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Understanding Mid/Side Stereo Basics

1. Mid/Side stereo works by splitting the stereo signal into a "mid" channel (the sum of the left and right channels) and a "side" channel (the difference between the left and right channels). 2. Phase differences between the left and right channels, such as from room reflections, help create a stereo effect by making some portions of the audio uncorrelated between channels. 3. Both correlated and uncorrelated sounds are needed for Mid/Side stereo to work effectively, as 100% correlation results in a mono signal. Polarity and phase differences determine what information ends up in the mid and side channels.

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111 views3 pages

Understanding Mid/Side Stereo Basics

1. Mid/Side stereo works by splitting the stereo signal into a "mid" channel (the sum of the left and right channels) and a "side" channel (the difference between the left and right channels). 2. Phase differences between the left and right channels, such as from room reflections, help create a stereo effect by making some portions of the audio uncorrelated between channels. 3. Both correlated and uncorrelated sounds are needed for Mid/Side stereo to work effectively, as 100% correlation results in a mono signal. Polarity and phase differences determine what information ends up in the mid and side channels.

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7/1/2017 Mid/SideStereoExplained:PartI|JustMastering.

com

Mid/SideStereoExplained:PartI
Home ServicesandRates MasterMyMusic! About Samples Clients Gear ContactUs Search

ByRobStewartJustMastering.comAugust16,2015

Mid/[Link]/SideprocessinginPartIIofthisseries,butfirst,Iwilldiscusshow
Mid/SidestereoworkssothatIcangiveyouabetterunderstandingofthebenefits,risksandlimitationsofMid/Sideprocessing.

Stereosoundreproductionismadebytakingtwomonochannelsofaudio(LeftandRight)andplayingthemtogetherwiththeloudspeakersplacedat
[Link]
channeldistinctfromtherightchannel(andviceversa)iswhatcreatestheillusionthatsoundsarecomingfromdifferentplaceswithinthestereo
[Link],theonlystereoeffectyouwouldhearwouldbebasedonwheretheloudspeakersareplacedin
theroom,andhoweachspeakerinteractswiththeenvironment.

"Mid/Side"[Link]"Mid/Side"comesfromMid/Siderecordings(moreonthatlater),andthetermisthecause
[Link]"mid"and"side",onemightthinkthatthemidchanneliseverythingthatisinthemiddleofthe
soundfield,[Link](L+R).Forexample,assumeyouhave
stereotrackofafluteplayingintheleftchannel,[Link]"mid"channel,
youwillendupwithamonofilethatcontainsboththefluteandthebassguitar([Link]),eventhoughneitherinstrumentplayedinthe
middleofthesoundfield.

Thesidechannelisoftenthoughtofaseverythingthatcanbeheardtoonesideortheotherofastereorecording,[Link]
channelissimplythedifferencebetweentheleftandrightchannels(LR).Usingourfluteandbassexampleabove,thesideversionofthiswillalsobe
amonofilewhichcontainsthefluteandthebass.

Inthisexample,ifboththemidandthesideendupsoundingverysimilar,whydowegetStereowhenweplaytheLeftandRightchannelstogether?
Thisiswherethingsgetinteresting,andithastodowithsomethingcalledcorrelation.

Let'spausetodiscusssomekeyterms
Therearethreekeytermsthatweneedtocoverbeforewedelveanydeeper:polarity,phase,[Link]"polarity"
and"phase"usedinterchangeablyintheaudiofield,buttheyareverydifferent,andbothplayaroleinstereosoundreproduction.

"Polarity"isthepositiveornegativeorientationofawaveform,[Link]
ofoneofthem,forthepurposesofthisarticle,we'llcallyouroriginalwaveformthe"positivepolarity"version,andwe'llcalltheinvertedversionthe
"negativepolarity"[Link]
otheroutifyoucombinethemtogether,leavingnoaudio.

"Phase"isaboutthepositionofawaveformintime,[Link],youwillmove(i.e.
shift)[Link],butyouwillifyouhaveareferencepoint
[Link],ifyouapplyaphaseshifttoonetrackinamix,andleaveeverythingelseasis,youarethenshiftingthat
trackforwardorbackwardintime,[Link]
lotmoreIcouldcoverregardingphase,butthekeypointisthatphaseisabouttimeorientation,whichisverydifferentfrompolarity.

"Correlation"[Link]'sgobacktothepolarityexample,[Link]
uncorrelatedwiththepositivepolarityversion,[Link],
youendupwithnothing(noaudio).Ifyouflipthenegativepolarityversionbacktopositive,younowhavetwoidentical,correlatedwaveforms.
Sumthemtogetherandyouendupwithtwicetheamountofaudio.

[Link] 1/3
7/1/2017 Mid/SideStereoExplained:PartI|[Link]

Sidenote:Everwonderhowtoreadacorrelationmeter?Apositivevaluebetween0and1meansthatyouhavemorecorrelatedsoundsthan
uncorrelatedsounds(1=completelymono).Anegativevaluebetween0and1meansthatyouhavemoreuncorrelatedsoundsthancorrelated
sounds(1=completelyuncorrelated).Avalueof0meansthatyouhavea50/50mixofcorrelatedanduncorrelatedsoundsinyourmix,whichwill
oftencreateawide,[Link],youwanttoaimforvaluesbetween0and1whenmixingtohelpensurethat
yourmixismonocompatible(animportantfeatureforTV,filmandradiobroadcast).

TherolethatphaseplaysinStereoandMid/Side
Phaseplaysaroleincorrelation,[Link],
andyoursourceisclosertotheleftmicrophonethantherightmicrophone,[Link]
milliseconds,[Link]
correlatesomeofwhatwascapturedbetweenthetwomicrophones,resultinginastereocaptureofwhateveryouwererecording.

Ifyoumixthetworecordingsintoasingle(mono)channel,youmayheartheeffectsofcombfiltering(theuncorrelatedportionsofthespectrum
gettingcancelledout)dependinguponhowyoupositionedthemicrophonesrelativetothesourceandtoeachother,whichisoneofthereasons
[Link]
theeffectthatithascandramaticallyreducetonequality.

GettingbacktoMid/Side,[Link],andno
differenceinphasebetweenonemicandanother,wouldyouendupwithamonauralrecording?[Link],theacousticsoftheenvironment
thatyouarerecordinginwillalsogeneratedifferenttimedelaysbetweentheleftandrightmicrophones,andthosetinyphasedifferencesofthe
capturedroomreflections(blendedwiththedirectsound)willcreateastereocaptureofthedirectandreflectedsound.

Boilingitdown,phaseplaysabigroleinstereoplaybackandmonocompatibility,becauseitcanimpactthecorrelationbetweentheleftandright
channels.

Hereisanotherexample:

Inthisexample,thedirectsoundcapturedbytheleftmicrophonewillcorrelatewiththedirectsoundcapturedontherightbecauseitarrivingateach
[Link],youwouldhaveamonorecording,buttheroomacousticsare
helpingtocreateastereosoundfield.

[Link] 2/3
7/1/2017 Mid/SideStereoExplained:PartI|[Link]

Theindirectsoundcomingfromtheroomreflectionhastotravelalittlefurthertogettotheleftmicrophone,meaningthatitarrivesalittlelaterthanon
[Link],causingportionsoftheindirectsoundintheleftchanneltonot
[Link]
sound,[Link],youarecapturingablendofcorrelated
(direct)anduncorrelated(indirect)sounds,andthatiswhathelpsmakestereowhatitis.

Puttingitalltogether
YouneedamixofcorrelatedanduncorrelatedsoundsforMid/Sidestereotowork(100%correlationresultsin100%monosound).Polarityallowsyou
toencodestereointoMid/SideortodecodeMid/SidebacktoStereo,andthedifferencebetweentheleftandrightchannelsdetermineswhatyouhear
inthemid(sumorL+R)andside(differenceorLR)channels.

AnythingthatcreatesequalormoreaudiowhenLeftandRightaresummed([Link])willbeheardinthemidchannel,andanythingthat
createsequalormoreaudiowhentherightissubtracted([Link])[Link]
arereallyaboutthesumanddifferenceoftheleftandrightstereochannels,"SumandDifference"isamoreaccuratetermthanMid/Side.

Mid/Siderecordings
Let'sexamineathowMid/[Link]"mid"and"side"camefrom,andwhytherecanbesome
misunderstandingofwhatthe"mid"and"side"componentsofstereoare.

YoucanmakeaMid/Siderecordingbyplacingafigure8([Link])microphonesothatthenullsectionisfacingtowardwhateveryouare
recording,andthenplacingaunidirectionalmicrophonejustaboveit,facingwhatyouarerecording.Thefigure8micisthereforesetuptopickup
soundscomingfromtheleftandright,[Link],youwill
havetwomonotracksonefromtheunidirectionalmicrophone([Link]"mid"channel),andonefromthebidirectionalmicrophone(the"side"
channel).

Toreproducestereosoundfromthesemidandsiderecordings,youfirsthavetoconvertthemintoLeftandRightstereochannelsbyMidandSide
together(Mid+Side)tocreatetheleftchannel,andsubtractingtheSidefromtheMid(MidminusSide)tomaketherightchannel.

HereshowyoudothatinyourDAW:

[Link].
[Link](Side1,andSide2).
[Link].
[Link]"Side1"channelhardleft.
[Link]"Side2"channelhardright.
[Link]"Side2"track.
[Link],andadjustthelevelsoftheMidrelativetothetwosidechannelsuntilyougetarealistic/pleasing
Stereospread(lowerthesidechannelstonarrowthespread,raisethemtoincreasethespread).


Tosummarize,youcreateStereoreproductionfromMidandSidemicrophonerecordingsbyusingpolaritythesumanddifferencebetweenthe
[Link]+Side=theleftchannel,andMiddleSide=therightchannel.
ByblendingMid+SideandthenMidSideinthisfashion,youareusingcorrelation(polarity)torecreatethedifferencesbetweentheleftandright
stereochannels,allowingyoutoreproducethestereosoundfieldthatyouoriginallyrecordedwiththemicrophones.

WherethemisunderstandingaboutMid/Sidecomesfrom
RelatingthisbacktoMid/Sidestereo,inasimplesense([Link]),themiddlemicrophoneisreally
pickingupeverythinginfrontofit,notjustthemiddleofthesoundfield,andthatsmuchthewayyouwouldwanttolookatMid/[Link]
reallythesumofeverythinginthetwoLeftandRightchannels,[Link],
[Link]"SumandDifference"isamoreaccuratetermthanMid/Side.

InPartII,Illexpandonthisbydiscussingthebenefits,risksandlimitationsofMid/Sideprocessing.

Inthemeantime,happymixing!

[Link] 3/3

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