A small extract….
a small extract of my new work…. no percs yet.. only brass, strings, and choir…. and not mixed 
)))))
all comments (mostly bad ones) will be useful
Sylvain
)))))all comments (mostly bad ones) will be useful
Sylvain
Comments
I like your runs, apart from the "non mixed yet" part, they really sound authentic. What library do you use (for non sample modeling instruments, of course
As for the mixing part, I'm currently finishing a chart with the main symphonic instruments volume and dynamic settings in order to have a balanced ensemble. If you wish, we could try out my calculations on your work ! (I did some test today, sounds pretty balanced, as far as I can hear ^^).
-Perry-
If bad comments are useful to improve my way of working, Good comment are nice to hear anyway
I'll post it again when it will be more "finished"
for the runs… well.. the runs have always been a torture to me .. to make it sound as real as possible.. i hate to hear something that u can tell: "iiiuuuuu synth !!!! :? " (that's why i love sample modeling)
so it's a loonng work to try different way to make it but i finished to find a way that sound "not bad" to me (but yes they are too loud for now):
for strings: LASS and friedlander solo violin in same time (for the first part) and friedlander alone (for the second part).
That's why i can't wait for sample modeling strings/violin too !!!!
i tried something too this time: runs of the beginning are played with flute and piccolo too…
Mars for choirs…. i really love it:
Yes Plougot i saw you were trying to make a chart… My problem in this reading your posts is…. i dunno if there is really a way to set the volume as the dynamic you said… If you make it i would really love to know how you do…. cause my tracks are sometimes solo differents (i particullarry think about strings as it's difficult to not "push" the expression controller).
Plus, when you hear things that Hans Zimmer where mixs are totally different depending the score…. (i like this modern approach too to not keep the orchestra at it's original natural sounding place)…. well it sounds difficult to me.
But really i would love to see how you do cause yes sometimes i would love to make it sound real and volumes are…. hard to set…..
Sylvain
It's a bit like a painting. If every elements has its own perspective, the result cannot be believable. But if you know well the rules of perspective, then you can bend them the way you want, and it will still look good...
my problem is: in theory yes, i'm following you… but practically ? how do you do ? do you use an analyzer like nugen ? how do you physically set the volume of each track compared to the theoretical dynamic of the instruments ?
as when i compose (as i told you), i hardly put same dynamic in my instruments as the first phase: recording…
I dunno if you understand what i mean as it's already so hard to explain.
I mean … it's easy to fix a volume fader on a fix volume instrument like a simple sine… but here, depending of the phrases, the volume and expression / dynamic are moving all the time. which part do you take as "reference" ?
dynamic is a bit abstract to me…
so back to the pratical side, what is your way to set it ? cause that's seriously interest me (sorry if i sound a bit ignorant on the "dynamic" thing but i really would love to understand well)
Sylvain
By dynamic, i mean the "area" between the lowest sound and the strongest sound of an instrument.
And even if this is always theorical, especially when it depends on the breath of the player, there are some standards.
As i said earlier a "real" trumpet has a dynamic of 30dB, a trombone 35dB and a clarinet 40 db. Since each time you add 10 dB, you double the perceived sound (in a psycho acoustic manner of speaking), a trumpet has its fortissimo 3 times (3x10 dB) louder than its pianissimo, and a clarinet, 4 times.
If you play your instrument in a pianissimo register, and then in a fortissimo, you can see its dynamic. And then, you can use a compressor (set up with a threshold at the pianissimo lvl of the instrument, and a very fast attack ) to reduce the dynamic of the instrument.
I say reduce, because the true dynamic of an orchestra is around 70 dB (a bit less). Way too much for a "normal" audio recording. So, for my own setup, i chose to follow the "swam" initial setup (default compressor), which has a 0.6 ratio instrument dynamic/"real" dynamic. (clar : 24 dB instead of 40).
Once all your instruments all have the same ratio compared to reality, you can consider they're on the same "scale" and the last thing you have to do is to set volumes properly (i also found some nice tips for that) and then you have a believable balanced ensemble !