Today I'm going to share with you something that improved my mixing tremendously, and will do the same for you.
We all look for that "magic bullet", that one thing that will take our mixes from "okay" to "amazing". In my opinion this is it. You might be disappointed to hear that it's not a plugin, not a piece of gear, and not a secret trick or settings. It's a simple principle (that some of you might already heard of).
Mixing in Mono
If you already heard about this but never got convinced that it's something you should do (or at least try), keep reading, this is your second chance. If you never heard about this before and you don't know what am I talking about, I'll explain.
When I say "mixing in mono", I DON'T mean producing a mono final mix, and I also DON'T mean panning all of your tracks dead center. What I DO mean, is finding a simple button (or plugin) in your DAW, that flips the whole mix from stereo to mono. This won't affect your individual tracks at all, it only affects the way you listen. Needless to say, when you're panning, or working on some stereo effects, do that while listening in stereo. Now that that's clear, we can move on.
I do 80% of my mixing in mono
That's right. The core of my mix is done in mono. All of my EQ, compression, and volume decisions (which is the majority of mixing and what I call the core of the mix) are made while listening in mono. I do it every single mix, and I'm not the only one. There must be a reason for that.
Why Mono?
It is powerful as it is simple. It makes you hear how your mix REALLY sounds like, without the deception of the stereo field.
No more phase issues It immediately exposes any phase issue that might be in your mix. More than often phase issues are less audible when listening in stereo, and can hurt your mix without you even knowing about it.
No more masking It reveals any "masking" problems your mix might have. Masking is what we call when two or more tracks that play together have too many overlapping frequencies that "cover up" each other, making it hard for us to create separation and hear every instrument clearly. When mixing in stereo, it's very easy (and tempting) to just pan these tracks to opposite sides and think that the problem is gone.
The separation created by panning is fake. Mixing in mono makes us truly solve this problem by EQing the tracks to the point where we can hear all of them clearly and distinguish every instrument, even in mono. If you do that, and only then flip back to stereo to enjoy the panning, your stereo field will sound HUGE! 10 times wider and bigger than just panning without this type of EQ.
True Dynamics Mono lets us hear the dynamics of our mix much better. Only when listening in mono you can really hear if the drums are punchy enough to cut through the whole mix, or if the lead vocals sit well on top of the whole mix without getting buried.
Do your compression moves while listening in mono.
Volume Balance Mono makes us hear the actual volume of each of our tracks.
Panning tend to affect our judgment (or perception) of volume. When everything is summed up to mono, it is much easier to hear and decide if a track is too loud or too quiet. Don't underestimate this one, it's super important. That's because volume balance is one of the key elements of mixing.
Look how much this simple move of listening in mono can benefit us and our mixes.
To me that's mind blowing. Let's recap:
Listening in mono exposes all of the problems of your mix
It doesn't let you get deceived by panning
It shows you how your mix really sounds like
Not only it makes us truly hear our mix, it also forces us to work harder and get better sounding mixes. The principle is simple:
If you get a great mix in mono, it will sound AMAZING in stereo
Just like if you get a great mix in low volumes, it will sound amazing in high volumes, which we talked about on last week's post.
The benefits in sound you'll achieve are fantastic:
The mix will sound much more punchy
You'll be able to hear every track clearly
The stereo field will become much bigger and wider
The volume balance will be just right
You'll get rid of any phase issues
There are really no drawbacks mixing in mono:
You get all of that without spending any money on some new gear or plugins
You'll be able to implement that in any studio on any gear
Your mixing skills will get wildly improved
What more could you ask for?
That's exactly why I call it the most powerful way to improve your mixes and your mixing skills. THAT'S the "magic bullet".
"But mixing in mono is boring and not exciting" I can hear some of you saying that.
Personally, I do found it to be exciting, because I set myself a challenge to make the mix sound great in mono. That's driving and motivating me. But even if you can't adopt this attitude, when you flip back to stereo after getting a great mix in mono, you'll feel so rewarded for your hard work, you'll just love it.
So do yourself a favor, and mix your next project in mono.
My guess is you'll never look back.
What about you?
Do you mix in mono?
Have you tried it or heard about it before?
Let us know in the comments!
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