How to split a stereo signal into L and R channels

I want to split a stereo signal into separate left and right channels in Ableton, but I don’t know how to do it right, as I’ve been using Audacity for that before. Can I do it in Ableton? How?

Andrew

Yes, you can split a stereo track in Ableton, which is quite easy. First things off, let’s take a stereo sample as a source signal. I’ve quickly made a new one using Ping Pong delay, waveform clearly shows the difference between the left and the right channels visually:

Next, I duplicate this channel and put in a built-in Utility device. On the Utility, change Channel Mode from Stereo to Left in the drop-down menu. Don’t be confused here — when the Left is selected, the right channel is ignored, and the left channel appears on both outputs identically. In order to completely separate channels, shift the panorama all way to the left and reduce the volume output to -3 dB to compensate volume boost to be sure your splitted sound is performed at the same level as the source audio:

Then I gonna do the same for the right side, bounce both channels (right-click → Freeze TrackFlatten), and rename it to Left and Right respectively to keep things organized:

As an alternative, you can add an Audio Effect Rack, create two chains, and put Utility device to each chain with the same settings as described above. Like this:

And one more hint. You can save this Audio Effect Rack as a preset by clicking on the diskette icon on the top right, so next time you would like to split a stereo track, just drag and drop it from the library. For this particular reason, I like this method even more.

 11463   2016   Advice   Production

Since 2015, I’ve run an advice section giving my experience and answering readers’ questions on music production, DJing, performing, marketing, management, and other aspects of the music industry. The purpose of the series is to spread knowledge and cultivate professionalism in the music industry. The advice series works simply: you send me your questions, and I answer them with a blog post when I have something relevant to say. Send me your questions via the form.

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1 comment
Тимофей Фридман 2022

Спасибо за инфу!

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