problem recording in stereo

[sw00s]

I'm using firepod and cubase le.

I have a mic plugged in mic/instrument 1.

In cubase when i click to record stereo, I only get sound in the left.

In the vst inputs window it shows the ports i have activated as 1 & 2.

When I'm looking at my channel in the mixer I don't see these options:

http://area51.wiki.com/File:Home/Snapshot_2006-10-30_22-34-33.jpg

I see IN 1+IN 2.
I don't know how to change it, if it's possible.
I've looked through everything.

Can someone help me out?

Thank You,
Shaun

by the way i'm a beginner when it comes to recording.

[AndyH]

A microphone is one source. Stereo requires two sources, i.e. two microphones. One microphone can only provide a signal to one channel. The proper way to record one microphone, practiced by a million recording engineers for the last hundred years, is mono.

When you tell the recording program to record in mono, it will record from only one channel (the right or the left). You must take a few seconds of experimenting time to determine into which channel you must plug the microphone for this to work.

Your question gets asked at least once a week. There are a fair number of posts in this forum (and no doubt in many others) that discusses in detail how to properly operate with one microphone and how best to get what you want out of the recording.

[itsplayed]

AndyH is right on all counts Shaun, this is a great forum with some very helpful people, but the more informed you are....the better.

Here's a good site for you to look over and if you have any questions, feel free to ask them here.

http://tweakheadz.com/guide.htm

By the way, good luck with your DAW and welcome to the forum.

[drumur]

Ah ha
One mic
the cord is mono- the mic is mono
plug the mic in - choose mono
iF YOU CHOOSE STEREO, you have to use two inputs.
On the FIREPOD stereo track 1 would be input 1 and 2, etc,
If I use 5 tom mics on my drums, I pan to create the stereo field.
Use you pan.:)

[Bino_5150]

even though the mic is mono i record mine in stereo (dual mono) for FX purposes...

It's no big deal to me, though, because it records as 2 channels on the out of my mixer into my souncard, so I don't get any "left only" recordings. My instruments are recorded in stereo, and my mic is too. And even though the left and right of my mic are exactly the same, I can edit them seperatley, or use stereo effects much easier in my DAW.

but yeah, the mic is mono... get a Y splitter for your cable if need be. That way you will get both channels and the flexibility of stereo.

If you really just want to use it the way it is, I'm sure your DAW has a stereo>mono conversion in it... this will turn your left channel into a center mono channel.

[AndyH]

Yes, you can do something to feed a single signal into more than one input. This is easier with some pieces of equipment than with others. If you continue to do this, you will remain in that small select group that never learns to record, edit, or mix properly. You post does not describe a good approach. No knowledge recording engineer ever does that.

[Bino_5150]

hmmm... lets see... no knowledge recording engineer ever does that. Well, I guess that would make you a knowledge recording engineer, right? I guess I don't qualify, since I only went to college for it.

I use stereo FX in my DAW. This is so much easier on a stereo signal. If you want a real stereo reverb, put it on a real stereo signal.

Not to mention the output bus from my mixer to my soundcard is a stereo bus, so unless I pan the mic channel strip hard left or right, I get a stereo "dual mono" signal to the output. As you should with any line in on your mixer. And if I record the same dry signal in mono and in stereo, there is absolutely zero difference in in the signal when you monitor it (both are solid center channel in te mix), so it's not like I'm comprimising my audio quality.

I have never seen a mixer that only had a "Mono out", or a sound card that only had a "mono in" used in any kind of recording. Do you even have a mixer? What kind of signal does it send from your mic to your audio interface? Does your mixer have a 2 channel output bus going to your soundcard? Then what would that make the mic signal you just recorded? Stereo.

I fail to see how tracking my vocals in stereo puts me in that "select group" that never learns how to record, edit, or mix properly. I record, mix, and master audio professionally, and would put my vocals up against any commercial recordings. If you have really been engineering that long, you would realize that all good engineers come up with their own style of doing things, and most taylor their way to whatever genre of music they handle.

This isn't the old days. If you pop in a CD today, there is no mono... there is sounds that exist equally in the left and right channel. Your signal is going to end up stereo regardless unless your final master is going to be mono, because cd format is 2 channel audio.

There is absolutley nothing wrong with recording your vocal tracks as a stereo signal, and you can not come up with any reasonable argument against it.

Maybe you should stop being so closed-minded, and you might learn something.

[AndyH]

There is always more than one way to do anything. My point was not to try to talk you out of your established practices but to help a newcomer consider whether or not to develop bad habits which are in no way necessary and will not improve his work in any way.

[Bino_5150]

I fully agree that yes, there is more than one way to do things. What I do not agree with is your derogatory references towards the way I do things.

My recording style is not "bad habits". And I am not part of a "select group that never learns how to record, edit, or mix properly." That is very childish and pecimistic.

Further, I have found significant reason to record my vocals that way, that gives me an advantage over recording them as a single mono channel.

And contrary to what you said, if his problem is that he only has audio on one channel, and my method fixes that, then you really have no grounds to say that it "will not improve his work in any way".

You and I may do things a bit different, but please do not confuse that with you know everything and I know nothing. I do what I do for a reason, and a man of intellegence, especially in this industry, should always be seeking ways to better their mixes and learn new things.

If everyone thought like you, we would still be using am radio, mono record players, and black-n-white tv's.

Why not try and find out why I record that way, and what the benifits are, instead of being so quick to try and shoot it down and write it off as bad recording ediquite? Like I said, you might learn something... isn't that why we are all here anyway?

[itsplayed]

Personally, I find that recording vocals as a stereo track is more of a disadvantage....I prefer recording vocal tracks in mono and keep the lead vocals at center within the mix, while panning backing vocals both left and right. I find that the lead vocals pops out in the mix better that way. However, to each his own....whatever works for you is never a bad thing.
Besides, you can always copy and paste the track if you desire to pan hard left and right with the lead vocal.

[tech1]

I can see both sides of this argument. By recording a mono signal as a stereo track, yes, you do get the benefit of using true stereo plugins. At the same time, you are using more disk space and processing power over a mono track with a mono-to-stereo plugin. There are clear advantages and disadvantages to the process.

But hey, if it works, it works.

[Bino_5150]

itsplayed, I understand that you want your vocals in the center of the mix. That is the "proper" place for lead vocals.

Now try this: Record yourself talking in mono.

Then, record yourself saying the same thing in stereo.

Notice anything? Unless you were looking at the wave on the screen, you can not tell the difference on dry vocals. They both sit exactly center in the mix. So there is no audible difference if they were recorded mono or stereo... untill you begin to edit them. Just because you recorded them in stereo, they are not automatically spread out. You can still mix them the same as you always have, and still pan out your background vocals the way you do.

You see, when you mix your song down and put it on CD, there is no such thing as a center mono channel. CD's are 2 channel stereo, which means that what you perceive as a center mono channel is only 2 signals that are exactly the same, existing equally in the left and right channels. That's just how I record it in the first place...

As far as disk space and processor power, yes, I guess it does use a slightly larger, however insignificant, ammount of resources (honestly, you will never know the difference). But my system was built as a studio workstation, and disk space and clock cycles are not an issue. Besides, I back up my sessions, and after a period of time, my masters and my sessions find their way archived in a safe. For sessions that I feel I may need kept on my computer for whatever reason, I have dedicated hard drives. Besides, if I kept every clip of audio that I ever recorded on my comp, I would need to hijack the FBI mainframe for disk space lol!

I really would like to chat with you guys in another thread, and discuss your recording and mixing techniques. That is the kind of stuff that keeps me coming back. Some of you guys seem to have developed distinct styles of engineering music, and that interests me.

Hopefully, we can all learn from each other.

[tech1]

A mono signal panned center is split equally between the left and right channels, so after bouncing, it is heard exactly the same as a mono signal recorded as a stereo signal. Also, when you pan a stereo track, you're actually only turning down the other side, not panning the whole spread. So panning to the right only turns down the left channel. A stereo track panned hard left essentially is the same track with the right channel muted. FYI, in case you didn't already know. But, since what you are doing is working for you, keep doing it. I, am most other, do things differently, but we also get different results. Stick with what works.

We have a dedicated forum for sharing techniques, called "Production Tips and Techniques." Post your methods, ask questions, whatever....it's open.

[Bino_5150]

lol yeah, you basically just repeated what I said. I think we are on the same page now.

I will most definately check out the tips forums. I will probably spend a lot of time there.

FYI~ my DAW (Audition) has different user selectable ways of panning stereo tracks. So you aren't just limited to "turning down the other channel".

[tech1]

Which version of Audition? I have 1.5 and haven't seen that....

[G.R.Hughes]

Human beings hear with two EARS for good reason! It's called sterephonic sound. But to be stereophonic these two signals have to remain unique and separate. They can't be MIXED! It's how we perceive DEPTH; whether a sound it close or further away on the sound stage. You would have to have two microphones (or stereo mic like the AKG C24) two signal chains and be insured that the entire chain from microphone to ultimate listener remained separate and reproduced exactly with two of everything. Most of the mixed music in the world is re-mixed monaural because of the habit of miking vocals with only one microphone. Panning a mono mike signal around to two channels or splitting one mic output to two channels does not make it stereophonic. It's just re-mixed mono coming out of two speakers. About the only times that true stereophonic recording is correctly implemented is with a symphony orchestra and three tracks as per Bell Telephone Labs and Alan Blumlein's original stereophonic experiments in the late 30s; left, right, and center with three microphones. The center mic or channel is generally panned to center, the left all the way left and the right all the way right on mixdown but the two left and right signals remain unique and separate. Pop music seldom records in true stereophonic technique because microphone placement is critical to achieving a correct depth and is further accerbated by room acoustics. About the only place it is used is in classical symphony orchestras and opera. Ray Hughes

[Bino_5150]

Tech1, I am using 2.0, and the setting is in the multi-track properties. I don't have a machine that still has 1.5 installed, but on 2.0, it's in the preferences>multi track>defaults>stereo panning mode. It gives you the options for either Left/Right Cut (logarithmic), or -3dB center.

And I quote:

"Stereo Panning Mode Select Left/Right Cut (logarithmic) to pan left by reducing the volume of the right channel, and pan right by reducing the left channel volume. The channel being panned to doesn’t increase in volume as panning gets closer to 100%. Or select Equal-Power Sinusoidal to pan left and right channels with equal power, so that a hard pan left has the same loudness as both channels together. This results in an increase of 3 dB RMS on the channel being panned to when at 100%.
To override the default panning mode for a specific session, see Mixing properties for sessions."

~~~~~~
G.R. Hughes, thank you for that wonderful breakdown. We all are on the same page there.

We know that if you record a vocal track as a stereo signal, it will sound EXACTLY THE SAME as if it was recorded as a mono signal, because the left and right channel are identical, and the mic is mono, thus putting the vocal in the dead center of the mix. On a dry vocal, you will not be able to tell the difference between a stereo and mono recording.

However, for the flexibility in mixing and editing, and the use of TRUE STEREO effects on my vocal tracks, I record them as a stereo signal. This makes perfect sense, since your song is (most likely) going to end up as a stereo signal anyway when you mix it down.

Stereo imaging is achieved by your brain recognizing differences in the left and right channel. The more different they are, the further apart they sound. The more identical they are, the more centered they sound.

As stated, recording vocals in mono or stereo will get you the exact same thing: a vocal track in the center channel. It's AFTER it's recorded that the stereo recording becomes handy... I can edit the left and the right channel of my vocals separatly how I see fit, and use effects that wouldn't work (or wouldn't work the same) on a mono signal.

Remember, you are monitoring on a left and right channel, regardless if its a mono or stereo signal. You have a pair of monitors. I have a pair of channels. Does that make sense yet?

It also makes things a lot easier with the multi-track set to full time stereo, because all of the instruments from my keyboards, the drum tracks I import, all of the other things (turntables, etc....) that come in thru my mixing board, are stereo, or have stereo fx, and send into my soundcard via a stereo bus, along with the mic channel.

Hence, there is a difference between "recording stereo vocals", and "recording vocals as a stereo signal".

I never said that panning a mic signal around, or splitting it into 2 channels was going to give you a true stereophonic recording. I said it was a "dual mono" signal that I could edit with true stereo effects. However, as soon as I put a stereo echo or reverb on it, it IS a real true stereophonic recording.

And after you bounce it down to your final master, guess what it is? Yup, thats right... stereo.

Mono:
A monophonic signal, which contains only one sound source.

Stereo:
signal with a left and right channel, allowing for spatial placement of sounds.

Are we all on the same page now?

[drumur]

I don't know if anybody said this but
to achieve the stereo vocal effect, you can just record the vocal track...then copy and paste it into another track or "clone" it to another track.
Then process and pan to your liking.
You can also drag one of the tracks to create a natural delay...then pan them.
There are more efficient ways to achieve a stereo effect. The possibilities are endless with a DAW.
I was just trying to help him understand why he wasn't able to achieve stereo.
A mic, guitar, bass(except a Rickenbacker), etc, are not stereo instruments. Yeah you can create a stereo image, but what does that have to do with the original question?

[rossofficial]

Im having issues burning to cd using cool edit,


Once i have mixed down my tracks to a file,

you would usually click on file then 'export or burn to cd'

but there arent options for this!

can anyone help?

ross

[AndyH]

At some late version of CoolEdit extraction from and writing to CD was added. It was, however, never finalized and did not work for many people. It was always called a beta stage plugin/add-on, whatever. These functions now exist in Audition, but were never reliable in any version of CoolEdit. With CoolEdit it is much easier to use any of the 500 stand-alone CD-R writing applications out there.

There is no "export' nonsense, the CoolEdit native file format is WAV, which is what you need for writing to CD-R. If you are working in 32 bit floating point, you must first Convert Sample Type to 16 bit, 44.1kHz stereo. Save that. Write to CD-R with another application.

[rossofficial]

ive sorted it now, cheers buddy!

i have wavepad, then i exported it too realplayer
and then i burned from there

happy days!

ross

[130dB]

rossofficial:
Welcome to Audioforums. In the future, you should start a new topic instead of posting in one that has nothing to do with your question.