Ableton Forum

Hey !

I have a small issue with regards to a track I'm working on at the moment.

My issue arises when I put the preset " centre kill " from EQ Eight,on my main synth,in order to create space for other elements like the kick,bass etc..

As you all probably know already,this preset basically pans elements left and right leaving loads of space
in the centre.

When I play back my track in stereo everything sounds good,however,when played back in mono the synth
disappears.

Listening to professional produced music on my monitors,it seems that they can get the same effect I'm looking for,while still retaining mono compatibility.

I suppose my question is;how do I achieve this width and create space in the centre without compromising the quality of my track in mono.

Some tips on the subject would be much appreciated.

Thanks !!!

do you mean mono like in Monolake ?

mja wrote:
on my main synth

Don't have L8 yet, but I can't understand what you mean by "on my main synth". IMO, i think you only need to use your Utility plug and select mono. This should get the track in the centre.
Probly you need the preset you mentioned to pan the other instruments, but getting instruments centre seems fairly basic.

I'm going to interject with what may be a dumb question here... I've probably never even looked at the EQ8 presets, but wouldn't 'Center Kill' be reducing gain in the mid-frequency ranges? IOW how are you creating stereo panning effects with an equalizer?

myxomat0515 wrote:I'm going to interject with what may be a dumb question here... I've probably never even looked at the EQ8 presets, but wouldn't 'Center Kill' be reducing gain in the mid-frequency ranges? IOW how are you creating stereo panning effects with an equalizer?

Yes..the EQ thing caught my attention also, just didn't remember to comment on it. And yes, come to think of it "center kill" does sound that way.

Why don't you try to mono the Synth, panned hard to one side and then use a very short delay(10-20ms) panned to the other side...?

What you can also try, is to use the same Synth twice.
One time wide as you did, and then a second time just in mono.

If you group them you can do this all in one track...

Give it a try, maybe you like it this way...

If you look just for a trick to widen your sound, use a simple delay and
set one side 10-20ms later and you can widen your sound that way.
It's called the Haas-Effect...

With different ms you can make the sound wider or more narrow.
Be careful, because it can also make problems with mono if you widen too much.
But then you can, like I mentioned above, use another instance of the
synth, just in mono...!!!

Hope it helps you...

But I would like to read other peoples techniques too...