Achieving stereo effect...

I tryed to get a stereo effect by taking two copies of a sample and panning one of them hard left and the other one hard right. Then I offset the two samples a bit. I managed to get a stereo effect this way, but I'm not that satisfied with it... Even though I only offset the two sample a tiny bit I can hear a slight delay between the left and right speakers...

Is this the best way to do it (achieving stereo)?

Anders wrote:I tryed to get a stereo effect by taking two copies of a sample and panning one of them hard left and the other one hard right. Then I offset the two samples a bit. I managed to get a stereo effect this way, but I'm not that satisfied with it... Even though I only offset the two sample a tiny bit I can hear a slight delay between the left and right speakers...

Is this the best way to do it (achieving stereo)?

hell no......that is not stereo...to be honest that is just slight reverb....you can get a stereo effect if you layer on top of those with a hard pan and a slight pan...so try layering on top of what you have.......and eq wouldn't hurt either....check your levels man

I don't really understand... "you can get a stereo effect if you layer on top of those with a hard pan and a slight pan".

This is kinda like what I did. But I can't hear the stereo effect (where the sound is both left and right, not just center) unless I offset the samples a bit.

Should I not mess around with offsetting the samples? Just tweak the eq and stuff?

"offset the two sample a tiny bit "
That's not stereo, that's just a slight offest and it delays the start of 1 sample just like you said.

If the left and right data are exactly the same no matter how hard you pan the 2 samples it will still have a mono sound when played at the same time.

A slight chorus with slight reverb effect might help might help. Maybe.

Assuming that the sample is in stereo, then I know exactly what your talking about. Backin the days, I used the Ensoniq EPS16 which only had a single input to record. What I did in order to get my samples in stereo was, sample the left channel of the sound, then sample the sound again from the right channelThen, adjust the sample begin/ends so that both samples start roughly at the same position. Set up one key to trigger both samples. Then pan the samples to their respective channels, then voila, you'll have your sample in stereo. Whenever, you hit one key you actually playing two samples that are panned which gives you the sound in stereo.
I think this is what you meant... Was it?

If not, then you'll need like a doubler plugin or some kind of hardware that does it right.. If you want a low budget stereo effect, then take the sample pan it left, and put a very short delay on it panned right.

What equipment are you using?

Delays, doublers and chorus with reverb will all do pretty much the same thing he already did, they will split the signal and delay one a few ms.

Stereo is defined as designating sound transmission from two sources through two channels, what you are trying to acheive is a very wide stereo "effect". How much to offset the samples depends on what kind of samples you're using, if it's something like a snare or something with a fast attack then 1 tick will do the trick, if it's something with a slower attack then you'll have to offset it more. If the delay is too obvious then try shortening the offset.

Also, try running one of the samples through some processes, pitch one up or down a couple of cents or modulate the signal of one very gently.

Hey Logic718: I tried what you said... "What I did in order to get my samples in stereo was, sample the left channel of the sound, then sample the sound again from the right channelThen, adjust the sample begin/ends so that both samples start roughly at the same position."
Unless I'm mistaken I'm not really changing anything this way. I'm panning the left channel of a sample left and the right channel of a sample right, but this is the same as leaving the sample in stereo.

Maybe I should have been more clear about it... I'm trying to get a wide stereo effect like coocoo1 described. Thanks... I've been experimenting with what you said... "If the delay is too obvious then try shortening the offset." I tried shortening the offset when I heard the delay, but I feel I have to shorten the offset so much (for the delay to go away) that I don't even get a wide effect.
Should I just be content with the delay? Or should I not offset the samples and try something else like delays, doublers, chorus, reverb, pitch, modulation, etc.?

Try it all til' you get the sound you're after, remember that while the offset may be too obvious while the sound is playing by it self it may not be as evident when playing with the other parts of the track.

Anders wrote:but I feel I have to shorten the offset so much (for the delay to go away) that I don't even get a wide effect."

I thought you wanted to be able to sample you sound in stereo but I was wrong. What cooocooo1 said was right. You should do the offset one tick.And that should do the trick. Do it to much and it will flange. You could listen to what we mean when you listen to the third track on my soundclick page. The snare, was a basic mono snare, but I wanted to widen it without using any fx processors, those were the rules, so I did exactly was explained by cooocooo1 and I, and you can really hear it. Put your headphones on and play mpc contest track. Also, I dont want to sound insulting, but make sure your listening to your output in stereo. It never hurts to check on the obvious

Hope that helps.

Anders wrote:I don't really understand... "you can get a stereo effect if you layer on top of those with a hard pan and a slight pan".

This is kinda like what I did. But I can't hear the stereo effect (where the sound is both left and right, not just center) unless I offset the samples a bit.

Should I not mess around with offsetting the samples? Just tweak the eq and stuff?

ok.....like Lampdog said if you sample are exactly the same....it will not acheive stereo effect no matter how hard you pan.......now...this is where you didn't understand me........throw a lil color on top of that and pan that....thus making the mono sample not the same anymore..........if you can not understand then I don't know.....there are plenty hidden jewels going on on this forum as is........think of your sample like this......the circle knob for l/r panning...imagine yourself in the middle of the knob....when you turn the circle to the left it will take away sound from the right the more you pan it........sorry didn't mean to get elementary on ya...but you were kinda asking for it!

Anders wrote:Hey Logic718: I tried what you said... "What I did in order to get my samples in stereo was, sample the left channel of the sound, then sample the sound again from the right channelThen, adjust the sample begin/ends so that both samples start roughly at the same position."
Unless I'm mistaken I'm not really changing anything this way. I'm panning the left channel of a sample left and the right channel of a sample right, but this is the same as leaving the sample in stereo.

Maybe I should have been more clear about it... I'm trying to get a wide stereo effect like coocoo1 described. Thanks... I've been experimenting with what you said... "If the delay is too obvious then try shortening the offset." I tried shortening the offset when I heard the delay, but I feel I have to shorten the offset so much (for the delay to go away) that I don't even get a wide effect.
Should I just be content with the delay? Or should I not offset the samples and try something else like delays, doublers, chorus, reverb, pitch, modulation, etc.?

sampling the same sound twice kinda defeats the purpose of "copy"......if a wide effect is what you are looking for then throw "chorus" on there homie.....but throw it on the sample with surround sound in mind...and think about how surround works!

Logic718: The trick you used on that track you mentioned (nice by the way) is what I've been doing myself. But see I'm not satisfied with the delay. I can hear the delay on your track. The snare is triggered hard left first then hard right, if I'm hearing correct... This is what I'm trying to prevent from being heard...

Prah_860: Correct me if I'm wrong, but your saying to leave the samples aligned panned left and right, and then "throw a lil color" (layering, eq, delay, chorus, reverb, pitch, modulation, etc.) on one of them?

Any comments?

do your thing homie.....all this time has past and you haven't done any experimenting?......yo dude.....you'd be amazed at what you find though experiments

Anders wrote:Any comments?

Sorry I havent been looking at the forums. Good lookin on the track, glad you like. The effect your looking for, from a mono source can only be done with the source panned to one side and its image delay about 1ms to the other. That's the what these software doublers do..I think they may even get the delay to be even closer. But damn, what we've explained to you should already be close enough for the human ear to get the effect. The only true stereo widening comes from both left and right channels being slightly different, example when a vocalist does a double. If there is only one source, your going to run it to flanging which is what will happen at a delay very close to 0ms. So no matter what you do you will still here a slight delay on one side, if your listener is really listening for it, which is hardly ever the case. We still dont know what equipment your using so assisting you is guess work at this point. Anyway, you really need to experiment with this to really understand, then you'll know your limits.

Peace....