Mono vs. Stereo

Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 10:13 am

When is it worth it/appropriate to mix in mono?

Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 10:32 am

When it is earlier than 1960 or if you work for an AM radio station.

Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 11:41 am

When you have one of these as your sound output device.

Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 11:50 am

hueseph wrote:

When it is earlier than 1960 or if you work for an AM radio station.

Hehehe

Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 12:24 pm

In all seriousness though, there is an answer to this. Yes there is definitely an appropriate time to mix in mono but I don't want to do your homework for you. If you were my student you'd get an F simply because you don't want to put the thought into it to figure it out.

That being said, it is common to mix in mono during live performances. Simply because a stereo image cannot be conveyed well in a large venue. I know stereo can be done live and I believe Pink Floyd even did 5.1 for some of their concerts, but it just doesn't work all that well in a room where not everyone can be in the sweet spot.

I'm assuming at this point that you are just young but I have a nose for trolls.

Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 2:41 pm

Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix was mixed in mono because they had so many problems getting it to sound good in stereo. Apparently there were lots of problems with phasing in the mix so they just switched to mono to get everything working.

The name of the song "Purple Haze" was derived from these phase problems they were having. Jimi took the "p" from the word "phase" and came up with Purple then just replaces the "s" in phase with a "z" and BAM...Purple Haze.

The first line (and verse actually) of the song is a description of what the song's first mix sounded like. If you've ever heard a track that had some whacky phase problems, it sounds like your brain is being turned inside out....

Purple Haze (phasing) all in my brain...
Lately things don't seem the same
Actin' funny, but I don't know why (it's the phasing Jimi)
'scuse me, while i kiss the sky.

ok...maybe not

Confused

Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 3:12 pm

Ow! Ow! Ow! Let go me leg!

Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 3:23 pm

OH, and that last line "'scuse me, while I kiss the sky"...that actually came from what Jimi said to his drummer when the engineer fixed the problem.

Jimi was like "Man, this sounds SO much better now". Then he held the engineers head in both his hands and said "It sounds so good I could Kiss This Guy".

The drummer misunderstood Jimi and thought he said "kiss the sky". When he asked Jimi what that meant, Jimi found the hook for the song. The rest was history.

Baow daow daow
b'daow daow daount
b'daow daow daount

Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 6:02 am

*passes doobie*

Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 7:03 am

Quote:

I'm assuming at this point that you are just young but I have a nose for trolls.

I am not very young (25), but I am extremely new to recording/mixing.
Hopefully, you do not consider me a troll just yet.

Secondly, I should have been more clear in my question.
Is there any other reason besides to check for phasing issues for mixing in mono? I've heard that before, I also remember hearing somewhere that George Martin used to mix in mono.

I suppose I am guilty of being lazy.

Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 8:07 am

Certainly George Martin would have mixed in mono.....for a time.......but only because stereo playback was still in the works. That is, stereo Hi-Fi units were not the norm yet. You don't mix to a format that most consumers have yet to own.

You don't "mix" in mono to check phase. You listen in mono to check phase, correct the phase and flip the mono/stereo switch back to stereo.

Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 9:34 am

*tokes*

Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 2:56 pm

sshack wrote:

*passes doobie*

*phases doobie*

Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 4:49 pm

*compresses doobie in the dbx bong*

Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 6:58 pm

Quote:

*passes doobie*

Quote:

*phases doobie*

Quote:

*compresses doobie in the dbx bong*

all to the left I hope?

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