Rule #3 – Save your recording in mono.
While preparing a performance to the New Swing Sextet’s “Revolucionando”, we felt great in the studio rehearsing, however when we performed at the Chicago Salsa Congress, the music didn’t sound right. It was only then that we realized the stereo recording has drastically different instruments playing on the right and left channels. People on the right side of the room were hearing something different than those on the left! Luckily the DJ was able to switch the mixer output to “mono”, which sent the same signal to both speakers. At the next venue that we performed I clearly wrote on the CD “Set to MONO” for the DJ. But the mixer didn’t have that option.
Don’t depend on the DJ, or the equipment, to make your music sound right. Save your music in mono, and you will get consistent sound from the speakers. This is especially important when you are in a venue that may only use one channel for your monitors (monitors are the speakers that play towards the performers in order for them to hear what the audience is hearing)
