Guitar recording : different guitar, amp... between left and right side

[poidaobi]

When I said about the theater reference, I was reffering to surround sound which is a completely different animal than mono or stereo. People here keeping saying "either its mono OR its stereo", and that's just untrue. There's 5.1 surround and 7.1 surround and all kinds of different soundscapes. A few decades ago, they tried to introduce quadraphonics to the masses, but the impracticalities of the hi-fi systems inhibited it from really taking off. But think about that for a second. What is making it mono? what would make it stereo, and what could make it quad? You're splitting signals panoramically to achieve the perception of that sound being in two (or 4) places at once essentially. So with that said, the more different it sounds on one side versus the other side, the easier it is for your brain to calculate those differences and make them feel like they are existing in farther spaces from each other... but back to my main point.

I don't mean to make it sound like the takes need to be fucked up in order to achieve the clarity in tone from side to side, but that's technically correct on the level we're talking about, which is the sample level / millisecond level. And what I wanted to really point out is that the GOAL of metal now is to make everything so robotically inhuman, that the human error factor is removed. That's why everyone who comes here for the first time gets such a hard-on when they learn about DIing and ReAmping for the first time. "Oh wow, you mean I can make a real person sound like they're playing a MIDI guitar with a real guitar and program my solos and sweeps just like I can program 32 note blast beats in DFH!?!?! 8====D~~~~~ uke:"

So, yes, if you embrace and retain the human error element, which I encourage, the guitar takes will sit pretty on L and R and you'll hear them both and they won't phase out, and you'll have yourself a nice big loud guitar sound


BUT


If you have 2 guitar players, and you want those 2 guitar players parts to be more decipherable, it would behoove the mix to vary the tone so that the ear can separate the two sounds more clearly which ALSO gives the added perception of those instruments existing in the stereo spectrum FARTHER apart from each other.


---

I don't DISLIKE the sound of same settings on L & R, especially for metal, and especially when you want to have a balanced sound overall. Hell I do it all the time myself given the right circumstances. I understand tons of records have been done both ways, and one way isn't better than another depending on what you like and what you're going for. I'm just trying to explain what happens with the physical sound and your brain when you have similar sounds like that.

If you want loud guitars, use same-settings.
It will still sound in stereo (especially given the human error factor, or if you want to be a chode and just copy the audio and delay it a few milliseconds, it will still keep from canceling itself out)

If you want 2 readily distinguishable guitar sounds on L & R, use different settings.
You will help the listener decide what they are hearing more clearly, and for bands whose guitarists really like to share the spotlight, you will give them THEIR space in the sonic spectrum a bit more. Agreed this method can be slightly distracting, and it's not always the right choice, but it's still a matter of how the brain decodes the information it is getting.


I'm going to try to look up something I can cite on Big Mono. I by no means conjured up the term myself.

Good discussion? Or are we starting to beat a dead horse?

at what point do the guitars become 'stereo' as opposed to 'big mono'?


is there a certain 'difference' that makes them 'stereo'?

I'm just not understanding you. If it's a little difference it's big mono and if it's a big difference it's stereo? ...

 

[K Odell]

I don't mean to make it sound like the takes need to be fucked up in order to achieve the clarity in tone from side to side, but that's technically correct on the level we're talking about, which is the sample level / millisecond level. And what I wanted to really point out is that the GOAL of metal now is to make everything so robotically inhuman, that the human error factor is removed. That's why everyone who comes here for the first time gets such a hard-on when they learn about DIing and ReAmping for the first time. "Oh wow, you mean I can make a real person sound like they're playing a MIDI guitar with a real guitar and program my solos and sweeps just like I can program 32 note blast beats in DFH!?!?! 8====D~~~~~ uke:"

Totally not starting an arguement but I am really tired of things like this. Like questioning the ethics of how each person does things. I mean granted I feel like you should be practiced enough to nail your shit and all, but also as far as a cd goes, as long as it sounds good then I am cool with it. Now if you can't pull it off live then thats a whole other arguement.

 

[cobhc]

Second clip is quadtracked.

 

[chonchball]

Totally not starting an arguement but I am really tired of things like this. Like questioning the ethics of how each person does things. I mean granted I feel like you should be practiced enough to nail your shit and all, but also as far as a cd goes, as long as it sounds good then I am cool with it. Now if you can't pull it off live then thats a whole other arguement.

I don't mean to say it's unethical to practice that, I was hyperbolizing the rhetorical anecdote of when people first learn about that, and then abuse it i guess, but more-so at the hobbyist level, which really isn't that big of a deal at all, i was just on a rant

to answer a question from above, i don't think there's a certain point where big mono BECOMES stereo, because it's so subjective, especially as proven here by people's different tastes in tone panning practice.

i personally like the sound of big mono guitars when its purpose is to sit back rhythmically with the drums and the bass and just pump out the riff without trying to fight for more attention than what the guitar part is worth, but if you have a standard metalcore riff where you're doing chops in minor 3rd harmonies on L & R, it helps bring out each guitar part more if they are separate tones.
big mono doesn't mean your whole mix becomes mono, it just means that the effect of the sounds on each side of the speakers are drawing themselves back in together towards the center because they are extremely similar, not necessarily identical.