Mono?

[PeteSasqwax]

Just out of interest: how many producers here test out their mixes in mono as well as stereo? I appreciate this may be more/less relevant depending upon where you foresee your music ending up, but it always used to be a big issue in clubs as the layout and design of them meant that it was almost impossible to achieve a decent stereo image.

 

[JoaGymshoe]

we've had a mono rule once, maybe twice in the beatbattle..
that made me consider it.. occassionally I mono a track to see if it still holds up.. or nothing sticks out.
good tool for that.
it's amazing how much depth there still can be achieved.

 

[FatVonFree]

I set up my accent key in ableton with a utility plug in. as i am making a track i just hit the button to turn mono on and off. never had the issue with clubs. i hear that a lot and wondered what period in time was that a huge issue. maybe the 80s or 90s? but yeah i always turn mono on and off as i am making the track. make it sound good in mono its really gonna pop in stereo. all the shows i play out here i have never had an issue with my stereo mixes.

 

[PeteSasqwax]

we've had a mono rule once, maybe twice in the beatbattle..
that made me consider it.. occassionally I mono a track to see if it still holds up.. or nothing sticks out.
good tool for that.
it's amazing how much depth there still can be achieved.

It's a good call, but it always occurs to me way too late in the process (at mastering, basically) by which time I can't be bothered to fix it. I tend to do lot of a work relating to using the whole of the stereo field, particularly when EQing drums, for example, where I'll have the low frequencies sat in the centre of the image and the mids and highs pushed out more towards the sides. It doesn't sound great when played through a mono system, but I'm not really too concerned about people listening in mono to be honest.

@FatVonFree - yeah in the 90s it was definitely issue and it still often is, to be honest, simply because of the layout of many clubs. The systems may not be mono per se, but the placement of speakers means it's rare that you'll ever be in the optimum position to hear a true representation of stereo