Why Mixing In Mono Is The Secret - RecordingRevolution.com
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- čas přidán 22. 03. 2017
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Do you struggle to get your mixes to sound great outside of your studio? Do they fall apart once you get to your car or laptop speakers?
What if I told you that the easiest way to guarantee you churn out a balanced, clear, and killer mix was to begin mixing in mono?
Would you laugh at me? Or would you be willing to unpack the logic to this bizarre method? - Hudba
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It seems that the link is down :(
the link sends me back here to CZcams
Thank you KIND SIR! FINALLY someone explinging he benefots of MONO!
Cool
Man, this guy literally just wants people to make good music. I really appreciate the time and effort you put into putting extremely helpful guides like these out. Takes a lot to want to teach everyone a lot of the things you know.
seriously!
I agree man!
I KNEW I WASN'T CRAZY FOR MIXING IN MONO,
THANK YOU.
You're crazy though
Lmao
There is yet another tip, some augmentation of the idea mentioned here: mix in mono + plug in EQ on master with only middle freqs - simulating small kitchen radio of the eighties. If oyur mix works well on this setup - it will work as well anywhere.
Great idea, ty!
can you do a tutorial on that..not clear for me
Instead get a Auratone mix cube in mono 😋
@@jamesmettle2 Just put high pass and low pass filters on your entire mix to simulate 'small kitchen radio'. In other words cut out the highs and the lows.
Thank you very much!
This Is True! I accidentally mixed and mastered in mono once, and it actually came outperfect
I do edm, specifically hip hop beat ... could you help me? I want to make my mix clearer. Specifically my share of the bass. Where I find videos. You seem to have a lot more knowledge! I thank you! send poik.amazon@gmail.com
man I cant wait! im in the process of buying a house and will finally have a dedicated studio space! I've waited years for this!
There's even a name for this common dream, "the sound room" =D
uhuh ;)
congradulation
What no... I have a fold away bed! Wooo
Congrats !
Mono is actually very relevant again, with all those bluetooth potable speakers in the market.
are those things mono? never thought of it
@@pedro.sh101 A lot of it are in mono. Especially the medium and small form factors. And though some may have two speakers, and may be in left and right. With that size, you're not gonna get an accurate stereo field, everything's gonna collapse.
@@allenalesna i see, it makes sense, thank you
@@pedro.sh101 majority of cellphones people listen to music are also mono. So the video contains quite some incorrect information.
@@andrasnagy8448 what's incorrect? He literally said the cellphones are mono.
I remember when I figured this out. My mixes went from OK to amazing. I always do everything in mono when it comes to mixing you can really place things well and filter out frequencies at an unimaginable level. I would also say the second thing that really elevated my mixes was recently I got that weird waves out on that simulates Abbey Road studio, and it’s unbelievable how well it worked to help me really fine-tune my sound. Ugly frequency stick out like a sore thumb.
I hope youre right!
I think it's important to mention that those without experience with mixing in mono should listen to their favourite mixes to gauge perspective. That helped me enormously for gauging loudness, spatialisation and timbre in mono and how it translates to stereo.
Thank you for that advice I will definitely do this ✨
Mono... doesn't... lie....
Except when you can’t hear the ‘side’ and you go back to stereo and the stereo information is either too loud or too quiet.
Just turning down the side channel is not the same as collapsing to mono. Mono is hearing both of the L and R channels in both speakers, which removes all stereo information without changing the levels.
Mono does TRY to play everything through one speaker but it does not contain the sterero difference. The stereo difference is impossible to play through one speaker because when the information is sent through one speaker it cancells each other out. So mono is only part of the entire mix and you are missing some stereo information because its been 'phased out'.
SO turning down the side channel to 0 is the exact same thing as a mono button. Which is why instruments that are panned to the sides are quieter in mono than they really are. Because most of their information was contained in the stereo width/difference that has been cancelled out and can only be heard through the original stereo signal.
Daltira Thanks for pointing that out! What you're saying is totally right, i must have picked up some incorrect information somewhere. Sorry for any confusion i might have caused!
Na dont worry about it iv'e found like 1% of people actually know what I just told you haha
i did this on accident and my mix turned out great! I definitely needed a reminder like this to do it everytime
Seriously, this is one of the best advices I have evver seen anywhere. I just tried it out on an older project I had. After 10 minutes the mix sounds better than after hours of fiddling around with it! You have gotten a new fan and subscriber!
When I worked in broadcasting, I ALWAYS used an X-Y display when mixing and monitoring.
Make sure your audio is "IN PHASE"".
Two identical signals 180° out of phase WILL result in A ZERO SUM OUTPUT.
I always mix with mono in mind.
Yes, I am a "Mono-Maniac".
Kurt R. Warner
Retired Radio/Television Broadcast Engineer
Milwaukie, Oregon.
Thank you so much for taking time doing these. You are an incredible teacher, absolutely pleasant to listen to. I have been suffering from poor mixes for YEARS, and I've finally decided I've had enough. I am going humble myself and watch all your videos.
What a great explanation for why this is so necessary. I've definitely struggled in this area. This will most definitely cut down the amount of times I've had to go back to mixes over and over because something still wasn't right when I listened to them elsewhere. I've heard of mixing in Mono before, but this explanation really crystallized how important it is. Thank you!
What a great video! Even as a seasoned mixer I find that sometimes I forget this discipline and watching your video brought me back to my roots and forced me to try it out on a mix and it just helped so much appreciate you taking the time to make this video
This mono trick really works! I always mix/level and do my plug in's in stereo and then flip to mono and listen to the whole thing again. Makes my mixes pop better than they were!!!
Really good tool to have and use.
When you flip back to stereo it's like an ear candy explosive orgasm
I can't help but remember of the fantastic album "Ear Candy" from King's X, produced by Brendan O'Brien who also produced Stone Temple Pilots, that album sounds fucking GOOD
you should use mono only for the base
Joeyb Theman I think you missed my point.
Usually bass, kick and sometimes snare is dead center and mono.
However, after getting everything in the stereo field levels and situated, flipping the master fader to mono and listening to the entire mix helps ensure everything is perfectly leveled and situated.
Goofy GooberInc yeah I get wut ur saying. but at the end you should only mono the bass
been mixing in mono for years. start mono then stereo, then surround as mono is the least forgiving. therefore if the mix works in mono it will translate out when given more dimension in which to fit.
yes!
Do you only use one monitor speaker, then?
These are by far the best videos for home studio recording. I've learned so much. You're a pleasant dude too.
Thank you so much for this man! This is exactly what I needed to learn today. I have no words to express how thankful I am for this. Keep up the good work brother.
Can't believe I never thought of this
This channel is most excellent. Excellent tips and tricks, clearly explained with no ego 👌
+Ian Langille
Huge ego concealed by a pretense of humility - a huge front to come across like he has deep and earnest consideration for others. This is not a projection on my part or out of any sort of bitterness. Rather, it's just something I've honestly noticed over time, especially in vids where he gets philosophical. I saw your comment and I felt like it couldn't stand unchallenged, as too many people are influenced by such a view and it ends up being a self-reinforcer for people with rightful doubts about something he may say or suggest.
This isn't to simply launch an ad hominem attack against him, as I'm not suggesting this necessarily reflects on the legitimacy or value of his technical tips/mixing tricks. I'm rather just saying that his views and apparent humbleness should be taken with a grain of salt.
+Crescendo
Well, a clearly insightful comment, as evidenced by the immense lack of wit it takes to claim how someone's "butthurt" whenever an opinion is stated which you previously never gave to care to give any consideration for.
In any case, to answer your question, he often states his views on different subject matters and gives his philosophical views, and there is also just generally a philosophy behind mixing or whatever it is you do, and it simply gives you an idea somewhat of what the person is about. It's otherwise evident in other areas as well but that would I guess be beside the point here as the comment was addressing his "lack of ego". That's all. I already mentioned how this has no bearing on how good or otherwise well presented his tips are for technical things.
I've noticed absolutely nothing of the sort. Over time. Honestly.
He invites comment, criticism, variance, points out his own changes in approach/technique.
He offers a lot of valuable advice for free, along the lines of "this is what has worked for me" and "these are mistakes I've made."
He also runs a business and is clear about that.
If that is "huge ego," damn, we could use a lot more people with "huge egos."
+berkeleybernie
So, you not noticing and then creating fake points which I never made to take a stance against is an argument? I obviously stated a contrasting point of view to most people here. It doesn't really mater what I bring to light because everyone's most favorite tactic for maintaining ignorance is to label anything of the sort as simply coming from a "hater".
It's pointless to give examples contrary to what you're saying as stating the obvious, as you did, of what he deliberately tries to put across, is way too easy and thoughtless tbqh. Dig deeper my friend. My purpose was to cancel out some of this noise which is getting reflected in this echo chamber, and that's about all I can do. The point would've been for people who were shaky on him and were furthermore suspicious to not feel as pressured to blindly agree and align with this top-rated comment. For them, I guess there would be a point in expounding upon what I'm referring to and what, for instance, has clearly clearly come across to any one of my friends (not aspiring sound/audio engineers) who I knew had similar critical senses (looking to actually counteract my suspicions). Unlike some here (yes, I'm being somewhat coy), I question my own judgments too. If you're set in your view, that's fine. We do need more people doing the kind of work he does and with his approach, but for exactly the opposite reasons.
You praise him; I on the other hand think we need better voices to be heard over this cunt, and I use this word deliberately where being poignant is the only true reflection of my perspective. I'm not about being a phony shit. His entire philosophy on the other hand is built on shoddy logic and baseless notions of self-belief and "discipline". He projects his morality on everyone else and resides within these walls of self-delusion. I, at least for fucking one, don't find it assuring of him sharing this mentality with others who are looking not only to better themselves as supposed engineers but grow themselves as people. No, we don't need more people with a perverse sense of self-righteous indignation who masquerade by constantly feeling the need to show you how humble they are. That's all this guy does and it's a testament to how historically (and now), people have so easily been manipulated. It's a good thing Graham's intentions at the very least seem good, cause he surely has a gift, and there's lots he'd be able to do if he actually had bad ones.
+mrunconventional
Already called you out in my comment. "Hater", "troll", same thoughtless bullshit.
This is awesome! Thanks so much for sharing this! I watched this last night and I can only say that I wish I had mixed in mono from the beginning. I’m just a beginner when it comes to recording my own songs. I applied your technique and was absolutely stunned! I have to say the stereo widening plugin is a much simpler approach than some other videos I have watched. I had difficulty understanding their videos even though I knew I needed to learn how to mix in mono, I just gave up and set it aside until I was in a much better place. Part of this is because of my health. I have severe ME so struggle to process new information and especially when it is a lot. It was incredible how I finally got my sound sounding much better in mono and then hitting the bypass button on the stereo widening plug in and hearing it in stereo, I can liken it to being a kid on Christmas morning and opening a present not knowing what is inside and the feeling of anticipation and then being blown away when you open it! 😂 Everything is so much wider and cleaner than before. Completely awesome!I’m still finding an issue with phasing on the particular song with the tambourine which is a virtual instrument. I haven’t figured out how to fix it yet. It’s creating a phasing problem in the vocal which is extremely annoying. I am using a plate reverb but not very much. The vocal is good very warm but only without the tambourine. I will get there!😅
If you forget all the other videos you have done and just kept only this one in your channel it will still be one of the most amazing channels on CZcams. I dont have an acoustic treated room and my mixes always ended up messed up. Either the perc was too loud or the orchestra ect. Since i applied this theory in my mixes they got 90% better. I cant thank you enough for this great "secret" you shared with us. This video isnt a recording revolution, its a recording revelation! Thank you Graham!
This was very helpful Graham! I wish I knew this sooner, before I released my album. But I'll definitely be using this technique for future albums. It does make sense that mixing in mono would make everything in stereo sound better. Thank you!
As a Live "Club" engineer, I plug my kit in Mono. Why? Simple, people are scattered all over the place L-C-R, far back, 2nd story, I find that it's the best way for the listener to experience the full audio track performances from anywhere in the building.
I wire my "passive" power racks to control two things. (2 knobs) Bass & Mid+highs (two way speakers), this way I can compensate levels quickly on the fly without always tweaking the EQ. If the highs are too prominent I'll either raise the low end or turn down the highs. This is the easiest way to adapt according to the crowd (where more people = more low end/muddiness, less people = more room reflections, less low end) different mixes of tunes (and loudness) from different styles & eras need to be constantly tweaked, there's no "One size fits all" setting, and as you say, mono helps a lot!
Cheers Graham.
Cheero I often choose to mix in mono Depending on the venue, I decide how wide the entire image should be. I usually don’t go too wide with the drums. Always kick, snare and hat in the center. Cheers!
1 year or so late, but this was a great read. Cool to see you utilize your knowledge and care for the listener!
This was absolutely great man. Seriously just went back and remixed some songs in mono and the difference is unbelievable. Thank you very much
i totally agree. i discovered this method when one speaker tweeter was out and thought how direct and accurate one speaker can be by focusing on just that. i started listening to albums on mono (dont forget to include the right channel). it was a very different world of hearing things. the kick and snare being prominent and how well the producer managed phasing. after studying records in mono i began to mix a song by doing that. finally!! it sounded for the first time professionally on every system. the topic of this video caught my eye and glad people discovered this method too. stereo and too many tracks can jade your ears.
2years ago,this video saved my life..
Thanks about that😅♥️
You are absolutely correct! I tested that theory In my earlier years of editing mixing and mastering. The mix sounds fuller and stronger! It's crazy! And yes,... people react the same way when I tell them like I don't know what I'm talking about! The ears don't lie my friend!
this is a great video. i always knew i used stereo widening techniques the wrong way, because anywhere else i played my music (besides my monitors) just didn't sound right. just didn't know how to really troubleshoot it, i never considered just switching to mono. you don't know how much this actually helped me man. it's crazy how one piece of info can change an outlook.
Nice! I once listened to my songs in my "kind of studio" while collapsing when hearing the more than unbalanced sound which came out of my boxes. Then i made everything mono and started mixing - the result was like it came directly out of a professional studio. It's really satisfying to see that i actually did the right thing to my mixes. +rep nice tone engineer
Damn. Now I've got to remix 30 songs. There goes my summer!
I agree but I think the collapse to mono technique should be used judiciously. You could end up over EQing your various tracks to the point the instruments sound unnatural. There is always a balance between clarity and cohesiveness.
Eliah Holiday That's exactly what I did last night with my last mix. Switched back to stereo and my hard panned distorted guitars sounded like a cheap distortion pedal. And the cymbals sounded really harsh. Mostly because I'm not what anyone would consider close to Pro Level Mixer yet , but I think if I'd spent less time mixing in mono , I'd have ended with "better" results. BUT , Graham is a top notch audio educator. Have a great day. :-)
I agree with the principal. I just think one shouldn't go too far with trying to make everything 100% clear up the middle.
Eliah Holiday Good point. For me I do seperate mono mixes if I know my client's stuff is going to get played at the clubs. Motown records made seperate stereo and mono mixes of singles up to 1971. Although motown stopped doing seperate mono mixes for LP's in 1969. The Beatles up to 1968.
Assuming you don't screw with the panning laws in your DAW, mixing in mono shouldn't be a problem.
I swear clubs with mono systems in this day and age is just silly.
Rik J. Smith The biggest part is leveling. Not eqing! You can always eq tracks separately. And then for example guitars, tweak those together. After that you can switch to mono and check the level with drums, bass etc. If sounds too light, add up a bit bass then check in stereo again if it does sound good then go mono again etc. You don't eq when in mono with all tracks on. You should only do the leveling. And check in mono if it sounds passable then it's good. Just like you use your phone speaker to play some music. You should expect the phone would still sound good. That is the point.
Graham, I'm glad I subscribed to your channel!!! This simple secret has helped me improve my mix to where when i test it in my car, i don't have to go back and tweak any of the tracks!!!! Now i have to test it in the club. What I was missing, now i have found it! THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!
Your videos never dissapoint me. Thanx for the guide btw!
This advice is golden especially for EDM styles where many club sound systems are traditionally mono. I've found alot of soft synths rely on smearings of stereo widening FX to make the presets sound huge initially which then totally go to crap when played in mono. Used to drive me crazy before I learnt about it. Worth using a plugin where you can EQ the mid (mono) and sides (stereo) seperately.
I do edm, specifically hip hop beat ... could you help me? I want to make my mix clearer. Specifically my share of the bass. Where I find videos. You seem to have a lot more knowledge! I thank you! Greetings frim Brazil. send e mail poik.amazon@gmail.com
This is really true Graham. My mixes have really improved since i started mixing in mono.
I do edm, specifically hip hop beat ... could you help me? I want to make my mix clearer. Specifically my share of the bass. Where I find videos. You seem to have a lot more knowledge! I thank you! send poik.amazon@gmail.com
this technique honestly, improved how my soundtracks sound soo much!! Amazing yet so simple way!
This was a fantastic tip. Perfectly explained and demonstrated. Bravo, Sir!
Also... mono AND shut off one monitor. Doesn’t matter which one. This is the ultimate way to make an amazing mix. Try this and give me a thumbs up when it changes your life. This is 2x more powerful than mono mixing alone. Trust me. It’s absolutely amazing how much easier it is to make things sit in the mix in the right place.
Why. How¿
True I did this the other day. Center monitor and computer monitor. Use stereo to monitor utility in Ableton master.
@@cpxthebastard2795 lots of reasons why, but none really matter. if you can make one monitor sound great, while your entire mix is in mono, when you click the other monitor on and pan a few things, your mix will sound amazing. it's just one trick to getting great results. it's like this: one monitor more true to the original. the bare naked truth.
Anthony Raftery excellent point. Having both monitors on blurs the mix. My best mixing happens with one monitor only. I don’t pan anything until after I do all my eq, compression etc. then I turn the other monitor on and play with panning my drum overheads etc. I mix at low levels and only turn it up to check for harshness.
Alright you guys, this sounds wacky but i'm gonna try it. Makes sense too, as a kid i always had just one speaker attached to a discman and i listened to great bands, i guess the recordings have to be mono-able. Great advice
Mixing in mono is huge. It's especially huge if you ever plan to have your tunes played in a club or festival setting. A lot of large speaker systems are run in mono so your mix has to hold up in that environment.
Most daws have a "utility" plugin which will change the mix to mono - just drop it on the master channel.
Dude the snare I couldn't get to break through the mix before is hitting now.
Thanks.
"if your mix sounds good in mono and at low volume it will most likely be much better when you put it into stereo and crank it"
i forget when and where i picked up that little nugget and where from but it has proven useful many times since
What I usually do is, after a mix in stereo to a point that I am almost satisfied, I switch to mono, understand where the issues are and correct them without overdoing. This usually works best in stead of just mixing in mono from the start.
Zarrella then are you change them to stereo again or you just make it mono
Mogury yes keep the mix in mono export it and master
Lol no dont do that
Thats the best method, flipping from stereo to mono. Most that say exclusively mix in mono don't know what they're talking about lol.
What struck me was that Graham said in the video to listen to it in mono before you even do any EQing, compressing and what not. I don't get the point of doing that. It will sound all cluttered and squashed. It is by EQing and else that we unclutter it, giving every instrument its space. Agree?
Cool! Studio One has a mono stereo toggle on the Navigon bar. I've been using this technic and I defiantly helps.
I love Studio One .. BUT... Studio One has a terrible flaw!! ..- It has the wrong "Pan Law" !!:,.. it will turn down the level of a channel, if you pan from center to left or right or it will turn the level up if you pan from left or right towards the center ... meaning if you want to keep the level balance of your mix, but decide to change the panning of individual tracks, you have to corect the level of these tracks to, or you panning change will get your levels out of balance !!! ... what a terrible flaw !!
So until Presonus decide to let you choose other pan Laws in Wtudio One ... it Leaves Studio One in the Categori: "Unprofessional DAW for mixing "
Do you agree ?
We should beg Presonus to acknowlege this and impliment optional Pan Laws in Studio One .. Don't you Agree ?
I'll admit, I went "huh" for like, 3 seconds at the beginning, but as you were doing the intro, I began to think about it and it makes a lot of sense! I was with you before you collapsed this mix, but I smiled so damn wide when you did, because it sounded GREAT in mono. This is such a simple thing, and as a novice audio engineer, I'm looking to get ALL the little tips I can to make things sound wonderful. With this video alone, you've earned yourself a subscribe. Keep it up, man!
I am so grateful that I stumbled upon this video. This was very helpful.
The quickest way to collapse the mix to mono is to listen to it from outside the room. This is a trick many producers have used for years to get a good mix and it's probably got a lot to do with the things stated in this video.
I do edm, specifically hip hop beat ... could you help me? I want to make my mix clearer. Specifically my share of the bass. Where I find videos. You seem to have a lot more knowledge! I thank you! send poik.amazon@gmail.com
Poik future music magazine, CZcams channel
Fine Balance Recordings I'm going to try that it sound like it might be effective.
Interesting to hear this is a known technique! A band I'm in just recorded an album, and during the mixing process, I kept preferring to leave the control room to listen. Everyone thought I was either weird, or not taking the mix seriously.
correct , except leaving the room does not make the stereo music mono.
I think an important thing to add for people that try this and get bummed by how their track sounds in mono or just get bummed by mono, listen to an artist you like or a track you think has amazing production in mono and switch it back and forth to and from stereo. You'll notice the mono version doesn't sound much different besides the obviousness of panning. The mono version will still have all the essentials of a good mix. My suggestion is get used to this process and try it often. Even if you decide not to mix in mono, monitoring in mono will really help your mixing skills and your listening objectivity.
Awesome! Will do definitely thanks for that ❤
you have no idea how much i needed this video, subscribed
I recently started doing this a week ago and it has been great, thank you Graham.
In reaper you can just hit the mono button on the master track
Reaper Master Race!
I'm not a pro but I've tried other DAWs. Reaper is the simplest yet most complete DAW in my own personal opinion. I tried other DAWs and I always go back to reaper 'cause it's just amazing.
+Nicolás Atehortúa I agree, it's incredibly powerful considering the price
I dont want to start DAW war but Studio One is the best IMHO.
+Djordje Petric I guess it's whatever your most used too, for me reaper is complex yet simple at the same time aha
1:05: “my mix is not gonna be played in mono.”
JBL Charge 4: exists.
Loooll
bose soundlink
This is so true. Mixing in mono is much better then stereo sometimes. I literally trained my ears to listen to music in mono when producing. Thank you for making this video @recordingrevolution
This just blew my mind! I spent the last hour tweaking a mix that was giving me troubles, and WA-LA! Perfection. Thank you
I've been engineering for a living for 10+ years. Mono has become more and more relevant. I started mixing in mono 8 years ago when I saw some kids sharing ear buds on the bus. then i started working with some hi end dj's and I saw they were judging tracks on laptop speakers. Then I realised there's absolutely no point in panning in club music as not all clubs fold to mono though they should. Now everyone's listening on phone speakers! All my stereo now is got from either reverb/ambience mono compatible width tricks like side channel delay (used in free plugin by voxengo stereo touch )
I think you kinda missed my point, Stereo has always 'been the future', and phones and devices long before the iphone 5 had stereo, but a phone with stereo speakers still isn't stereo unless it's wider than your head and you press your nose to the screen! very very few people are actually receiving stereo at all.
the only exceptions to this are the 0.1% audiophiles who have a 20k hi-fi set up in a nice room, with the speakers at a perfect triangle to the listening position etc, but those people don't listen to popular music,.the only other exception being headphones of course but that is binaural, not stereo and that's a separate discussion.
Yeah your dead right mate. The stereo field (distance between speakers) in most modern devices is so narrow the ears perceive it as mono. Your iPhone, smartphone, iPad, tablet or laptop would have to be at least 1m wide in order to get the best stereo separation out of it. In world driven towards compactness for consumers, Mid side or Mono mixing and mastering is here to stay.
wow thanks, good advice
BuzzaB77 I agree but only when it comes to dance and rap. Mixing for the lowest common denominator is always a mistake. This happened in the 60's with record companies putting out rock records. It's just mindless beat music for kids. Most people are listening on earbuds which is stereo. If I am doing dance mixes I will make a seperate mono mixes of the better tracks. They will end up as bonus tracks on the CD or MP3 LP.
I will never mix for an Ipod speaker. That's insane (not saying you are doing it) It produces no bass and no lower midrange. We need to raise the quality of music not lower it.
I loved your explanation! I want to learn to mix in mono in Pro Tools, would you indicate me some video? I am a producer of hip hop, and I always feel the end of the bass without clarity. Since already very obeyed !!Greetings from Brazil!! peace
bcs all monitors or at last 90% of them are in mono. thats why you should work in 3 level to make a song sound great. 1 for phones who has low quality one for laptop mid quality and one for monitors of clubs who actually most of them work in mono. thats why some producers work in mix in mono.
Killez Beats What monitors are you referring too? Mixing in mono is one thing (and I agree) but mixing for the lowest common denominator will seriously fuck up (pardon my French) your mix. It is a myth that people everywhere are listening to music on IPhone speakers. If engineers took this attitude Dark Side Of The Moon would've never had happened. You would hear crap like, "We can't hear the heartbeat on the shifty lap top speakers...."
This has been one of the most useful pieces of music info I could have ever gotten. Thanks brother.
You actually answered on of my biggest questions I had about mono mixing... Thanks for the precious advice... Gonna implement it from now on.
this guy is a master... execellent tip.. this channel is amazing...
Speaking of master.....ing, if you wanna see a cool mixing trick for a louder master you can check out my channel! Have a great day!
I think it depends on the track and the goal. But your entitled to your own opinion! Have a good day
Pitch Down Producer cool.... It's better to have something 'loud' that a listener can always turn down the volume on as opposed to something they can't ever turn up.
Juan Villa Nah, he’s a mix :D
Graham you are a great person, bravo for sharing all these serious informations. Even I was thinking that I don't need training because I'm already 25 years in business of studio, I will purchase some training stuff from your website for 2 reasons: First of all because you deserve it, as you are giving in your videos good and useful advises. Secondly, because there is always room for more knowledge to everyone and I think the right place for that is the recording revolution.com
Νίκος Πιτλόγλου Yes, Graham actually knows what he is talking about. And a great guy too.
GREAT advice!! Never thought of this. Start in mono with no plug-ins, work the EQs and the compressions, THEN do the rest of the work - simply BRILLIANT! It's the now the newest, bestest tool in my mix kit. :)
Thanks Graham... I am really happy you take Z time to help us ALL. Amen 😀 great reminder of "how we need to think of our mixes beyond the Studio, in real life.
Glad to see someone talking about MONO! Revolution? :) I learned to check mono when starting to mix for live network radio music gigs back in the early 80's. :) Not only for phase correlation, but for mono compatibility and mix content. Even those who have "stereo" systems are listening off center, or with speakers so close together that it's practically mono. Also, checking your mixes in mono, and also at a very low level will help you GREATLY hear your vox levels, or any solo levels. Walk out of the room where you are mixing and listen from another room with the volume fairly low - it will tell you a LOT. These aren't so much secrets, but I'd call it "lost art" in the day of "everyone can mix audio on the latest whiz bang DAW." :-/ THANKS!
I've always recorded in mono and saved end mix in stereo
Alredy tried it! and worked like a charm! really a huge diference! Thank you so much!
stereo imaging and effects are SO important in my music. it is experimental and progressive music, with a lot of sound designy elements. being able to hear a sound whiz around your head, fly straight up, and come back to smack you in the head, is imperative. so at first thought i felt super annoyed with this sentiment and always ignored it when engineers would talk about it. i always told myself that it didn't apply to me because i'm not making a kind of music in which stereo imaging is one of the main aspects of the work. testing the separation between stereo elements cannot be done in mono, so mixing in mono seemed to me at the time to be more detrimental than good. and frankly nonsensical. but i never actually realized that what you all are suggesting is that we *create the backbone of our mix in mono, for the sake of balancing all the elements.* i do agree, that is extremely helpful. i just spent the last few years astounded at how many people say "MIX IN MONO!!!!!" because i thought they were ignoring the importance of panning, different levels of width among different elements, etc. i'm glad i sat through the first few minutes of this video so i could understand exactly what "mixing in mono" entails, and doesn't entail. my vote is to stop saying "mix in mono!
and start saying "set up your mixes in mono!"
Do you set your levels AND PANNING before going to mono or do you pan after you're finished in mono?
Pan everything first until you listen something more or less fine. Then turn it mono to refine each instrument that is clashing but you can't tell due the stereo separation. Doing this you'll be forced to clean up all the fresh and smelly shit of each part until you hear something decent in mono.
Then turn it stereo again and it should sound way better.
Always do a stereo mix before doing a mono mix. When listening in mono, your goal is to fix any phasing or EQ issues that may be at play that aren't noticeable in stereo. A visualizer, such as Ozone's Imager, is pretty handy for making sure your track is mono-compatible, but listening in mono and just using your ears is great too.
Todd Preston pan while in mono and then take it off and listen to it in stereo
Todd Preston
You mix in mono, add eq, compression (if needed), effects, and then panning. Some say panning and then effects. See what works best.
Fair warning: Most stereo keyboard samples are made too sound wide. In other words they reverse one of the stereo channels. This fucks up mixes causing phasing issues. Unless it's an organ or piano, figure out which channel has had it's phase screwed with and flip it and then sum the sample to mono. If you feel you really need the patch in stereo figure out which channel has been reversed and flip that. These widen stereo samples will cause headaches in your stereo mix and will make it difficult for you to check shit in mono.
Back in the 70's and early 80's mono keyboards were on thousands of successful records and they sound great. 6 keyboard mono lines will sound better than 6 stereo keyboard lines. Or my way - half mono half stereo lines. Makes for a more diverse mix.
John Morris Great information. You just dropped some serious gems!
If you’re mixing in mono to get relative levels, center pan all your channels. If you wide pan guitars, etc... and then do levels in mono, when you flip back to stereo, your vocals will probably be drowned out by the level increase on the panned channels that was being ducked by the mono summing. You can hear it in Graham’s track. On mono, the vocal is substantially louder in mono cause of the hard panning, and there’s a much better music to vocal balance when he flips back to stereo. If you’re going to use mono as a level reference, it’s important to understand what panning does to a mono mix.
Also the doubled guitars in rock are not in phase often thats whats make them wide but will suffer in mono
that's why pan law exists.
cometogether420 sure, that’s the reason they exist, but when it comes to relative level, pan laws do not help. A stereo mix is fundamentally different from a mono mix in a way that no pan law can solve.
Moritz Schiekel totally true, that’s why it’s usually better to double track than to copy and paste cause the tiny differences between the two track takes will solve phase cancelation. In situations where you have to copy and paste (or use a small delay), I’ve found that adding a different distortion processing to one side almost completely corrects the phase/volume issue because it makes each sound fundamentally different enough that they don’t cancel each other.
SO true. And I actually used to do this, probably from listening to you & then stopped; Thanks Graham for the reminder!
So simple, so nice! Super helpful tutorial. Thank you!
When you're adjusting the volumes of each track, what level of reduction are you trying to aim for? -6 db and then master?
-6 db is a good spot to aim for on the master channel when mixing. You want there to be head room above -6 db so you have plenty of room to master. Mastering requires headroom because you're basically trying to make the various volumes of your mix more cohesive and smooth to the ear. This makes the mix a littler louder in real terms, but it mostly tricks your ears into thinking the track is louder than it was when it wasn't mastered.
Yea. -6 is usually most people's preference. Leaving a great deal of head-room allows your mix to have a great dynamic range when mastering. It obviously varies by producer and personal preference. Most people want loud and big, but I think that's silly. Beauty is in the dynamics.
@@austinlitteral8569 This -6db headroom is the most non-sense rule in all music industry. All mastering engineers will reduce the level down as soon as they put your track in the DAW. If you do this or if he does it, it's the same thing whatsoever. Doesn't matter if it's at -0.3 or -30, the important thing is good practices as not compressing tracks in a bad way or pushing the tracks into a limiter. All you need is to leave the mastering aspects to the mastering engineer. I work with mastering btw, i receive tracks at -6db or something, that have bad compression and clipping caused by a limiter, and also receive tracks normalized to -0.1 but with the full dynamics preserved and a pristine sound because there is nothing in the master bus to ruin it.
To cubase! (flies away)
lol xD!
Same! :) :)_)
Me too!
Hugo White Same here!
To ableton
Thank you Graham, for this wonderful tip and also for the radioready guide. You are doing an awesome job, cheers 🍻😊
This is a great video and this is why ive been mixing in Mono for the past 5yrs and its a big difference!!
I have a questions: If I mixing in mono should I use the plugins in stereo or in mono? For example Waves Plugins have two options mono and Stereo, wich kind should I use?
Miguel Dias stereo
Create an fx bus and put the stereo fx plugins in it. Now, Send fx that signal to the mono track.
It's more about MONITORING in mono on occasion, NOT mixing the finished product which can be a stereo as you like.
This MONOlouge dosent seem very STEREOtypical! 😄 Thanks for the Excellent Explanation! 👍
You are so right i been recording like this for years ...i love what your doing man keep it up
Thanks 🙏🏼 Graham.
You videos are helpful.
Keep up the work !
This is so relative there are TONS of great mixes of real pros that their mixes sounds great in stereo, they translate well, and sound bad in mono Chris lord Alge says" I care about Stereo, who will listen to my mixes in mono??" anyway, you can not pretend that your mixes in stereo will sound super compatible in mono, specially with wide pannong and L-R gtrs, you should take this video not to the extreme, just as a reference...
Which song is that at 1:37??
Do you also happen to know the title of it? :D
I've been recording for years,.. but you explained this process is such detail,.. that it'll change my views on how I put my songs together from now on ! Thanks Graham ! :)
Happy to hear more experienced audio engeneers breakdown this mono vs stereo topic. Thanks! this is great!
Do you still pan things when mixing in mono?
I want to know the answer too :D
I think his point was that mixing in mono just accentuates the clarity of your mix, so it will make you work harder for a clear mix. He's not saying there's anything wrong with panning, just that the stereo image can be fooling in the context of a studio. (Also panning in mono is pointless)
does that mean I have to go for the mono mix firs, then the panning later?
Have you tried panning a sound while your master is set in Mono? Does it sound different?
Marco Mark Productions You can still pan while in Mono.
Steven Crowder should do a "Change my mind" for this. Awesome info!
In my 20+ years of production, this was the simplest, most useful and essential tip I ever learned.
It makes so much sense and it's so simple, thanks a lot for the video
Don't worry one day PT will have that feature built in. Maybe PT 16 pro master special edition only $1099 oh and don't forget to pay joey and tony for the keys to use it cause some kids in Newark steal cars..
fuck pro tools.... overrated as fuck for clueless people who don't bother wasting time looking for better ways to burn their money
FeelingShred and hate on those who consume Fruit. The GOL tree is very honest and wise.
FeelingShred PT isn't overrated. It is a very stable system and has its strengths and weaknesses like any other DAW. It is a clean, uncluttered interface that lets you work. And for audio post for video, It is rock solid. When all is said and done, just like the analog tape world was(is) it's about recording a good signal, maintaining it throughout the mix and cutting and splicing. PT puts those basic task in the fore. If you're that type of user, you won't find it overrated or inadequate.
Industry standard only in the minds of the ignorant...
Knowing AVID? They will make a mono/stereo toggle plugin and charge only $500 for it. On sale. Until Tuesday. Buy now! And have your iLok key ready.
utility in ableton ;)
People often overlook utility, but it's so useful in a variety of ways.
Thanks! :)
@Nim Chimpsky yes ofc
@frank grimes Why not?
@frank grimes Lol why would you not do so?
Dude i usually dont comment on these videos. But i just want to say thank you. This is the best tip ive ever received. Works wonders!!
Thanks a lot man! You're a rock star!!! Your videos/tutorials has really helped me!
This is a good thumbs up rule, but it doesn't work all the time; like when you have an orchestral setup captured with decca tree, m/s and other types of stereo imaging solutions that create a lot of uncorrelated phase issues, mono mixing will actually be really bad.
Nae Dolor Yes, very true which is why pros like Bruce Sweiden always use a mono compatible stereo mike setup. And this is a man who stereo mikes bass amps. NOT KIDDING.
True. Mixing in mono isn't always an option.
Sorry, but I disagree. Although it is important to check for mono compatibility constantly, the actual width and depth is much more important to consider. While certain environments like clubs, AM Radio and Live Venues are predominantly mono, the mix will be experienced mostly in stereo and on top of it, probably on headphones.
Again, check it yes.... call it a secret claiming that it is going to make your mixes better is far fetched.
Someone claimed in a proviso comment that he saw kids share their earbuds.... are we really mixing to worst case scenarios or to create magic?
It’s definitely helpful for getting your center channel balanced - kick, snare, vocal, etc... and can help highlight some EQ masking and phase problems. I’ll do a first pass at leveling in mono with everything up the center, start panning in mono and flip back and forth to determine how the panning is affecting the balance of instruments vs vocal in a mono mix. I’m of the mindset that the final mix has to at least sound passable in mono. So many people are listening from phones, Google Home’s, Amazon Echo’s, Bluetooth speakers, etc... some of those have two speakers in them which helps a little, but they’re basically a mono mix. It’s impossible to account for every listening scenario, but a little compromise is ok by me.
This was helpful on so many levels thank 🙏🏾🎧
This is the single best piece of mix information I've ever heard... cheers :)
Wrong -> "Even if you have stereo speakers, you're so far away from the speakers that by the time the signal hits your face it has collapsed to mono because you're hearing both speakers at the same time" ... No, that is wrong. You are not hearing both speakers at the same time, the sound has not collapsed to mono. Humans rely on ITD, interaural time difference to locate the source of each sound... Also, in the car you're not hearing in mono just because you're sitting closer to one speaker, that said you're not getting the intended stereo effect either.
Guys beware, how can you say that ithe same to listen a mix in your car as listening in Mono when all is being summed INTERNALLY, the pahse cancellation is not remotely closed that way that when you are closer to one speaker, sorry, but in Theory this sounds good, but the examples you are giving are plain incorrect!! also not because you mix in mode and gives room in mono means that your mix will reach the full potential in Stereo, yes is good to check certain things and time to time in mono, but if you want a great mix in stereo at the end the stereo should rule your mix and not the mono.... and the example of the exterior noise?? give me a break, what that have to do with phase cancellation, that is what occurs in mono!!
This video is packed with great tips that I'm currently using to mix my 7-minute song "Please Don't Come Home." As an indie musician and solo songwriter it has been TOUGH to know where to start mixing 4 analog synths, 3 layered vocals, drums, and piano. But, I feel great about the concept of just mixing in Mono for as long as I can because of the useful challenges it creates.
Clarity, balance, and separation are my goals. Levels, EQ, and Compression are my tools. Without any panning, there's just less to worry about. Can't wait to bump it back into "Glorious Stereo" .. hear angel trumpets and devil trombones....
your tips and lessons have always been useful =) thank you very much.