Just bored so grabbed the electric guitar and took literally 4 minutes to record the ending
section to U2- One

3 Dry tracks into usb interface ( same guitar used for Bass using tone knob )
Epiphone Special 2 ( generic guitar)
Steinberb LM9 ( ancient VSTi drum)
JamVox 2 VST plugin ( Ancient by now)

Guitar tracks recorded in 1 take with no FX ( FX added later in Reaper)
Drums in LM9 just so the mix has some beat. No Fx monitoring was done either, drums recorded with the mouse ( hence the off timing)

FX used : Lm9 VSti, Jamvox 2, Vesco HAAS mono plugin, Reaper stock plugins

1 fill Synth back track recorded ( original has multiple synth layers)

You can see I am using the OOPS for mixing ( out of phase stereo) button in Reaper
This is critical as you can not hear where the tracks sit within their reverb, delay or chorus ( how far and wet they should be)
unless you use the OOPS method ( L-R) button in Reaper)

Soundcloud file mixed, but Video is raw from interface recording so very quick mix ( sounds very thin and all over the place)

 

Last edited: Feb 9, 2023

Sounds like Side with extra words.

 

Sounds like side, but is more explicit in wording and maybe more clear.
I did not know that side is derived via out-of-phase manipulation. Well I still don't know ...
But it seems clear Reaper's OOPS flips phase..but ...which side? Both, I guess,".... unless otherwise stated"?.. LOL..
Switching L-R channels on the wet signal? Inverting phase?... I played with that mostly trying to get thick yet spatial guitar sounds in Cakewalk back in the day..
I need to play with all of that again to hear some differences....

 

Last edited: Jan 30, 2023

The OOPS method to mixing is more to setup the instruments without individually MID side every single track.

 

The OOPS is basically having the Master mixer in Left - Right mode. This has severe advantages over mixing in Mono ( which is standard in mixing). If you listen to 80's and 90's music it is more centered and further back in the mix. In order to understand how the Mix is setup you use the OOPS method and listen to the track being examined.

When you listen in L-R ( Mid channel) you get to see where they put each track( center, left, right, which track has reverbs, delays and chorus.

This is important for your own mixes as you can then stage your tracks properly which then when listening in mono are better mixed in context to how deep they sit ( reverb, delays, chorus).

As you seen in the video the OOPS method allowed me to see that the Chorus in Jamvox when added sounded fuller on the guitar track but was messing with the mix, but this could not be checked in MONO only in Left - Right ( Mid only)

OOPS allows you to check how much reverb your track has since when in OOPS if it is louder than the other tracks, and you intend to keep it in the center then you clearly know it has way too much reverb as it is louder even than the side tracks ( tracks panned a bit left or right)

Listening to the original U2- one on OOPS you can clearly see where the vocal is, where the drum sections are placed, where the guitar tracks are placed ( center, left or right), Synths location etc.

With OOPS on the master track you see an overall image of where all the tracks are in real time with all their FX on and hear basically which ones need to changed. It is an amazing way to mix as you are listening to a complete different way how the tracks sound ( since it's not in stereo).

You can hear if your vocal has too much reverb, how far it is in the mix without muting all the other tracks, it is an overall audio picture of your entire mix.

-Centered tracks with no reverb, delay or chorus are phased out ( not audible)
So if you hear a BASS you know there is delay, chorus or reverb on it.

-Tracks with stereo reverbs ( sends or in track itself) will had their middle remove and only the reverbs will be heard this is critical to see how much reverb there really is.

-If someone sends you a track, you can listen to it in OOPS and see if any reverb is on it, as soon as you
check it in OOPS no sound means no reverb, delay or chorus, if you hear the track then it has reverb on it so you can then add reverb and adjust the level based on that amount already there.

-Drums mixing, allows to position certain sections away from the middle, knowing that anything centered is not heard unless it has stereo effects on it.

It's a strange way to mix as the overall volume is much lower of course, but to me simply can't record or mix without this method my ears are used to this type of mix hearing.

Record and mix in Stereo, but use OOPS to check where they truly sit within a mix.
Mono is just to check for any tracks are are too far left or right. OOPS in my opinion is the greatest free tool that anyone can use to their advantage.

That guitar solo with the chorus in Jamvox being turned on and off shows how a chorus affects the track in real time, it is clear as day in OOPS mode but in Mono you can not tell a difference.

 

Last edited: Jan 30, 2023

Excuse me ... what the f is the "OOPS" - method? I heard of that with the Rubik-cube and wasn't that interested ... So, what is it with Reaper?

 

Nitpicking for sure...sometimes a reverb is not panned and with deliberately no side information so the OOPS method would not work in this particular instance.

 

The mono button can be set to be L-R (as opposed to L+R). I guess that was the plan.

Interesting to see this is an old technique, maybe that's why they didn't just call it "side monitoring".

 

Got this on my monitoring controller for ages and use it while mixing and mastering to check mono compatibility and out-of-phase content which is important to keep things vinyl safe. Calling this a special mixing technique is a bit overrated i think.

By the way, the timing is terrible on all tracks.

 

Indeed the guitar tracks were recorded in less than 5 minutes, listening to the next and record the next, those are more closer together in 1 take there was no other takes. Drums were recorded using the mouse to trigger LM9 which is why the drum section is slightly off since I was listening and timing the hits with the computer mouse.

This was literally a 5 minute job, but the guitar tracks sound better together than the drums as the timing is off
due to using the mouse, was on the laptop killing some time synching backups on another Server machine to was killing some time here lol. The sounds from jamvox are mine from years ago, most of the U2 effects can be done using Jamvox 2.

The reason why I use Left-Right ( or M/S) mode is simply to have a sense of space for the reverbs once you hit the m/s inline mode. Load up a track from any comercial song and listen to it using M/S inline and you will see where they place the tracks, from middle, left, right, which tracks have small or longer reverbs etc.

It's an old way of checking things but I like it.
Thanks for the comments.