simplest way to create a stereo spread effect?

[mholloway]

looking for the simplest way to create a basic stereo effect for a vocal channel, I like to alternate parts of vocals between centered mix and then cut to a channel with a wide stereo spread for a few beats/words, then back. What would you use in Live 8 suite to achieve this? Nothing fancy, just a stereo spread......or if not with live 8 tools, then a simple plugin? (I'm on a mac....)

thanks,
-M

[Tone Deft]

utility plug in set to 200%.

then before that drop in something like a stereo reverb to spread the sound out. at 200% only the audio unique to the left and right channel go out those channels.

my $0.02.

[interpolate]

Put a simple delay on a track
Set both channels to time (instead of sync)
Set both of their times to 0 (1 ms by default)
Feedback 0%
Dry/Wet 100%

Then just drag one of the ms values up and down.. For instance try 1ms for L and 9ms for R.

GL!!

[snakedogman]

you can also use the track delay for this. Use two mono tracks panned hard left and right and simply delay one a few ms from the other. This should give you a nice wide stereo effect.
You can also try using a slightly different take for each channel for possibly interesting results.

[mholloway]

great ideas guys, thank you!

-M

[Pitch Black]

+1 for the simple delay. One thing to be aware of though that this stereo trick doesn't mono at all well, you may get a severe drop in volume of the effected part, and/or unpleasant comb filtering. It's only an issue if your track's played on and old TV, or a mono PA system, or AM radio. I found out the hard way on this one. A band I'd mixed made a music video and when it played on TV the big lush chorus vocal practically disappeared. I'm always looking for ways to get big and wide stereo fx that don't fall to bits in mono.

[Nick the Zombie]

you can also use the track delay for this. Use two mono tracks panned hard left and right and simply delay one a few ms from the other. This should give you a nice wide stereo effect.
You can also try using a slightly different take for each channel for possibly interesting results.

This is generally how I achieve stereo spread in my mixes as well - sometimes referred to as the "Haas Effect"

[Rozzer]

I don't know if this is possible in your case, but I've always found the best stereo spread is to record the passage twice. Two different takes panned left and right will sound more human than any plugin

[scissorkicks]

Rozzer and Pitch Black are right - be careful when using delays or stereo field processors as you can end up with some severe phase problems.

Not really much help unless you have the plugin, but I like the multiband stereo processor in Ozone, as you can focus the widening in on specific bands, which I think can be a bit less destructive phase-wise.

[ashtonron]

if you are lazy (like me) then you can always use stereo touch from voxengo it is free as well

http://www.voxengo.com/product/stereotouch/

[mholloway]

if you are lazy (like me) then you can always use stereo touch from voxengo it is free as well

http://www.voxengo.com/product/stereotouch/

oh sweet, thanks for the link man! much appreciated. and yep, i'm lazy. well actually all the ideas in this thread are excellent; the two track + track delay trick i've actually used extensively for guitar parts, and it works incredibly well. but for these quick vocal effects I have in mind, I prefer something that doesn't require a whole extra track. so this plugin, or the simple-delay trick above, should do the trick.

thanks again guys, great thread+help,
-M

[Angstrom]

One trick I use to get a stereo width effect which reduces to mono OK is to have a rack which pans the straight signal hard right and then adds an early reflection hard left. I use Ableton Reverb early reflections for this.

Note - this isn't like a brain splitting 'wide-stereo' phase effect, it's more like having an instrumentalist playing on the right of a room and the left of the room is providing a reflected sound. Which is more 'realistic' version of how things sound if an instrument is actually hard over in a real-world soundstage. In the real world if a guitarist is far to your right, you still hear them in your left ear (!) but you actually hear a lot more indirect signal from the left. It doesn't sound 'reverby' because early reflections are really just a multitap delay.

This somewhat emulates Haas panning without all of the horror when you mono-ise. When you do mono it all that happens is it can sound a tiny little bit roomy. It's hardly noticable though.

This trick is very similar to using a panned delay, but you get mono safety simply because early reflection calculations are all pretty phase-mangled as a matter of course.


example rack

[Erredmek]

Put a simple delay on a track
Set both channels to time (instead of sync)
Set both of their times to 0 (1 ms by default)
Feedback 0%
Dry/Wet 100%

Then just drag one of the ms values up and down.. For instance try 1ms for L and 9ms for R.

GL!!

WOW !! This is awesome -- THANK YOU !!!

It works like a charm !!!!!!

[dokx]

+1 for the simple delay. One thing to be aware of though that this stereo trick doesn't mono at all well, you may get a severe drop in volume of the effected part, and/or unpleasant comb filtering. It's only an issue if your track's played on and old TV, or a mono PA system, or AM radio. I found out the hard way on this one. A band I'd mixed made a music video and when it played on TV the big lush chorus vocal practically disappeared. I'm always looking for ways to get big and wide stereo fx that don't fall to bits in mono.

Damn I use that spreading Simple Delay trick a lot, have to check my mixes now...

[Vios]

Chorus is another option. Live's built in chorus isn't that great of an effect, but there are some good VSTs out there. It's worked well for me to take a purely mono track and apply a chorus on a very mild setting (may 90% Dry) followed by an EQ8 set to Mono/Stereo with the a large shelf boost to the upper frequencies in stereo. Follow with highly stereo reverb. This will give you a stereo sound that still sounds great in mono.

I used this effect on my chello sounds on one of tracks called "Resolution." Please take a listen if you're interested.