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DJing in Mono on large sound systems

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  • March 10, 2014 at 8:25 pm #2009517
    Weaver
    Participant

    While I’m no audio engineer, I think you’re basically on the right track 😛

    My understanding is, basically, you want everyone to be able to hear the whole song. If you think of a reasonably sized stage, if you run it in stereo everyone not at the center of the venue is going to only be hearing one “side” (R/L) of the song. If, say, you have some panned hats in the track the people on the right side of the stage would be hearing different things from people on the left side of the stage.

    What you really want them to be hearing is everything! To do that, smoosh everything into a mono space to solve the problem.

    I’m sure there’s lots of other reasons for it as well, but this is my limited comprehension of the situation.

    March 10, 2014 at 10:09 pm #2009549
    Terry_42
    Keymaster

    You are right and that is why most clubs are mono…

    March 10, 2014 at 10:48 pm #2009568
    Robert Murray
    Participant

    Great Q&A 🙂

    March 11, 2014 at 4:39 am #2009616
    Eliah Holiday
    Participant

    I assume clubs run mono systems because it’s cheaper than rigging everything up for proper stereo. It’s really rather ridiculous. Like they say for production “Make sure you check your mix in mono.” but I’m like…Why should I diminish my music and creativity just so someone can listen to my tunes out of one speaker? These days you can call Japan from a wristwatch and yet people still listen to stereo recordings in mono? If you can’t afford a stereo listening device chances are you aint buying my tunes anyways.

    Now, a long time ago I was in a small club that installed…I think it was a quadrophonic sound system, that was pretty cool as most rooms are well..Square boxes. At any rate, perhaps what needs to happen is a “club mix” of music that works with a kind of surround system in a club. Imagine sounds that go beyond just L + R but 360 degrees.

    March 12, 2014 at 7:12 am #2010099
    King of Snake
    Participant

    Mono, because people move around in clubs. Stereo, quadrophonic etc will lead to a less good experience and probably headaches…

    March 12, 2014 at 7:24 am #2010107
    Terry_42
    Keymaster

    It is not a money issue. You can do stereo for nearly the same cost as clubs need racks of amps anyways and it is just a little wiring that is different.
    He had it right the first time. It is a way too big hassle to balance all the reflections and counter waves you get with stereo in such an unpredictable environment as a club. So it is just more simple to go mono and play it out loud enough. Then all you need to do is have enough dampening in the room so the basic reflections wont kill anyone when there are not that many guests in the house during early hours and you are set.
    If you would have to do that in stereo it would be a sound engineers nightmare.

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