YES. Finally somebody who makes "real" STEREO effect track from mono and not just 2 mono tracks playing on 2 channels like most "tutorials" on youtube show... Thank you bro!!
Haha! Interestingly, a similar technique was used by Capitol Records in the 1960s and 1970s to create fake stereo, trade named Duophonic. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duophonic
Also in Audacity is a plugin/feature called "Channel Mixer". This offers numerous Stereo features which you can use in additional post process beyond your steps. Some of the presets such as Wide Stereo or Extra Wide Stereo may be of additional liking.
Yes, I just started using channel mixer a few weeks ago! Very nice plugin that lets you attain an enhanced but not too overkill "surround" effect with headphones. It does however, work by widening the stereo image, which means you need a stereo track (or at least a "pseudo-stereo") track to start with.
There is another simple route to take. After duplicating the mono track and panning hard left and right: 1. Invert the phase of one of the tracks. 2. Detune that track by, let's say, 10 cents (of a semitone). That's it! It will create some kind of pseudo-stereoeffect(chorus-like or something, but not really since the phase is inverted). There are some phasing going on still at parts, but it's cool nevertheless!
Yes, there are made different ways to create pseudo-stereo audio tracks! I personally find phase inversion a bit harsh, but that is just personal opinion. I say use what sounds best to you!
Yeah. It's all about being creative and experimenting. Anyway, always when I have tried just the delayed channel trick it sounds a bit loopsided. Another advantage of using the slightly detuned method is that it is probably easier to use for a batch/script for multiple files(but, yeah then again digital delays can kind of be used like copying tracks). The reverb part is very important. Maybe much shorter reverb times (to avoid the echo) and a suitable size at the same time and even done after copying the original tracks to subtracks where they are high-pass filtered above a midrange/highrange frequency so that you can only focus on the higher frequencies before the reverb is applied(and have more control than just using the "high" or "low" (or any other frequency band) settings for this in the normal reverb) and set more of a "feeling" of width added to the original tracks. You would then have one monotrack (original track, which then also should be filtered, but now below the same frequency so that just the Bass part if let through) and two "fake-created" stereotracks. In fact this high-pass filtering into subtracks could be done before any of the tricks to put the focus on leaving the bass frequencies in mono and assigning the higher frequencies the "stereo job" (like you often do when mixing music). But then again, it is making things maybe too over-complicated. Still, fun and you learn much more than just applying the "fake" stereo effects that can be used (some VST:s have it). Just combining things and see what the result is! There is no "wrong" other than what your ears hear (or not hear).
Phase inversion is a terrible method. It will garble the whole recording if you play it through a device that sums to mono like a smartphone speaker. So far this video is the best method I've seen.
@@sonar1357 hey,but i have a problem,playing the audio without headphones in a smartphone sounds bad,with a delay that i don´t want,ok i make ambient music,i use reverb and delay of course,i mean the delay created by the method of the video,with headphones is just amazing and gave a new vision and inspiration to my tracks
you shouldn't use a single-sided delay, because it will destroy backward compatiblity to mono! Different approach that is mono compatible: 1. Mixdown to mono or discard one channel (depend on uf it is true or almost mono) 2. Copy it to get two channel 3. Leave the first as is and pan it to the center. No edits at all here. All further edits are only applied to the second one. 4. Use high- and lowpass to remove as much of bass and percussive treble as possible 6. Do some "loudness war" practise to remove harsh transients 7. Optional: apply reverb or echo 8. Duplicate the channel 9. Invert the duplicate. 10. Pan one to left, the other to right. 11. Mix the two to a stereo channel. 12. Mix that channel to mono. If it results to empty track, everything is fine. Undo this mixdown und proceed 13. Shift it approx 10-20 ms to right. Now, you have the unedited audio track and a stereo-channel. Adjust the time shift and the gain of the stereo-channel until you get a good pseudostereo result. At finish, mix everything down. If clipping occurst, reduce gain until it's gone, then save. Enjoy it :-) If it gets mixed down to mono again, it will result in the same mono channel you had before this procedure.
Yes, when converting back to mono the track doesn't sound as good, but it is still audible and clear. However, the point of this video is to make mono audio sound like it is stereo, not to go back the other way. Everyone's opinion on sound quality is different, but I personally find the effects of phase inversion a bit harsh with headphones.
If you did every step like he explained it, the final mixed down to mono should be JUST as good as the original mono track. The stereo track should be empty in mono so it won't affect the final stereo track's mono compatibility. The effect you explained in the video is called "the Haas effect" (delaying the R or L channel of a mono track) and is not mono compatible thus almost never used in music production. There are however other ways of stereorizing tracks and keeping mono compatibility. One of them is the Waves PS22 plugin which splits the sound into several freq bands and pans them left and right. The result is just as good as the Haas effect, but the mono compatibility is way better.
@@Danko_HS I understand that Frank's method will preserve the mono track. I will try it out myself soon. However, the method described in my video was actually used by Capitol Records back in the day: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duophonic .
I am linking your video link in my video which is a bengali song which was a tv rip and hence had to convert it to stereo. Thanks, scientist. Love from India. :)
Thank you very much. I do it from a mono recording of two channels. I don't know if that is possible converting the two channel to only one. I'd listen my track like the yours, but i think the problem is my source.
You can still do this with a mono recording of two channels. You can either combine them or delete one. To combine them, select the the channels, go to "Tracks" > "Mix" > "Mix Stereo Down to Mono". Or, if one of the tracks is better quality than the other you can click the track name (above "Mute" and "Solo") and click "Split Stereo to Mono". Then delete the track you don't want.
I have a question: I've recorded some piano music and it has some background hum - would it be better to do the stereo effect before or after I take out the background noise? I'm using davinci resolve to remove the background noise right now Also - what mic equipment can I get to reduce the amount of background hum I record? No matter how little noise I can hear when I record, I always seem to get the same hum, so is it from AV port static? Thank you!
Sorry I missed this for 8 months! But, for future reference, I personally would try to reduce all undesired sounds as much as possible BEFORE adding effects. As far as the hum goes, what type of mic setup are you using? A USB microphone, or one that plugs directly into a headphone-like jack? If it's a USB type microphone, trying a different one may help. If it plugs right into a jack, the hum may actually be an issue with your computer's sound card, and you might want to try a USB microphone instead.
With the latest version of Audacity (v3.3.3), the selection of left channel and right channel via the drop-down box isn't there anymore. Also, when attempting to generate the 0.010 seconds of silence, Audacity either truncates the track and then refuses to play, or just crashes. Have the developers screwed it up with their updates?
@@CrankCase08 My apologies if I missed the second half of your comment earlier (not sure how much you edited it). I just tried it in my copy of Audacity 3.3.3 and did not have any issue generating 0.010 seconds of silence. With that said, are you making sure the pointer is at the beginning of the bottom track and none of the bottom track is selected before you add the silence? Alternatively, you could try to grab the top (title heading) of the bottom track and drag it to the right by about 0.01 seconds. That's a new feature they added since this video.
@@DoubleALabs Unfortunately, I just can't deal with the antiquated way Audacity works, so I moved to my usual DAW, Mixcraft. However, after adding the 0.010 second shift to the right track, I experienced phase cancellation when the two tracks are summed to mono, which is what I suspected would happen. I was doing all of this with an old mono track that I recorded from RUclips, called 'I've Waited So Long' by Anthony Newley.
@@CrankCase08 Try my method 2 video in your DAW. ruclips.net/video/GovM2LYkzGU/видео.html This method preserves the original audio when summing to mono. You might want to experiment with the effects on the bottom track to make it sound better :)
Thank you for the feedback. I personally find that the delay is not such that it makes the audio sound like it is coming from one side. But, to each their own. You might want to take a look at my method 2 video, where I take a different approach: ruclips.net/video/GovM2LYkzGU/видео.html
@@DoubleALabs hey,i have a question,this works perfect but only for headphones,if i play the song without the headphones,sounds weird,like a bad delay that i don´t want,it exists a solution?
You can also look at Frank Saibert's comment (on this video) for an alternate method of producing this effect that might sound better on your speakers.
Make Mono Audio Sound Stereo (METHOD 2): ruclips.net/video/GovM2LYkzGU/видео.html METHOD 3: ruclips.net/video/zGLPppPIxZQ/видео.html Watch my new *MP3 vs. M4A vs OPUS* comparison video at ruclips.net/video/3B6pr6-YVyM/видео.html . Hear the codecs compete at ultra-low bitrates from 64 *down to 12 kbps!*
Thanks for the comment! I have made a few tutorials in the past, but I am pretty swamped with school work right now. I definitely would like to get back to it though once I get some free time!
Brb, gonna go back to the 60s to master Capitol Beatles records
YES. Finally somebody who makes "real" STEREO effect track from mono and not just 2 mono tracks playing on 2 channels like most "tutorials" on youtube show...
Thank you bro!!
Audio engineers would not be happy with this
Haha! Interestingly, a similar technique was used by Capitol Records in the 1960s and 1970s to create fake stereo, trade named Duophonic.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duophonic
Also in Audacity is a plugin/feature called "Channel Mixer". This offers numerous Stereo features which you can use in additional post process beyond your steps. Some of the presets such as Wide Stereo or Extra Wide Stereo may be of additional liking.
Yes, I just started using channel mixer a few weeks ago! Very nice plugin that lets you attain an enhanced but not too overkill "surround" effect with headphones. It does however, work by widening the stereo image, which means you need a stereo track (or at least a "pseudo-stereo") track to start with.
Great tutorial and really helpful, is it also possible to use the tremolo effect and make deep tremolo sound stereo from left to right?
There is another simple route to take. After duplicating the mono track and panning hard left and right:
1. Invert the phase of one of the tracks.
2. Detune that track by, let's say, 10 cents (of a semitone).
That's it!
It will create some kind of pseudo-stereoeffect(chorus-like or something, but not really since the phase is inverted).
There are some phasing going on still at parts, but it's cool nevertheless!
Yes, there are made different ways to create pseudo-stereo audio tracks! I personally find phase inversion a bit harsh, but that is just personal opinion. I say use what sounds best to you!
Yeah. It's all about being creative and experimenting. Anyway, always when I have tried just the delayed channel trick it sounds a bit loopsided.
Another advantage of using the slightly detuned method is that it is probably easier to use for a batch/script for multiple files(but, yeah then again digital delays can kind of be used like copying tracks).
The reverb part is very important. Maybe much shorter reverb times (to avoid the echo) and a suitable size at the same time and even done after copying the original tracks to subtracks where they are high-pass filtered above a midrange/highrange frequency so that you can only focus on the higher frequencies before the reverb is applied(and have more control than just using the "high" or "low" (or any other frequency band) settings for this in the normal reverb) and set more of a "feeling" of width added to the original tracks.
You would then have one monotrack (original track, which then also should be filtered, but now below the same frequency so that just the Bass part if let through) and two "fake-created" stereotracks.
In fact this high-pass filtering into subtracks could be done before any of the tricks to put the focus on leaving the bass frequencies in mono and assigning the higher frequencies the "stereo job" (like you often do when mixing music).
But then again, it is making things maybe too over-complicated.
Still, fun and you learn much more than just applying the "fake" stereo effects that can be used (some VST:s have it). Just combining things and see what the result is!
There is no "wrong" other than what your ears hear (or not hear).
Phase inversion is a terrible method. It will garble the whole recording if you play it through a device that sums to mono like a smartphone speaker. So far this video is the best method I've seen.
@@sonar1357 hey,but i have a problem,playing the audio without headphones in a smartphone sounds bad,with a delay that i don´t want,ok i make ambient music,i use reverb and delay of course,i mean the delay created by the method of the video,with headphones is just amazing and gave a new vision and inspiration to my tracks
@@nicolashunter4131 try the EQ method without adding a time delay. You might need more drastic EQ variations on each side to get the same fullness.
you shouldn't use a single-sided delay, because it will destroy backward compatiblity to mono!
Different approach that is mono compatible:
1. Mixdown to mono or discard one channel (depend on uf it is true or almost mono)
2. Copy it to get two channel
3. Leave the first as is and pan it to the center. No edits at all here. All further edits are only applied to the second one.
4. Use high- and lowpass to remove as much of bass and percussive treble as possible
6. Do some "loudness war" practise to remove harsh transients
7. Optional: apply reverb or echo
8. Duplicate the channel
9. Invert the duplicate.
10. Pan one to left, the other to right.
11. Mix the two to a stereo channel.
12. Mix that channel to mono. If it results to empty track, everything is fine. Undo this mixdown und proceed
13. Shift it approx 10-20 ms to right.
Now, you have the unedited audio track and a stereo-channel.
Adjust the time shift and the gain of the stereo-channel until you get a good pseudostereo result.
At finish, mix everything down. If clipping occurst, reduce gain until it's gone, then save.
Enjoy it :-)
If it gets mixed down to mono again, it will result in the same mono channel you had before this procedure.
Yes, when converting back to mono the track doesn't sound as good, but it is still audible and clear. However, the point of this video is to make mono audio sound like it is stereo, not to go back the other way. Everyone's opinion on sound quality is different, but I personally find the effects of phase inversion a bit harsh with headphones.
If you did every step like he explained it, the final mixed down to mono should be JUST as good as the original mono track. The stereo track should be empty in mono so it won't affect the final stereo track's mono compatibility. The effect you explained in the video is called "the Haas effect" (delaying the R or L channel of a mono track) and is not mono compatible thus almost never used in music production. There are however other ways of stereorizing tracks and keeping mono compatibility. One of them is the Waves PS22 plugin which splits the sound into several freq bands and pans them left and right. The result is just as good as the Haas effect, but the mono compatibility is way better.
@@Danko_HS I understand that Frank's method will preserve the mono track. I will try it out myself soon. However, the method described in my video was actually used by Capitol Records back in the day: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duophonic .
I am gonna love this video. Like is an understatement.
I am linking your video link in my video which is a bengali song which was a tv rip and hence had to convert it to stereo. Thanks, scientist. Love from India. :)
Genius.
Thank you very much. I do it from a mono recording of two channels. I don't know if that is possible converting the two channel to only one. I'd listen my track like the yours, but i think the problem is my source.
You can still do this with a mono recording of two channels. You can either combine them or delete one. To combine them, select the the channels, go to "Tracks" > "Mix" > "Mix Stereo Down to Mono". Or, if one of the tracks is better quality than the other you can click the track name (above "Mute" and "Solo") and click "Split Stereo to Mono". Then delete the track you don't want.
Really appreciate this! Thank you!
I'm disappointed with an iRig recording, which is Mono. Looking forward to trying this ..
No problem! And if you don't like the results, you can try my method 2 and method 3 videos (links should be in the description).
Simple and awesome
You're very welcome. Thanks for commenting!
@@DoubleALabs Hey check out my video here :) ruclips.net/video/71irNJlViaU/видео.html
I have a question: I've recorded some piano music and it has some background hum - would it be better to do the stereo effect before or after I take out the background noise? I'm using davinci resolve to remove the background noise right now
Also - what mic equipment can I get to reduce the amount of background hum I record? No matter how little noise I can hear when I record, I always seem to get the same hum, so is it from AV port static? Thank you!
Sorry I missed this for 8 months! But, for future reference, I personally would try to reduce all undesired sounds as much as possible BEFORE adding effects.
As far as the hum goes, what type of mic setup are you using? A USB microphone, or one that plugs directly into a headphone-like jack? If it's a USB type microphone, trying a different one may help. If it plugs right into a jack, the hum may actually be an issue with your computer's sound card, and you might want to try a USB microphone instead.
Abundantly thankful!!!
Muy buen video! Gracias! Thanks! ♪♫
Eres muy bienvenido. Gracias por comentar!
You're very welcome. Thanks for commenting!
You just got yourself a new subscriber! Awesome tutorial
So if I understand correctly, you basically want to make the sounds as different as possible without making them actually sound different.
Yes, I suppose you could look at it that way!
With the latest version of Audacity (v3.3.3), the selection of left channel and right channel via the drop-down box isn't there anymore. Also, when attempting to generate the 0.010 seconds of silence, Audacity either truncates the track and then refuses to play, or just crashes. Have the developers screwed it up with their updates?
You can now just use the sliders to pan one track the whole way to the left and the other the whole way to the right.
@@DoubleALabs That's what I did anyway. However, the delay generator does not appear to behave as you demonstrated on an older version of Audacity.
@@CrankCase08 My apologies if I missed the second half of your comment earlier (not sure how much you edited it). I just tried it in my copy of Audacity 3.3.3 and did not have any issue generating 0.010 seconds of silence. With that said, are you making sure the pointer is at the beginning of the bottom track and none of the bottom track is selected before you add the silence? Alternatively, you could try to grab the top (title heading) of the bottom track and drag it to the right by about 0.01 seconds. That's a new feature they added since this video.
@@DoubleALabs Unfortunately, I just can't deal with the antiquated way Audacity works, so I moved to my usual DAW, Mixcraft. However, after adding the 0.010 second shift to the right track, I experienced phase cancellation when the two tracks are summed to mono, which is what I suspected would happen. I was doing all of this with an old mono track that I recorded from RUclips, called 'I've Waited So Long' by Anthony Newley.
@@CrankCase08 Try my method 2 video in your DAW. ruclips.net/video/GovM2LYkzGU/видео.html This method preserves the original audio when summing to mono. You might want to experiment with the effects on the bottom track to make it sound better :)
YOU ARE THE BEST!! THIS REALLY HELPED MY RECORDING! IT SOUNDS MORE COOL! THANK YOU SO MUCHHHHH!!!
You're very welcome! Thanks for the comment, Rishelle!
Thank you so much! I was searching for this for ages :D Finally a decent tutorial!
+Tarek Walkadi You're welcome!
Man, this sounds better than my normal stereo track... lol definitely trying this! great job!
Thanks for commenting! I'm glad you think this sounds good.
@@DoubleALabsYou're welcome! just tried it, sounds awesome.
1"58 No, it does not!!! It clearly seems it's coming from the side that is not delayed!!! Basic physics and era usage!!!
Thank you for the feedback. I personally find that the delay is not such that it makes the audio sound like it is coming from one side. But, to each their own. You might want to take a look at my method 2 video, where I take a different approach: ruclips.net/video/GovM2LYkzGU/видео.html
best video in youtube,thanks dude
No problem! Thanks for commenting!!!
@@DoubleALabs hey,i have a question,this works perfect but only for headphones,if i play the song without the headphones,sounds weird,like a bad delay that i don´t want,it exists a solution?
Some things you can try are reducing the delay between the channels (adding less silence to the beginning of one of them) and not adding the reverb.
You can also look at Frank Saibert's comment (on this video) for an alternate method of producing this effect that might sound better on your speakers.
You sound angry lol, anyway, nice video.
THANK YOU!!! I was looking everywhere for an answer to that question. Using a phone, you only get a mono audio source when shooting a video.
You're welcome. Thanks for commenting!
One mic = mono. Two mics = stereo.
Make Mono Audio Sound Stereo (METHOD 2): ruclips.net/video/GovM2LYkzGU/видео.html
METHOD 3: ruclips.net/video/zGLPppPIxZQ/видео.html
Watch my new *MP3 vs. M4A vs OPUS* comparison video at ruclips.net/video/3B6pr6-YVyM/видео.html . Hear the codecs compete at ultra-low bitrates from 64 *down to 12 kbps!*
This was helpful thanks ^_^
You're welcome. Thanks for commenting!
I thought you said Anime and Comedy
You're awesome dude. Why don't you make tutorials. It'll be great, btw loved your video✌🌟
Thanks for the comment! I have made a few tutorials in the past, but I am pretty swamped with school work right now. I definitely would like to get back to it though once I get some free time!
Thanks. I downloaded a video that had the "right channel" empty. Now It is fixed, with some pseudo-stereo.
Wtf man, what kind of sorcery was this??
Thanks
Yep, no problem! Thanks for commenting!
or just copy the mono tracks make them to stereo then add little reverb, and it should add stereo
This would work as long as you added a different type of reverb to each channel.
I can't get it to work. Every time I set the delay (1:45) the right wave file disappears.
Not the best methods for fake stereo, but thanks still.
Audacity is being dumb. I don't get the options to change to left or right channel.
They updated it. There should be a slider right below where the button was, and you can just pan the audio entirely to the left or right.
@@DoubleALabs Okay, yeah, that's what I ended up doing. Thanks for the quick response.
@@HardcoreGamer101508 Yep, no problem!