Drawmer MC2.1 Monitor Controller - Manual (Page 21)

2 1 MC2.1 - Monitor Controller
Cut It Out...
Using the left and right cut switches will highlight the stereo balance of each
channel. In stereo the mix sounds ok, however, it may be that you want an instrument
to be panned so far left that it doesn’t occur at all in the right channel, by cutting the
left and only hearing the right channel you will hear whether the instrument bleeds
across, and panning adjustment can be made.
Phase Reverse...
Make use of the phase reverse switch. If the sound doesn't become less focussed
when the polarity is flipped then there is something wrong somewhere. Not only
will the switch help confirm that the monitor speakers are wired up in the correct
polarity, phase inversion on a particular instrument can at times improve the way
the instrument interacts with the rest of the mix by removing the phase cancellation.
Monogising
Check your mix in mono - often! Just because a mix sounds good in stereo doesn't
mean it will sound good when the left and right channels are combined. Why should
you care if your mix sounds good in mono? Well, most live music venues and dance
club sound systems are mono - running the PA or sound system in mono is common
practice to ensure music sounds good everywhere in the room because it removes
the ‘sweet spot’ and the complex phase issues of stereo. In many cases the low
frequencies will be put through a crossover and summed to mono before being
sent to the sub, such as in a home theatre system, for example. Monogising is also
necessary when testing the audio for use on non-standard applications such as
for broadcast or mobile phone.
In addition, monogising will highlight phase problems. In some cases, when you
activate the Mono switch you may hear comb-filtering, which will colour the sound of
your mix and cause peaks and dips in its frequency response. W hen a stereo mix is
combined into mono any elements that are out of phase will drop in level or may
even disappear completely. This could be because left and right outputs are wired
out of phase but its more likely to be due to phase cancellation.
W hat causes phase cancellation?
Many stereo widening effects and techniques, such as chorus;
Simultaneous direct box and mic recording - If you've ever recorded a guitar
simultaneously through a direct box and a microphone, you may have noticed
the time alignment problems this causes. This type of situation can often be
fixed by careful mic placement, or realigning the waveform in a DAW;
Any situation where more that one microphone is used to record a source - on a
multi-miked drumkit two mics may pick up exactly the same signal and cancel
each other out. It may sound unlikely but one handy tip is to adjust the panning of
your drums whilst in mono - suddenly all the phase cancellation of the drums will
improve, and sound even better when reverted back to stereo.