[Walt]

Adam Sampson wrote:

Laurence Payne lpayne1NOSPAM@dslDOTpipexDOTcom writes:


Have you found this technique gives useful results?


Yes -- although which parts you lose depends on how the music was
mixed, of course (and you'll quite often lose the main vocal track but
keep the stereo reverb that was added to it, for example).

I guess it all depends on what one means by "useful". If you are trying
to make the things panned to the center go away, as you say, it works
(more or less).

It's
usually most dramatic on early stereo recordings; try The Beatles'
"Birthday" for a good example, where all the instruments are in the
middle and the vocal parts are panned hard left and right...

I'm not sure about that particular cut, but most of the early Beatles
recordings were intended to be mono. They were recorded on a two-track
machine so they could do overdubs. These two-track masters were never
intended to be released as-is and are not "stereo" in the sense of
providing a 3 dimensional sound stage. But, due to the overwhelming
market force demanding "stereo" recordings they were released that way,
much to the dismay of George Martin. Frankly, they're bizarre to listen
to - everthing is panned hard left or right, and sometimes a voice will
ping pong from channel to channel if the overdubbing was happening that way.


It's also a useful technique for showing up MP3 joint-stereo
compression artefacts; a track that sounds all right in stereo will
often turn into a bubbly mess when you listen to the difference
between the two channels.

MP3 is magic. Do not look where the magician doesn't intend for you to
look, or you'll be severely disappointed with the cheapness and
shabbiness of the trick.

//Walt