Ableton Forum

I am mounting a show and Live will do playback tracks, fx for voice and guitar a the program changes for live keyboards and FX in one big file with sections markers triggered by a foot controller.
For my surprise I discovered that my playback traks are mono incompatible (I tried everything) and I must do a remix to get a good mono files.
So, I must work with everything in mono, stereo or both (double work)?
Easy solution please.
Thanks in advance!

utility on master. with mono preset.

mm, depends where his problem lies. Utility on your master (width =0) is Ok to check for mono compatibility while you are mixing a stereo track, but it's a bit of a sledgehammer as a solution after the fact.

If you have a stereo instrument or track which i has the sides out of phase or using small delays on each side, IE 'wide' stereo, using the utility hammer will make it sound really thin. Or really like a stuck flange.

in situations like that there's a couple of options
1: lengthy = find the offender 'wide' pad and do a mono remix
2: quickie = take one side of the stereo pair and mono it to both sides using utility. You may find that elements go missing if you have hard panned items.

3: half and half = there's a crossover rack on the forum somewhere, you could take 3 frequency bands and use differing mono approaches on each band. IE - if your hats and percussion are 'phase widened' stereo but your mid is panned stereo - you could use one side of the top end and both sides to mono of the mid. You dig?


only the lengthy approach will give you the best results though. go through your mixes with a utility set to width 0 to see which really need it.

Thanks for all!
The preset mono of utility doenst work in complex mix because of the phase cancealtion...
All my multitrack work was done in Nuendo and I will use Ableton only for stage situations. Phase cancelation is a pain in the ass and seams that dont have an easy solution. My playback mix from Nuendo are with tons of stereo and instruments and I think that I must do a remix and work with mono.
The "half and half" and "quikie" solution doesnt work in this situation...
HUGS

How did you determine Mono Incompatible?? A plugin?

I've never played a live set in mono.... all the venues have stereo mixers and stereo PAs and such.

And if you are worried about sound coming out of the speakers creating phase cancellations.... don't.
That'll only happen in specific spots in a room (and peoples heads bob and sway as they dance around, so they'll never be there long)... and how many people have their heads equidistant from both speakers anyhow?

Echoes, people walking inbetween speakers and other listener's ears, people talking and shouting... there's gonna be so many sources of noise that a node is going to be filled up.

Unless you were to sum to mono before sending your audio to the PA.
So I suggest NOT using a mono-izing plugin on your master track, and just don't do anything really radical with panning, and have fun![/b]

Thanks a lot laird!
I tried almost everything from plugins to configurations and my tracks behave strangely when turned to mono. When elementes are missed from the mix or the mix sound flanged I believe thats mono incompatible. The phase cancelation occrurs here and now, its not a problem about speakers.
These thing is a surprise for me, I never imagine that is a capital problem but is.
I think that if I use playbacks track that are mono incompatible and if I play in only one place with mono resources, all the pain will make me forget about the beat y of stereo.
My mixes are rather complex, Remixes are on the way...

this topic has made me feel like asking everyone what they think on this matter....the other day i was messing with a utility on the master channel of my mix to hear the differences between stereo only and mono only. what i noticed the most was that when i took the master channel and made it stereo only, the bass and kick, which are in mono by the way, became completely silent and i think that due to this there appeared to be alot more room in the stereo field of sound...now i dont know if it was an illusion becasue of the bass and kick being silent or if it really did create more room, but it made me wonder if a mix would sound better if the master channel's audio were converted to stereo so that the bass and kick dissapear but then route the bass and kick to like a return channel that is reciving information before the master channel so that there is the bass and kick on one channel but the rest of the mix on another, resulting in a more clean and clear sounding mix.....am i wrong?? is this a bad idea? it might not even work i guess since i havent tried it yet but it really made me wonder while i was messing around with the utility on the master.....anyone care to hit me with some feedback, feel free

I think you put the left and right sides out of phase, you used the wide control and set it to 200%.

that makes L=l-r and R=r-l

removes any mono sounds and artificially widens the stereo. Like a 'wide' button on a cheap stereo.
it's a psycho-acoustic effect that is Ok on elements of a mix, bit not all of it.

Thanks for all!
Everyone says that its imposible but a mate from other site give me the right answer:
Refined audiometriqs lab PlParEq
Nothing else works, and I tested a LOT!
Hugs from Brazil