Why Mixing In Mono Is The Secret - RecordingRevolution.com

Do you struggle to get your mixes to sound great outside of your studio? Do they fall apart once you get to your car or laptop speakers?

What if I told you that the easiest way to guarantee you churn out a balanced, clear, and killer mix was to begin mixing in mono?

Would you laugh at me? Or would you be willing to unpack the logic to this bizarre method?

[CalBeats]

Man, this guy literally just wants people to make good music. I really appreciate the time and effort you put into putting extremely helpful guides like these out. Takes a lot to want to teach everyone a lot of the things you know.

[curiosatonaka]

I KNEW I WASN'T CRAZY FOR MIXING IN MONO,

THANK YOU.

[Sempoo]

There is yet another tip, some augmentation of the idea mentioned here: mix in mono + plug in EQ on master with only middle freqs - simulating small kitchen radio of the eighties. If oyur mix works well on this setup - it will work as well anywhere.

[jamiedonnelly]

I think it's important to mention that those without experience with mixing in mono should listen to their favourite mixes to gauge perspective. That helped me enormously for gauging loudness, spatialisation and timbre in mono and how it translates to stereo.

[BigdaddiZ]

man I cant wait! im in the process of buying a house and will finally have a dedicated studio space! I've waited years for this!

[allenalesna]

Mono is actually very relevant again, with all those bluetooth potable speakers in the market.

[MarvyMall]

This Is True! I accidentally mixed and mastered in mono once, and it actually came outperfect

[Eric_In_SF]

I remember when I figured this out. My mixes went from OK to amazing. I always do everything in mono when it comes to mixing you can really place things well and filter out frequencies at an unimaginable level. I would also say the second thing that really elevated my mixes was recently I got that weird waves out on that simulates Abbey Road studio, and it’s unbelievable how well it worked to help me really fine-tune my sound. Ugly frequency stick out like a sore thumb.

[KurtRWarner]

When I worked in broadcasting, I ALWAYS used an X-Y display when mixing and monitoring.

Make sure your audio is "IN PHASE"".

Two identical signals 180° out of phase WILL result in A ZERO SUM OUTPUT.

I always mix with mono in mind.

Yes, I am a "Mono-Maniac".

Kurt R. Warner
Retired Radio/Television Broadcast Engineer
Milwaukie, Oregon.

[Apostata]

Seriously, this is one of the best advices I have evver seen anywhere. I just tried it out on an older project I had. After 10 minutes the mix sounds better than after hours of fiddling around with it! You have gotten a new fan and subscriber!

[bthomas]

i did this on accident and my mix turned out great! I definitely needed a reminder like this to do it everytime

[ericecho]

What a great explanation for why this is so necessary. I've definitely struggled in this area. This will most definitely cut down the amount of times I've had to go back to mixes over and over because something still wasn't right when I listened to them elsewhere. I've heard of mixing in Mono before, but this explanation really crystallized how important it is. Thank you!

[noel]

been mixing in mono for years. start mono then stereo, then surround as mono is the least forgiving. therefore if the mix works in mono it will translate out when given more dimension in which to fit.

[CheeroDee]

As a Live "Club" engineer, I plug my kit in Mono. Why? Simple, people are scattered all over the place L-C-R, far back, 2nd story, I find that it's the best way for the listener to experience the full audio track performances from anywhere in the building.

I wire my "passive" power racks to control two things. (2 knobs) Bass & Mid+highs (two way speakers), this way I can compensate levels quickly on the fly without always tweaking the EQ. If the highs are too prominent I'll either raise the low end or turn down the highs. This is the easiest way to adapt according to the crowd (where more people = more low end/muddiness, less people = more room reflections, less low end) different mixes of tunes (and loudness) from different styles & eras need to be constantly tweaked, there's no "One size fits all" setting, and as you say, mono helps a lot!

Cheers Graham.

[mrgroosumthasandman]

You are absolutely correct! I tested that theory In my earlier years of editing mixing and mastering. The mix sounds fuller and stronger! It's crazy! And yes, ... people react the same way when I tell them like I don't know what I'm talking about! The ears don't lie my friend!

[adrianwagner]

"if your mix sounds good in mono and at low volume it will most likely be much better when you put it into stereo and crank it"
i forget when and where i picked up that little nugget and where from but it has proven useful many times since

[caseykittel]

Also... mono AND shut off one monitor. Doesn’t matter which one. This is the ultimate way to make an amazing mix. Try this and give me a thumbs up when it changes your life. This is 2x more powerful than mono mixing alone. Trust me. It’s absolutely amazing how much easier it is to make things sit in the mix in the right place.

[Joey-moci]

i totally agree. i discovered this method when one speaker tweeter was out and thought how direct and accurate one speaker can be by focusing on just that. i started listening to albums on mono (dont forget to include the right channel). it was a very different world of hearing things. the kick and snare being prominent and how well the producer managed phasing. after studying records in mono i began to mix a song by doing that. finally!! it sounded for the first time professionally on every system. the topic of this video caught my eye and glad people discovered this method too. stereo and too many tracks can jade your ears.

[許子豪-fq]

Thank you so much for taking time doing these. You are an incredible teacher, absolutely pleasant to listen to. I have been suffering from poor mixes for YEARS, and I've finally decided I've had enough. I am going humble myself and watch all your videos.

[Fire-Toolz]

stereo imaging and effects are SO important in my music. it is experimental and progressive music, with a lot of sound designy elements. being able to hear a sound whiz around your head, fly straight up, and come back to smack you in the head, is imperative. so at first thought i felt super annoyed with this sentiment and always ignored it when engineers would talk about it. i always told myself that it didn't apply to me because i'm not making a kind of music in which stereo imaging is one of the main aspects of the work. testing the separation between stereo elements cannot be done in mono, so mixing in mono seemed to me at the time to be more detrimental than good. and frankly nonsensical. but i never actually realized that what you all are suggesting is that we *create the backbone of our mix in mono, for the sake of balancing all the elements.* i do agree, that is extremely helpful. i just spent the last few years astounded at how many people say "MIX IN because i thought they were ignoring the importance of panning, different levels of width among different elements, etc. i'm glad i sat through the first few minutes of this video so i could understand exactly what "mixing in mono" entails, and doesn't entail. my vote is to stop saying "mix in mono!
and start saying "set up your mixes in mono!"