[linux-audio-user] Re-encoding Stereo mp3's into Mono mp3's

[Steven P. Ulrick]

Hello, Everyone :)
My question is, is it possible to take an already existing mp3 (128
kBits, 44.1 kHZ, joint stereo) and re-encode it so that it is in mono
(at 128 kBits of course).  I figured out how to accomplish this task by
using the command mpg123 -w to convert the mp3's into wav files, and
then I use the following command to encode the wav file into a mono mp3:
lame -b 128 -m mo  (In both cases, of course I used the appropriate file
names, in the appropriate order)

What I would like to do, is re-encode the stereo mp3's directly into
mono, without having to go through the time consuming step of converting
the mp3's into wav files.

In case you were wondering, one of the reason
I want to do this, is that I have some old gospel songs from the early
to mid sixties, and, like a lot of music from that era, the stereo is
really cheesy: for example, almost all the instruments in one channel,
and all the vocals in the other channel.  This example is a bit extreme,
but if you've ever heart "Left My Sins Behind Me" by the Alex Bradford
Singers, you'd see why I want to convert to mono :)

Thanks in advance for your help :)
Steven P. Ulrick