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Air to the sides ?

Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2024 4:24 am
by nebelfuerst
In Bitwig I found a mastering plugin "air to the sides", which is one of my favourites.
It enhances stereo without affecting the drum and basslines.
(I cannot explain how this thing works.)

Is there a similar tool/plugin to get this done in scope ?

Re: Air to the sides ?

Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2024 9:50 am
by garyb
you can use a mid/side eq...

Re: Air to the sides ?

Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2024 11:02 am
by fra77x2
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_encoding

check the paragraph M/S stereo coding for more info

Re: Air to the sides ?

Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2024 11:31 am
by nebelfuerst
M/S stereo coding is the correct term. (Thanx to fra77x2 :) )
Is there a scope device, which does this M/S stereo coding ?

Re: Air to the sides ?

Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2024 12:51 pm
by nebelfuerst
As Stereoexpander also splits the lower freqs, I tried to build my own setup.
Sounds quite similar to what I was looking for.

Re: Air to the sides ?

Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2024 1:14 pm
by nebelfuerst
Just found out, that this function is part of dna-multicomp.

Re: Air to the sides ?

Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2024 4:27 pm
by valis
BX Digital has M/S modes too.

Re: Air to the sides ?

Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2024 3:03 pm
by fidox
DAS Dynpara M/S ?

Re: Air to the sides ?

Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2024 6:42 am
by spacef
I don't think it works simply with panned EQs. Here is a better explanation, https://www.soundonsound.com/sound-advi ... ually-work it requires phase inverting, additions and substraction. I began a circuit like than more than 10 years ago but did not finish it (I think there were quite a few free M/S eqs or effects in the past).

Re: Air to the sides ?

Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2024 9:33 am
by fra77x2
Yes it doesn't work with simple panners because you need to have both the encoding to m-s signals and the decoder back to left right otherwise you can't mix these signals.

Re: Air to the sides ?

Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2024 12:50 pm
by valis
Don't pick on the casual users, they are what makes a company profitable. Something you may need. :D

Also, you can do M/S encoding on any mixer if you know what you're doing. Mid is just L+R summed to a mono channel, and side is L-R also via mono--which is easily accomplished with phasefix-X (from Assaf). Use it on both channels going into either encoding to ensure things are 100% sample aligned in terms of phase (you can test this with impulse/clicks and record OR lock everything to the same DSP). Inversion is easily done on this tool, though you can do it in on the mixer(s) too.

Btw there are a LOT of tools in the devices section if you search that can do M/S. Here is yours fra77x2: viewtopic.php?p=310237#p310237

A full mixer from mausmuso: viewtopic.php?p=340425#p340425 as well as a device specifically for FX: viewtopic.php?p=345240#p345240

This is interesting and perhaps somewhat applicable as well: viewtopic.php?p=350171#p350171

Loads more, those are just the first few results.

Re: Air to the sides ?

Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2024 9:54 pm
by fra77x2
Some information about m-s processing for educational purposes:

To apply properly m-s processing you have to know your sources. i.e. the recorded audio tracks

if you have a mono track m-s processing will not affect it at all. You can't create stereo with m-s processing.

A track should be real stereo, should be recorded differently for the left and right channel, so to have two channels with a slight
difference between them. Like recording a sound with two mics.

The m-s processing works like that.

The mid signal is created by adding the two real channels of a stereo sound so we get "all the information" with the signal that is same at the left and right, reinforced and the signal that is out of phase deleted.

The side signal is created by subtracting the two channels so we get the difference. This difference is of course related to the mid channel and we need to get the signals back in left right stereo format to make any sense. They exist as "side" only related to this specific mid signal.

You should use a phase meter when you study how an m-s processor works

A common procedure is to low cut the side signal so to make the lows monophonic.

any type of processing can be applied. Does a mix always benefit from this? No

You can make stereo tracks without m-s processing that sound great and wide.

extreme m-s creates incompatibilities with mono playback.

It needs experience from the engineer to be properly used. Making an m-s processor is a great educational endeavor that gives a lot of insight on how stereo signals work.

Re: Air to the sides ?

Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2024 3:32 am
by fra77x2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3P94roV_HA

I made a video displaying the inner circuit of my m-s processor.

It seems yes it can be made in a mixer but it would be daunting to manage the channels right

Re: Air to the sides ?

Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2024 4:32 am
by valis
I used to do it on my analog mixers, kick/main snare always mono (and toms for house, which you layer on the 2nd and 4th kick). Wide snare or rattle is 100% side, mixed to taste. All other drums fed into sub-bus channels (send bus outputs to channel inputs) as described above for m/s processing, and you can control the width and panning of elements in m/s much easier.

Do a few recording passes so you can just re-use existing routing. Yes, this was all post 1998 when our DAWs became more usable.

Re: Air to the sides ?

Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2024 5:05 am
by fra77x2
Yes in percussion it is very useful so to make contrasts.
Nowadays i seek for a solid mono mix first.

Re: Air to the sides ?

Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2024 7:18 am
by valis
And so now let us hope people here who have an interest in this topic are well armed (versed? chorused?) with enough information to apply some variation on this magic to their own productions.

Re: Air to the sides ?

Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2024 7:47 am
by fra77x2
i am pretty sure they don't wait for my confirmation.

So people let the magic begin!

we have just summarised a fantastic production technique that valis actually uses before i even knew mixers exist (i was a guitar player in my youth) so you can have your fun without frustrations. Now if anyone has his period he can try install win 11

:lol: