Why don't you just record two mono track and pan them out?

It won't do anything for what you already have, and I certainly wouldn't suggest trying to simulate stereo without having a very good understanding of the nasties that can occur...

I've never really heard good sudo stereo. Those plugs do so many weird things to the sound. I would try to figure out how your program can record stereo. I can't believe that you would have something that can't.

For a psedo stereo, this is what I do... It is basically a mid-side kind of operation

I duplicate the mono track to three tracks. Track 1 remains panned right down the center. Tracks 2 and 3 are panned hard right and left. Next, those 2 tracks are delayed by approximately one half of one frame (35 subframes or about 17 ms if my math is correct). Lastly, take the left side and place it out of phase. Adjusting the level of the two side channels gives you a feeling of space. It is basically still mono, but it gives you a feeling of a kind of left and right and still maintains mono phase compatability.

Beyond that adding a bit of verb, spectral imaging plugins, etc.. can help out when creating a new stereo image.

It is definitely false and not a fantastic stereo image. However, it is the best that I've found. In the end, mono is mono and I usually don't try to change it.

--Ben

guys, thanks for the info!

I still have some questions:

Is is okay to record instrument and vocals in MONO mode? Will the finished mix sound a lot different than those in commercial quality CDs?

Thanks in advance.

That is a completely different subject.

Much in recording gets recorded as mono tracks and then they are mixed stereo with the pan knobs dictating the image. You'll find few instruments recorded stereo (occasional guitars, piano, and of course drums). Many instruments are from a single point source so they get recorded with one mic.

The big question is what you do with it when you are done. I wouldn't suggest doing what I wrote about in the context of a mix. It is simply a desperate measure to make a mono mix sound "stereo-ish."

--Ben

srs umm blast from the past?

srs virtual stereo is nice...good luck finding and licensing it.

i am a perfectionist so i agree with the mono idea.

if you really need some wide-ness i have little idea for ya...

you could apply small delay from left to right channels in the 5k and up region, also in the lets say 300 Hz to i dunno maybe 1-2k region.

that way it keeps the vocals mostly in the middle.

remember that low bass is always non-directional, so you dont want to apply delay and have it affect that region's phase etc.

in the end any fake stereo effect is well umm fake.

here is what i recommend -- play around with some various fake stereo effects -- and find the least bad one.

or just do what MF says.

intomuzik wrote: guys, thanks for the info!

I still have some questions:

Is is okay to record instrument and vocals in MONO mode? Will the finished mix sound a lot different than those in commercial quality CDs?

Thanks in advance.

There are two major questions I always ask myself when it's time to decide how to mic something is, "How dense will the mix be?" and "What are the physical/acoustical properties of the instrument?"

If it's an solo acoustic guitar, I'd always put up a stereo pair, and maybe even room mics. The "effect" of stereo mics will definitely be heard. If it's an acoustic guitar in an arrangement of electric guitar, bass, drums, vocals, backing vocals, strings, keyboard pads, congas, cowbells, etc, I'll almost always just throw one mic up. The listener would be VERY challenged to hear "stereo" guitar in a dense/rhythmic arrangement.

Next, there is the physical dimension. If it's a large instrument, like piano, or vibes, or drumset, I think it's natural to assume that the listeners mind VISUALLY identifies these being stereo sources. Thus, to record them in mono is "unnatural". When you bring up the phase issuses with mics being close together, stereo "close micing" a small source, such as tablas, can have more downside than upside.

Another generality is that the better the room, the better results for stereo micing techniques.

Hope this helps.