Convert samples to mono

[rhmtts]

It would be useful to add an effect for turning stereo samples to mono, for example to remove unwanted stereo information from basses and drum hits, undo overzealous stereo processing in breakbeats or separate out instruments in old jazz recordings.

Once 1.1 and the rumored stereo recording hits this will be an even more desirable feature to have.

What is the problem?

There is currently no way to turn stereo samples loaded from the SD card to mono.

What do you want to achieve?

Turn stereo samples (loaded from the SD card) to mono. Preferably providing the same options the MPC does: left channel only, right channel only or left and right channel combined.

Are there any workarounds?

No, unless you count doing it before you store samples to the SD card,

Any links to related discussions?

Import stereo samples as 2 mono samples

On OG Tracker, when importing sample to project, it would be nice if one could choose whether to import it as merged mono, import L channel only, or import R channel only. What is the problem? Importing samples that were initially stereo, are merged. But it would be an improvement if I could separate L & R channels into two separate samples on sample import. Right now I am just doing this manually on computer before saving the samples on SD card. What do you want to achieve? Have fake stereo…

This asks to allow importing stereo samples as two mono samples. The result would be a workaround for the feature requested here.

Any references to other products?

MPCs allow you to choose between left channel only, right channel only or left and right channel combined.

SP 404 allows turning stereo samples to mono by selecting either the left channel or the right channel.

[dan.lgrnd]

Thanks for the wish @rhmtts and a big thanks for following the best practices

[Hans]

@here Thanks for your contribution, the wish is now ready for voting!

[env]

I wanted to make a wish like this for Play Plus.
I use Bitwig which has no way of exporting as monofile.
An option to import left, right or summed mono in addition to stereo would be great to save memoryspace.

[rhmtts]

Ah, yes, it would also save memory space. Didn’t think about that

My goal was to get better sound.

[env]

Maybe a mid or side mono-izer would be good then

[Sandroid]

@env

I use Bitwig which has no way of exporting as monofile.

I’m sure you are aware that you could just take that export and render it down to mono in something like Audicity or Ocenaudio (which both are free). If you are on Windows i can also recommend FileConverter, if you are looking for a quick solution.

[timwjones123]

This would be extremely useful for me!

A lot of the material I sample has a wide stereo field. This can make it awkward to work with. It would be huuge if I could mix it to mono inside of Tracker.

[Shirow]

Voted! I’m always surprised when I see a stereo sampler / sample player without stereo management utilities.

Could be in the sample editor, as an effect: “Stereo field”, with options like L+R mono / L only mono / R only mono / a stereo spread reducer and enhancer

BTW, on the same subject, I find that the mono sampling options should be right in the sampling menu instead of buried in the system pref.

[Shirow]

Bumping this one, because it bums me a lot in my daily use of the t+ !

[canton]

Myself I’d like a super simple “Convert To Mono” effect added to the Sample Editor page. I often record from a mono source and end up with a stereo file that takes up twice as much RAM as needed. Why can’t I knock it back down to mono?

Or I guess a more generous function on the Sample Editor page would be “Sample Format” effect which would have options to (1) change from stereo to mono (2) change sample rate (with or without changing playback rate) (3) change bit depth. All three of these would be hugely helpful in managing RAM consumption.