#001 - Use a Pitch Shifter as a Mono-Safe Stereo Widener

Most stereo widening plugins work by phase-shifting or delaying one channel relative to the other. This creates width but breaks mono compatibility - the widened content cancels itself when summed to mono on club subs or phone speakers. A pitch shifter solves this differently: it creates two slightly detuned copies of the signal, which the brain perceives as width without introducing phase relationships that cancel in mono.

The technique

1. Duplicate your synth or pad channel twice
2. Insert a pitch shifter on each duplicate
3. Set one to +7 cents, panned hard left
4. Set the other to -7 cents, panned hard right
5. Blend the duplicates at -6 to -10 dB under the dry centre signal
6. High-pass both detuned copies at 200 Hz to keep the low end mono

The width is immediate and significant - typically wider than what stereo enhancement plugins produce, and it survives mono collapse intact. A common variation is to push the detuning to 12-15 cents for more dramatic width, but A/B against the dry signal - past a certain threshold the pitch shift becomes audible as detuning rather than perceived as width.