Mutes would be great!  I have wanted to do Tchaikovsky 6, 1st movement for a while and need those mutes. 

Great!  Thank you!

Originally Posted by: Dietz

- EDIT: Don't use Instrument Profiles that were created for Vienna Instruments, but General Purpose Profiles, The former are much too specific for 3rd-party signal sources.

So, I have seen you post this advice before.  However, there was a single instance where I had two live flutes and a live english horn in MIR Synchron Stage.  After fiddling around for a while, I decided to try the VI-crafted presets and they sounded really good. 

Dietz,

For small ensemble (quartets, duos, trios) recordings on a budget, do you have any specific advice for capturing audio that will be later mixed in MIR Pro?  Is the goal generally, since everything is going into MIR, to get as dry a recording as possible and let MIR take care of the rest?

Any other tips or things you have learned on translating "bed room" recordings in this manner?

Try the 274 with this preset:

"But when I select the pizz slot all I see under edit is Release Voice Limit and Performance Release."

Ahh, make sure that you have selected the individual final articulation at the end of the tree structure.  If you selected a cell that splits off into other cells, then the global velocity crossfade will not show, as that is not the last cell in the chain... does that make sense?

Thanks guys — let me know if you have any questions!

This would be great!

I'm confused: are you trying to get the individual patches to switch using a Dim. Controller set to speed?  Speed can't be set to a specific BPM.  Speed is based on how fast you play the notes.

Speaking for myself, I am sort of a dumbdumb with recording software.  Things like the "R" key engaging the record button make a lot of sense to me... whereas the zoom function in Protools is the bracket key.  Logic was just really easy to learn.

Terrible, terrible, news.  Thoughts and prayers to the VSL team and all those in Wien.

You mean for the keys on the keyboard and the cells?

Right click the title of the tree you want to change and "Change Color" should be there.

I actually never did... and still contend that there is some realtime processing issues with the Apollo.

Also, my master machine is a Mac not a PC. :) 

Thanks guys! 

Part 2 just dropped as well: https://youtu.be/r8fL6t71k-E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_Lf9leExEs

This is the first part of a series of using the Synchron libraries with Dolby ATMOS.  The renderer, which is hosted locally, isn't too expensive either, and works with all major DAWs.  Check it out!

It is the wideness of the bell curve boost... how far is spans over the frequency spectrum.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCD4GHW6Wmw

For those looking at taking advantage of the Synchronized Special Edition promotion right now, I did a version of the score using volume 1.

There are times I would have liked to use the additional articulations offered in Synchronized Special Edition 1 Plus, but I think it turned out really well!  It's a testament to what can be done even with VSLs inexpensive libraries.

So let me ask you this...

Are the flute vibrato oscillations in pianissimo the same as fortissimo?

With the full Synchronized woodwinds, you get more velocity layers, which adds flexibility in manipulating the vibrato.

EDIT: Rereading your post, are you are seeking a drastic oscillation, like a synthetic LFO effect?

Pardon the disorganized thoughts here:

I'll tell ya what I did for my template and Synchron Stage MIRpro settings...

I imported a couple of modern classical recordings (not film scores, because they "cheat" the levels on things like the harps, celeste, string shorts, etc) and then did mockups of those excerpts.  I think one was Nimrod by Elgar, Beethoven 3rd opening, some tutti chords from Mahler 5, stuff like that...

I made sure that the velocity cross fade of the instruments were at their proper levels, not all jacked to 127 just so I could hear them.  But where the manuals said the layers were marked.

THEN I went to the faders in VEPro and matched them to the recordings.

One thing that will help is making sure you find the honky resonances in the MIRpro EQ at the bottom of the instrument profile on the right hand side.

Then there is balancing the instruments in MIR with the Synchronized or Synchron libraries.  I used those as a guide as well for balance, usually starting with the "Classic Surr to Stereo" preset and then matching the VI libraries to that (so long as it was also close to those modern orchestra recordings).

I can't remember where the FF chords landed on my stereo bus, but I'm sure it was in that -6 range.  I almost always end up automating the stereo bus fader on super soft stuff (like that Elgar variation).  And in my experience, the lower levels are even with the loud among the instruments.

Then there is the aspect of color and tone intensity.

Watching rehearsals of great conductors, they stop the string section all the time when they lose the intensity on soft passages.  For this, I lower the expression, but even if marked pp, I'm using a mf velocity crossfade level.  That shouldn't effect the levels except if you want to bring out a group, like the horns.  Instead of automating each expression fader (4, 6, 8?!) I just grab the horn bus and ride it a little bit to help with swells or whatever.

So yeah... faders are always in flux, and those natural volume levels are a great place to start, but I think they can be tailored to your personal programming tendencies.

OH! important thing... also be prepared for some CC24 filter automation.  Sometimes you need loud trumpet or horn, but not so brassy.. a nice "ohhh" tone. Use the filter.  Also, with high strings/woodwinds all up in the stratosphere, use the filter a bit on the strings and suddenly you'll get a better balance of woodwinds (not to mention not letting your strings get all icy).  So maybe as you are checking the mf balance of the orchestra in the upper range, before adjusting the fader, try the filter.

Adhere to orchestration principles.  If you have 3 flutes on middle C, playing as loud as they can, and a cello melody in tenor clef with some french horn chords gluing things together, those flutes should not stick out.  If they do, your flutes are probably too loud across the board.

Vibrato is controllable by cross-fading (with any CC you want) between non-vibrato and vibrato patches in the Synchron Player.  Some string libraries have expressivo patches that are performed transitions from vibrato to non, and you can control the timing of it with the time stretching feature on the Synchron Player edit page.

On the clarinet, VSL clarinet 1 is recorded more traditionally while clarinet 2 has vibrato options, falls, and little jazzy things.

Also there are some differences in the way the french oboe/E.horn are played vs the viennese oboe/E.horn... the viennese ones use significantly less vibrato, and in some contexts might be preferable to to the french versions.  I wouldn't cross-fade between the two instruments, but keeping both in your template ready to be called up gives you some flexibility.

Originally Posted by: Macker

Stephen, what a wonderful set of tutorial videos! They all contain superbly clear, precise and comprehensive expositions, with plenty of invitations for the viewer to share in your fine and well-seasoned subjective standpoints, reasonings, purposes and judgments. Really and truly splendid work! I believe these 4 videos will become classics - as they richly deserve.

Many thanks to you.

That is extremely kind of you -- thank you!  More to come soon. 

Check this for solid combination of Synchron and Dimension Brass. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad0WUbkLJis

I'm using this blend right now in a few projects and it's sounding great!

Dietz this solution on the 2nd mic position is incredibly helpful -- thank you! 

Originally Posted by: Dietz

Off-topic side note: There seems to be some strange pronounciation rule that makes US-Americans misspell my nick-name "Deitz" instead of "Dietz" regularily. ;-D .... I'll have to explore the reason why, one day.

To show I'm not the only American who has made this mistake, Alan Meyerson pronouncing it wrong here too.. ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qUgeyjJBME

See 53:50

I now prefer them to dimension strings, primarily because the multi mic features of the Synchron Player allows for a higher degree of control over the tone.

Currently, I cann't find a better combination than layering Synchron Strings I with Synchronized Dimension Strings.

You may hear of some complaints about the legato.  I found that the issue is largely due to many users, after using the VI series for years, were unable to quickly adjust to the the new dimension articulation switching effectively in the (at the time) new Synchron Player.

In combination with other multi-mic libraries, such as the Big Bang series, Synchron FX Strings, or Synchron Percussion, you get a palet of timbre not available in other libraries, which were typically recorded with only 2 or 3 mic positions.  There is much more "force" ....as if you hear the actual breath of the musicians, the hairs on the bows, in these multi-mic libraries compared to the VI series.

Compared to the Starter Editions, the difference is immense.

More velocity layers in the individual (standard) libraries.  So there's a LOT more detail in the sound.  (ex., 5 staccato dynamics in Flute 1 verse 3 staccato dynamics in special edition)

But if you go futher, the Flute 1 FULL library has the performance trills which are outstanding for runs, trills, scales, etc.  This is basically the case for all VI instruments.