Ive always mixed my vocals in stereo.
Apart from saving room what are the advantages if any of recording vocals in mono?
Rob.

Rob,

Silly question but I'm asking as I truly do not know. Are you using two microphones to create your stereo vocal tracks or are you using one microphone but the vocal track is stereo because the effects you use have a stereo output?

My vocal tracks are recorded as mono tracks. My main is normally panned to center while background tracks are panned off center.

Here's a little rule of thumb that seems to work well for any 'record in mono or stereo'? I probably shouldn't call it a rule of thumb because that implies that it's generally accepted. This is my rule of thumb, not something I read as a general practice.

If the sound source has the ability to generate audio that is wider than the space between your ears, it's worth the effort to try to record in stereo, but the mic'ing technique will matter for phase issues. Example, vocal groups/choirs, solo piano, overhead mics for a drum kit, orchestras, etc.

If the source isn't really larger than your head, then you can save yourself quite a bit of grief by recording mono as a standard practice. Examples: individual vocals, individual drums, solo orchestral instruments, etc.

Another 'rule' that I use is to think about how an instrument would arrive at someone's ears in the situation for what is being reproduced. Think of a piano in a rock band situation where you are trying to duplicate a live sound feel. The piano is far enough from a typical audience member that even though it's a big instrument, the sound arrives in 'mono' at the listener's ear and mono treatment of the instrument might make more sense than stereo for that particular situation. Even as a solo instrument, piano in a concert hall is mostly mono for the direct signal, but the delay and reverb is richly stereo. If I'm not mistaken, this is one of the things that first Lexicon reverbs that became popular were able to simulate.

'mixing' in stereo; what does that actually mean? As pointed out above, many effects will take a mono signal but process it through stereo processing (many if not most reverb plugins work this way) and that's not necessarily mixing in stereo.

Hi Jim.
Ive always used one mike and record in stereo.
Rob.

Thank you for your in depth reply Rockstar.
I guess if it aint broke dont try to fix it.
Rob.

When you say you record with one mic in stereo is it a stereo microphone? Because if it is not then you are not recording in stereo.

Scott - I believe what Rob means when he says "recording in stereo" is that he is recording to a stereo track.

Rob - It doesn't make much difference either way. Next time you record a vocal, select a mono track to record to and see if you notice any difference in the sound from what you have done before.
Or better yet, record a vocal on a mono track and then the same vocal in a stereo track and A/B them yourself. I find the a vocal in a stereo track has a touch of "air" to it that the mono does not, but it's small and may simply be perception...

MONO.... my rule of thumb is....if the source is a mono source, you should record it in mono.

Most instruments and voices are mono. Instruments that can be stereo include drum kits and piano.... things like individual drums, trumpet, flute, sax, and even guitar tend to work well in mono.

You gain nothing by recording a mono source to a stereo track. You effectively waste hard drive space.

You can simulate a stereo sound if that's what you're after, by recording the instrument or voice again.... in another mono track.

I use this doubling method a lot on my recordings. Acoustic guitars get recorded 2 times into a unique track in mono each time. Then they are panned equally opposite. With a vocal, I do it 3x.... with the lead being centered and the 2 doubles panned equally opposite and much, much lower in the mix.

Using 2 mics and recording true stereo. This is a possibility and lots of folks do it. Nothing is wrong with recording this way. My main concern is that doing this is actually advantageous to the music. You have to be aware of phase relationships and comb filtering that can occur from the use of 2 mics on the same sound source.

Comb filtering and phase issues are potentially present in any recording where you have 2 nearly identical tracks.... so doing what I mentioned...double tracking... is also subject to these issues. Just be aware.

All mono except RT's and RD's that are rendered in stereo which I just leave that way. I can't understand how having the identical wave form left and right can improve the sound. I certainly do understand how actually recording in stereo via two or more mics or a stereo mic could add ambiance to the track.

Hey guys thanks for your excellent input.
Think I will stick to what I'm doing as it has always worked for me.
Rob.

If you send a Mono signal to an input (preamp, interface, soundcard, etc), and use the Stereo Out of said unit, you are getting the same signal on two channels.
Exactly the same sound just written to two tracks. What you really have is two copies of the same track panned left/right .. but they are the same.

If you want to test this theory, separate them, invert one of the tracks and pan them back to center. They'll cancel out.

Recording a mono signal to stereo is simply recording a single track twice.
Unless you insert other things into the signal path. If you use a vocal processor in the chain the above does not apply.

My mono/stereo work flow is identical to rockstar_not.

If I want to create stereo image from a mono one I duplicate the track but I ALWAYS add something to the second track. It may be an effect like reverb, delay, or chorus or I may nudge it a tick or two so it sounds fuller.

Agreed with a bit of definition. The above is true if the word 'unit' in the first sentence if the unit is not a modulation device like chorus, reverb, delay, phaser, etc. Many if not most of modulation devices, if there is an identified L/R output, will in fact take a mono input signal and the signal processing will create differences in the L and R outputs turning it into a stereo signal of sorts. The Gonio3 plugin on this page will show if the output of a particular device that has L/R outputs is in fact a 'stereo' signal.

As for copying a mono signal to both L and R of a 'stereo' track in your DAW - there's no need to do that because your DAW will by default do this in the audio mixing engine with the pan control. Same is true for any mixing desk with mono inputs. Changing the pan for these signals changes the relative L/R levels.

FTR, my last 2 sentences said what Scott said.
If other effects are used in the chain the theory is not true, but as for the actual recording of dry tracks; they are just identical tracks taking up twice the space.

Since I apply effects to vocals AFTER the fact, I record them in mono initially. You can still use stereo effects on a mono track later..