Today the majority of people listen to music on phones, tiny AirPods, and computer speakers. That means that the mono-compatibility of your music production is highly important. Isn’t it heartbreaking to discover your favorite Synth riff completely disappear from the mix when you check your production in mono? But’s don’t worry there is a solution to this problem.
When you have a sound that drastically drops in level when you check your mix in mono, it means that it has more information in the side channel than in the mid-channel. In other words, this sound is so wide it is out of phase.
In this video, I am sharing with you 2 techniques for resolving phase issues in sounds like piano, synth, and vocals.
Technique 1
1. Use the Ozone Imager to mono the low end of the sound. If you don’t have the multi-band version, just use M/S Linear phase Equaliser and HPF below 200-300 Hz in the Side Channel.
2. Use any Multiband Saturator with M/S capability to saturate the mid frequencies in the Mid Channel only.
Technique 2
1. Duplicate the original track and invert the stereo phase. That will make your sound supper mono.
2. Let’s bring back the stereo information. Create a Send (Aux track) with the following plugins:
–BX_Solo (Free plugin) – swap Left and right channels
–Linear phase EQ to HPF above 300 Hz
–Sample delay – and delay each channel by 7 to 9 ms and create a Haas effect
–Ozone Imager (Free plugin) – and stereorize the sound even more
3. Send the sound from the original track to the newly created send
Both techniques achieve almost the same effect – they help your mono-compatibility. Which one to use however will depend on your personal preferences as a mix engineer and music producer.
The piano preset I used for this is from Native Instruments THE GRANDEUR piano. And the melody is a variation on my song ARMS.
You can listen to the original song ARMS here
What I love about Mixing and music production is that you can always learn something new. Sometimes two absolutely different techniques can help you achieve similar results. Do you know any other ways to make a sound more mono-compatible?
