Mixing Rock/Metal Band with Orchestra using MIR 24?

[Raab]

Hello there, i know there has been another thread about using MIR (especially Roompack 2) for a usual band environment but i was just asking this myself: Would it make sense to use the MIR Roompack 2 - thinking of the "Großer Sendesaal" - to mix a metal band in front of the stage and place the orchestra just as you would with a real orchestra behind the group? I'm currently thinking of purchasing MIR24 as i'm having lots of trouble getting some real dimension into my mix. At the moment all the reverbs in Cubase (Softube TSAR-1 e.g.) with different pre-delays sound just too muffled and washy. It gets my mix pretty cluttered. Would this change if using MIR? Thanks in advance!

[Dietz]

Welcome Raab,

sorry for the slightly delayed reply. I've been mixing - yes - a rock-band, making use of MIR Pro for each and every song. :-) Admittedly I wass mostly adding some nice dimensionailty to the drums, but I was also using another setup for strings (a hybrid section, with real lead-instruments recorded on top of virtual sections).

I was using RoomPack 2 exclusively: Studio Weiler for the drums, and Teldex Berlin (shortened to 1.2 seconds) for the strings.

Of course I'm not an "un-biased" source of information ;-) .... but from my 25+ years of experience in mixing rock and pop music I can tell you that there is nothing that will get you closer to "reality" than MIR Pro - apart from recording the Real Thing, of course. 8-)

... be aware that that "realism" is not always what a mix actually asks for, so you might run into situations where you have to "cheat" - like you would in case of a real recording with a main microphone array and closer spot-mics:  I often change the global Wet / Dry ratio to a pretty "unnatural", but aestethically pleasant -50% (which means: much more dry signal used than by default). Still I get that unique sense of space and 3d-ness that MIR Pro is known for.

Give it try, I'm sure you'll like it. Oh, and MIR Pro 24 will be sufficient, as long as you don't need aim for orchestras playing along to the metal band (... which is not soooo unusual, nowadays ;-D ...).

Kind regards,

[Beat Kaufmann]

Hello Raab

Here is another approach - more a fundamental one.

If you listen to most of the classic rock music (London Symphonic Orchestra, Vienna Symphonic Orchestra Project VSOP, but also to Karl Jenkins' ADIEMUS or to Celtic Woman) you can make out, that the band part is mixed for itself and also the orchestra. So I wouldn't put the band into the same room than the orchestra.

My aproach would be:

- Mix both of them (Band and Orchestra) for it self.  That means you mix your Band as you are used to - probably without MIR.

- Use MIR for the orchestra but take into account that the orchestra should be a bit more dry as usual ( for keeping enough power and dynamic)

- When it  comes to bring both worlds together use just a little tail of an algo-reverb (only tail without ERs) in the sum for fitting and glowing the "two worlds" together.

And further:

Listen to mixes of similar projects as yours is.

Find a mix you like, analyse it and try to build a mixing copy.

All the best

Beat

[kamil]

Thank you Dietz and thank you Beat. Now I can understand that Mir Pro, can useed for mixing almost everything like rock, pop ....etc. ? Regards Yasir

[Dietz]

Absolutely! I do it all the time, sometimes just for drums and guitars, sometimes the whole band. Give it a try!

[kamil]

Thanks Dietz I will, soon. Best regards.