pseudo stereo

egw · Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 7:32 am Post subject: pseudo stereo

I have some old mono recordings that I want to put on CD. Is it worthwhile to try out some plugins that do "pseudo-stereo" or maybe just play with the eq to differentiate the two sides? I'm not really looking for spatial positioning but it would be nice if I can make some of the sounds come through more clearly. Or is it better just to go with dual-mono and not mess with it?

elektro80 · Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 8:59 am Post subject:

Hard to say really as I haven´t heard the material. Sometimes a slight tweak with some room ambience from a convolution reverb might work well. Not much, just a tad... Splitting the signal into several bands and then add different reverbs to each band ( possibly with some EQ too ) and then mix this with the dry signal .. ? Experimenting with compression on the various bands before reverb is also possibly interesting.

egw · Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 10:36 am Post subject:

OK, how to split the bands? If I use eq or filters to do this, how do I make sure the overall level remains constant around the split point?

elektro80 · Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 11:40 am Post subject:

I have 2 Drawmer Three-Sum units I use for such stuff.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Drawmer-3-Sum-MultiBand-Interface?sku=180380

elektro80 · Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 12:03 pm Post subject:

I have a VST plugins for such stuff on my old Cubase DAW MAC, but the name evades me. I should probably find it and see fi it is possible to crossgrade to AU format. Hmm..

Using filters to split the audio in to bands will work OK I guess. The crossover points will be interesting of course but since the processed signal will have slightly different dynamics and also some convolution reverb, getting the crossover perfect is not really a big issue. It is more a matter of getting it to sound colourful and interesting.

Start out simple and then go wild. You can make some incredibly cool stereo field effects using such a setup and you will find that there are some neat tricks involved here. But, this depends a bit on the material too. If this is you playing Bob Dylan unplugged I think we are already taking this too far into mushroom territory. Very Happy

blue hell · Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 1:43 pm Post subject:

egw · Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 2:58 pm Post subject:

The material is early 80s experimental electronica, with some acoustic sounds mixed in. Heavy effects would be in character, but I don't want to stray too obviously from the original.

Thanks Jan for the G2 suggestion - I hadn't thought of using that. Will come in handy if I need some LFOs!

elektro80 · Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 3:01 pm Post subject:

You can use automation in your DAW for controlling various stereo field effects.