sounding further?

S

Sydney

Member
Hello all,

Not sure if I can explain this correctly....

I have a pretty good mix going, but one instrument, a piano that plays the melody, sounds way to "close up". Since it's the melody, it needs to stand out, but how do I make it sound further back? Almost like I want to step about 10ft back from the piano... (still prominent, but not so harsh on my ears).

Hopefully that makes sense.

Thanks,
 
Short delays, the early reflections in verbs give us cues' that the source is set back.
Also perhaps thinning out the lows-low mids.
 
Yup 2.

In fact some of the 'verbs on my DAW are even calibrated with room size and distance.
 
Sydney said:
Hello all,

Not sure if I can explain this correctly....

I have a pretty good mix going, but one instrument, a piano that plays the melody, sounds way to "close up". Since it's the melody, it needs to stand out, but how do I make it sound further back? Almost like I want to step about 10ft back from the piano... (still prominent, but not so harsh on my ears).

Hopefully that makes sense.

Thanks,
Click to expand...

reverb
 
Also attenuating high frequencies, or using compression with a fast attack can help give a feel for distance from the listener, in addition to reverb.
 
I would start with eq, specifically a wide low-mid cut. Highs don't really drop off until you get into the hundreds of feet range, more of a large outdoor concert sort of effect.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
I would start with eq, specifically a wide low-mid cut. Highs don't really drop off until you get into the hundreds of feet range, more of a large outdoor concert sort of effect.
Click to expand...

You know, I've always been curious about things like this. Like in movies, there is a lot of EQ and reverb going on to place sounds in an environment. Music playing inside a club while the scene is outside, distant sounds, close sounds, voices on the other side of a wall, etc. I'd love to know the rules of thumb about these things.
 
Tadpui said:
You know, I've always been curious about things like this. Like in movies, there is a lot of EQ and reverb going on to place sounds in an environment. Music playing inside a club while the scene is outside, distant sounds, close sounds, voices on the other side of a wall, etc. I'd love to know the rules of thumb about these things.
Click to expand...

Barriers like walls and windows cut highs much more than lows. Framed walls cut more mids than windows, cinder block walls cut even lower into the mids. If the room the sound is coming from is "live" you might want to add early reflections and reverb then low pass. If the space outside the room the sound is coming from has hard surfaces you might add more reflections of appropriate length and type.
 
But that ain't what we're talking about here! I'm positive the OP isn't actually looking for the realistic sound of moving the piano further away. Yeah, sure that's what they said, but what they want is for that piano to sit in the mix better.

I'd be willing to bet that the problem is in the top end, and a smallish treble cut could help. A lot of times if a sound has a touch more detail than I'd like, I'll slap on a slew-rate limiter just to round off those spiky transients. A transient designer type thing might help with that too, but I don't have such fancy toys. :)

Course, I'm pretty sure at least part of the right answer is to just turn the thing down a touch.

Yes reverb maybe.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
I would start with eq, specifically a wide low-mid cut. Highs don't really drop off until you get into the hundreds of feet range, more of a large outdoor concert sort of effect.
Click to expand...

+ 1 on the air attuation. Since we brought up compressor 'times, another; Fast release is (typically) 'closer sounding the slowish.
 
ashcat_lt said:
...Course, I'm pretty sure at least part of the right answer is to just turn the thing down a touch...
Click to expand...

Good catch there though. :>) That one there belongs in and among THE top ones doesn't it. Is it first just too friken hot! :>)
 
My advice:
1) Switch the mix to mono.
2) Lower the gain on the piano until you can hear it clearly, but it's not too loud. that might be the end.
3) Once you have it ball park, If you need all of the notes to stand out evenly you can try compressing the piano with 3db of gain reduction (medium attack and release) and then raise the overall gain of the piano by 3db. Do this all in mono.
4) Then switch back to stereo and see where you're at. Repeat 1&2 if needed until it feels right in mono and stereo.

Reverb does push things further back into the mix. But if you have the sound you want, and it's just too 'upfront' - this method should do the trick.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top