Orchestral mix help - feedback needed!

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I've got a vision.
Member Since: Dec 05, 2008

Yo, I need Your help with this little sample:

www.homerecordingconnecti...ype=2&src=2

Though I hear something's wrong I can't really put my finger on it... Any ideas? Quick feedback appreciated!!! :D

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MASSIVE Mastering, LLC
Member
Since: Aug 05, 2008


Mar 01, 2010 02:44 pm

Other than all the instruments don't sound real...? (Sorry, had to)

It's a little "honky" sounding in the mids and there's a weird 2-3k thing going on...

I've got a vision.
Member
Since: Dec 05, 2008


Mar 02, 2010 12:49 am

Thanks Master, tried my best with EWQL but I'm still a total rookie... :D

I'll just post what I've done and maybe someone could tell me what's wrong:

Trombones (stacatto) - Glace Verb (mega dense), bit eq cut in the lows

Snares - lil reverb, tracks tube comp, real comp (attack overheads)

Timpani - lil reverb

Horn - large reverb, lil delay

Byte-Mixer
Member
Since: Dec 04, 2007


Mar 18, 2010 08:53 pm

Sorry I'm late getting back to this. Agreeing with MM about the honky sound in at least in the brass. And I'll trust what he said about the bit in 2-3Khz range

(my room's not up to snuff to be quite that accurate, but someday after we move and I get a bigger room.....I digress)

As far as getting realism, the big boys tend to use EWQLSO and such as a quick-development of ideas, and then, depending on funding, will mix those tracks with a live orchestra, or completely replace them.

That said, in a home-studio situation, there's a few things you can do. Listen to a live orchestra on CD, something you're intimately familiar with, and use that as a sanity check. Calibrate your ears with that, then go back and listen to your own mix, and try to pinpoint the areas that sound "off" or "wierd"

To try and achieve a fuller, or more realistic sound, you could try layering the EW with other sound banks/VST/SF2/etc. to round out the sound a bit more. Some careful EQing and level checking will be involved to make sure things mesh well. By layering, I mean clone the original track using the EW stuff, and replace the clone's bank with something like squidfont or some other orchestral samples, but set them to the same mixer channel so that the effects help glue them together. At least that's how I've done it playing around, and I usually get some nice sounding results. Nothing "hollywood" sounding, but not horrible either.

Granted I don't really have any of the more expensive VST instruments, so I have to use what I have, and make the most of it. Which usually throws my OCD into a rage, and I end up over-analyzing everything, and then finally finish the track a year later. :P

On the reverb, to me it seems a little heavy. I have a rule of thumb where I set the reverb to where it "sounds cool/neat" and then I back the knob off another 30% or thereabouts.

Anyway, there's some food for thought, and I hope it helps.

Member
Since: Sep 30, 2009


Mar 18, 2010 10:01 pm

Not to get off subject, but anyone hear their new "hollywood strings" release? Looks pretty nice. Of course i'm going to shy away from the price tag for the next 5-10 years ($1600 for platinum) but once it starts going down in price and eventually goes on sale for $200 like all EW products seem to if you're patient enough, i might go for it

http://www.unitedmusicians.info
Contributor
Since: Nov 11, 2007


Mar 19, 2010 01:49 pm

You heard this stuff Fragile/Topti??

vsl.co.at/en/211/442/484/349/691/391.htm

Most of their sounds are very convincing. I'm listening to the Basic Instinct theme right now...incredible sounding.

I really need to talk to an accountant to figure out exactly how much money I could get back from all the taxes I pay if I opened a Publishing proprietorship...I've heard you can write some significant things off, like perhaps the Standard Vienna Symphonic Cube package? My EP is hurting with some of these EW samples. Not all of them are so ideal.

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