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  • Compression, Reverb and Vienna Samples

    I am wondering if anyone out there has some good advice for a relatively new user of Vienna, for good results with compression settings with the special edition samples. I am currently working on viola and clarinet track with a compression ratio of 1.5:1 and would like to know if it is a good idea to compress these signals in hopes of getting a higher quality result. Also who makes the best reverb software for classical samples? The lowest setting I have on my Cubase LE reverb is 200 ms, and I think some reverb software packages must go lower than that. Also, are ther any other effects that would be good to use in getting thagt authentic orchestral sound? obviously, many of the Vienna samples are quite dry on their own and need to be treated.

    Kevin

    Canadian Vienna User and Composer


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    @kfdoucet@dal.ca said:

    I am wondering if anyone out there has some good advice for a relatively new user of Vienna, for good results with compression settings with the special edition samples. I am currently working on viola and clarinet track with a compression ratio of 1.5:1 and would like to know if it is a good idea to compress these signals in hopes of getting a higher quality result. Also who makes the best reverb software for classical samples? The lowest setting I have on my Cubase LE reverb is 200 ms, and I think some reverb software packages must go lower than that. Also, are ther any other effects that would be good to use in getting thagt authentic orchestral sound? obviously, many of the Vienna samples are quite dry on their own and need to be treated.

    Kevin

    Canadian Vienna User and Composer

    This is a complicated question. For an authentic orchestral sound, you need no compression at all, but I agree that with samples one has to be a bit creative. I think that in order to get the best out of VSL you should invest (stupid word, I know) in a decent convolution reverb like Altiverb. There are many posts about how to use this product with VSL. I just think that with the rather nasty sounding Cubase reverb (sorry Steinberg) you won't get the most from your library.

    DG


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    Hello Kevin

    Compressing instruments can help to bring soloists in front of an orchestra (ensemble) or to enhance the sound of far instruments - such as brass instruments in a symphonic orchestra - so that they aren't covered by the instruments in the front...

    Two solo instruments don't have the problems which I mentioned above. So if you don't use other instruments than the viola and the clarinet I would recommend not to compress the two instruments too much. 1 : 1 .... 1 : 2.

    I' tending more to 1:1 (no compression) with this "2-instrument-situation". Perhaps your piece of music has to be very loud > compression.

    interesting Reverbs:

    Altiverb (Convolution) > http://www.audioease.com/Pages/Altiverb/AltiverbMain.html

    SIR (Convolution) > http://www.knufinke.de/sir/sir2.html

    Reflect > http://www.virsyn.de/en/E_Products/E_REFLECT/e_reflect.html

    Pristin Space (Convolution) > http://www.voxengo.com/product/pspace/

    Master Verb (Wave Arts) > http://www.wavearts.com/MasterVerb5.html

    Ambience > http://www.smartelectronix.com/~magnus/ (close to the "RoomWorks Reverb" in Cubase)

    All the best

    Beat Kaufmann

    _____________________

    www.beat-kaufmann.com


    - Tips & Tricks while using Samples of VSL.. see at: https://www.beat-kaufmann.com/vitutorials/ - Tutorial "Mixing an Orchestra": https://www.beat-kaufmann.com/mixing-an-orchestra/
  • Wow, Thanks very much for your quick reply. It seems there is some consensus that convoluted reverb is the best. The tips on getting certain instruments to stand out through compression are just what i need. I will be definately checking out some of the higher quality convoluted reverbs, and their websites

     I am a bit concerned though that my cpu may not be able to handle the convoluted reverb effect. I currently have a lap top with 80 gig hard drive with 2 gigs of Ram on the Windows XP Media Centre operating system, with an M audio fast track pro interface and a Yamaha DGX 620 Midi equipped keyboard. I noticed my system crashes from time to time when i start loading on the effects, especially for larger orchesral ensembles. Sometimes when i try to play more than one note in some of the patches, I end only getting one note sounding. Does anyone have any advice for what I should need for my setup to run more efficiently, especially if i decide to go with the convoluted reverb? Just so you know I am still in school working on my composition protfolio, so economical solutions are best for me.

    Cheers

    Kevin, Canadian VSL User


  • Hello again, Kevin

    Laptop

    - Make sure that you switch of all programs which you don't need. > have a look at "Autostart"

      (Battery Control, Bluetooth, Updaters, ... )

    - If possible: Stop the Antivirus program while mixing extended projects.

    - Make sure that no "Power Save Program" slow your Laptop

    - Switch off all Graphic effects (shadow of the mouse arrow, shadows with frames etc.)

    Cubase

    at VST System

    - Switch on "Dual-Processor" > if you have

    - Pre Load of Music: max. 2s (a higher value will need more RAM)

    - Select the Asio-Driver of your M-Audio Interface (no Asio-Multimedia driver, no Asio DirectX...)

    M-Audio Interface

    It isn't important to have a very low latency for the Final Mix of your projects (Live-Recordings are done)

    So increase the amount of samples/buffer: 1024 or more is OK for the final mix. This saves CPU

    Power = less crashes.   

    All the best

    Beat Kaufmann 


    - Tips & Tricks while using Samples of VSL.. see at: https://www.beat-kaufmann.com/vitutorials/ - Tutorial "Mixing an Orchestra": https://www.beat-kaufmann.com/mixing-an-orchestra/