"Atmosphere" in the recording.

[webstop]

I am recording a mix of 16 tracks from the synth as a single audio stereo track on my computer. The recording comes out very clean, crisp and clear, but it is missing the "atmosphere". It sounds rather liveless.
How do I change that? Is it the reverb I should use and/or something else? Technically I can apply separate reverb effect to each of the 16 tracks, but there are so many setting to choose from.
Alternatively I can process the final recording through any plugin that comes with Wavelab and Cubase, but I am not sure that this is the way to go.
Please advise. Thanks.

 

[Buck62]

Maybe you should post an MP3 of the song so we have a better idea of what we're commenting on.

Right off the bat, I can tell you that a song that comes entirely from synth-generated instruments is going to sound lifeless and stiff. You have to have "real" instruments and good players to get "feel" in your recordings.

Like I said, though... post an MP3 of the tune in question.
You'll get accurate commentary that way, instead of guesswork.

Buck

 

[Seanmorse79]

I agree with the above. Here's a few ideas, though.

First, if you're recording all 16 synth tracks into 2 tracks of Cubase, forget about it. Record each one separately. If you have to, record the MIDI for each track into a track on Cubase, they patch it back in (so it's sync'd). That way, you can bring a little life to each track separately with panning, eq, and reverb, etc...

 

[webstop]

Thanks for good suggestion, Buck. I don't have anything accesible via the Internet right now but will try to do something about it tomorrow.
BTW, I am not talking about playing techniques. Of course you can mimick keyboard instruments pretty well, but no synth can reproduce, say, fretless bass playing techniques. No matter how realistic is the sound you can tell the difference right away. Still every instrument is eventually recorded, and it is the sound of recording that I don't like. There is a lot of commercial synth music around. Although you know that these are not strings you are hearing, but a synth you can still feel some "air" or "breathing" in it.
Seanmorse,
I thought about that. That is why I mentioned in my initial post that my synth allows to set chorus, reverb and panning individually to each of 16 tracks.
BTW I toyed with built-in reverb and I can't find satisfactory settings. All I get is some kind of more or less unsatisfactiry distorted short or long echo.
Anyway, thanks for your attention.

 

[mixsit]

Depth and ambience. What a wonderfull and fun subject!
Here's a few bits you can experiment with. Using combinations of various delay and reverb effects, often it is more effective and flexible to apply them to the individual tracks.
A lot of different effects can be combined sparingly so they are not heard as seperate effects, but add to the air and space you might be looking for.
-Short delays, 10-30 ms, adding body (or width if paned)
-40-70 ms-begining to add depth but not noticed as 'echo' if not too loud.
-70-120-getting into the echo range, but still can be tucked back behind the track to add a deeper layer (Think of the different ms settings as reflections off your mixes sound stage walls- some instruments get tight, close ambience, others get a bigger 'room'. Each ms equal to about one foot away.)
-Eq on the delays can taylor their effect. -roll off some highs to make them less easily heard, for less edge, ect. less lows can help keep the low end clutter down.
-Think of your reverb and echo times, levels and eq, as density and brightness controls in your mix.
-Not all reverb needs to be big and spacious. One of my favorite subtle 'air' patches is a medium-small chamber (19 meters/.9 sec. r/t) that starts with 60ms pre-delay, and a pre filter that cuts out all the the lows below 2khz. Its short enough not to get in the way, but if you push it, the pre-delay becomes your echo/tempo setting. And if you lower the filter point, it's like a seperate control of the lower reverb's volume. (Initially, I was trying to mimic that bright ambience found on some of the old 60's Motown hits, but ended up finding it very usefull on all sorts of mixes.
-Micing distance is generally the first 'depth' control. You can also try sending your midi track(s) out through a speaker, and recording it in a room for natural ambience.
The effects and building the depth into the mix is, I think one of the most enjoyable (and sometimes hardest) part of the mix. Hope this helps. Have fun!
See ya!

 

[TimOBrien]

And you can always use Sonic Foundry's Acoustic Mirror plug-in from SoundForge5 which takes the actual "ambiance" of a room and impresses it on your sound.

 

[thornapple]

Hey Mixsit I looked through all replies so far. All good! Here is a technique to try. I've used it to much success on some Acid House style tracks and some meditational tracks. I take a well balanced dry mix and play it through some speakers and put a mic up record it blend it with the dry track. Now you have created natural reverb. By placing the mic in various points away from the speakers will determine the amount of reverb. Or perception of a larger space. 2 mics and your in stereo!