mcouture1961
Basic question that may sound stupid for many of you.
 
Talsking about recording. Not mixing. Since we all hear in stereo, shouldn't we record every instrument in stereo? If I am facing a band/orchestra I hear the whole thing in stereo but also each instrument. What should be recorded mono and why ?
 
I often thought about that but never figured it out. 

I think it might screw up the panning but IDK. It at the very least makes it confusing (for me). Like if I have a guitar track that is one signal (think... one microphone) if the track is mono I can pan it to go the bus exactly where I want it to be in the stereo field (of the output bus). If it's stereo and I pan it I'm not sure if that's the same as panning the mono signal.
 
If it's multi mic'd and I want stereo then using the single mono inputs means I can pan them each mono signal hard left and right to create the stereo signal. If they were both stereo then I have four signals. I have no idea what that would mean for panning.
 
Quadrophenia?
 
You will certainly get better answers from the real engineers on here. I just try to stick with the basics.. because I'm easily confused.

mcouture1961
Basic question that may sound stupid for many of you.
 
Talsking about recording. Not mixing. Since we all hear in stereo, shouldn't we record every instrument in stereo? If I am facing a band/orchestra I hear the whole thing in stereo but also each instrument. What should be recorded mono and why ?
 
I often thought about that but never figured it out. 

No. A Saxophone is a mono instrument a piano is a stereo instrument. Actually none are but we wont be far wrong in thinking in those terms. Stereo is a recording technique. What we get with a multitrack DAW or recorder is a simulated stereo sound. To get "real" stereo you need to have two mics place some distance apart and going to a two channel recorder. The stereo file will have more than just left right info in it but also space/time as well. A sense of location is recorded with the two mic technique.  
 
Blue Note records recorded using the technique outlined above to a two channel tape recorded. No mixing was done.  Their recordings sound fantastic. Position of instruments is clear. 
 
When we record a guitar for example often its done with a direct in and a single channel. The same for most instruments. When close micing became a possibility multi-track recordings could be made. Thank Les Paul for that. Bing Crosby also helped develop tape recording.
 
What we have now is the ability to record any way we wish.  

Thanks John for a simple and clear explanation. In fact this is just common sense. Being a saxophone and a piano player, your example really strikes me. Should have thought about it myself.  
 
And yes, Blue Note recordings sound fantastic. You close your eyes and can "see" the musicians just by listening.

mcouture1961
Basic question that may sound stupid for many of you.
 
Talsking about recording. Not mixing. Since we all hear in stereo, shouldn't we record every instrument in stereo? If I am facing a band/orchestra I hear the whole thing in stereo but also each instrument. What should be recorded mono and why ?
 
I often thought about that but never figured it out. 

I'm no expert but the only time i record instruments in stereo is:

1) Recording live performances where individual recording is impractical or impossible.

2) In conjunction with individual tracks (ie drum kits where you have individual plus overhead and room.

3) I am limited by equipment on hand.


Most of these conditions rarely occur in the studio for me since the instruments or situations that could be argued for stereo recording seldom appear. 99% of the time i am in studio with musician not using VSTi involves guitar, bass, horn or other solo instrument best recorded in mono. Even with backup singers who prefer to harmonize together, I create a stereo track and then record each individually,typically tossing the stereo track

Ah, a man with great taste. It is rewarding to find another that gets what one is trying to say. Thank you.

I love blue note recordings too

dubdisciple
I love blue note recordings too

Some how that makes a lot of sense Dub. 

dubdisciple
I throw Boz Digital Labs' Panipulator on my master bus. It's free and hardly uses any cpu.
 
http://www.bozdigitallabs.com/product/panipulator/

Thanks! Just downloaded and will try tomorrow.
 
Walt

I use an "Auratone" type speaker as well.
 
The "Control Room" outputs of my DAW feed into a stereo bus on my analogue mixer (output to my main monitors), with a mono send to my "Auratone".
 
In an ideal scenario, before I start panning anything (or using stereo at all), I try to achieve a static fader mix using EQ and Compression - in mono. 
 
This, I constantly check through my mono-monitor.
 
Having a single driver, like an Auratone, also helps (Focusing on Midrange, etc.).
 
Only after this, do I look/listen to /work on the stereo field.
 
Just my tuppenceworth.
 
 

dubdisciple
Reading tips from Jeff has really helped my mixing a lot.

I'll second that !
 
I've become a disciple of Jeff's.  Everything he says just makes sense.