Aphex Twin mono or stereo?

[YEK]

i know that most aphex twin tracks are rather mono. if i were to plug a hardware synth in mono, it would be more bassy? in the long run would it be annoying cause i'd have to eq things differently? is stereo fine.?

maybe i could just put a mono vst at the very end of the chain. just thinking about mono thinking about the holocaust.

[Braintree]

wat?

 

 

If you're mixing a song, it's easier to make every track mono. It's more simple. The tracks you generally don't pan are the kick, snare, and bass.

 

A fair amount of Aphex Twin's tracks are mono because they're also pressed on vinyl. Having your compositions able to collapse to mono is also a good idea if they're ever broadcasted.

 

However, I think the way to get the cleanest sound out of your tracks is to mix them in stereo.

[wahrk]

If it's bass you're focusing on here, then check out BassLane. I've used it a few times and it's a handy little plugin. You can choose a frequency below which it smoothly blends down to mono for the low end.

Edited December 30, 2010 by wahrk

[Guest Jimbob]

Defeinitely make sure your bass channel is mixed down to mono. Everything else is fine to pan wherever

[cruising for burgers]

bass = mono

 

the day will come when someone makes a track with stereo bass, maybe me

Edited December 30, 2010 by THIS IS MICHAEL JACKSON

[YEK]

ah i see now. thanks all

[Cryptowen]

Sometimes I put separate autopans on EVERYTHING.

[wahrk]

I'm a bit obsessed with symmetry, so I have a really really hard time doing anything stereo other than mid/side stuff, stereo delays, or autopanning things.

Edited December 30, 2010 by wahrk

[Guest Wall Bird]

bass = mono

 

the day will come when someone makes a track with stereo bass, maybe me

 

Bruce Swedien, the engineer for Michael Jackson's 'Thriller', generally does all musical elements in stereo - even the bass. It's nothing too dramatic, though. The stereo image tends to come from his using a stereo mic configuration when he re-amps certain elements for the room sound.

 

Generally stereo bass is a mess because of the greater potential for low-end phase cancellation in such long waveforms. The point is also moot since your brain is theoretically incapable of localizing waveforms wider than your skull. Some mastering engineers (Bob Katz, and maybe Bob Ludwig) use stereo subwoofers for their surround mix projects, though their effectiveness is debatable for reasons just described.

[acidphakist]

Defeinitely make sure your bass channel is mixed down to mono. Everything else is fine to pan wherever

 

I'm going to dissent here and say if you have a higher bass part with some chorus on it, like an Italo bass for example, you should leave that shit stereo. The only things I make sure to leave mono are the really low end parts below, let's say 400 hz. Kick drum, subbass, lower acid line, etc.

 

Don't be afraid to let a higher bassline breath in mono if there are EFX on it.

[Guest maus]

uhh, outside of my (brand new) analogue modular, everything i ever track is in stereo.

 

unless you're doing some sort of artificial chorusing, you shouldn't even need to sweat phasing too much. trillian (and most other bass plugins, be they sample or synth based) generally output in stereo, and most have stereo-based effects of some sort (choruses, reverbs, delays, etc...)

 

so, i don't know where this mono talk is coming from.

 

but whatever works for you and your loved ones, man.

[BCM]

you only need to use stereo if you have have a particular need to position something in the stereo spectrum, ie sound coming from different points on the left or right, stereo panning etc. if you're just recording a bassline, snare drum pattern, lead synth, whatever, you should just record into a mono track - you can still pan this mono track to the left or right once recorded if you want to position it for final mixdown. stereo recording is used far too much needlessly as a lot of n00bs think it is better to record in stereo for some reason.

[acidphakist]

ie sound coming from different points on the left or right, stereo panning etc.

 

EDIT: or if you are putting a stereo effect on a mono sound.

[enki]

Dang, I thought this thread was going to be more along these lines: Mono Mia, by Vincent Gallo. The guy's a bit of an asshole but it's an entertaining read.

[acidphakist]

Dang, I thought this thread was going to be more along these lines: Mono Mia, by Vincent Gallo. The guy's a bit of an asshole but it's an entertaining read.

 

Is that the dude that got Cloe to suck his dick on camera?

[ryancolecreate]

A fair amount of Aphex Twin's tracks are mono because they're also pressed on vinyl.

 

You know vinyl is stereo right?

[BCM]

vinyl is not necessarily stereo - it's anything you want. it's how the material is mixed that defines whether it's mono, stereo, quadrophonic, surround sound or whatever. the physical carrier format doesn't make any difference apart from whether it is a digital or analogue facsimile of the source material.

[ascdi]

Rashad says to just do whatever you want. I believe him.