Using Air Stereo Width

[KingTalkJohn]

Hi,

I'm using Pro Tools LE 8 on the Mbox Mini 2 on my laptop (OS Windows XP) and am attempting an amateurish master of my tracks. I'm using the free plug-in Air Stereo Width to obviously widen my mixes but not dramatically change them. The songs are all acoustic based, containing no more than 10 audio tracks in total. I was wondering if anyone knows of any good settings to use on this plug-in?

Cheers

[albee1952]

Use the setting that sounds the best. Seriously, since this(and all "wideners") work by messing with phase, I would not use it on the entire mix. I use the Waves version(S1 Spacializer), which I like better, and I tend to only use it on these:
reverb tracks
a stereo mix of a lot of BGV's
any bizarre ping-pong type sounds(echo, synth sweeps, sound effects)

Consider, just using harder panning instead of the widener if possible(IOW, maybe its not a good idea to have things all panned near center, then trying to "trick" it into sounding wider than it is. Make it wider in the mix). If your mixes seem too centered, even with a few things panned hard, maybe that's a sign that the track needs some more "stuff", like maybe some percussion(shaker, tambourine, triangle) panned hard to help give the illusion of a wider stereo field.

In any case, check your final mix in mono so you know what happens(good or bad). Knowledge is power(and avoids nasty surprises later)

[KingTalkJohn]

Amazing answer... Dave, was it? Cheers for that, your post has uncovered a couple of 'holes' in my tracks which I have now filled with tambourines, organs etc... With regards to widening the overall sound, I've scrapped it, sticking with Compression, EQ, Limiter and Dither on my mastering session.

[albee1952]

Just remember this; these are not rules, just guidelines. Feel free to bend and break in the name of art And do try the widener on anything and everything. Only you can decide if the final outcome is good or bad(and experimentation(and happy "mistakes" are 2 of the best things about this business)

[drumzalicious]

I agree with what was posted above. I would refrain from using it on the ENTIRE mix. On your reverbs and delays maybe.

[DonaldM]

Originally Posted by albee1952

Just remember this; these are not rules, just guidelines.,,

Its kinda like the "Pirates Code" then?

[DJ Hellfire]

Originally Posted by albee1952

Use the setting that sounds the best. Seriously, since this(and all "wideners") work by messing with phase, I would not use it on the entire mix. I use the Waves version(S1 Spacializer), which I like better, and I tend to only use it on these:
reverb tracks
a stereo mix of a lot of BGV's
any bizarre ping-pong type sounds(echo, synth sweeps, sound effects)

Consider, just using harder panning instead of the widener if possible(IOW, maybe its not a good idea to have things all panned near center, then trying to "trick" it into sounding wider than it is. Make it wider in the mix). If your mixes seem too centered, even with a few things panned hard, maybe that's a sign that the track needs some more "stuff", like maybe some percussion(shaker, tambourine, triangle) panned hard to help give the illusion of a wider stereo field.

In any case, check your final mix in mono so you know what happens(good or bad). Knowledge is power(and avoids nasty surprises later)

Agreed!

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by DonaldM

Its kinda like the "Pirates Code" then?

Argggggg