mono drums to stereo (noob alert)

[mono]

allright, why is it my mono drum loop kicks ass on the left channel, but when i make the signal stereo, the drums have not more punch than a five year old? anybody?

 

[mono]

ok, i had the break (mono file) on a stereo channel. now i routet it to a mono channel, which is better, but it still lacks punch. could it be it has to do something with phases erasing each other?

 

[Kontents]

You may just want to layer two stereo channels to add that missing punch. Because in Mono everything is hitting the one channel so when its turned into a stereo channel its going to be split smack in the middle. Try it out.

 

[mono]

perfectly right kontents, thx. theres still something missing but its got its punch back. must be some sort of a perception thing too

 

[Kontents]

You could do two mono channels just panned L and R from the center. Try that out too.

 

[eldiablo]

keep an eye on your levels too.

 

[Ash Holmz]

just keep it mono. ur probably making it phase out when u make it it stereo. i would just keep it mono and pan it in the center. drums dont need to be stereo. if anything u can send it to stereo buss and use a stereo compression or whatever if needed. keep it mono.

 

[Shonsteez]

Ash's advice seems the most practical. I was gonna say something along the same lines.
Heres a simple guideline tho: If you "sampled" the break in stereo, then keep it stereo.....If you "sampled" the break in mono, then keep it in mono.

Typically drums should stay mono and then the individual parts should be panned around to create an illusion of depth. The only way you can use this particular technique with a break is if you literally chopped each drum hit out of the break and then sequenced them your self over again...but if the break is still one long static sample, say 2 bars then your better off sampling the break in stereo and keeping it stereo. Otherwise your drums can sound very narrow.

In the case of using a static break - to add more punch try inserting a stereo compressor on the channel, or using parallel compression and use EQ to strip away any unwanted freq's.

 

[eldiablo]

Typically drums should stay mono and then the individual parts should be panned around to create an illusion of depth. The only way you can use this particular technique with a break is if you literally chopped each drum hit out of the break and then sequenced them your self over again...but if the break is still one long static sample, say 2 bars then your better off sampling the break in stereo and keeping it stereo. Otherwise your drums can sound very narrow.

also if your sampling a loop/break then the panning and such will most likely have been done already, and mastered.

 

[Shonsteez]

Exactly, so if its stereo keep it stereo cuz otherwise you'll loose that panorama that already existed. (unless of course u sample to mono and then re-sequence every part and pan to taste.

 

[mono]

thanks guys, i'll give those panning/compression techniques a try next time i work with mono breaks

 

[ess vinyl]

just keep it mono. ur probably making it phase out when u make it it stereo. i would just keep it mono and pan it in the center. drums dont need to be stereo. if anything u can send it to stereo buss and use a stereo compression or whatever if needed. keep it mono.

Ash's advice seems the most practical. I was gonna say something along the same lines.
Heres a simple guideline tho: If you "sampled" the break in stereo, then keep it stereo.....If you "sampled" the break in mono, then keep it in mono.

Typically drums should stay mono and then the individual parts should be panned around to create an illusion of depth. The only way you can use this particular technique with a break is if you literally chopped each drum hit out of the break and then sequenced them your self over again...but if the break is still one long static sample, say 2 bars then your better off sampling the break in stereo and keeping it stereo. Otherwise your drums can sound very narrow.

In the case of using a static break - to add more punch try inserting a stereo compressor on the channel, or using parallel compression and use EQ to strip away any unwanted freq's.

gonna have to disagree, stereo drums add some width in the stereo field (Waves has good tools for this)

stereo delay on snares and hi hats sound real good (achievable with Waves Supertap). Do not pan it too much or add too much delay, you still want to keep the track structured around the drums like Shonsteez said, but also make the whole track sound wide. You can definitely get back the punch with EQing and little compression. Try this:

Take your snare track and put Waves Supertap 2 on there. Put the grid mode to "free". disable the center channel. Enable the other 2 channels. Pan one channel at -10 degrees and the other at 10 degrees. Set the delay value on one channel to 8 and the other 16. Now bypass Supertap to hear the original. This of course isn't an "always works" set of values, but of course you can play with it from there. Do some EQing and u good.

ALWAYS have low frequencies like bass drums mono. As Shonsteez said, If its a full break, in other words not one shots, I would not even touch the panning on it

btw... always check your mix in mono also and try not to pan things hard left or hard right