What if my favorite pedals aren't stereo? | Tips for maximizing mono | Walrus Audio Fable & Lore
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 เม.ย. 2023
- Sometimes stereo doesn't matter as much as we think it does.
This video stemmed from a bunch of comments I got on a recent demo of the Walrus Audio Fable complaining about it not being stereo. I loved the pedal, and have used similar mono granular pedals on endless projects without really thinking twice that they were mono. This video hits on some reasons WHY pedals aren't stereo sometimes, and what we can do to salvage mono pedals.
Let's walk through some studio tips and tricks to get the most out of you mono pedals and zoom out to some big picture thoughts and philosophies on tracking guitars, mixing, and contextualizing the stereo vs. mono debate.
Drop a comment below with your thoughts on the topic, how you use your mono pedals, what pedals you wish were stereo, or anything else that's on your mind and we'll continue the conversation!
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GEAR
Jennings Voyager Deluxe
Bondi Effects Squish As Compressor
Strymon Volante (stereo out)
Walrus Audio Lore (left)
Walrus Audio Fable (right)
UA Dream 65 Reverb Amp
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Soyuz 1973 mic
Warm Audio WA12 preamp
Nikon D7500
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I think another major factor is the proliferation of modelers. Every bedroom player can have a lush stereo rig now in their headphones, so the laymen demand has gone way up. Not everyone had the luxury of running two physical amps in stereo, but anybody with $400 can get a phenomenal vast stereo tone with just a Pod Go or HX Stomp now.
The obligatory coffee sip at the beginning 😂😂😂
Haha guilty as charged. Fueled by coffee over here :)
Only 5 min in but here’s my initial thoughts, having played guitar through mono setups but also doing a lot of mixing/producing:
1. Do the Jazz Chorus trick. Pan one copy of your mono signal hard left, pan another copy hard right, and then put just a whisper of chorus on one of them. It sounds gorgeous, even on completely clean and dry tracks.
2. Do the Talking Heads/ACDC trick. Do two mono recordings of two different parts and pan one hard left and one hard right. It makes it sound like the band is dancing around your head while you listen, and it makes the recording more alive because you get this call-and-response interaction between the two parts.
3. What’s wrong with mono? I use mono tracks for almost everything and I can still get huge, lush stereo recordings. Try panning your dreamy mono reverb straight down the middle or 50% left or right. That way, you get a “bed” for the rest of the band to play on. I do this particular trick with heavy, hard rock all the time. The main guitars are hard left and right but then I take another, heavily distorted, heavily reverberated, just kinda smeary and unintelligible guitar strumming the basic power chords and I place it straight down the middle (in this case usually also 10+ dbs quieter than everything else). It just glues the stereo image together.
Amazing vid and great topic to bring up. Would love to see more topical style vids like this to share your opinions/experiences.
thanks for engaging with it! any topics come to mind you'd like to hear explored?
Great topic - I was thinking about making something about this. I love stereo but I think you can close yourself off from some really cool pedals if you overlook things for just being mono.
I have SO MANY thoughts...so many that I might just do my own video on this topic. Thanks for the inspiration.
Do it! I wanna hear your thoughtssss
5 completely different modes with 0 presets is way more of an offense than lacking stereo. That said I still love fking around with my Lore and am still looking forward to most likely eventually buying the Fable as well :)
I'm guessing they will definitely release a stereo Lore with additional features..
The two effects left and right was superb.
Sweet video! I like the convo format. Part of the discussion depends on with else will be in the mix. I fell into the ambient guitar rabbit hole for a while, guitar is the only instrument so it thrives in stereo. When other instruments are involved some separation is helpful.
Totally. I still find I enjoy doing really ambient compositions in stereo, but have recently enjoyed doing more layers in mono and using the mix process to fill out the sound. I think both ways can yield cool results!
If WA made a deluxe version of this pedal that was stereo, could take line-level inputs, and have presets, I bet it would do well with keys players and producers. I'd buy one!
That’s a good thought! Yeah perhaps a second tier with those features - that’s a cool idea.
Well they released the Sloer..so I'm guessing they will definitely release a stereo Lore with additional features...
Sounds like you need a Mutable Instruments Clouds!
I run a wet/dry using a Radial Bigshot ABY to cancel phasing. My dry goes into a tube amp, and I run my ambient side direct to the PA. It's not true stereo, but it works and spreads out the pad-like sound enough to have that big sound.
I love stereo effects when playing guitar in smaller groups, especially if there aren't any synths. However, in bigger bands, I often just feel like I don't want to take up all the space in the stereo field.
I think that's a great observation/realization. Stereo can be great if you *need* to fill the space; not so great if there's already lots of space taken up.
I really love both types. Mixing and matching is always fun to experiment with.There are times I get bigger dynamics with parallel mono effects than stereo ones. Some days I’ll just go to our church alone to plug in and play different combos to hear the effect in a big room.
parallel mono is crazy good, even wider than stereo most if the time.
I used to buy just Stereo pedals because I primarily play Ambient Bass and Synth... However I have a few mono pedals early in my chain and like to put a subtle stereo reverb on with my stereo reverbs etc...I have the Lore and it really is magical, especially with subtle stereo reverb later on in my chain....
Your demos are great , most people don’t need stereo. As a former church musician, I would depend on certain sound guys . Some cared and some would set you up and walk away .
Totally. In a lot of contexts FOH plays a critical role in whether it matters or not. Some systems aren't set up well for a bunch of stereo lines, some sound guys aren't well trained to manage a bunch of stereo lines, etc.
I basically agree with everything Andrew says here. I’ve been 100% in the digital modeler realm since 2018 with an HX Stomp. And honestly it’s so easy with these things to just get used to always having lush stereo effects after the amp/cab sim. Get used to in a bad way, because not everyone have come from a mono pedalboard into an amp situation. That was confusing to me. I fell for it and after some years I realized I was playing inside a “studio”. Luckily it’s easy to just change. I can treat the Stomp as a mono pedalboard into an amp. And I appreciate that more. May also be because I’m used to listening to “old” post-rock where they always recorded hard panned mono tracks. And here’s the key in my opinion. Creating the stereo experience with mono guitar tracks has the magic. Like Andrew says… you can get this result where guitar parts dance around each other while still being mono. It’s a stereo result from mono sources. I see alot of TH-camrs and instagramers drenching their works in stereo effects. Sometimes it’s just nicer with a mono recording and maybe treat it with a subtle stereo width (like a short room reverb) in the end.
That's what I do..I have a few mono reverbs early in my chain..I put a subtle no decay stereo reverb on later in my chain to enhance the sound..
Yep, I run these two pedals the exact same way. Everyone that keeps complaining that certain things aren’t in stereo I feel like it’s definitely a rookie move. Gotta have mono to appreciate stereo. Whenever I hear that comment. I just keep thinking man they probably haven’t been doing this long which is totally fine but they will learn overtime.
just buy two of them and run a left channel to one and the right channel to the other out of your stereo delay or switcher and then on to your amps or straight into your audio interface. If you buy them used, it's still cheaper than the latest strymon superbox or equivalent.
I like your thinking :)
I wish someone would make a multi effect we could use to tap into 5.1 surround systems with a guitar. I see that Volante, such a great delay, I am never getting rid of mine. Idk if I agree that adding stereo costs that much, I mean its a really old technology. But I dont know, I have never ran an effects company.
If you are buying two amps to play in stereo. Does it make a difference if the amps have one or two speakers? For example those Fender twin reverb amps. Or is better to get single speaker ones?
Great question! When I consider running stereo, I do like to keep things as "even" as possible - for example two 1x12" 15 watt amps. This helps keep one side from over-powering the other, or feeling lopsided in terms of headroom or such. There's certainly no rule against running two 2x12 amps in stereo, but it might just be overkill, as part of the byproduct of stereo amps is you get the air going through two individual speakers.
Hey Andrew, just wanted to ask what kind of pickups are those? Is it Crema? Amazing sounds, thank you!
hey! they're mcnelly wide range humbuckers! I love them in this Jennings.
I have these pedal on my pedalboard an make them stereo with some other pedals in the chain afterwards. Nice pedals though.
I agree that headphones have changed many opinions on the subject, and I play both keys and guitar, and I am set up for one or the other (stereo or mono I mean). And in a live situation most are not. It’s double the gear, I can’t speak for everyone but to carry amps sucks! So two would really suck! Ping pong delay is a must stereo so if you’re set up for that, you have the gateway of splitting the signal. I do run two amps so it’s a constant challenge,another way to be unique! Peace
I'm not pressed on the pedals being mono. However, I wish they would make a 2-in-1 of these two pedals... a Florble, if you will.
Well that would be something!
Plus it would have to compete with EQD Avalanches Run. OK I have the Avalanche Run and I am gonna run a Fully Wet Right from the Right and mildly wet on the left into the fable.
that's a cool idea
I honestly don’t neeed stereo but being able to split for dual mono is rad for building walls of chaos to keep me safe from getting hurt again… it’s tiresome you know? Just wish people would let me just create the walls of fuzz delay and reverbs to cacoon myself away from it all . Anyone else understand?
Stereo rigs only really makes sense in the studio. Unless you have a stereo pa or two extremely loud amps on each side of the stage. Even then, it would only really make sense if you were the only guitarist.
Just buy two? 😅
you might be onto something...
I did that with the Chase Bliss Habit 😂
@@hillblocksview haha good point, kind of what surround 7.1 is or whatever. Could be kind of cool in Dolby Atmos 🤔
if adding stereo capabilities doesn't drive the cost of the units up by much, idk why everybody doesn't do stereo on units that would benefit from having it & leave it to the end user to decide mono or stereo operation.
on a technical level though, doing everything in stereo will actually lose you the "effect" of stereo. i tend to use mono 90% + of the time & leaving usually 1x element "stereo", while panning the mono parts as needed. that is what gives you a big stereo sound.
that said, it sucks that so many delay & reverbs are mono. this thing would kill towards the end of chain or on a single instrument in a mix to widen things out. lots of synth & key players, like myself, are using pedals these days.
i dont use reverb pedals, as that's usually a "studio" effect for me, where a plugin is usually setup on a send & i'm getting the same "space" sent to all my tracks. so having a pedal like the Lore or Fable could be used & the "stereo effect" could be applied through the DAW using something like a Valhalla or Eventide plugin or something.
precisely.
Maybe the real cost of stereo is the processing power you have to build into the pedal for two channels?
The whole world is in mono. It’s us idiots that have two ears. .
Lore and Fable should have been in stereo...and Walrus knows that... Looks like they cut costs by making it mono and leaving out midi...
What a waste of time.
Thanks for wasting your time with me :)