STEREO vs MONO loops

DJ_WubWub

I have been spending the last few months sampling beats breaks etc from my vinyl collection and have been starting to make stuff with Abelton Live (It is an awesome program IMO). What are the advantages to using mono or stereo loops when it comes to the final mixdown and generally overall sound. What loops are best to keep as stereo etc. I know these my sound like stupid questions but as a newbie enlighten me with your knowledge. Also sorry to have a music related post on drugstrut (BTW DMT is without a doubt my favorite but not something you would need to have very often-I've had it twice

awall

bass and drums mono. everything else stereo.

BeatChemist

I'd keep the bass mono... but drums... I usually hate mono drums. Pan them shits out a bit at least!! DAMN! So yeah... if you got stereo drums then keep them stereo.

Um. Unless we're talking about drum hits, and not complete loops/breaks. Yeah. Then keep them mono. And pan them out appropriately.

I find that using a stereo expander/contractor to either widen or shorten the stereo image of a sample can be very very useful. Especially in layering samples together - it helps make sonic "room" for each of the loops/tracks. I usually use the Waves plugin... called S1 Imager I believe. Very useful, although a little resource heavy IMHO.

bobbydee

Unless we're talking about drum hits, and not complete loops/breaks. Yeah. Then keep them mono. And pan them out appropriately.

whats appropriate panning? I tend to try to imagine im recording from one mic, and position my hits according to how far they would be away in a kit. Is that insane and stupid? I'm starting to get my EQ game on lock, after a few years of trial and error, but panning seems to elude me.

so plaese to school me

awall

I'd keep the bass mono... but drums... I usually hate mono drums. Pan them shits out a bit at least!! DAMN! So yeah... if you got stereo drums then keep them stereo.

Um. Unless we're talking about drum hits, and not complete loops/breaks. Yeah. Then keep them mono. And pan them out appropriately.

I find that using a stereo expander/contractor to either widen or shorten the stereo image of a sample can be very very useful. Especially in layering samples together - it helps make sonic "room" for each of the loops/tracks. I usually use the Waves plugin... called S1 Imager I believe. Very useful, although a little resource heavy IMHO.

i was assuming we were talking about indivdual hits. i'll give the "long" answer. i usually try and keep the kick and snare straight down the middle (i really can't stand when a mix sounds "unbalanced", i.e. more stuff on one side than the other) but for hats/cymbals it's not a strict rule. if the they're not stereo, though, i usually don't have them fixed in the stereo field, they're usually bouncing around via moving panning and whatnot. and if any sounds have stereo depth to them (which some kick/snare sounds do) i tend to leave that and if it's unbalanced move it to the middle but still keep the depth, which can be tricky but is possible without any sort of plugins or filters. same with breaks...try and keep their stereo depth without them being balanced to one side or another. it makes things sound much fuller (but sometimes it is nice to have some sounds as fixed mono to give everything more of a center). same goes for bass.

everything else though...PAN LIKE CRAZY

Swayze

For things I want to have the most punch and inpact, i'll use mono. That might mean a mono overhead when I record live drums (ribbons are king), or it might mean mixing down stereo loops and breaks to mono to get the punchiest ratio between left and right.

The break on Mighty Quinn by Ramsey Lewis is a good example. The break mostly lives in the left channel, with room sound in the right channel. It could be room mics or more likely bleed from the other instrument mics in the same room. Its a great break, but was too roomy in staight stereo. Using just the left channel was too dead, so i mixed in a hair of the right channel to liven it up a bit and bounced it to mono. Compressed/EQ'ed a bit and it came out bangin and ready to throw into Live.


Back to mono.
Mike

silvertone

back to mono.
say word.

Bapt

BASS [/b] and KICK [/b] mono. everything else stereo.

Bapt

I usually use the Waves plugin... called S1 Imager I believe. Very useful, although a little resource heavy IMHO.

Kyle, you're the man!
People are sleepin on this plug-in which encode/decode stereo images.
S1 is cool but I use a "Peak (Bias)" plug called "mda image" which is exactly the same plug-in.
I wrote a review on the Stones Throw boards a year ago or something, everyone was:
" What? That's not music yo..."

Paix

B.

PS/ I saw your signal, Kyle, but ain't got time.
Get at me in January... @+

Hawkeye

There are no rules when it comes to music. I preferd everything in Mono 10 years ago, no I like everything in stereo.

Just listen to your material with a headphone when it comes to this issue and panning your sounds. Than do whatever you like.

If you have a problem with 2 samples because they are overshadowing each other than try to pan the one to the left, and the other to the right.

What we samplebased producers never learned is the fader mixing. We always let the fader in one psoition and we do the mixing by EQing.
Since one year now I work with the faders too. Making certain sequences louder, or just small portions. It is on musci dope, and on vocals it is great too.


Peace
Hawkeye

DJ_WubWub

Thanks for the schooling I appreciate it.
As I record stuff I will record it in stereo and have 2 copies (mono and Stereo) of each to play around with (Audition Batch processing makes this an easy task to do. I am sure mono files would also be a lot easier on the CPU if you are playing out with live as well. There is lot to learn and I will play with the panning and stereo/Mono loops till i find a sound i am happy with.

Kind regards Matt