question about mono vs. stereo

[bcwarlock]

Hi! Im a relatively new user of Ableton and Im also new to production.Right now Im taking a class from Berklee Online to learn this program and mixing techniques.The lessons are telling me to try to have more tracks in mono vs. more in stereo as they are easier in the long run to use to get a "big" sounding mix,and that having too many stereo tracks can be a problem sometimes. My question then is how do I tell for sure a track in Ableton is in stereo or mono?I think if it is in stereo there will be two tracks side by side for a given sound or instrument, is this correct?Are there exceptions?Any help is greatly appreciated.....thanks again.

Cody

[re:dream]

AFAIK live only has stereo tracks.

Not sure about the advice from Berklee - the real experts in here can comment on that.

[sporkles]

Like The Finn says, there's no such thing as a bona fide MONO track in Live; all tracks are stereo. My guess would be that the advice you've been given is a general one; a mono signal is easier to manage than a stereo one, in which case whether or not Live has mono tracks is a moot point; you can sum any stereo signal to mono by inserting Live's "Utility" audio effect as the last effect on any track, and turn its "width" parameter all the way to 0%. This can have a huge impact on a signal that's very wide and stereo dependent. Now that you've effectively made your signal mono, placing that sound in your stereo mix is a lot easier. This is obviously meant as a learning exercise, so it's not something you need to follow slavishly.

[timday]

AFAIK I think saying Live "only" has stereo tracks is a false distinction. Live has audio tracks that will take mono audio. The only difference in general between a mono and a stereo track is that a stereo track sends a different signal to the two speakers whereas a mono track sends an identical one (the only difference being volume if you pan a mono track).

Since you have two speakers on pretty much any system this means there is no difference between a mono track e.g. in Pro Tools and a "stereo" track in Ableton with a mono signal in it. If it has a mono signal in it it will act as a mono track.

What Live won't do AFAIK is split a stereo track to two monos, although I think you could bus the outputs if you really wanted to.

[chrk]

When a mono signal is chosen as an audio track’s input, the track will record mono samples; otherwise it will record stereo samples. Signals in the track’s device chain are always stereo, even when the track’s input is mono or when the track plays mono samples.

Quote from the manual, bolded by myself - 14.2.1 Mono/Stereo Conversions

[Samuel L. Jizzle]

But this doesn't matter. If L=R, then L=R.

As for the Berklee comment, use a combination of narrow and wide tracks, in addition to careful panning, to create your stereo field. Over using über-wide tracks will create a blurry mix. Another, more advanced technique is to use multiband processing to narrow the lower frequencies and widen/pan the higher ones.

I also like cowbell sounds.

[bcwarlock]

Thanks all for the help

[timday]

But this doesn't matter. If L=R, then L=R.

This

I also like cowbell sounds.

Also this.

[sporkles]

I also like cowbell sounds.

Which, of course, means that everything else you say should be questioned.

[bcwarlock]

Cowbell sounds,indeed...............indeed.