Checking mixes in mono

[PhilB]

A few things I 've heard:

1. Required. Some people do it constantly throughout a session.

2. Anyone further than xx feet from the speakers is listening in mono...so better check the mono mix.

3. If you don't check it....time-based? (i think?) effects (or even micing?) can cause cancellations in mono that are real problems

4. It should be done out of ONE speaker...not two. And people prefer a seperate speaker. what if you can't afford a GOOD 3rd speaker?

5. In rural areas, FM sums to mono, so it does matter on the radio.

6. Don't worry about it. Most people listen on headphones or whatever. Nobody listens to AM anyway.

What do YOU do?

Discuss (plz),

thx,
pb

[brandondrury]

Mega discussion. Great, Phil!!

If I remember correctly, we spend almost an entire dinner discussing this with Wagener.

There are a number of routes I could take on this one. To be honest, I don't check mono mixes much, but that is mainly because my work doesn't have to deal with that format too often. In other other words, my clients have never missed a guitar or piano in their song while it played at Famous Barr.

With that being said, it's a great habit to get into and we all probably SHOULD be doing it. However, I don't think it's a make or break you type of deal for the average guy recording at home simply because an overwhelming majority of mixes today are going to be heard with stereo devices.

Off the top of my head, distant radio stations, malls and other places of business with background music, and really old TVs are the only things in mono anymore.


A bigger question is, "would you destroy a mix you like because it didn't sum to mono?". I'm not sure that I would unless the problem was in the drums.

Brandon

[richiebee]

Phasing issues can introduce themselves at various stages of a session. If its important to have mono compatibility, then its important to check for phasing issues at all stages - mic set up/tracking, mixing, DSP adding, mixdown and mastering.

So, is it important to have mono compatibility? Depends on your audience. If there's any chance it's going on the radio or TV, mono compatibility is still very important. Not checking can lead to embarrassment - I've heard ads on local radio where whole voices are practically missing from the commercial because they haven't been checked. I've checked my own work and been surprised to practically lose whole instruments from a mix through bad mic placement.

I check all the stuff I do at work because I never know where it'll end up. For my own stuff at home, I never check, cos I know the only public place its going is the internet.

R.

[flhctroll]

perfect example... American Idol this year. Sounded great on my dolby pro logic system for the first part of the season... Then they switched to 5.1. It took the about three weeks of people bitching cause they only sent out the 5.1 and not anything else. Apparently they werent checking in mono cause it sounded horrible on mono tv's and my center chanell. Was sounding alot better by the end of the season though.

[brandondrury]

Wagener told us a story about a live recording he did of Alice Cooper that was played on MTV. He said that someone down the line had flipped the phase (polarity really) on just one side of the stereo mix. 10 seconds into the first song, Wagener was on the phone calling the MTV tech to tell him to flip the polarity back. Instantly, the snare and vocals were back.

So, just because your mix is compatible in mono, doesn't mean that someone down the line can't flip the phase on one side....no matter how unlikely it is.

Brandon

[PhilB]

Thank you!

[brandondrury]

what if you can't afford a GOOD 3rd speaker?

I meant to ask...what is a "good" speaker?

Brandon

[PhilB]

I should be coming in to some money this fall, exclusively dedicated to recording my music and selling songs. (my two biggest goals).

I'm not sure how much it is, but I'll have to weigh carefully how to spend it.

I'll be upgrading my speakers. Honestly I'll probably not get a third speaker, but I would be choosing between a good third speaker but skimping elsewhere, a shitty one, and just mono-ing to one of the pretty good pair I'll be getting.

option 3 is looking pretty good to me

pb

[brandondrury]

I would think that speaker 3 could be any piece of junk you could find around the house. Bob Clearmountain is famous for still using his computer speakers that came with his Mac back in the 80s as his mono third speaker.

From the way I understand it, he keeps them up on some shelf and they are not even pointed at him. In a lot of ways they probably represent the average persons speaker arrangement in their homes.

Brandon

[PhilB]

awesome reply Brandon! that does make sense,

pb