I have a tape recording where I added some effects, but there is one section which sounds dull.
Below are two Clips from the same Track, where Clip A sounds “normal” and Clip B lacks some “room”.
Is there anything I can do about that?
Best regards
Clip B is almost entirely Mono.
Meaning there’s nearly no difference between Left and Right content.
You can try a few “tricks” to differentiate between both channels such as a tiny bit of Stereo delay, a little bit of Reverb or even a Spatial enhancement Plugin.
My favourites are Merging’s “VoiCode” and “PanNoir” but there are others.
One ideal way of creating stereophonic wideness from a nearly Mono source is to treat each channel separately and differently.
A Stereo EQ with separate and different settings for Left and Right will do the trick and when equalized correctly it is the safest way to ensure your newly created Stereo sound will be Mono compatible.
Speaking of wich, if you listen to Clip A in Mono (summing Left and Right to one channel) you will probably loose a LOT of sound.
There’s an appreciable amount of out-of-phase content there.
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@PauloMiranda Many thanks for your response.
Regarding the Panning and Plugins you mentioned, I found something promising; “PanCake 2” by “Cableguys”.
What I am thinking of is something like this:
- take the Stereo Track and merge both channels into one
- then, create two Mono Tracks and paste the previously merged clip into both Mono Tracks
- now, setup the panning for each channel separately
But I am not sure if that’s the way to go and how to achieve this in WaveLab.
What do you think of that?
I think… no!
After you take the Stereo track and merge the two channels into one you have one Mono track. Then, your second step is simply separating that Mono track into two tracks.
Those two tracks will be identical and even panning one left and the other one right, will result in Mono sound as there is no difference between them.
So, skip all those steps and just apply a Stereo In/Stereo Out plugin in the original 2 channel (probably Stereo) track.
No need to split, merge, reconfigura, pan… nothing.
Use a Stereo EQ that allows for separate processing of Left and Right channels or any other Plugin that will allow you to create some spatial simulation (Reverb, Delay, Modulation, etc.)
There are many Stereo enhancement Plugins but others, that are not necessarily meant for Stereo simulation will work a charm.
You can even use one (or more) of the latter and then use a dedicated Stereo Enhancement plugin.
It’s a preference, or an option, that is decided by your taste and by how much Stereo enhancement you feel like your sound needs.
There’s no “one” solution for it.
Still, i recommend you always check the results in Mono!
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@PauloMiranda I appreciate your opinion and hints!
So, I’ll think about that and do as you suggested.
I found another Plugin called “Wider 2” by “Polyverse“ that sounds pretty good
Now I’ve got another question:
Is it possible to apply a plugin/effect on only a selected portion of a clip/track and not the whole montage?
Then I could leave all my settings and in addition, add the stereo widening effect just on the portion of the clip/track that lacks “room”.
How about that?
My use of “Montage” is about 1% of the use i give the File Editing side of WL.
Someone else will have to help you on that one. Sorry!
I know in File Editing you can apply any effect to a Selection but that’s it.
You could split your clips at the needed points and add the plugin only onto the separated sections as Clip Effect.
You could also move the separated sections to its own track and apply the plugin as Track Effect. I’m not aware of any possibility to only partially apply an effect onto a track (or the montage output).
Either way I would probably also add some short crossfades for smooth transitions.
regards S-EH
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