Treating problematic stereo sounds in a mix

Sometimes too many stereo tracks can make things muddy. For instance, a stereo piano. Upon playback, it sounds like it’s coming from the center, but it’s just wide, which leads some, like Dave Pensado, to call this “big mono.” This can clutter up a recording. Poorly-recorded stereo signals may phase cancel with themselves.¹

Here is how to treat a problematic “big mono” track:²

• Make the sides louder and the mid quieter.
• Process the left and right channels differently. Analog tolerances do this naturally, which is why people say analog creates depth (see Analog summing and Use a holographic sound on the mixbus).
• Use just one channel (left or right) or sum the stereo to mono.