Should all samples be recorded in stereo or mono?

K

K.A.R.M.A. MaGyK

New member
I record my samples in stereo most of the time and just play with the pan but i was told that samples sound tighter when recorded in mono...But what if you have a sample that has instruments in it that are pan from left to right and you want to brang that out in your track..Tell me what you all think..
 
The OP has the right idea. I'd say if its mono or should be mono keep it mono ie drums bass lead parts ect. If its a stereo part keep it stereo. I like to make all of my stuff mono so I can pan how I want to but there's nothing wrong with sampling in stereo
 
I don't even know how to sample my stuff different in FL. Someone tell me, I've been wanting to know for a while.
 
there's no rule on how you should do it. it all depends on what you prefer, and what you want to do with the sample.



sometimes you'll find a sample that has the instruments panned all the way to one channel and the drums panned all the way to the other.

like this:




say you want the vocals from that. all you would have to do is convert the right channel to mono, and just like that, you have a drumless version of the song.


so like i said, it all really depends on what you're trying to do with the sample.
 
start in stereo - if the mix gets to thick go to mono - or take one side and something crazy with - filter/etc and urn it into a stero sample then bring in the mono other side to sit on it - just make sure it doesnt phase -
 
There are actual rules to it depending on the sample. Some samples will have phasing issues if they are stereo and sampled mono and vice versa though not so much when converting mono to stereo. Some records are mono and if my memory serves me correct most recordings were mono until the 60s anyway. Best advice is to go with whatever the source material is and whatever the sound is. It doesn't make sense to have stereo drum or bass loops as they are mono instruments and were recorded mono anyway. An instrument like string sections, pianos, brass, synths are more than likely stereo and should be recorded that way unless the record itself again is mono. It all depends. It will hurt less to always sample in stereo when possible.
 
The best bet is trusting your ears and doing what sounds good to you. If you get phasing issues, etc, deal w/ it in the mix, not the composition process.

A lot od mono instruments have stereo effects such as reverb, delay, and panning. If you want to keep those effects, sample in stereo. If you want to pan it and add effects yourself, sample in mono.

This isn't paint by numbers. Creativity and intention is king.
 
If you sample in mono sometimes you can isolate instruments and get and get rid of unwanted sounds, the other day i had the reverb of sum keys in the background whilst sampling a drum break, when i switched to mono R the sounds went away.
 
TitoBeats said:
The best bet is trusting your ears and doing what sounds good to you. If you get phasing issues, etc, deal w/ it in the mix, not the composition process.

A lot od mono instruments have stereo effects such as reverb, delay, and panning. If you want to keep those effects, sample in stereo. If you want to pan it and add effects yourself, sample in mono.

This isn't paint by numbers. Creativity and intention is king.
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How does one fix phasing in the mix? It would be easier to avoid it all together wouldn't it?
mensta said:
If you sample in mono sometimes you can isolate instruments and get and get rid of unwanted sounds, the other day i had the reverb of sum keys in the background whilst sampling a drum break, when i switched to mono R the sounds went away.
Click to expand...

What you did was cancel the left channel of the recording. many early stereo recordings have some instruments panned hard right and the others panned hard left. Turning a stereo sample mono truly would entail adding the sum of both channels and making them into one channel directly in the middle. What you did will only work for some recordings and generally ones from before the mid 1960s
 
Yeah I hear you, it happense a lot with drum breaks. I mostly sample stuff from the early to mid seventies and when sampling drum breaks you really gotta cheack which mono input you use. One side will usually emphasize the hi hats or the kick drum; and make a big difference to your drum sound.
 
Xabiton said:
How does one fix phasing in the mix? It would be easier to avoid it all together wouldn't it?
Click to expand...

There are various ways in the mix. Flip the phase, delay one of the channels by a few samples. Often, phase problems aren't even apparent till that stage anyway. No need to ruin inspiration w/ correcting problems. I do that after the ideas are all laid down.
 
TitoBeats said:
There are various ways in the mix. Flip the phase, delay one of the channels by a few samples. Often, phase problems aren't even apparent till that stage anyway. No need to ruin inspiration w/ correcting problems. I do that after the ideas are all laid down.
Click to expand...

Fair enough. I often fix problems before they become bigger problems and mix as I go. Then again I am fast about it too so that it doesn't ruin inspiration. Different strokes.
 
I am about to sample in all the samples from my vinyl collection to chop up in maschine....i want to do this so that when i hear something, i can say " oh that baseline or that sample would go well with this" and I have it to hand...so generally for doing this sampling "on mass" what would you recommend? sample in stereo generally to be safe and sample in mono for drums and basslines?

ps when you say drums, would that count for a whole drum break or do you mean individual drum hits?

thanks a lot in advance!
 
you should always chop your sample in stereo first. cause you can still make it mono after.
than compare the stereo-track to the mono-tracks.


if mono sounds better than stereo on your sample:

copy your sample 2 times.
and make the leftside a mono-track. and the rightside a mono-track.
so you get 2 different tracks with different instruments in it.
and they can be layered to make change-ups.
 
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Sampling mono sources into stereo is kinda pointless. It shouldn't sound any different if the source is mono but if its stereo and changed to mono it can cause phasing issues.
 
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