Splitting a stereo track into 2 mono tracks

Um, just a thought (and I know this thread is a bit old) but couldn't you just pan the stereo track over to one side in GB, then dupe the track and pan it all the other way... I just tried it and it sounds like you are getting just one side of the stereo image each time....

HawaiianHippie,

I understand exactly what you are trying to do and I need to accomplish a very similar task.

It has been more than a year since your original post so I thought I would ask if you come up with any better way to accomplish this inside GarageBand without having to do the "export to iTunes" method that HangTime suggested? What about outside of GarageBand; have you found another app that will help you do this?

To give you more context, I am working with choral learning tracks that are used by choir singers to help them learn their parts. We use a series of "part dominant" tracks for this purpose. A part dominant track has an indvidual part playing in the left side and all the other parts playing on the right side. For example, if I am learning the Bass part I get a track that has the Bass part in the left side and then all the other parts (Sopranno, Alto, Tenor) on the right side. What I want to accomplish is one of to outcomes:

Good: create a mono "part missing" track which would involve talking the right side of my part dominant track (the side that contains all the voices except for my Bass part) and then make a new mono track from that. This will allow me to practice singing with a track that contains all the parts EXCEPT for mine and has them coming out of both ears.

Better: Use each of the isolated part dominant tracks to create a stereo part missing track. This is where I would take all of the left side of the part dominant tracks (the side that has only one part) and then create a stereo mix of all the parts EXCEPT for my part. The reason that I want to do this as a mix is because then I can mix the tracks into a balance that matches the blend that we are looking for as a choir and/or match how loud the other voices will sound to me when I am standing amongst my peers singing to simulate real world.

Any ideas on how I can accomplish this?

Thanks,

Aslam

There is a much easier solution:

Set the Input Format of the Track to Mono (in the Smart Controls Inspector) and any Stereo Region on that Track is summed to Mono. That mono signal plays on both L-R channels of you main Output in GarageBand.

Hope that helps

Edgar Rothermich - LogicProGEM.com

(Author of the "Graphically Enhanced Manuals")

http://DingDingMusic.com/Manuals/

'I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.'

HawaiianHippie wrote:

Garageband cannot take a single stereo track and split it into 2 mono tracks.

correct, but there is a workaround if you use iTunes as well:

http://www.bulletsandbones.com/GB/GBFAQ.html#stereotomono

(Let the page FULLY load. The link to your answer is at the top of your screen)

HawaiianHippie wrote:

So, please, listen to the feedback you've been getting since day 1.

this is a user to user support forum with no official Apple presense, you need to get your message to them:

http://www.bulletsandbones.com/GB/GBFAQ.html#sendfeedback

(Let the page FULLY load. The link to your answer is at the top of your screen)

I have a solution!

It works in GarageBand 10, using the Join Regions feature. I haven't tried it in earlier versions, but chances are it might work there as well. Here's what you need to do:

1) Create a "Left Channel" track. Import or record your stereo audio into it. If recording, make sure you're using the stereo recording mode. Pan this track all the way to the left.

2) Create a "Right Channel" track. Copy and paste the region from "Left Channel" into it. Pan this track all the way to the right.

3) Create a piece of blank audio. You can do this by recording from the line input when nothing's plugged into it. It doesn't matter how long it is, as long as you are able to select the region. Let's name this track "Blank Audio 1". Make sure it's somewhere below the "Left Channel" track.

4) You're going to need this for both channels, so create a track called "Blank Audio 2", then copy and paste the region from "Blank Audio 1" into it. Make sure that it's somewhere below the "Right Channel" track.

5) Here's where the magic begins. Shift-select the audio regions from "Left Channel" and "Blank Audio 1". On the application menu lick Edit -> Join Regions. Select "Mono". You now have a separate left channel on a mono track.

6) Shift-select the audio regions from "Right Channel" and "Blank Audio 2". Click Edit -> Join Regions. Select "Mono". You now have a separate right channel on a mono track. Hooray!

Note that since your left channel is panned all the way to the left, and your right channel is panned all the way to the right, the mix will sound exactly the same as the original. You can now mix the stereo pan by controlling the volume sliders of the two mono tracks. You can also mix one channel into the other, or flip the channels, by changing the panning controls of the two mono tracks!

HTH

Do you mind making a video on youtube about this