If you record in mono, that means you use one microphone at a time on one channel. If you record in stereo, you're using two microphones recorded on two different channels. Vocals and any direct instrument (e.g. bass, electric guitar, keyboard) are recorded in mono.
Stereo recordings and mixes contain information from the left and right channels. What's in the left channel is actually slightly different from the right channel and vice versa. Stereo audio creates the perception of spaciousness and spaciousness, while mono audio sounds “centered” and direct. Mono tracks should make up most of the channels in your mix.
But to do that, you'll first need to know how it's different from mixing in stereo. Let's start with what mono means in music production. Mono refers to individual audio signals, such as a vocal track recorded with a microphone. By adding a second microphone to a separate channel to record that same voice, you'll now record in stereo. This information is not too difficult to understand, but it gets more complicated when we talk about monkey versus.
When you record or import mono signals to your DAW (digital audio workstation), the signal is normally divided by 50 to 50 between the listener's left and right speakers. When the left and right signals differ from each other in some way, the track becomes stereo. Bigger isn't necessarily better, especially when it comes to music production. Believe it or not, sometimes expanding your tracks in stereo will make them sound too thin. Let's start with one of the most important reasons why mixing in mono is a good idea.
Not all listening formats are created the same way. If you mix in stereo, you run the risk of blocking listeners in mono. FM radio stations and everyday listening devices, such as smart speakers, cannot process stereo tracks. This means that potentially important audio information will literally be excluded from what these listeners hear. Some clubs and venues also lack adequate equipment to play stereo tracks. It may be tempting to try expanding and coloring the mix with stereo effects, but shaping it in mono first is a much better idea.
Stereo mixing hides masking problems, but can ultimately result in murkier mixes. This approach requires a lot more work, but it's worth it. The difference between mono and stereo is the number of channels they send to the speakers. The difference between monophonic (mono) and stereophonic (stereo) sound is the number of channels used to record and play audio. Mono signals are recorded and reproduced using a single audio channel, while stereo sounds are recorded and reproduced using two audio channels.
As a listener, the most notable difference is that stereo sounds are capable of producing the perception of width, while mono sounds are not. When the levels are OK, add the panorama of the instruments you want and the extent to which you want to change them in the stereo field. This will usually change the balance slightly, although you're unlikely to notice anything significant while listening to the mix in stereo; it'll still sound great. The vast majority of current audio systems support stereo signals, and it seems that it is becoming an increasingly standard audio system today. Many portable recorders offer the ability to record in stereo, capturing sound with a pair of built-in microphones. Mono playback systems use a speaker and can only produce a two-dimensional image composed of height and depth.
If a listener is not wearing headphones or is sitting perfectly in front of the speakers, they are not hearing the true stereo the way you designed it to be heard. I am referring to the natural stereo images of drum heads, room microphones, piano patches or stereo synthesizers. For example, you can set the initial mix to mono by adjusting the attenuation levels and possibly also using the equalizer to ensure that each source occupies its own spectrum and doesn't trample on anything else. A mono mix is produced when music, recordings or any other type of audio are played at equal volumes on both speakers (without the possibility of panning), which means that the listener will not enjoy two separate channels but only one channel (called center channel or mono channel) in the center of the stereo field. But remember that mono tracks can be projected anywhere in the stereo field with your DAW mixer. The main reason to check the mono derived from a stereo mix is to make sure that it continues to work for mono listeners, since there can be many. On the other hand, when you mix in stereo, you have the same level and tonal differences to make the mix work, but you also have the spatial position (panoramic).If you adjust the reverb to achieve a good sense of space or perspective in mono, it often ends up sounding too wet in stereo (although some people like it that way), and if you get the reverb to sound correctly in stereo, it will often end up too dry in mono.
