Stereo to mono

[gavspen]

I know if I’m not careful about the drop down selection I get undesirable results. I’d suspect that might be where the error is occurring.

Not sure what this means MLC, but today it works. Maybe I was doing/not doing whatever you're suggesting, but I swear I tried it a bunch of times yesterday. I couldnt have screwed up EVERY time, could I? (Dont answer that!)

[gavspen]

Convert from Interleaved to Split Stereo in DP.

Drag to Desktop... two mono files. Take your pick.

That works too. Thanks.

[EMRR]

Tangent solution.

I've done a bunch of mixes from Garageband exports lately, which as far as I've found, gives you stereo files all the time, since they are mix exports of individual tracks.

The quick and easy solution for analog mixing from DP is to assign the R channel of every file to an unused bus, then treat the L channels like mono sources and assign them sequentially to DA outputs.

[HCMarkus]

Tangent solution.

I've done a bunch of mixes from Garageband exports lately, which as far as I've found, gives you stereo files all the time, since they are mix exports of individual tracks.

The quick and easy solution for analog mixing from DP is to assign the R channel of every file to an unused bus, then treat the L channels like mono sources and assign them sequentially to DA outputs.

You can also import tracks as mono files if you go through iTunes. Might be worth the trouble if you are dealing with lots of Garage Band files.

[EMRR]

Tangent solution.

I've done a bunch of mixes from Garageband exports lately, which as far as I've found, gives you stereo files all the time, since they are mix exports of individual tracks.

The quick and easy solution for analog mixing from DP is to assign the R channel of every file to an unused bus, then treat the L channels like mono sources and assign them sequentially to DA outputs.

You can also import tracks as mono files if you go through iTunes. Might be worth the trouble if you are dealing with lots of Garage Band files.

No idea how that works, where’s that option? Lots of little non-contiguous pieces from overdubs? I figured you could open the hidden GarageBand folder and grab files, but lots of pieces would be an unsortable mess compared to export bounces.

[HCMarkus]

No idea how that works, where’s that option? Lots of little non-contiguous pieces from overdubs? I figured you could open the hidden GarageBand folder and grab files, but lots of pieces would be an unsortable mess compared to export bounces.

You export from GB to iTunes. You get merged files, and can select mono .wav (among other choices) in the iTunes import preference.

[EMRR]

No idea how that works, where’s that option? Lots of little non-contiguous pieces from overdubs? I figured you could open the hidden GarageBand folder and grab files, but lots of pieces would be an unsortable mess compared to export bounces.

You export from GB to iTunes. You get merged files, and can select mono .wav (among other choices) in the iTunes import preference.

Hmm.

The conversion once in iTunes makes it 16 bit. I don't see a way around that.

I probably have some other batch conversion option I'm not aware of, but my solution above on a practical level is about the fastest. FWIW.

[mikehalloran]

Yea, that doesn’t work for me. I have a couple people sending me GB files where the L is guitar and the R is voice, When I get GB bounces where both sides are the same, I leave them alone.

[HCMarkus]

Good point on the bit limit EMMR.

I don't use that approach, but a friend introduced me to it; figured some might find it useful.

[EMRR]

Good to know though, any path may be acceptable when needing a shortcut.

[EMRR]

Yea, that doesn’t work for me. I have a couple people sending me GB files where the L is guitar and the R is voice, When I get GB bounces where both sides are the same, I leave them alone.

Bus reassignment would be fine for analog output as I described, but not ITB work.

[revi]

There's a sneaky way to do this:
1. Create an Aux track assigned to stereo bus (say bus 1-2) output, with it's input set to your source, and place your stereo plug on an insert slot.
2. Create a mono bus 1 OR 2. You'll have to manually drag the marker square in the bundles setup.
3. Create a master fader assigned to bus 1-2 and set fold down to mono.
4. Create a mono audio track with input set to either bus 1 or bus 2 (whichever you chose in step 2). This will be the track you record arm and will be a mono mix of bus 1-2.

Phil

[edit] Alternatively, if you've already recorded a stereo track, you could use the stereo track in place of the Aux track.

Thank you for this suggestion! This is very useful -- while bouncing a track to disk as mono may well work nicely this method lets one record a "monofied" version "in place".

Specifically, in my case, I had a stereo kick track recorded from a drum library that I wanted to convert to mono.

I followed your set up:

1.) Output (stereo) kick track to buss (I used 59-60) and create an AUX track with input 59-60.

2.) On the AUX track/buss I applied Plugin-Alliance's bx_control (v2) with its "monomaker" feature and output on buss 61-62. Seems to work well and is almost always "on sale". (Apologies for the "plug" -- pun! -- but this is handy).

3.) Applied a master fader to 61-62 with folddown set to "Mono".

4.) Minor note: I added a mono audio track but nothing came through unless I set the input to 62 (i.e., maybe I did something wrong but when I set the input of the mono audio track to 61 nothing got recorded).

([edit] Redid this: yes, I must have done something wrong as either of the two tracks -- left or right -- will work, in this case using buss 61 does work fine...sorry for the mix-up)

Bingo! Now have a mono kick track! Super handy -- thank you very much!!!