Cheap way to mix in mono?

[dustmoses]

I hope I'm not being dead stupid here but I don't see an easy way to throw the master into mono for mixing. I like to mix in mono then stereo, just works better.

Is there something built in to reason? (combinator?) Would killing the stereo width on every track work? (that would be tedious)

Cheap or free RE?

I'm trying to do everything in reason other than mastering or if I have a vocalist on the track, any help would be appreciated.

[Aikmofobi]

An mclass stereo imager turned to 0% as a master insert would do it I guess?

[dustmoses]

I'll try that when I get out the ER, thanks.

(Reason newbie, under 6 months still learning all the devices, making beats for years though.)

[Goriila Texas]

The easiest way would be to unhook the right cable when mixing mono and then reconnect it when done.

[WongoTheSane]

The easiest way would be to unhook the right cable when mixing mono and then reconnect it when done.

I just did a combi which automates that task (avoids flipping the rack, really). There's only one button called "Mono": press it to switch between Mono (on) and Stereo (off).

To use it, plug it to the Insert FX of the Master Section:



The mono effect is obtained by merging the left and right channels with an Audio Spider. The button simply solos/mutes between the original signal and the merged one through a Line Mixer. I checked the phase cancellation in Audacity and it works

[Loque]

Send all through a mix bus and set Width knob to mono.

[TritoneAddiction]

I used to have the same issue. I just wanted a quick way to listen to the mix in mono.

My suggestion, get the Stereo Splitter by Quadelectra and put it right in the end of the master. It has a mono button. It can't get any simpler than that.
It's also a great RE to increase the stereo depth.

9 bucks, totally worth it. I've probably used it on every project since I bought it.

[dustmoses]

Tried the first one worked well, I'll be trying the others.

I see a lot of wizardry and workaround mastery around here, I come from hardware samplers and have a taste for that stuff, I was using FL Studio and Ableton for a while and got lazy surfing presets and such, I like how Reason forces at least a little more focus and thought.

[Chizmata]

do many of you guys mix in mono at all? i did it for a while but stereo has become so important to me that i just went "screw it", i lose too much when i base my mix on mono compatibility. the way i do check for mono though is routing all mixer channels to a mono bus and turn down its Stereo spread. but i think the stereo imager in the mastering section is better.

[dustmoses]

I don't particularly worry about mono compatibility, I just find starting the mix in mono let's me hone in on certain things quickly, get the levels solid, but once I jump back to stereo and mix further I rarely return back to mono.

My brainpowers cashed out, it's 4am but I'll try to explain better tomorrow.

Edit: actually I can think of something before I pass out.

When you spread things stereo you can't tell if they need to be EQd as easily, I generally like things to have their own spot in the EQ spectrum, when it's in mono it becomes much more easy to pick that stuff out just by hearing it rather than using visual EQs and the like.

[Ahornberg]

I use the MClass Stereo Imager and set it to Bypass for stereo and to On for mono.
In the .zip attached there is my effect chain for the master inserts.

[madmacman]

Jiggery Pokery's "Anansi" has a dedicated option for Mono Check. 3 Stereo In (switchable) and 1 Out.

[mcatalao]

I prefer Selig Gain. It has a lot of other features, so it's a great little tool!

[adfielding]

I prefer Selig Gain. It has a lot of other features, so it's a great little tool!

Ditto. It's such a handy little RE, I think all of Selig's REs so far have been ridiculously useful.

[Aquila]

I use the MClass Stereo Imager set to mono at the end of a mastering chain.

Another handy tip is that whatever rack you use, you can program its bypass switch into a spare button on the Master Section so you can then enable/disable the mono feature via the Insert section of the SSL.

[normen]

If you listen in mono its often best to actually just use one monitor to avoid any additional phase issues, Selig Gain can help with that as well

[selig]

The easiest way would be to unhook the right cable when mixing mono and then reconnect it when done.

I just did a combi which automates that task (avoids flipping the rack, really). There's only one button called "Mono": press it to switch between Mono (on) and Stereo (off).

To use it, plug it to the Insert FX of the Master Section:



The mono effect is obtained by merging the left and right channels with an Audio Spider. The button simply solos/mutes between the original signal and the merged one through a Line Mixer. I checked the phase cancellation in Audacity and it works

You'll also need to cut the gain by 6 dB when merging to mono to avoid clipping - add an option to mute L and mute R output (so you can listen in one speaker mono, the "original mono"!) and it'll be perfect!

[WongoTheSane]

You'll also need to cut the gain by 6 dB when merging to mono to avoid clipping - add an option to mute L and mute R output (so you can listen in one speaker mono, the "original mono"!) and it'll be perfect!

Thanks for the input! I've just tried this but I need your help on two points:

1) I don't know how to correlate the 6:2 mixer levels with dBs, so I plugged in a subtractor with a constant sine and lowered the level until the Big Meter was the same in mono and stereo; this gives a -20 mixer level cut. Doing A/B sounded great, but then I swapped the subtractor for a Redrum with a snare panned hard left and a HH panned hard right; the snare has a higher volume than the HH, but when monoing, the peak of the merged signal is much lower than the snare peak in the left channel. I don't trust my ears much, would you mind trying it and tell me if it is correct? I've attached a song file containing just the combi and a Redrum with an alternating pattern. Simply press Play, and turn Mono on and off.

2) I wasn't sure about what you meant by "one speaker mono": is it, for instance, the left channel playing identically on both speakers, or only the left channel playing on the left speaker? Right now I've added the second option but I can change it (can't add both though, because of the Combinator routing/number of buttons limitation).

If anyone is reading this, please do not download the attached file yet, I'll upload the final patch when it's ready!

Edit: normen's message clarified point 2 !

[Raveshaper]

Can't you just route everything into a new output bus and then bring the width down to zero? That will let you hear any phase issues that exist in your mix.

From what I understand, doing this creates a mono mix using a stereo pair that contains the sum of both the left and right sides on each channel. If you just want a left mono mix, just unhook the cable and reattach later like Gorilla suggested.

For those who know more about mono mixing, is it better to avoid using the width at zero method? It just occurred to me that the left and right sides would obviously have phase issues because they are inherently different from each other.

[Ahornberg]

Can't you just route everything into a new output bus and then bring the width down to zero? That will let you hear any phase issues that exist in your mix.

From what I understand, doing this creates a mono mix using a stereo pair that contains the sum of both the left and right sides on each channel. If you just want a left mono mix, just unhook the cable and reattach later like Gorilla suggested.

For those who know more about mono mixing, is it better to avoid using the width at zero method? It just occurred to me that the left and right sides would obviously have phase issues because they are inherently different from each other.

Your approach to bring the stereo width down to zero is the right one. Mixing in mono is mostly about checking phase issues.

I prefer to have a button in the master fx section of the mixer and because of that I use the stereo imager as an insert ... but I could use a mixer channel as an insert too.

[Raveshaper]

Your approach to bring the stereo width down to zero is the right one. Mixing in mono is mostly about checking phase issues.

I prefer to have a button in the master fx section of the mixer and because of that I use the stereo imager as an insert ... but I could use a mixer channel as an insert too.

Good to know. I wasn't sure if I was expecting something to function in a way it wasn't intended.

I like to leverage as much analysis of the signal as I can, so I opt for using a final bus to make adjustments to the width of the entire thing. Mainly because I don't have an analyzer RE.

I have heard that many producers will create essentially a mono mix that is center pan, then layer it with the stereo separated mix so that it sounds good in both mono and stereo. I also have heard that most signals are kept mono and are only panned to position, except for sounds that need to fill the space and are routed as stereo. Are these best practices in a general sense; and is the panning of mono sounds considered an aspect of mixing in mono?

[Ahornberg]

Your approach to bring the stereo width down to zero is the right one. Mixing in mono is mostly about checking phase issues.

I prefer to have a button in the master fx section of the mixer and because of that I use the stereo imager as an insert ... but I could use a mixer channel as an insert too.

Good to know. I wasn't sure if I was expecting something to function in a way it wasn't intended.

I like to leverage as much analysis of the signal as I can, so I opt for using a final bus to make adjustments to the width of the entire thing. Mainly because I don't have an analyzer RE.

I have heard that many producers will create essentially a mono mix that is center pan, then layer it with the stereo separated mix so that it sounds good in both mono and stereo. I also have heard that most signals are kept mono and are only panned to position, except for sounds that need to fill the space and are routed as stereo. Are these best practices in a general sense; and is the panning of mono sounds considered an aspect of mixing in mono?

Hm... I tried this left-center-right panning but it doesn't sound well on earphones. Andrew Scheps said in an interview that he used left-center-right panning only because his old Neve console didn't have pan pots. So I trust my ears

[Raveshaper]

One thing I have considered doing is to get a cheap, mono speaker alarm clock radio, then buy a "wall plug to cigarette lighter" adapter and stick an in-car fm transmitter into it with audio from my interface routed in. The idea here is to use as crappy of a speaker as possible and to literally hear what it would sound like over the air. A simpler way of doing it would be to just pick up a super cheap awful speaker and use it instead, but I like the introduction of signal degradation during the listening process that comes with FM transmission. Maybe that's a negative rather than a positive.

[Biolumin3sc3nt]

Well the easiest way is to hit the Mono button on your audio interface's software mixer. Granted you have one - I havent seen one without it in quite a while though ( i could be wrong ) Allen it's good to see you man, hope all is well!

[selig]

Can't you just route everything into a new output bus and then bring the width down to zero? That will let you hear any phase issues that exist in your mix.

From what I understand, doing this creates a mono mix using a stereo pair that contains the sum of both the left and right sides on each channel. If you just want a left mono mix, just unhook the cable and reattach later like Gorilla suggested.

For those who know more about mono mixing, is it better to avoid using the width at zero method? It just occurred to me that the left and right sides would obviously have phase issues because they are inherently different from each other.

Your approach to bring the stereo width down to zero is the right one. Mixing in mono is mostly about checking phase issues.

I prefer to have a button in the master fx section of the mixer and because of that I use the stereo imager as an insert ... but I could use a mixer channel as an insert too.

For all those taking this approach, just remember not to leave the mono button on when you bounce! That's why all hardware mixers have the mono button in the MONITOR path, not the main 2-mix path…