Gerhard Fiedler wrote:
> 
> I think that most modern pop music is not recorded stereo. Whatever there
> is in terms of stereo is probably processed stereo, with of course quite
> arbitrary results when mixed into a mono signal.

Modern pop is generally recorded with lots and lots of tracks, so I 
think "recording in stereo" is kind of an anachronism - a throwback to 
the days when you had an orchestra and two mikes!

Stereo is generally applied in the final mix, and there are lots of 
different ways to do it, including some of the "spatially-enhanced" 
stereo algorithms that do use phase-shifting to help create the illusion 
of separation.

But - and I think this is my point! - at least some stereo algorithms DO 
take into account what's going to happen if you sum the two channels 
together, because that tends to happen in many of the environments in 
which a pop song could be heard (older mono TV sets, e.g.).  I 
implemented one algorithm a few years ago that applied a wide-stereo 
effect in complementary stereo phase such that if the output is mixed 
back to mono, the wide-stereo stuff cancels itself out and you're left 
with the original mono signal.

Which is all to say - I also think you should just sum the channels.
-- 
Timothy J. Weber
http://timothyweber.org
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