Topic: Swapped Left and Right - Help!

[adaytoolong]

Okay...so I did something I've never done before in all my years of taping:  I accidentally plugged my left microphone into the right channel of my preamp, and vice versa.  I realized the error when I glanced up about two minutes into the set, but that's two minutes too late!  Is the fix for this simply swapping the left and right channels using Audacity (the software I used to record)?

Thanks!

[hi and lo]

Yup, it's an easy fix! Using wavelab there is a "swap channels" feature, but other editors have left me scratching my head for how to do this extremely simply edit. Not sure about audacity; hopefully someone else can chime in.

[cd2go]

I do this more often than I'd like to admit. If your software doesn't have a swap feature, you can also open a new stereo file and copy & paste each channel to the correct side. 

[Patrick]

This has been covered hundreds of times before.  Do a quick search and all the info will be there.

[adaytoolong]

I *did* do a search (more than a qucik one, in fact) and couldn't find anything.  That's why I posted this.  Can you point me to another thread where I can find the info?  Thanks.

[willndmb]

would you even be able to tell this happened from listening?
and if so how would flipping it help

[Diamonds]

This thread should help:

http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,57339.0.html

It's in the computer related forum.

[doodee]

would you even be able to tell this happened from listening?
and if so how would flipping it help

I guess how noticeable it would be would vary depending on mic placement. Once when I had the left/right flipped I was in a particularly choice spot to capture a great soundstage. Listening to the flipped channel master there was a very noticeable hole in the middle of the soundstage. Swapping the channels seemed to improve it quite a bit.

[acidjack]

Wait, did nobody seriously answer this?  For crying out loud.

Audacity:

Click the tab next to the filename. Select "Split stereo track" from the drop down menu
Once the tracks are split, simply assign the correct one as "Left Channel" and "Right Channel"

I don't know why people have to be rude about this. It's an easy fix.  Hope it helps, or that you figured it out on your own.  Cheers. 

[capnhook]

Wait, did nobody seriously answer this?  For crying out loud.

Audacity:

Click the tab next to the filename. Select "Split stereo track" from the drop down menu
Once the tracks are split, simply assign the correct one as "Left Channel" and "Right Channel"

I don't know why people have to be rude about this. It's an easy fix.  Hope it helps, or that you figured it out on your own.  Cheers. 

+T for your concise answer.

[willndmb]

Wait, did nobody seriously answer this?  For crying out loud.

Audacity:

Click the tab next to the filename. Select "Split stereo track" from the drop down menu
Once the tracks are split, simply assign the correct one as "Left Channel" and "Right Channel"

I don't know why people have to be rude about this. It's an easy fix.  Hope it helps, or that you figured it out on your own.  Cheers. 

i thought it was answered in the first 2 replies

[Diamonds]

Wait, did nobody seriously answer this?  For crying out loud.

Audacity:

Click the tab next to the filename. Select "Split stereo track" from the drop down menu
Once the tracks are split, simply assign the correct one as "Left Channel" and "Right Channel"

I don't know why people have to be rude about this. It's an easy fix.  Hope it helps, or that you figured it out on your own.  Cheers. 

i thought it was answered in the first 2 replies

Yup.  And then to be even more concise, I linked to a thread that pertained to Audacity and has this exact information except with screenshots.  Not sure why that would be rude...

[stevetoney]

If you are a taper with independent mic inputs, you either...

a) make this 'mistake' often and admit it,
b) make this mistake often and don't admit it 
c) you're anal about setting up, or
d) you don't tape. 

That said, I do know alot of people keep their right channel color coded red (Red = Right) all the way through to simplify setup.

Note:  Above is my crazy way of saying that I'm pretty sure almost everyone that tapes alot has done this...and probably not just once or twice. 

[su6oxone]

I've definitely done this a lot before I started to color code my cables (left=yellow), but in reality it probably makes little difference, especially since most PA systems are outputting a mono source anyway.  When it does matter, however, is when you are recording with mics and a soundboard patch for a matrix...

[adaytoolong]

My mics are color coded...that's how I caught myself when I looked up.  Glad to hear I'm not the only one who's done this.  Thanks to everyone who helped!

[John Willett]

Okay...so I did something I've never done before in all my years of taping:  I accidentally plugged my left microphone into the right channel of my preamp, and vice versa.  I realized the error when I glanced up about two minutes into the set, but that's two minutes too late!  Is the fix for this simply swapping the left and right channels using Audacity (the software I used to record)?

Thanks!

Yes - just swap left and right in the DAW.

If you can't swap, convert to two nono files and copy/paste them into a new file the correct way round.

It's all very easy.

[Scooter123]

I doubt I would care if I did this. 

[rowjimmytour]

I doubt I would care if I did this.

The only time I cared was running MS but I did have red mark on right to make set up simple

[kirk97132]

and why I record all track as mono not stereo pairs.  Load it in the DAW and pan the way you want it to be. 

[rowjimmytour]

and why I record all track as mono not stereo pairs.  Load it in the DAW and pan the way you want it to be.

This is what I would do w/ my r4 and make it easy to run matrix