batsbrew

MBGantt
I do a lot with samples that need to be stereo for the sound they have (recorded in a concert hall). However since too many big sound sources result in too little room in the stereo field I will often use waves S1 to shirk down the size of the sound. This cleans us the samples nicely and gives more room to mix while retaining most of the big concert hall sound. But generally anything that is mono I leave mono and anything stereo I leave stereo.

i have used S-1 for this same kind of thing before..
 
but whenever i leave it a while, and come back to it,
and take the S-1 off,
i realize that whatever S-1 is doing, sounds like clownphuckery to me.
 
at first it sounds great,
but then when i take it off, i leave it off.
 

I am talking about 100+ tracks so when I get that many going, I need it. But if you are using it for a standard band type mix then yeah, it can suck the life right out of stuff!

yes, agreed.
 
i never have that many tracks,
and i suppose a few mixed into all that, you will not notice at all.
and it DOES work for moving the stereo field.
 

I only reduce the stereo spectrum maybe 20-30% so it is not drastic but does create just a little elbow room.

I just found a need to split a stereo track into 2 mono tracks. I used my Tascam DR 40 to record our gigs.
The 4 tracks are 1/2 = on board stereo mikes = Stage sound. 
And  3/4 are XLR combo jacks.  I normally take a board mix into those but it doesn't usually sound as good as the live mikes. So I stole the Bass from the mixer insert (3) and the drums from the sub group out put (4) just to see if I could get a better mix. 
The tascam saves the tracks as two stereo tracks with the same names with 1/2 or 34 at the end.
songA12.WAV  
songA34.WAV
When you dump them to Sonar you have the two stereo tracks. 
I was at a loss to figure out how to separate 3 and 4 into mono.?? 
I guess I can use the channel tools to balance the two tracks. 
 

For those who think changing stereo synth sounds to mono just because effects are not being used you may want to think that again.
 
Not all synths default to mono as soon as their effects go off.  Some VST's allow you to pan oscillators and things and the result can be very effective.  Great in stereo but will sum to mono.  After you switch a synths effects off it is best to evaluate the stereo image that is left.  Going to mono may be a mild effect but other times it may be very obvious and nowhere as interesting.  Keep it in stereo then.
 
A stereo interleaved track is very easy to handle.  And you can narrow it down anytime and move the image around.  If you are not sure what to do in a pressure recording situation, record any synths in stereo.
 
Kurzweils now have 32 layers so you can get into some serious layer placement. With no effects being used. But why switch them off. They add their own character.  I am including a synths effects these days much more because it is part of that sound. They often widen things a little more in the process. They help to separate the instruments in a mix sometimes.