Stereo recording

[Dan Shipway]

Hey guys, As of late I have been trying to focus on fitting in some sound gym music production courses as it is something thats really dun and a career path I definitely want to go down, Its been going really well so far but one thing I have struggled to do is produce a stereo track that sounds balanced between both ears. My first Idea was to pan one track hard left and one hard right (master is centeral). However when I played it back it was through one side of my headphones. When I switched to mono this went away. For stereo you need two sepetate sources (one for each ear in this instance so is there anything anyone can suggest as I thought having two tracks would count. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Rad Synner]

Usually in a daw there are mono tracks and stereo tracks. Im not sure in what DAW you are working but it can get tricky. On pro tools for exemple its very obvious because a stereo track will have two pan already pan hard left and hard right when a mono track will only have a pan panned middle. For a counter exemple, there is logic where a stereo and a mon track are essentially identical except that there is a simbol a the input section of said track: if its two rings, its stereo, if its one ring then mono. Im not sure what you want to do exactly. what is the stereo track that you are trying to produce exactly. is it a song that you are importing into the daw or is it guitar tracks that you record? also what daw are you using?

 

[Firsty Lasty]

Panning one track to each side should work perfectly. There must be something wrong with how you’re set up.
As for details I’ve only really spent time with Reaper, so unfortunately all other daws are alien to me.

 

[Sayonil Mitra]

I record 2 mono tracks. then pan one to hard left, another to hard right. I do this in audacity and it works fine. see if this helps.

 

[Filip Tomiša]

Guitars should always be recorded in mono (unless you already have some type of stereo effect on it like reverb or delay). You should be able to pan one track to the left on to the right and the thrid one in the middle. Your setup might be wrong if this is not working. Can you tell us a detailed explanation of how you record your guitar and how you arrange it in your daw?

 

[Ed Seith]

Yeah, if I had to guess, you’re recording stereo tracks, but only using one input, which defaults to left side input. Switching to two mono tracks and then panning left and right should work properly.

 

[Calvin Phillips]

60% left and right is my pan levels. This allows slight central sound in the center while also centering each side to add a bit of balance. I never 100% on each side. Not sure if this is your issue. I also use audacity. Reaper is pretty much the same so I’m guessing you can edit that stuff there too. PM me if you have issues. I cant guide reaper as I’ve never used it. But can maybe help you with general stuff.

 

[Dan Shipway]

Yeah, Im almost certain that the issue is with recording a stereo track as apposed to mono. Thanks a ton!

 

[Dan Shipway]

I tried using mono tracks but when I switch to mono (channel 1) and record nothing is recorded, my tracks are armed for recording and my signal chain is empty, just my guitar into a 2nd gen Scarlett solo. Has anyone else had this issue in a daw before?

 

[Filip Tomiša]

try changing the input from channel 1 to channel 2 in your daw because input 1 is porbably the input for the mic and that’s why it’s not recording anything cause you don’t have anything plugged into it. Your guitar is plugged into the input 2 and your need to set that input in your daw and it will probably work

 

[Dan Shipway]

Of course! Damn I feel stupid now XD

 

[Filip Tomiša]

No worries man, it takes some time to figure out the whole signal flow

 

[Dan Shipway]

I feel like my first attempt was pretty good. What do you all think?

 

[Ed Seith]

nice tone, and a sweet riff, Dan. Is that yours?

 

[Dan Shipway]

Yeah, I completely forgot about it until a few weeks ago. Thanks for the compliment!

 

[Calvin Phillips]

Personally have never recorded on mono and my tracks seem to sound pretty decent tone wise. What really is the difference between the two?

 

[Filip Tomiša]

You should always record in mono because almost everything is recorded in mono, except maybe a keyboard. To simplify it, if you play a mono signal on your speakers you will hear the identical signal in both speakers. If you play a stereo signal each speaker will play his own signal and there will be a difference bewteen the two (for example you might hear the signal louder in the left speaker than in the right one, or the signal might go from the left speaker to the right one and then back to the left one and so on… so basically you don’t hear the same thing in each speaker when have a stereo signal). That’s why you should always record in mono so you have the same thing in each speaker and then later when you go mix it you can pan it wherever you want to.

 

[Dan Shipway]

Here is a mono render for you so you can compare the two if you wish.

It may be a bit quiet but the master was the same on the stereo render.

 

[Ed Seith]

It’s more for when you’re doing a multi-track recording, like when you’re recording a song with full instrumentation, multiple guitars, etc.

 

[Dan Shipway]

I mainly got into it because of Rammstein’s 24 track technique, to me, it gives the sound more body.