Compressors with Stereo tracks

I've been recording solo steel string guitar with 2 mics and panning one to the left and other to the right. I think I've sorted out most of the phase issues this brought up with some better mic placement.
Once recorded the levels of each track peak at about -14 or -15.
the song is a fingerstyle tunes with lots of dynamic changes.
I've been messing around trying to smooth a bit of the peaks and bring up the overall levels with the "Silver Compressor". Now the loudest peaks are about 5.8 to 6.9. I have a Silver Compressor on each of the 2 guitar tracks with the same settings....
attack 3.5ms
release 98.0ms
threshold -17.5
The result is the gain meter on the compressors going to about -5 pt -10db and overall more percieved loudness.
I like it
Question 1. How do those compressor settings sound to you all?
Question 2. What issues do I have with the fact that I'm using an individual compressor on each of the 2 guitar tracks? Something tells me there might be a better way.
Question 3. I've been using the Silver Compressor because I find it easier to use than the regular Logic Compressor. I'm just not sure what all the controls do on that compressor. Any thoughts on if I should try using the regular compressor rather than the Silver?
Question 4. Sometimes I play around with the Mastering Channel Strip Settings on the Output 1-2 track including the preset multiband compressor. Any thoughts on how that might be used on the solo guitar song?
Thanks for all your help and ideas in advance...
Morris

Q1: If you like it, then our opinions matter very little.
Q2: No issues, really. Maybe if you had lots more tracks going on with lots more plugins runnning you might want to consider sending stuff into the busses and effecting/compressing them that way. Or, you could set up to record your X/Y mic'd guitar onto a single stereo track and add a stereo compressor of your choosing. It would simplify things, which is usually a plus, because you'd just have to adjust one compressor plugin.
If this is what you are doing (your question is a little ambiguous), then maybe experimentation is in order, perhaps recording the L and R to two separate tracks and compressing them diferently would be a nice effect that serves your purposes better, hard to say. But it seems kinda self-indulgent and potentially distracting LOL.
Q3: Maybe read this: http://www.recordingproject.com/articles/article-printable.php?article=6 for a nice guide with audio examples. Or http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/pages/Compression.htm
Q4: I usually slap some sort of multiband on the Output 1-2 for mixdown. I do not mix with it on. I use it to tighten things up at the end--but I do not rule out doing more level adjustments on the other tracks with it on

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Video with stereo track and click track for live performance

Hello,
I have a video that was created in FCP sync'd with a stereo sound track and a click track. I need to play this video live (using projection) with the stereo track routed to the main outs and the click routed to the in-ear monitors for a performer to sync with. I have not done this before and am trying to wrap my brain around it. I'm also hoping to come up with the easiest and most reliable solution. As I understand it, this video will not be able to play back from a burned DVD, but rather will need to play back in Logic with 2 audio tracks (L/R) for the sound track and then 1 track for the click. These 3 tracks can then be routed to their required destinations from a soundcard or mixer.
Does this seem to be the best and most reliable method? I've only burned audio to video (never using a click) in FCP before and have always played back from a DVD. Now I have this live player/syncing component and am not sure of the best way to do it. I have some experience with Logic, but limited.
I really appreciate any suggestions/tips any one might have.
Thanks.

I've opened the movie (with stereo track) in QT Pro and then added the click - and now the 2 audio files are there, sync'd up.
When you say you opened the movie in QT Pro, I assume you mean the QT Pro version of Quicktime Player 7. So let's say you have the movie open in Quicktime Player 7, and you press ⌘J (Window > Show Movie Properties). And in the window that appears, hopefully you see several items listed, including Sound Track 1 and Sound Track 2. These are your two audio files, that are now part of the movie file. One of those files is your stereo soundtrack, and the other is your click. So let's assume that this is a total of 3 channels of sound (because I understand your click is mono).
Select Sound Track 1, and select the tab Audio Settings. Let's assume this is the stereo soundtrack. In the scrolling area at the bottom right of the window, under the heading Assignment, you should see Left and Right. Let's leave it that way.
Now select Sound Track 2. Under Assignment, there should be just one item listed (that is, there is only one channel in this Sound Track, if the click is mono). Under Assignment, it probably says Mono. Change that to Center.
Save the movie. We're done with Quicktime Player for now. Launch Audio MIDI Setup. It's here:
Macintosh HD/Applications/Utilities/Audio MIDI Setup
I assume you have an audio interface connected that supports at least 3 channels. In AMS, find the window (or tab, depending on your OS version) for Audio Devices. Select your audio interface. Select the Output tab, and press the button Configure Speakers. In the window that appears, select Multichannel, and change the menu selection from Stereo to 5.1 Surround.
You will probably see that "left front," "right front," and "center" are assigned to outputs 1, 2 and 3, respectively, of your audio interface. If not, make it so, and press the button Apply.
Now when you play your movie, the stereo soundtrack will appear at outputs 1 and 2 of your audio interface, and the click will appear at output 3. Now you can cable your stereo mains to 1/2 and your in-ear monitors to 3.

OMF import-How do others deal with stereo tracks?

When importing OMF's from Avid or FCP all stereo audio files come in on separate mono tracks (ie all music tracks will appear as two adjacent mono tracks). When track managing, all stereo audio files need to be moved from the mono tracks and placed on to stereo tracks (for inserting of effects, etc.) prior to editing and mixing.
In another pro audio ap that shall remain nameless, one would simply grab the stereo pair (left and right sides of the audio file) from the adjacent mono tracks and drag them onto a newly created stereo track. This method is extremely fast and is vital when faced with an hour long show (especially when the video editor hands off an OMF to which there is no rhyme or reason which happens more often than not!).
How is this accomplished in Logic?

Rohan Stevenson1 wrote:
aaron, read through this twice before and now about 3 times more. i still don't understand your problem.
i would have prepared tracks prior to importing in logic, or imported them into some kind of template and shifted them around like that. i would use KCs to accomplish most of this. you only need the LH file to play back a split stereo file in stereo.
Hi Rohan,
As a professional post audio mixer, I am given OMF's from either Avid or FCP from the client. I have no control over how the tracks are managed by the video editor prior to my receiving them.
Even if the video editor has track managed the audio appropriately (VO, production audio, FX and music all placed on their own tracks which rarely happens), the files will still come into a DAW on separate adjacent mono tracks.
For example, all of the music in an hour long program will come in with the left side of the stereo file on one mono track and the right side of the audio file on another mono track. This is just how OMF's translate from video aps to DAW's. The OMF cannot be tweaked to operate differently. It is what it is. Obviously any stereo elements need to be placed on stereo tracks for eq, compression and volume automation.
When mixing a show, the first thing that must be done is to 'track manage' all of your elements. Usually VO on one track, production audio split amongst a few tracks, mono and stereo effects on their own tracks and then a couple of stereo tracks for the music.
So let's say I open an OMF. The first thing that must be done is to go through the show, identify all of the stereo elements (most commonly music tracks and FX), grab them from the mono tracks that they came in on and place them on to newly created stereo tracks. In Pro Tools this is a fairly quick process as you are able to grab two mono files and drag them directly on to a new stereo track right in the arrange page.
Every time you open a new OMF you are confronted with hundreds of regions that need to be track managed before you can edit and mix. Deadlines are always tight so a fast and efficient method is a must.
What I am describing is standard practice in a post audio workflow when mixing for television. This is not a pressing issue as the studios I freelance for are all PTHD based. However, I would love to start testing my Logic rig at home to see how it stacks up on big sessions!
Any help or tips would be appreciated.
Thanks

Problem with STEREO track

hi everyone.
this is a really dumn question since i used to do this all the time is Sonar.
i recorded some vocals and it only recorded in one channel. i could always hit the infinity button to make it mono so i can hear it on both speakers. however, isn't there some effect i can add to get sound on both channels and keep it the stereo track? i'm using the tascam us-122 as an interface and for some reason it only allows you to record on either the L or R. not both of them at the same time. any ideas?

Next time record the mic on two seperate tracks and set the track delay to taste on one of the tracks. Or -quick fix, copy the region to another audio track and set the track delay as above. Use pitch changer to drop or raise the pitch one cent or two (keep it subtle or it will ruin the vocal track). Next ime, you could also use two mics, one a condenser for direct (or ribbon or tube) and a dynamic pointed slightly off center (just becareful to watch for phase issues) small dead rooms work best because they minimize reflections and capture the "dry sound" More track delay can always be added to spread the stereo effect. I find that the spreader plug-ins are good for instruments but deadly to vocals. Your lead vocals have to be kept pure unless you are distorting on purpose. Megabucks are spent on mics and vocal processors by the larger studios for just this purpose. Two or three mics are always better than artificial effects. Try using your best mic in the usual place and set two ambient mics panned hard L/R - watch the phase and enjoy

Direction Mixer or Pan Knob on stereo tracks?

Hello to all you brilliant logic forumers,
I just wondered what people were using to pan stereo tracks in light of the pan knob acting like a "balance" knob. As soon as I found that out on this forum I immediately went back to all my songs with stereo tracks in it that I thought I was "panning" and used the Direction Mixer instead.....it was like a whole different mix in a totally different song!
Why would anybody want to use the pan knob to pan stereo tracks if it doesn't take the entire stereo field and pan it to the desired position? It just seems a little bizzare to me that you have to use a plug-in to properly pan a stereo track.
best regards,
M-DAY
G5 Quad Mac OS X (10.4.9) Logic 7.2.3

Hi DR9,
I have a Dierction-Mixer plugin question for you,
since you seem to use it quite a bit.
Where in the audio channel insert slots should i put
it? after all my plugins or as the first insert?
Say I have a mono track that has an EQ, a Stereo
autofilter plugin, followed by a compressor.
Where would be the most Logical (yes, I know) place
to put it?
On another track, say I have a mono track, but only
with all mono plugins. Then where would it make
better sense?
Thanks for any info...
I would love to know the answer to this question also. Forgot to include it in my original post. If I can add one more part to it: What's the benefit of using the Direction Mixer on a Mono track? Thanks to you all.
M-DAY

Export MXF Op1a XDCAMHD with one stereo track?!

I need a MXF Op1a XDCAMHD with only one stereo track as a master file.
If i choose "stereo" in the export settings I always get two mono files.
I know, that it is not a standart in a MXF with XDCAM to use stereo, but
I know that there are some broadcaster out there who use such a file as master file.
Does anyone know how to create it? That would be very helpful.

That's right I checked the file in the VLC Player.
I exported an MXF IMX30 file and it worked with stereo file, in VLC as well!
I send the "stereo" MFX XDCAM to a broadcaster and he said it is not a MXF with a stereo track. So the same like I recognized after my export.
So it seems to be possible to export MXF's with stereo files, but not in XDCAM.
Does anyone use it? Or has a similar problem / workflow?!

Imovie and audio - dealing with separate stereo tracks in imovie

The footage I am working with has stereo recording - a boom mike (L) and a lapel mike (R) were used simultaneously. However, I want to use only the left track that has the boom mike because the guy with the lapel mike is talking too much and drowning out the conversations on the boom mike.
I see that there are separate tracks playing in imovie but I see no way to use only the left or right track in the audio. What do I need to do? if iMovie cannot handle it, can I export the audio as a stereo track and edit it in Garageband, then re-import it?

Hi
if iMovie cannot handle it, can I export the audio as a stereo track and edit it in Garageband, then re-import it?
Yes - iMovie HD or other - Can't handle this.
Export out - as QuickTime expert mode and Audio only and as .aiff
Put it into an Audio editor - like GarageBand or Audacity (free on internet)
Edit it and save as .aiff
Re-import into iMovie and put on bottom track - silencing out top-track.
Done this many times -Works.
Yours Bengt W

In Final Cut Pro X 10.1.1 I'm trying to separate left and right stereo tracks to delete left and pan right to centre. I cannot find a way to do this.

I record in stereo with a 10KHz tone down the left channel to defeat AGC on my camera and mic feed into the right channel. When I edit, I want to mute/delete the left channel and pan the right into the centre, to leave me with mono audio across both left and right. I could do this easily in FCP 6 but can find no way to do it in FCP X. I'm using the same source files. When I choose Dual Mono mode in the Audio Inspector, it mixes left and right and pushes the combined signal into both channels, giving me a mix of 10KHZ tone and audio in both left and right. Stereo mode shows me the two channels correctly with one driven hard (the tone) and the other at good voice levels. I just want to kill the left channel and pan the right to centre.
I'm converting original TOD files using MPEG Streamclip before import and definitely keeping audio as stereo.
This is driving me nuts! It should be simple and is in FCP 6. Any help greatly appreciated.
Stereo Setting
Mono Setting

Mb - If you're using FCPX 10.1.1 and Mavericks, make certain you've downloaded the most current Sony XDCAM FCPX plugin from sonycreativesortware.com unless you're using an older version of FCPX and then you'd need the previous XDCAM plugin.
You shouldn't see 8 mono tracks. There are import settings in /fCPX that you can check and I don't ask FCPX to analyze my media or seperate mono or combine stereo, etc. I like to have everything come in as it is, especially because I know what I've done with every channel, etc.
What I wrote to Ian is what I'd tell you - so please take a look at how you can make a "stereo" track that is actually two mono tracks, mono. Once you do that you can address each mono channel by itself since it needs different volume, compression, and EQ than other channels.
There are ethernet, USB, and firewire controllers that work in FCPX, but that's not the typical workflow because generally if you're getting into any amount of post audio sweetening beyond basic "staples" audio treatment, you would instead use "Roles" to export your audio to Logic or Pro Tools and do you work in those applications and then cut the final product back into your FCPX project. In Logic or Pro Tools is where you might use a controller.
In terms of automating levels, I'm not positive I know what you mean. Compressor is a nice internal Logic plugin that kind of automates levels in a way but its about compressing peaks at a threshold that you set and at a ratio of compression. So I may not understand what other automation is available unless you've exported you tracks to Logic or Pro Tools.

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How do you combine 2 mono tracks into a single stereo track?

Question here:
How do I combine 2 mono tracks into a single stereo track in Logic?
I recorded using my left and right out of my keyboard to a hard-disk recorder (Korg d888). The files are made as two separate wav files. Is there way to combine these in Logic so I can treat it as one stereo track?
I have several files to do and am hoping Logic has something like a "combine tracks to stereo track" tool or something.

Solo both tracks and bounce them with no effects and faders at 0 dB.

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How can I select a few stereo tracks in STP and export them as a single mono track? either back to FCP or as a standalone file?
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Oops, i posted this in the wrong discussion group. can this be moved to STP?

On the Channels Strip (of the Audio Track with the Audio Region), ctr+click on the left segment of the Input Button. That opens a popup menu where you can select Left (only the left channel of the Audio Region is played as mono), or Right (only the right channel of the Audio Region is played as mono).
Once the signal flow of the Channel Strip is mono (one channel), you can use the "Mono➤Stereo" version of some plugins to convert the Channel Strip to a stereo channel.
About your second question. If you are referring to the little blue "Catch Playhead Button", that automatically scrolls the Workspace when the Playhead reaches the right border to keep the Workspace visible. You also can also enable the "Scroll in Play" mode in the local View Menu. That one locks the Playhead in the center and scroll the Workspace "underneath"
However if you are referring to that little Play icon in the left upper corner of the Region Header (only visible in the Editor), that one, the "Solo Play Button", only plays that Region in solo mode. It is basically a combination of "Play " and "Solo" in on button. You can find all those little informations and much more in my graphically enhanced manual "Logic Pro X - How it Works".
Hope that helps
Edgar Rothermich
http://DingDingMusic.com/Manuals/
'I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.'

Changing 2 Mono Tracks back to 1 Stereo Track on timeline, or source monitor?

I was working in Premiere Pro CS 5.5 and I switched Audio on a clip to 2 Mono Tracks instead of its original 1 stereo track. I brought it in the Source Monitor and then on the timeline.
I then realized later on that I wanted to switch the audio back to 1 Stereo Track instead of the 2 Mono tracks.
I could not figure out a way to do this.
Is it possile to do this? If so. how?
Thanks in advance?

Joe has given you a good answer, but exactly why do you want to switch the two mono Tracks back to Stereo?
If one is not doing certain things, then they will be Mixed-down to stereo on Export. However, certain editin operations WILL be easier with both back in stereo, if you are doing those.
Good luck,
Hunt

Trying to connect 2 stereo tracks

Hello
I have 2 stereo tracks which aren't connected. I selected modify stereo pair hoping they would connect but that didn't help. I would love some help. Thanks!

Select the two audio clips.
Go to the menu Modify > Link and Toggle it OFF (the check mark next to it will go away) then on the same menu, with the clips still selected, Toggle Stereo Pair and OFF (the check mark next to it will go away).
Now go to the timeline and click and drag one of the two audio clips to the track adjacent to the other. Make sure the start and ending points are the same (this is easier with Snapping turned on).
Once you have the two tracks adjacent and in sync, select them both and toggle Stereo Pair ON.
Then select the stereo pair audio track you just created and the video it goes with and toggle Link ON.
To prevent this in the future, make sure your audio routing is set for adjacent tracks.
MtD

Weird XML behaviour - mixes L and R of a stereo track on export

Situation:
1. I have a sequence with a dual mono track (stereo track with L on track A1, R on track A2). L = microphone 1, R= microphone 2. When exporting an XML (e.g. for sync in PluralEyes), the channels get mixed together, like a mono mixdown.
Here is a screen vid showing a round trip of the XML and what it is doing to the audio: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2st9308p3sjq4qd/Premiere%20Weird%20XML%20Audio.mp4
Note: A temporary work around once I have my sequence synced by PluralEyes is to make the audio media offline, then relink it. This seems to reset Premiere's referencing of the file, and L and R are on A1 and A2 once again.

Ok, so here's the solution that I've worked out.
I created a new mono submix track at the bottom of all my tracks. Then in the Audio Mixer, I remapped my stereo audio track to go to the mono submix before going to the Master. This forces all of the audio to come out as mono in the end, which is exactly what I was looking for.
For what it's worth, a stereo track filled right or left doubles the audio and is louder then the normal stereo track, even though it's playing two channels of audio they don't add up to the loudness of the dual mono. I just applied a +4dB gain to the stereo sections to compensate for this.

How to play back one channel of the stereo track in both headphone cans?

I recorded two microphones in one stereo track. Is there some way I could listen to the left channel and then to the right channel in both cans in my headphones, like a mono track? Panning moves all sound to the left can or the right one in my headphones. But I'd like to listed Left channel as mono channel in both headphone cans, and then press some button and listen to the right channel in both cans. How can I do it?

No problem. By the way, there is a wrinkle in Logic that you may not be aware of.
When dealing with a stereo track, the knob in the channel strip that you may think of as a Pan knob is not. It's a Balance knob. What is does is to change the level of what's in either left or right channel but does NOT move the left signal to the right or vice versa.
To prove this:
* Create a project with two mono audio tracks
* Put different files on each track
* Pan one hard left, the other hard right
* Bounce the result
* Create a new project with a stereo audio track
* Import the audio that you exported above
* Use the Balance Knob to bring either up or down
* Note you cannot move one signal from its original position
If you want to pan a stereo signal, you have to use the insert: Imaging > Direction Mixer. Only then can you position a stereo signal in your stereo field. This is documented in the user manual in the section called: "Setting the Pan, Balance, or Surround Position".
Have fun!
Pete

Compressors with Stereo tracks

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