Stereo and Mono mixing ?

[Nick Marcelo]

I've been trying to improve my mono and stereo mixing. Lately I've heard that something that sounds good on mono will sound good on stereo. If I start making the mix completely mono it won't give the sound any wideness or dimension and if I go completely stereo it would be a problem too. How do I get a good stereo mix that doesn't sound bad on mono? how can you make something wide sound good on mono?

[Robmobius]

Is there are particular reason you want you mix to sound good in mono? I'm presuming that your talking about a club music here?

Mixing in mono is really about getting a better end mix overall. A lot of people swear by it, and once done they tune up their stereo mix from there.

So you want to keep the lower instruments like bass (especially bass) and the kick drum down in the center, for more power and spread stuff in the higher spectrum. As a general rule you want to keep everything from 250hz down in mono.

If you're music is playing on a mono system and you don't do this you'll get unwanted phasing and you music will loose power so to speak.

[Nick Marcelo]

So if I am mixing should I be mixing in mono first and then turn things to stereo? But what if some elements don't sound good on mono how do I prevent those elements from phasing?
Or do you want me to make my full arrangement itself on mono and then in the end give some elements stereo width?

[Robmobius]

So if I am mixing should I be mixing in mono first and then turn things to stereo? But what if some elements don't sound good on mono how do I prevent those elements from phasing?
Or do you want me to make my full arrangement itself on mono and then in the end give some elements stereo width?

You certainly don't have to mix in mono (I don't personally, but I do check my mixes in mono). If all you elements are mono below 250-300hz you shouldn't have a phasing problem and you kick and bass should be fine.

Certain elements won't sound all that good in mono, probably because they are stereo (designed that way). The general rule for club music is that, the kick, bass and snare (usually) are all down the middle. Then you can mess around with the rest. Don't go over kill on this or you mix will sound over the top.

If you have those Neurofunk basses that fly around everywhere, then you'll need to 'frequency split' the bass into at least 2 parts. One for the Sub (all mono), and the other, give it a bit of spread (with FX), but make sure, you take off the lower frequency of this bass. Roll off around 250-300hz that way you won't have converging lower bass frequencies.

[pixel85]

It's more about Acoustics and how we perceive sound and how devices transmit the sound.

The thing is there's no one and only one perfect stereo field. Some sound systems are narrow some wide.
Narrow = closer to mono. Sound that disappear in mono gonna disappear more if stereo sound system is narrowed or very narrow.

Other thing is when you EQ two tracks one panned left other panned right they can sound good but in mono they can clash so sometimes stereo mix can sound like mess in mono (or very narrow stereo). If you EQ well in mono then it will be EQ'ued well in stereo but not necessary it gonna happened in reverse.

The best way is to work in stereo with some mono/stereo switch on master bus to check how it sound in mono. It doesn't need to be permanently mono, just check both. It gonna give you more control and less surprises when listening in different environment

[ATN69]

Some sounds, even bass sounds, have a broad spectrum, where part of the same sound should be in mono while another part of the sound should be in stereo. Example are top bass sounds for progressive music. So in FL Studio there is a plugin called Maximus where you can take one sound and treat all low frequencies separately from the high frequencies, even though it is one sound. I am sure there are other plugins on the market that can do the same thing.

Check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJEWD95cZPg

When I discovered this I must admit it changed the game for me. Now I can make mixes that sound good both in stereo and mono

[Hink]

I found in mono it's easier find space in the spectrum for everything using eq's and get the right fit. In stereo when you're trying to find the best frequency for an instrument or track is it standing out because where it sits in the spacial mix or the spectral mix? (or both for that matter) In mono you remove the spacial option. After I have created a spectral balance I have found after switching to stereo it's easier to fit the track into the spacial mix without walking on other instruments. In remixing some of my older songs I find that in stereo I tend to way over eq but in mono cutting as opposed to boosting frequencies often make the part fit best.

[Nick Marcelo]

So when I'm eqing conflicting frequencies I must eq them in mono instead of Stereo for a better sound?

[pixel85]

There's no 'must' Just try to work that way and find out do you see any improvements in mixing process.

[Hink]

So when I'm eqing conflicting frequencies I must eq them in mono instead of Stereo for a better sound?

okay, I didn't exactly say that...what I said is it takes a variable out of the picture and that is what I found, it could be different for you. Also it doesn't just apply to conflicting frequencies but to creating a total spectral balance with all instruments. My advice is to try it and see how it works, there is more than just eq'ing going on, dynamic processing as well. Of course there is also the obvious discovery of phase issues but that's not as much of an issue for me. I do use multiple mics in my recording of my guitars but I long ago worked out any phase issues