SoundBite: Left-right stereo to MS and back again

In today's SoundBite, I'm going to convert a stereo track to MS then convert it back again. Here's my stereo track "left center right left center right". I'll start by splitting my stereo track into two mono tracks. It sounds the same. "left center right left center right". I'll pan both tracks center and bounce to a mono file which I'll call M. It sounds like this... "left center right left center right". And now I'll bounce.

The S track will be the difference between the left and right channels so I'll use a plugin to invert the phase of the right channel. It sounds like this panned into mono... "left right left right". You'll notice that anything in the center cancels completely. And bounce...

I'll clear these tracks now and import the M and S tracks back in.

I won't play this because it doesn't make any audio sense. To convert back to left and right I'll duplicate the S track. On one of the copies I'll use my plugin again to invert the phase. Now I can add M and S together which will give me my left channel... "left center left center". And bounce...

And now I'll subtract S from M which will give me my right channel... "center right center right". And bounce...

I'll clear those tracks and import my new left and new right channels. Because I named these files ending in L and R, Pro Tools will put them directly onto a stereo track. It sounds like this... "left center right left center right". And let's compare the original stereo track with the one I've created... "left center right left center right left center right left center right'". Thank you for listening.