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I have a dilemma. I recorded live flute in a concert hall yesterday using my mac and the Zoom H2. I used the 2-channel setting that uses both the front and back mics, creating a stereo file. When I recorded the same thing today, I forgot to change the mic setting, hence this recording is made only from the front mic, creating a single stereo file with left and right.

I now need to cut/paste clips and make them match. How do I proceed?

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  • Do you mean that you first recorded with the four-channel dual-stereo setting, and then recorded with two-channel stereo? – ObscureRobot Nov 29 '12 at 23:34
  • Almost, the first recording is made with the 2-channel setting, not the 4-channel setting. Hence, one channel has the front mic signal and the other channel the rear mic signal. – Henrik Söderlund Nov 30 '12 at 2:56
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The easiest thing to do would be to turn your two stereo recordings into two mono recordings. You might be able to do this by summing your left and right channel, but it is safer to pick either the left channel or the right channel and use that. This is because you might have phase cancellation when summing the two channels to mono.

Now that you have gotten rid of the differing stereo image, you just need to match levels. Use an audio editor like Audacity to reduce the level of the louder recording until it matches the quieter recording.

If you want to try to match the stereo image, then you need to dive into stereo processing. There are psychoacoustic techniques that can help you manipulate the perceived stereo image. What exactly you need to do will depend on your recording and desired outcome.

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  • I really do not quite understand what you are saying here. – Henrik Söderlund Dec 1 '12 at 3:10
  • What audio editing tools have you worked with? – ObscureRobot Dec 1 '12 at 5:05
  • I am using Adobe Audition CS6 at the moment, but also used Sony SounddForge in the past. – Henrik Söderlund Dec 1 '12 at 6:10
  • Try taking your two sound files and converting them both to mono. Be sure not to overwrite the original files when saving. Next, adjust the volume of the louder file until it flows smoothly with the quieter file. Finally, render these two files into a single continuous file. This process will be easier if Audition has a multitrack mode. – ObscureRobot Dec 1 '12 at 12:50
  • it is not necessarily about matching the volume. It is the fact that one of my recordings has the front sound and the back sound (which picks up about 40meters worth of concert hall), compared to the other recording which only has a left and right channel of the front mic only. – Henrik Söderlund Dec 2 '12 at 5:16

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