recording samples: stereo vs. mono

I'm about to start recording some samples, sound effects and such, from my friends Roland D-50. I can record either stereo or mono samples. What benefit would I get from choosing stereo samples as opposed to mono? Does it even matter?

Some sounds benefit from stereo. Pads, Strings, crash cymbals and swirly sounds that move across the stereo spectrum. If you are doing something stripped down with very few instruments like an acoustic guitar or piano it sounds better. Low frequency sounds do not need stereo as the human ear can not pick these out very well in stereo. If you are mixing many instruments, using mono can really help as it is easier to find a place for them to sit well in the total mix (panning wise). The big benefit to using mono is "Ram space" A great deal of modern recordings have specific instruments on a single track (bass drum, snare, high hat, guitar, bass guitar, lead instrument etc.) You can in many instances make a track sound bigger by double tracking it in mono than recording it once in stereo.

In addition to the very valid remarks by Guitman, I'd add that with polyphony limited to 32 voices it is wise to sample in MONO whenever possible because if you use stereo samples, as soon as you have 16 samples playing when the 17th arrives you start having 'stealing notes'.

When I had an Ensoniq EPS16+, I was limited to mono no matter what...i creates a cool sound, albiet dirty as hell. Now, with the cost of sampling time running down, I feel there is no reason to sample in mono, unless your going for an effect.

It also depends on the type of sound to sample. Deep/Subsonic bass sounds, for example, are rarely of any use in stereo.

Sample in mono unless the sound requires stereo (drum loop, leslie speaker effect ect - but if the effect can be added later, all the better). Individual drums can be in mono, bass is always mono - sampling in mono means that if you track to a hardware multitracker, you'll use half as many tracks (and you really need to save tracks). Work on the stereo at this point as it all comes from panning and effects.

Mono always. Stereo is such a waste. I sum my Turn table or other sampling source's stereo signals to one mono signal. The only time I ever use the sources panning ( all you get from Stereo sampling) is if something is soloed on one channel. If stereo samples have weird pannings, then your pan controls never truly reflect the panning of your sound.

(off subject) Yo, Elmacaco: what is this mad looking piece of gear?

Linn Midi Studio. The missing link between the Linn 9000 and the MPC 60.

Basically a 60 designed by linn before any Akai involvement, announced, but never released.

Interesting...do u guys also sample in mono?

yup, even on the S6000.

Only drums should be samples in mono, other samples in stereo. gives ya stuff a fuller sound and lots of the old vinyl we sampling was enginered with sapcious use of stereo not like todays pop music, you will be missing these subtelties if you sample a record in mono.

I would say, record everything in stereo. You can always convert it to mono.

I would say it all depends on the sample, some samples are so spaced apart in stereo, its almost annoying to listen to, other samples sound to cluttered if taken in mono

From an engineering standpoint its important to sample certain drum sounds in mono (kick) and bass. But lately I only do stereo samples, cause once again I reiterate that it's so cheap to sample in stereo... really it boils down to user taste. Just don't get any phasing issues if you decide to sum the stereo to mono (freqs will cancel each other out).