Mono vs. Stereo Tracks

While I've been at this for a couple years now, I've gotta come clean and ask......
 
I'm still unclear on the reasons some folks record mono guitar tracks, and some record stereo guitar tracks (vocals too). I've seen both types on the countless tutorials, screenshots, etc, I've looked at.
I use Amplitube for all my guitar tracks, and have been using the mono input. I feel like I'm missing out on something not using the stereo setup in Amplitube??? And it seems like most FX I see out there are stereo.
 
Can someone please enlighten me on the pro's and cons of each (mono and stereo tracks)???
 
Thanks so much!
 
~Jeff

reginaldStjohn
A mono track only contains one channel of information. If you record a mono source, guitar, vocal, etc. and you recorded it to a stereo channel you would have two channels of audio but they would be exactly the same. this is redundant if you were not going to process the data in any way. However, being mono or stereo can have an effect when you start applying processing to the audio.
 
For example a delay plugin may take a mono input and create a stereo output. The same delay could also take a stereo input and process the two channels differently producing a stereo output as well. However, if the stereo input is just a copy of a mono input then it is effectively the same as using a mono input to the effect.
 
However if you record a stereo track where the left and right channels of audio are different, maybe different mics, amps or the output of a processor then the stereo track makes sense.
 
Really all I am saying is that if you truly have a mono source then use a mono track. If your source, whether it be from a stereo instrument or the result of running a mono source through stereo processing, has differences between the two audio channels that you want to keep then use a stereo track.

Thanks Reginald. Getting clearer.....
 
Yes, I'm recording all mono. So what you're saying is.......it would be basically pointless for me to record a stereo guitar track via the stereo option on my interface, as opposed to mono (left or right input only)? So the only time a stereo track is needed is if, for instance, I'm recording a real amp with two mics, or two amps simultaneously? I can understand that.
 
So all the fx I have in Platinum will work as designed with a mono track (i.e. delay, chorus, flange, etc)? For some reason when I think of stereo, I think of a "bigger" sound. But I guess that's not the case......

the only time you would want to use a stereo track to record guitar is if your going to print it.
(print FX directly/use track FX) or if your guitar is using a stereo pan FX, mic'ing 2 cabs...similar to reason number 1.
 
for vocal ? I have no clue why someone would do that other than recording a chorus of singers on the left side of the room and the right side of the room.

remember that audio mixes are a three-dimensional space... you have panning, L and R, as well as front to back using reverb.  Recording instruments etc as mono allows you to pan them in that final output stereo space for separation and clarity.  Putting all of your tracks at dead center results in a mix without space and causes frequencies to conflict (not the best term but you get the idea).

I think with synths you can use a similar approach to acoustic instruments.  For example if the synth is doing a bass sound then yes it may not be a great idea to record a really wide stereo patch onto a stereo track.  You also need to investigate what effects are being used also on say a bass patch.  It may sound better with any modulation widening effects removed for example and just recorded onto a mono track. Some synths like the Juno 106 are basically mono except for one effect right at the end of the chain. But it is well worth recording the chorus effect. It is quite unique. As was the ensemble effect in the Roland JP4.
 
With synth lead sounds mono recording may also apply but then again some leads may sound killer in stereo and it may be well worth recording them that way too.
 
With mid range sounds eg pads etc then stereo options may be best for sure.  Not all synths rely on modulation effects either in order to create a wide sound.  Some use the concept of stacking say 4 or 6 (or 32 in the case of the new Kurzweils) layers in order to create the stereo imaging.  Layers are panned here there and everywhere.  (in Emulators for example individual voices/layers can be panned or modulated in pan position to create the most sublime effects)
 
It would be seriously silly to ignore an effect like this and record in mono.  You would just be missing out on a beautiful wide sound for no good reason.
 
Don't forget you can always record in stereo and use a plugin like Channel Tools to narrow things down or bring back to mono later on if you feel the need. And if things don’t sum well here then you can try manipulating the phase of one side of the stereo while summing to mono. There will be a point where L and R will sum to mono and still sound robust.
 
Like all things use your ears and judge. If a synth sound sounds magnificent in stereo, record it that way.
 
Also you can mix multiple stereo synth outputs to create huge wide effects.  What you don't do in these cases is pan every stereo synth output to hard L and hard R.  A good trick is to pan some that way but others from hard L to C and others from C to hard right. Others from 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock for example.  There are many ways to combine multiple stereo synth sources.
 

Sanderxpander
There is literally no benefit to recording a mono source in "stereo" (really it's duo mono at this point) since Sonar can still feed it to any effect and make it stereo (if the effect does anything to make it stereo, that is). All you're doing is wasting disk space, speed and processing power.

there is actually some "danger" in recording a mono signal as dual mono to a stereo track ... at some point you might remember that this was actually a mono source and hit the interleave button to set it to be a mono channel and all the sudden the track will be louder by 6 dB ...
 

Sanderxpander
I think a device like the POD presents a "stereo" signal just because it is too lazy/inconvenient to switch between one channel and L/R depending on which FX are used. Anything with reverb on it will usually be stereo, dual amp mic'ing etc. But a simple patch with one amp or just a wah or phaser is definitely mono, regardless of if the POD sends you two channels.

in Sonar's audio preferences you can select whether you want to see audio interface channels also as mono inputs. when checking that you also get mono channels from POD devices.
 

Bristol_Jonesey
I record to Sonar via the Pod's balanced analog outputs, can't be bothered to think about recording digitally

me too. since I figured latency of the POD is only about 1.5 ms using the balanced XLR outs is less hassle than using SPDIF and properly syncing that ...
 
 

Yes, when you insert an audio track SONAR defaults to stereo. I wish that was an option.
 
However, until you actually stick in some audio, it's a simple matter to switch the track to mono. There's a mono/stereo interleave selector button in the Track Inspector. Just do it before recording anything to the track.
 
If the track's being created automatically when you insert a soft synth, and you choose the "first synth output" option, then you will also get a stereo track by default. It's easy enough to change it, though, via the track's Input dropdown list and the aforementioned interleave button.

And many FX seem to work better with the stereo interleave button on...(or off??)  I have hit that button after an effect is used at times and the artifacts or results are disturbing at times ....scary moments with phones on at times....lol.   Anyway....I gotta get better with sticking to that habit ya mentioned Bitflip....thx.   ;o)

I believe it was chorus/delay and reverb that got really bizarre at times if I messed with the mono/St interleave after recording with the respective effects.  That is at times as I trial/erred (much more the latter...lol) to see how it would effect the overall sound(effect and placement) in the mix....I have mainly stuck to mono going into most all the plugs I use in the chain.   Its a fun journey...just gotta get used to what works for ya out there and stick to a plan of sorts.  I'm about to really buckle down on the recording process and stick with a method of madness I feel will keep me on the right path.....lol...least that's the "plan".  

A synth maybe a very stereo source even with NO processing involved.  Some synths may be all mono with some sort of chorus or stereo processing just added on at the end.  Sure this may be the case for some but there are some synths out there (hardware and software too) that have like 4 or 6 or in the case of a Kurzweil 32 layers per note. 
 
And these layers are all panned all over the place.  So even with no processing at the end of the chain the raw sound can be seriously stereo.  (Yamaha SY77 comes to mind. Switch off all the effects and nothing much changes)  Stereo tracks please in these cases.  Use your ears and listen. If you turn all the effects off and the source is still seriously stereo then stereo tracks are the go. 
 
Panning stereo tracks is not different or harder than mono. Use something like Channel Tools to control where L and R will end up.
 
 
 
 

timidi

Jeff Evans
 
Panning stereo tracks is not different or harder than mono. Use something like Channel Tools to control where L and R will end up.

Why not just use a pan knob Jeff ??

Pan knob is just a balance knob for stereo tracks. If you want to actually pan, you need to use Channel Tools or similar. (= If you hard pan a piano stereo track with lows on the left and highs on the right channel, you can never get highs and lows on the same channel.The other channel just gets muted, the audio doesn't cross the middle to either direction)

There are times where recording a solo performance in stereo is better and solo piano is one of them. Two mics on a solo piano and there are some good options for doing it. M/S, Blumlein, Near coincident and coincident or even an AB spaced pair under the lid. It is all going to sound much more interesting in the end. With only a solo performer.
 
A solo instrument such as say sax or clarinet etc could be handled with one microphone on a mono track a certain distance away but then I would back that up with a stereo pair as well capturing from a little further away etc.