Problem with vocals/guitar and left and right panning

"I've been Googling this and found many people with the same problem but weird enough never an answer for it really.  "

You are just making this up, troll.

God, how sad this is. Instead of asking right away about a problem i figured i Google it first.  I can't find an answer. I come here, ask a polite and honest question and this is the response i get. 
Must be a great community here. Can't wait to post more.

Thanks for your answer. 
That sounds very simply and exactly as i would expect it to be. I failed to find that option before though so i figured it simply wasn't there. I will try and find it. Thanks.

The Interleave button looks like this  and you'll find it on the Track Inspector or on the individual channels strip in the Console View.
 
Also, have you tried selecting the Left Input option when recording? That should you also give you a pannable mono track providing you are not using any stereo components/leads in your signal chain. Note that with some equipment, you may need to set the 'Right' input to get a signal. In any case, both the Left and Right options are mono inputs, the Stereo input option is (obviously) stereo.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

it seems like there wasn't much looking before asking though. 

FastBikerBoy


If you just want to record a mono track it doesn't matter which side you record from, it'll be mono. It's the way inputs are labelled in Sonar.

For example my interface ZED-R16 has 18 in/out. They are selectable in Sonar either as 18 individual mono channels or 9 stereo or any permutation of mono & stereo.

If I want to record a track in mono I select one of the left or rights depending on which channel on the ZED I'm plugged into. I get a fully pan-able mono recording. If I want a true stereo track I plug into two channels and select the corresponding L& R as a stereo in.

Hope that makes sense, don't get too hung up on the left/right bit. The interleave is auto setting I believe. At least I've never had to touch it unless I want to purposely change the setting.

I trust in this answer...try it.....if not just convert to mono and go forth

Tripod:

I think you have to rethink the meaning of "mono" and "stereo" a bit.
The meaning of "mono" is just that it's one channel. Not necessarily left or right. Just that it's one.
So if you record either left or right input of your audio device you do record in mono.

Stereo means that the material has two separate channels. One left and one right. And if you don't
have two separate input-sources (like a stereo mic, for example) you don't want to record in stereo.

In other words: If you choose either left or right input and record, you'll record a mono track. You can
then place this monotrack anywhere in the stereomix, since the main output (most often) is stereo.

____________________________________________________

One thing you didn't mention in your message is how you've chosen to monitor what you're recording.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Two common ways to do this is either by;

..Activating the "input echo" button in Sonar (there's one on each channel). By doing this you will now
hear the input signal, just as it would sound if it was already recorded. You can now pan left and right
and also use VST's on the channel and shape the sound even before you record it. In other words,
you hear the signal as it goes through the software, coloured by all it's parameters, and then out
it's main output.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- I'm guessing this is how you do it:... - - 

A second way to monitor what you're recording is by somthing often called "direct monitoring".
Your audio interface sends the input signal directly to it's output and therefore nothing you do
in Sonar will affect the sound you hear.

Instead you have to check the settings in your audio interface software.
..As default I would guess it's set to:
 - left input -> left output
- right input -> right output

This is probably why you just hear the signal in either left or right when trying to record a mono-signal.


What you can try:

See if you can find a softwaremixer for your  Quad Pre-amp and
pan the signal you're using as input to the middle.

gcolbert


I'm thinking that some of you guys are being a little rough on the Tripod here.
 
OK Tripod.  Think about it.  Almost everything that you are going to record is mono.  Your first problem might be that you are recording a mono signal into a stereo track.  In a simple setup like a single microphone or a direct output from a guitar amplifier the sound is mono.  Record it into a mono track.
 
In the mixing process (after you have recorded everything) you use the pan control on the track to set how much of that recorded sound you want to go to the left or to the right in the finished recording.  Mono does not necessisarily mean left or right (or only left or right).  It just means one signal.  So after you have recorded all of your tracks (as mono signals) you can set how much of each instrument or voice comes out of each side individually, giving each source its own space in the final recording.
 
So even though you might have a bunch of inputs, each of these should go to a mono track in X1.  If you are only recording one part at a time then you will only have one input and it goes to only oine track.  That some manufacturer decided to call it left or right dosen't really matter.  bring the left (or the right if that's where your mic is connected) into a single mono track in X1.  Then when you play it back you divide how much of that goes to the left or right using the pan control in X1.
 
Glen

Exactly this ^^^^

As I said in my first reply you'll need to mono the track if Sonar is setting up a stereo one for your particular interface.

It never was more complex than the simple answer given here by Glen.

Guitarpima


I think FBB has it. The problem seems to be in the input of your quad. Is your input panned left or right? (this is in your AI's interface not Sonar) Make sure it's center.

Does the audio clip have info on one side and nothing but a line on the other? If so, your selecting the wrong input for recording. Usually two inputs are paired as stereo and you may be selecting the paired (stereo) input rather than just the input the mic is plugged into.

I don't think the interleave has anything to do with your problem. I always just leave mine on even though most everything I record is a mono track anyway.

HTH

I agree about selecting a mono input but in the case where he has no choice then interleave has everything to do with it as far as getting him going is concerned.

FastBikerBoy


I was a bit surprised by some of the responses, even for here. It seems a genuine enough question. Let's face it everything's easy when you know the answer and it's hard when you don't. Trouble is some forget that they were learning and new to it all once.........

The only stupid question is the one that's never asked.

+1

Things are also easier to find once you know what you are looking for.

Here's an even better reply given as I had time to look.  Work through this as written consulting the help files where suggested and you'll be good to go.

http://www.cakewalk.com/S...kb/reader.aspx/2005260

later converted the resulting stereo vocal to a mono track

My  unsubstantiated opinion is that you are going to introduce some phase distortion doing this and that you would probably get a little better signal if you kept things mono throughout.  While I’m sure that there are some people on this forum who could hear the difference, I probably couldn’t. 
 
I have a setup in my front room where I record things like I think you are.  I just use these for scratch tracks and do additional single tracks later in a better room.  If you are really concerned about the quality of the sound you may want to consider panning hard on the mixer to get two good mono signals.  If you aren’t concerned about ‘professional sound’ ( not bad, just not good enough for audio professionals) I don’t think this would matter much.
 
Glen
 

rkl122


This thread is helpful to me, an occasional recording hobbiest (using X1 expandedx64, Win7), and I hope it's ok to extend it with a related question. 
 
My mic goes into a hardware mixer, and the mixer (stereo outs) to the L and R of the soundcard (MAudio 2496).  Til now, I've simply recorded from the stereo source of the soundcard, then later converted the resulting stereo vocal to a mono track.  But it occurs to me that conversion may be deteriorating the recording.  (Is that true?)  So technically speaking, would it be better to simply record in mono in the first place, from one of the soundcard's mono sources, as suggested here?  Keeping in mind that the mic channel on the mixer is panned center (I'm also monitoring off the mixer), am I losing half the signal by using the mono source on the soundcard?
 
Sorry for the real novice question.  I've been confused by the Left/Right thing myself.  Thanks for any insight,  -Ron 

The only reason you'd want to record in stereo is if you are trying to capture a stereo image in the first place.

If the card has a pre-amp for the mic then you would probably be best putting the mic directly into that as the mixer itself will be introducing noise in the first place.

If the card doesn't have a mic pre-amp input or the mixers pre-amp is better than the one on the card then by all means use it.

There won't be any loss of data by converting to mono after the event but you'll likely get a better signal going in by just panning the mic full left on the mixer and just using one output channel which would leave the other channel free so you could record a guitar along with the vocal if you wished, by panning the guitar full right on the mixer and using that output.

It's normally more simple and effective to record a single mono track in the first place, recording in stereo is a more complicated process involving mic placement and a whole lot more considerations to do it well.

So to sum up record directly into the sound card if possible, if not or it is preferable to use the mixer treat the outputs as individual mono sources for Sonar.  That way you can record both your guitar (or whatever else) and vocal simultaneously on their own individual mono tracks straight into Sonar.

Most instruments, including vocals are always recorded in stereo RKL122

Typo?  I think you ment mono here didn't you?

gcolbert

Most instruments, including vocals are always recorded in stereo RKL122

Typo?  I think you ment mono here didn't you?

I'm sure he meant mono, and I want to thank everyone for their advice and help.  I've heard the advice about recording mono sources in mono before, of course, but I record so infrequently that departing from my default setup seemed not worth it.  (I gotta figure out the mixer every time I go back :) )  This thread got me thinking more about it. 
 
About panning the mic hard one way: tht's why I mentioned I use the mixer to monitor.  (The vocal is usually recorded with some backing tracks coming into other channels.)  So if the vocal is panned, it'll sound panned in the "control room" - Mackie's monitor mix - no?  That's why I was asking if I'm losing half the signal by leaving it centered but using the soundcard's L channel for track input.
 
I'll figure it out.  Many thanks for the great discussion.  -Ron

It's a Mackie VLZ-pro. 
 
I think I've been confusing myself, and apologize for confusing others.  When I say I "monitor" off the mixer, I really mean I'm hearing the output from Sonar, including the track being recorded because echo is on.  So as long as that track is panned center, it'll sound center, even though it's card input is, say, a Left mono channel.  Guess I'd know this stuff better if I spent more time recording and less online. 
 
I do learn a lot here, though.  Thanks again,  -Ron