Going Stereo is just SO COOL!!!

That's because half of them are collapsing you to mono to fit their FOH gear. :)
LOL! I ask them if their system is stereo and if we have enough inputs for me to run stereo. If they say yes great. If not no problem. But if I remember correctly I only had one guy tell me last year he didn't have enough. We're only a 5 piece.
 
LOL! I ask them if their system is stereo and if we have enough inputs for me to run stereo. If they say yes great. If not no problem. But if I remember correctly I only had one guy tell me last year he didn't have enough. We're only a 5 piece.
Hey, if you got it, use it. Most of the situations I play in are mono, but they'll gladly accept a stereo feed to keep me happy. Some of them ask me questions that make it clear they're not well versed on the whole stereo/mono thing.
 
Last edited:
I get the mono thing for FOH systems that don't have enough input, but monitoring in stereo is it! If I have enough room I will always set up in stereo!

We all have a left and a right ear! we were designed to hear in stereo why deprive yourself especially when you have an Axe FX or AX8!
 
Hey, if you got it, use it. Most of the situations I play I'm are mono, but they'll gladly accept a stereo feed to keep me happy. Some of them ask me questions that make it clear they're not well versed on the whole stereo/mono thing.
I hear ya. I've been very blessed the last year or so to play larger venues like House of Blues that can accommodate pretty much anything you throw at them. But most clubs? Different story.
 
If you plan to run stereo for live shows, do yourself a favour and make sure every patch works with only the left, and only the right channels, as well as blends of both.
Many audience members will only hear one side, with most people hearing one side louder than the other. (left or right)
 
Last edited:
I have my own PA, and have been running stereo for 25 years. Simple test - when you play the break music, which is stereo to start with, can you notice a difference between stereo and mono? In most instances, you can, even when standing in front of one of the speakers. My sound man (all this time) says stereo is always noticeable. Stereo Drums, Guitar and Keys.
 
this is my point. you can test at home. play some music in stereo...walk around your studio. collapse it to mono and walk around again. you'll notice the difference wherever you stand. i'm not saying everybody should play in stereo and i'm not saying it will work in all venues for all bands, but there's nothing wrong with it, per se
 
The confusion comes in when you think of stereo as an L/R or L/C/R FOH where the mixer is trying to create a phantom image using panning.

For this to work, where the audience experiences the sound coming from a phantom panorama, takes a special venue and PA.

What most people call stereo now, is just taking advantage of sounds like the Fractal. Where you take out 1 L/R, hard pan it L/R, and have fun. The point isn't to create a panorama. The point is to hear the wet efx panned out wide.
 
I have two Fractal rigs that I use in my bands. The "big rig" is an AxeFX II XL with a stereo power amp, running through a pair of FRFR cabinets in my backline. The "fly date" rig is an AX8. Regardless of the rig in play, we use the same stage plot, which indicates that I can provide two channels to FOH, or just go with one. Here are some observations on stereo in a live environment:
  • Many of the venues we play are equipped with stereo PA systems. If the board has enough inputs, the FOH engineer will take both the left and right XLR feeds and pan them hard left and right. It sounds amazing - especially for things like the rotary effect and a few other special things that take advantage of panning.
  • A lot of venues we play either have limited inputs at the board, or mono PA systems, so I just give FOH a single XLR line. It sounds very good. In fact, for 90% of what we do, the single guitar feed is perfect for the landscape of the mix.
  • My onstage monitoring system is stereo, no matter which rig I'm using. I use a stereo IEM system, and the stereo backline setup is really only there to provide guitar presence onstage. Also, my backline cabs are side by side, so there really isn't much sonic separation, even if you're standing directly in front of them. For fly date rigs, I don't use any cabinets onstage, and just have the monitor engineer put my guitar in the mix (see below).
  • While a few of us have gone to in-ear monitors, some members of my band prefer to use regular monitor wedges onstage, so we ask the monitor engineer to put some guitar in the stage mix. Those wedges are mono, so it doesn't matter how much spatialization is in the guitar patch. Even if the PA is stereo, I ask the monitor engineer to use only the left channel for stage monitor feeds, rather than summing the stereo channels.
  • Great tone inspires great playing. Using an in-ear stereo system with the AxeFX / AX8 is a sonic paradise. It's vastly better for my hearing, too. Even a simple amp + cab + reverb model is glorious in that setting.
  • When I first got my AxeFX, I spent a lot of time creating two complete versions of our touring show, one in mono and one in stereo. My reasoning was that it would allow me to have a mono-friendly show, plus one that was tweaked and panned to really leverage the stereo mix. In very rare instances, the room would be just right, and one lone guy in the audience might tell me after the show that some particular hard-panned wide guitar effect was unbelievably awesomely mind-blowing. Our touring FOH is a very experienced pro. He would gently tell me "dude, I know that sounds awesome in your IEMs, but out in front, no one is getting a truly balanced channel-isolated stereo mix of anything, and there are other seven musicians onstage, so it's a big sonic landscape to start with." After a year, I started to only use the "regular" version of my patches, even when we were in stereo. There are two channels of guitar, but I'm no longer trying to paint a massive vista. Our FOH says it fits the mix better, and the guitar still has a lot of spatialization.
I'll say it again : Great tone inspires great playing. My Fractal gear has changed the way I play, and good monitoring onstage takes that even a step further.
 
I've only run into mono only PA systems In europe twice and they where tiny places. And that's since 1988. :0). Most of the time I run into mono systems and mono thinking engineers has been in the USA.

Most of it coming from rock club sound guys that are used to running their system as loud as possible. Or using one side of the power Amos for pa the other for the monitors. But systems have changed so much and the gear has gotten much better.

I also notice that only in America. ( and I'm American ) can the bus boy, parking attendant kitchen help can become the sound man in a venue because he plays in a band! Almost every where you actually have to go to school. They won't tech you to set up the PA system in mono in 2017 or any years past 1975
Just my experience traveling around this big beautiful world of music. :0)
 
Good point Larry.
Most "newer" systems are running stereo. The digital boards have the benefit of having most effects, compressors, gates, etc on-board...it's not difficult to run a GOOD stereo mix.
It's often the "OLDER" systems and forgive me, older engineers, that try to get away with mono these days. Guys who haven't upgraded their systems or their thinking.
That said, traveling internationally I have had NO issues. Although being in a 2 guitar band, we do try to make things easier sometimes, especially if there is a language/communication issue. We don't ALWAYS have a FOH engineer with us, so it is what it is.
 
I totally understand that. Going stereo is not for every one. I have some friends great players that never play in stereo. It's not their thing just like effects aren't. Any in huge bands with multiple guitar players I totally see not having a huge wide guitar sound for each guitar player. It depends on the music the instrumentation and the style of the players. :0)
 
As someone who's only ever played through a cab I've never had the opportunity to try a stereo rig until now, but reading this thread and as the lead guitarist in a 2 guitar indie/rock band I'm wondering if there's any point?

I know the only way to know is to try it. So output 1 L & R into 2 tracks on our mixer panned L & R? Is there anything specific I need to do on the AX8? Currently I'm only using one cab - should I be using 2 with the stereo option in the cab block?

The biggest draw of doing it is for stereo delays & choruses etc however I'm not clued up on the pros and cons in a live situation.
 
not sure it's worth it in a 2 guitar band. assuming that you're panning one guitar a bit left and one a bit right, you're already creating a wide stereo spread. running one guitar in stereo will just muddy the waters, so to speak.
 
What stops other people from running stereo? More complicated to setup?
More complexity, more weight (monitors, etc.), more cost...and the fact that a lot of venues have mono FOH.

And of course there's the big one: Guitarists run mono because that's how it was done forty years ago. :)
 
Back
Top Bottom