the master?
 
Yeah it's a possible technique. Not one I'd recommend,

Take a look at mid/side processing (mid = mono, side = left and right channel with the mono/mid subtracted), it's much more powerful because you get exact control over stereo placement and essentially an extra stereo dimension.
 
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