Mono or stereo

Ravendmb1 · 20th November 2005

Hey guys, sorry if this is answered in other posts, but I couldn't find an answer in searching. I know at school usually, if your using one mic, you use a mono track, and if your using 2 mics, lets say in a x-y pattern you use a stereo. I was wondering if this holds true. If your recording vocals with one mic, do you record in mono or stereo? If your recording a guitar amp with one mic, do you use mono or stereo tracks?

Ravendmb1 · 21st November 2005

so, why are there mono and stereo plugins and why can you record one mic using a stereo track? ... when do you really use a stereo track other than for a mix, or when using 2 mic for left and right?

max cooper · 21st November 2005

Stereo plugins are useful for stereo tracks or buses (which are summations of a number of tracks, say of a drum kit, which might comprise a few single channel tracks, like snare and kick drum close mics, and some stereo tracks, like overheads, room mics *which, by the way, don't have to be stereo, but generally are*)

There are generally stereo and dual-mono plugins; stereo can be things like compressors and reverbs, where you want both sides to be aware of what the other side is doing.

Dual-mono is good for things like EQ's where you might want to do something totally different with each side.

and, uh....

theblue1 · 21st November 2005

In the good ol' days (like the 90s), many DAWs were limited to single channel. If you wanted to record a stereo pair (from a pair of mics or the stereo output of a synth) you would simply record the left to one channel, right to another. Some software would let you link some of the controls of the two tracks.

Someplace along the way, many or all of the DAWs adopted the option of stereo tracks. They're essentially a convenience -- and occasionally an inconvenience if you need to perform an operation to one side and not the other, and the like, which is why there's usually a way to split them or export one side to a mono track.

Ravendmb1 · 21st November 2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by AngeloClematide

Ravendmb1 ...

you can record ONE microphone to as many tracks as you want at once, but it will be a MONO recording!

For a stereo recording you need TWO microphones!

.

thank you, this is what i wanted to know. So if I record one mic into pro tools as a stereo track, it is still essentially a mono track....

20th November 2005	#1
Ravendmb1 Gear Head Joined: Oct 2005 Posts: 34 Thread Starter	Mono or stereo Hey guys, sorry if this is answered in other posts, but I couldn't find an answer in searching. I know at school usually, if your using one mic, you use a mono track, and if your using 2 mics, lets say in a x-y pattern you use a stereo. I was wondering if this holds true. If your recording vocals with one mic, do you record in mono or stereo? If your recording a guitar amp with one mic, do you use mono or stereo tracks?

21st November 2005	#4
theblue1 Gear Guru Joined: Mar 2005 Location: Long Beach, CA Posts: 15,095	In the good ol' days (like the 90s), many DAWs were limited to single channel. If you wanted to record a stereo pair (from a pair of mics or the stereo output of a synth) you would simply record the left to one channel, right to another. Some software would let you link some of the controls of the two tracks. Someplace along the way, many or all of the DAWs adopted the option of stereo tracks. They're essentially a convenience -- and occasionally an inconvenience if you need to perform an operation to one side and not the other, and the like, which is why there's usually a way to split them or export one side to a mono track. __________________ day job \| A Year of Songs \| music and social stuff \| mutant pop on facebook \| roots acoustic on facebook

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21st November 2005	#3
max cooper Lives for gear Joined: Aug 2004 Location: tx Posts: 8,802	Stereo plugins are useful for stereo tracks or buses (which are summations of a number of tracks, say of a drum kit, which might comprise a few single channel tracks, like snare and kick drum close mics, and some stereo tracks, like overheads, room mics which, by the way, don't have to be stereo, but generally are) There are generally stereo and dual-mono plugins; stereo can be things like compressors and reverbs, where you want both sides to be aware of what the other side is doing. Dual-mono is good for things like EQ's where you might want to do something totally different with each side. and, uh....