Mid Side Processing Explained

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Often when I listen to tracks in my coaching group, I notice that the mid/side processing is often really off. Not having a solid M/S mix makes mixes sound thin, and muddy, rather than expansive and crisp. It’s often the M/S that is the make or break between an ok mix and a radiant one. Therefore, it felt prudent to write an article on what mid/side processing is, and how producers can have it done properly in the mix. Therefore, without further ado, here is Mid / Side processing, explained. 

 

What Is Mid/Side Processing? 

So what is Mid/Side processing? Basically, if you want a wide-sounding mix, you’re going to have to concentrate on mid/side processing. Often these sort of mixes sound “better” to the listener, and allow the producer to throw more sounds in their mix, without it sounding cluttered. While a wide-sounding mix can be accomplished through a bunch of different panning and stereo processes, mid/side is a strategy that can really dial that in, and create a spatial mix.

 

Mid in Mid/Side Processing, Explained

The “mid” part of the mid/side process is basically mono. It’s the sound(s) that sits in the center of the mix. Kick drums, snares, melodies between 200 – 500hz (like a pad), and any other “static” sounds can, and often should be placed in mid. Sure, there are artistic exceptions, but this is a good rule of thumb. 

Also, bass below 100hz. This is best practice. Why? If you print a vinyl, and if the bass is in stereo, the needle will jump. Also, in clubs, they do serial summing, where anything under 100 will be summed into 1 mono signal, but if your bass is in stereo, and it’s summed, it can quiet phased parts of the mix.

 

Side in Mid/Side Processing, Explained

The side-channel is the edges of the mix. Note: This is not to be confused with panning, where you can move sounds specifically into the left or right stereo field. Side processing is strictly hard to the right, or hard to the left, and is technically a mono signal.

When the side’s amplitude is increased, the listener hears a wider, fuller sound. A good way of using it is to increase the width of leads, or strategically move a percussion bus to the sides of a mix to create a fuller listening experience.

You can even get creative with this, and widen parts of the mix at different intervals in the song. For instance, whenever the chorus comes in, you can widen the leads on it, to give it a more present feeling, allowing it to become more expressive to the listener.

Pads are great for the sides as well, since it’s audio that “hugs” you, in a way. Other things that work well on the side are background noises, like field recordings, or weird ambiance -, that stuff works well on the side, it’s not present. Only present stuff should be in the middle. All decorative percussion can technically be on the side – swingy hi-hats, bells and whistles.

 

Side Processing May Cause  Phasing

Once mid/side processing is explained to many newbies, often they just go out and start messing around with it. However, side processing can reveal one of electronic music’s most dastardly foes: phasing. Basically what happens with phasing is when you have two of the same sound, on opposite sides of the stereo field, they cancel each other out. That means, we have to be judicious with the sounds we put on the sides. Generally, “less is more” is a good approach when dealing with phasing since there are fewer chances of frequencies canceling each other out. 

 

How To Correct Phasing

If you want to correct phasing while keeping them in stereo, the trick is to have one of the sounds reveal itself immediately after the other, so they don’t phase. This can be done with a very short delay. When dialed in, the sound will perceptually happen at the same time, but be delayed ever so slightly, allowing the other sound to peek behind the other one and be heard.

A more immediate, definitive way to correct phasing is to make the sound more mono. There is a tool you can use, called SPAN. This plugin allows you to see in yellow, mono, and in red, side signal. When the red goes beyond the yellow, you have to reduce. The tool you use to fix this is the utility plugin, native to Ableton. You can control the width in this. If you want it more mono, you just adjust the width down, and then turn the volume up. 

mid side processing can be explained well with the VST SPAN. Here's a photo of it.

However, let’s say you have a purely mono signal that you want to add some subtle stereo width to. There are certain effects that can impact this. You can use reverb with little decay (otherwise it will be too loud). 

You can also use a chorus. Eventide made a harmonizer that is beautiful for that. It’s two delays – left and right – and when you play with the delay of each other, it creates a weird signal/shape, and then you can play with the wet/dry to add degrees of stereo. However, if you don’t have the money, you can use the echo delay, and control the left-right, and create a very short delay to create a little more phasing and the width you can play with opening and closing it.

 

EQing in Mid/Side Mode Is A Must

In my opinion, all EQing should be done in MS mode. Sometimes people hear things that they don’t like in the mix, and if you just cut, you are cutting both the left and the right at the same time. However, sometimes you want a sound to be EQ’d differently, depending on the channel that it’s in.

For instance, let’s say you have a synth in your left channel, and it doesn’t exist as much in your right channel. When placing decorative percussion, there will most likely be a crossover in the panning.

But since the synth is primarily in the left channel, the percussion in the left channel is going to have to be EQ’d different to not conflict with that synth. However, since there is all this open space in the right channel, there is no need to EQ out some of the frequencies, allowing that sound to better express itself.

Fabfilter ProQ3 allows you to easily enter MS mode for EQing, and make precise cuts to the sound. If you don’t have ProQ3, you can unlink the left/right in Ableton as well. On EQ 8, there is a mode called stereo, but you can unlink left/right by clicking edit and then selecting left or right. You can also switch it to MS (Mid/Side), where you can edit either the mid or the side or you can treat left/right independently. When you do this, your sound feels more organic, because you’re not cutting in one place. 

A photo of ProQ 3 which has a mid/side processing mode.

More Plugins That Impact Width and Phasing:

 

Panman

mid side processing explained through the vst Panman. This is a photo of that VST.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PanMan really splits open the possibilities of panning. First and foremost, it’s a hardware emulation, which allows producers to mimic the syle of vintage hardware panning gear. You can also trigger panning if the track hits a certain parameter. The automation allows you to generate complex rhythms and stunning sweets.

 

Microshift 

This is an image of Microshift, a great plugin for modifying your stereo field

Need some width? Well Microshift’s got width. It provides you 3 separate kinds of stereo widening in just a single button push. It uses a specific algorithm to pitch shift and add delay to your sound, that morphs over time to generate brilliant stereo width. It’s very easy to play around with and can be used to give more flavor to instruments, or create nice blends.

 

MStereoGenerator

an image of MStereoGenerator, an excellent plugin for stereo imaging

With MStereoGenerator, you can convert mono recordings into stereo (or even surround). MStereoGenerator is a unique natural-sounding mono to stereo (or even surround) expander, which makes your tracks sound wider, stronger and punchier.  It’s especially good for acoustic instruments. 

 

Panshaper 3 by Cableguys

An imagine of Panshaper, which allows you to do crazy stuff with MS Processing and panning.

PanShaper 3 takes control over your stereo field to another dimension. The real-time LFO that can be drawn on every band and the envelope follower allow you to design evolving, dynamic pan patterns and make dialed-in stereo edits in seconds.

 

Energy Panner

an image of Energypanner which allows for dynamic panning responsiveness to inputs

Energy Panner reacts to the sound intensity by moving in response to it. A drum kit that moves to the beat, synth notes that move on attack, and many other behaviors are possible. Whether it’s stereo or Dolby Atmos, Energy Panner is a plugin you shouldn’t be without.

 

Width Shaper 2 by Cableguys

an image of the vst WidthShaper 2 which allows for amazing stereo mid/side processing.

With WidthShaper 2, you can fine-tune your stereo image to the finest detail. With three mid/side stereo adjustment bands, each with its own drawable LFO and envelope follower, you can gain precise control over the sound. It is perfect for sound design, mixing, and mastering, and can be used on single tracks and buses.

Once you have mid/side processing explained to you, you can see there is way more to stereo than just left and right. With M/S EQing you can surgically cut into sounds, and make them fit precisely in a mix. You can expand and retract sounds at different points in your mix, creating those illusionary, almost psychedelic effects in music that are almost inexplicable, since they are best described as space, rather than music.

However, with this power, comes the responsibility of not phasing your sounds out, and destroying the punch of your songs. Keeping in mind space, and how sounds relate to each other is a paramount skill in music production, and often an overlooked aspect.

I understand this can be complicated. If you need coaching or you just want to delegate this process to me, I’m available to help. Check out all of my services here.

Essential Communication Skills In The Music Industry

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This is no secret, but artists, in general, have questionable communication skills. This makes sense, especially for electronic producers. They are often locked away in their studio, alone, micromanaging their sounds, rather than going out and socializing. Then when they do, their social skills are often enhanced by confidence-boosting chemicals, rather than fundamental social skills.

However, rather than just lamenting about their communication skills, I figured I would do something about it, hence this blog post. Here are some essential communication skills for the music industry.


Know What You Need, Express What You Want

The number one communication problem producers have is knowing what they need and expressing what they want. Often people aren’t direct, and dance around the request, telling a whole tale before getting to the request (if there is one at all).

My suggestion? Put the bottom line upfront. Make your request, and then write some sentences to contextualize or clarify it. Bottom line upfront is a well-known communication strategy used by a ton of institutions because it gets right to the point without tiptoeing around it. This is an organized, well-founded communication skill in the music industry.

 

If You Want Something For Free, Don’t Make Requests Immediately

Often I’ll add someone on Facebook and the first thing they do is suggest that I like their artist page. Many times I just ignore these messages, but sometimes I’ll reply saying that they have to actually have a dialogue before I decide to like their page. Rather than acknowledging that, they usually reply by sending their Soundcloud, with no other context.

I don’t know if this is because other “cool” DJs do this, so they think they need to do that too, or what it is, but the level of communication ineptitude there is quite astonishing. It shows a complete lack of respect and appreciation for the person they’re communicating with. Also, it provides no context, or information, making the whole thing quite useless.

I’m happy to listen to songs and even follow pages if it feels appropriate, but producers have to build a relationship with me first. This goes for anyone in life and is not just communication skills for the music industry: people don’t just dole out favors for people they don’t know. 


Don’t Teach Or Explain A Concept Unsolicited

You see it all the time online. Some random commenter will offer unsolicited advice about a topic to an unsuspecting audience. Even worse, they rarely substantiate it with any experience or authority. A good example of this is a recent post where an amateur Drum n Bass DJ offered “advice” to Carl Cox about his recent drum n bass set.

Does Carl Cox actually care about your unsolicited DJing opinion? Probably not. He’s a legend. However, being a total gentleman, Carl thanked him for his input and showed appreciation, like a pro. This brings me to the next point…

an image of a phone, which symbolizes communication skills in the music industry

Appreciate The Other Person

If you want someone to care, you have to care about them as well. Do some research on them, ask them questions about what they like, and what inspires them. Often producers with a semi-decent amount of followers will hit me up and just expect me to engage because they have a bunch of followers. Sorry to tell you, nobody, besides promoters, care about your follower numbers. Not even your mom cares.

However, when people know who I am, what I’ve done, my affiliations, and has enjoyed my music, this creates an immediate bond. This also avoids me having to explain who I am and what I’ve done. I would rather be humble and not have to prove myself.

The people who know who I am will come with appreciation before they attempt to get something. I don’t have to prove anything, which makes me want to know them, because they are at least interested in similar things, since they’re a fan.

 

Small Interactions Over Time

This may sound like stalking, but really, it’s not. If you follow the artist on a few platforms, it’s good to like 

posts, and comment. Over time, people will begin to notice you, because they are constantly exposed.

In psychology, there is actually a term for this: the “Mere Exposure Effect.” It’s really just a music industry communication skills hack.

While just minor interactions such as “hearts” can go a long way, it’s often best to ask specific questions, or make tailored statements, because it shows that you care. Sometimes when I make posts, I start to think of these commenters, with the goal of trying to get them to interact. It’s a good feeling to feel like you have support.

 

Be Tactful With Name Dropping

Name-dropping is a double edge sword. To a certain extent, it helps me know that a stranger’s connected to me in some way. This creates a feeling of familiarity. 

Where it becomes a little too much is when they bring up stories involving details that might be too personal or too revealing.

Whenever someone gossips, there is often a request that underlies the whole thing. Sometimes it’s validation, sometimes it’s trying to coax a mutual understanding, or a need to show people that you are in the know. An example is if someone badmouths a promoter for not paying, it’s often a request for justice. However if I can’t do anything about it, then it’s not appropriate to talk about it. However, if I know that person, it might be a good thing to say it, as I can do something about it if the claim is warranted. 

 

Offer Something Of Value

Each time I do a live stream on YouTube, this guy shows up, asks really interesting questions, makes really nice comments, and then after the stream, he connects, and says the things he loves, and then makes requests. Better yet, he often gives ideas of things he saw in other streams and asks if I can incorporate them (but not in a pushy, or “explaining” sort of way).

One time he asked me why I haven’t had a Livestream for a while, and that encouraged me to make one. 

While everyone’s communication style is a little different, these are some basic observations that I’ve noticed through my years as an electronic music coach and producer. It’s these little interactions that make me more willing to listen and fulfill requests from people who before their initial interaction, were only strangers. 

This also helps me learn who they are, and increases the chances that if they submitted a song to my label, Archipel, that it may get signed. That’s because my label is more than just the music, it’s a reflection of personal values. And no matter how good the music is, if I don’t know that person’s values, then chances are it won’t be signed.

This is also true for feedback and free coaching. I’m usually happy to help people who care about what I do, because that, in turn, helps me improve.