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Mono or stereo monitoring for ENG/Reality/Doc.


Rob Lewis

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I would like to get some input from other mixers on how they monitor their mixes in the field with your typical 2 channel camera job.  I have been monitoring in my headphones in a mono (mix) fashion and I feel that it is becoming a bad habit.  It forces me to ride the faders harder to compensate for the comb filtering & physical phasing effects of multiple mics coming together.  I'm constantly concerned about the mix (mono) picture because I don't trust that the editor will use the split tracks or just summ it all to mono.  I have been working some of the reality circuit where we have 2 channels and anywhere from 6-15 cast members to mix.  All of the fellow mixers I have worked with monitor in stereo.  Am I wrong in concerning myself with the mono mix, and working too hard in the field?  Should I be more concerned about recording the individual tracks cleanly and let the editor worry about the final mix ? I had a fellow mixer on a recent reality project tell me that I'm doing the editors job for him!!! What are you guys doing in the field?

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I would like to get some input from other mixers on how they monitor their mixes in the field with your typical 2 channel camera job.

Am I wrong in concerning myself with the mono mix, and working too hard in the field?

There are others here who are much more qualified to answer these questions and since I do not do much of the sort of work you describe my answers will be more general. When we first starting doing ANY multi-track work (and this would be 2 tracks, 1 more than mono) there were those who monitored in "stereo" even though it wasn't stereo it was 2 separate tracks that would never be mixed to ever produce a stereo, left and right, sound image. This monitoring took the form of ch.1 to the left ear, ch.2 to the right ear. I was NEVER able to do this and accurately make any judgement on the tracks that were being recorded, but when monitoring in MONO, many of the problems you mention also were present. My approach now, particularly when doing many tracks that will most probably never be "mixed" together, is to monitor in mono (same signal to both ears) the following: primarily the track that IS mixed (my Track 1 that is always the primary track) that may not even contain all the elements being recorded, and then also SOLO monitor each individual Track/Source when possible (to insure that the individual tracks are good). As the number of tracks and sources increases, trying to MIX all of them, even for the sake of a monitor mix, it almost impossible.

Regards,  Jeff Wexler

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I am a stereo mixer, for a couple of reasons, since I pan cast to left and right a lot so as to put the more senior member on track 1 (left channel) also if the boom gets opened, (I always send the boom to track 2, right channel) I do not mix the boom with the Lav's.  I don't really like the way mono sounds in my headset.

Me too--since I use the 2 tracks as a small multitrack, I listen as split tracks/ears.  Issues w/ combining the tracks can be dealt w/ in post, if they even decide to do this.  Even when doing full prefade splits or submixes, I still like to deliver a separate boom and lav or etc mix since almost everyone I work for seems to expect to have that flexibility in the initial edit w/ having to load the splits.  It was weird at first but I've gotten used to it.

Philip Perkins

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