stereo vs mono confused alittle

[HalfBlacko0000]

OK I understand a mono track is one mic and stereo is 2 but since I use mostly synth plugins and vst sound modules. Like spectrasonic trillion refs nexus rob papen predictor.......... what should I record in stereo or mono I know mono takes up less CPU and is better for drum sounds but this is where my knowledge ends on this subject and I noticed when I'm in logic and I have machine in 16x mono my first 8 drum pads trigger sound but 9 -16 doesn't am I missing something?

 

[bandcoach]

I am going to say something here that some folks will think is very controversial - everything (with very few exceptions) is in mono until you start to mix.

This runs counter to the way vsti's are set up, it is counter to every concept of modern production, but it yields far more useful and predictable results - because you do not have issues with stereo phase errors accumulating as you add in new instruments/parts/tracks

the exceptions Some presets in sampler sets like orchestral groups of instruments such as violins, violas, cellos, basses with their stereo spread already laid out for you - this is because the entire ensemble has been stereo mixed to sit in a specific acoustic space

orchestral layout is usually something like

as for the maschine issue not sure waht to offer here - I have one but only use it rarely

 

[deadboltz]

From my knowledge and I'm not sure how correct this is but basically, you will want to use stereo for most instruments the exception always being in bass and drums. Bass and drums aren't generally stereo because if you aware of phasing, the left and right sides of audio can cancel each other out in some cases and then your left with nothing or a lesser sound. The fact is you should use stereo on everything but bass and drums until you know fully about the subject. If you open a synth patch and make it mono you should instantly hear its not as wide sounding at all, for this reason I'd say if you start making everything mono cause its less intensive then you'll have a problem with your mixes sounding bad. I don't know about the triggering problem your having but its nothing to do with it being set to mono, theres probably another reason for that happening but its not related.

 

[HalfBlacko0000]

Yeah I usually do my bass in mono I mean if you think about it those vsts are really only coming from one source what if I have a multi instrument like say in kontakt still mono? I'm thinking yes because its still coming from one source thanks for the clear up those are some nice charts I don't do orchestra work but still very cool and helpful

 

[bandcoach]

thing is even when working with other ensembles the first thing you should do is map out where you imagine each instrument to be positioned in the aural space you are creating (and I do mean each instrument snare, kick, hats, toms, cymbals, other percussion, and so on)

As for the rest there are very few single instrument sounds that come from a fixed position in a stereo vst - they are usually sent out up the guts (center) and at even level on both left and right channels, better to go in and adjust the outputs (easily done in kontakt and no doubt others as well) so that they instrument is coming out in mono - unless of course you are taking advantage of the fx in kontakt to provide a stereo perspective for the sound

 

[HalfBlacko0000]

This is still pissing me off with this logic pro 9 and mascgine as a plugin I just don't understand why it won't let me make 16 mono track from machine to logic I mean I can set it up have all of the auxs routed correctly and still 9-16 doesnt produce any sound can someone double check this that has the same setup please I hate recording my drums in stereo

 

[crimsonhawk47]

Not sure why you're having that maschine issue.

I pretty much do everything in mono except the harmony (which is usually a pad, string) because it really cushions the song. Otherwise I will put EVERYTHING in mono and pan. If something feels bad in mono, I'll try to use a stereo delay and see if it helps (checking for phase issues on the master of course).

 

[bandcoach]

This is still pissing me off with this logic pro 9 and mascgine as a plugin I just don't understand why it won't let me make 16 mono track from machine to logic I mean I can set it up have all of the auxs routed correctly and still 9-16 doesnt produce any sound can someone double check this that has the same setup please I hate recording my drums in stereo

have you looked at your audio output matrix in maschine - you can assign individual channels to each pad, but they must be active in the Audio-MIDI settings panel in the routing tab (see page 50/51 in the MK1 manual and page 51/52 in the MK2 manual)