How Mid/Side Processing Works?

Written By: Eric “Realistic” Michael

Chances are you’ve heard of mid/side EQ, compression, or saturation before. It seems like a complicated matter, but it’s actually pretty easy to understand & highly effective in your mixes! In this blog we’ll break down what it is, how it works, & how you may use it.

What Does Mid/Side Mean?

Mid/side simply means you have the ability to make changes to the mids & the sides separately. So what does mid & side pertain to? “Mid” refers to everything in the middle of the mix. Meaning everything that’s in the center of this mix. “Side” refers to everything that is on the left & right channels.

You may still hear things that are panned left or right show up when you’re working on the mids. That’s because even though it’s panned, some of the audio information is still going down the middle.

Some instruments that are commonly found in the middle of the mix are:
- Lead vocal
- Kick
- Snare
- 808
- Bass

Some instruments that are commonly found on the sides of the mix are:
- Background vocals
- Synths
- Pads
- Rhythm guitar
- Hi-hats
- Overheads
- Reverbs
- Vocal FX

What Is Mid/Side Good For?

There are tons of things you could use mid/side for. Some of the best cases it’s used on are for mastering or bus sums. By the way, mid/side won’t be an option on a mono file or source. Let’s use mastering for example for a moment & we’ll apply it on an EQ.

Some cases where you would use the “mid” setting is:

- Removing resonance or muddiness in the low end.
- Reducing harshness in the lead vocals.
- Increasing the perceived volume of the lead vocals in the high mid-range.
- Increasing the punch & smack of the kick drum in the low mid-range.

Some cases where you would consider using the “side” setting is:

- Reducing the reverb in the mid-range.
- Removing unnecessary side information in the low end.
- Adding energy & wideness to the background vocals.
- Making the mix seem wider & fuller by increasing the high end on the sides.

You can also use mid/side EQ on things like pads to elevate the sides in the high-end or reduce washy mid-range on the sides. Mid/side EQ works great for kick drum & 808 samples that come as stereo files too. The mid setting can be very handy for reducing low end resonance.

What Are Other Things Mid/Side Can Be Used For?

Mid/side isn’t just limited to EQ though. It’s very effective & useful with compression & saturation too. For example, if you apply mid/side to a compressor you can get a nice wide sound if you compress just the sides. This is because you can thicken & glue the sides a bit more causing the perceived stereo image of the mix to appear bigger & wider.

Mid/side does wonders for saturation too. Plugins like iZotope’s Ozone Exciter & FabFilter’s Saturn 2 both allow you to do mid/side saturation. This is another case where you can get the mix to appear wider by adding a little extra sizzle to the top end of the sides. It also works great by applying saturation to the low end using the mid setting. 

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Realistic Production - Engineer

Realistic is a Producer/Engineer located in Atlanta, GA specializing in Hip-Hop, R&B & Pop music. Realistic has been involved in the music industry for over 15 years. He has worked on projects for Talib Kweli, Just Blaze, Musiq Soulchild, Pharoahe Monch, NBA 2k, Skyzoo, BJ The Chicago Kid, Madlib, Ayo-N-Keyz, Billboard Hitmakers, Atmosphere, Brother Ali, Rhymesayers, Hamburger Helper, & LoveOfPharaoh.

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