renaissancey peice

S

santiu

Rock-scientist
my first time recording violin, and i think i didn't do so hot :( When the violin is playing loud (or multiple notes), i think it sounds good, but when it's soft, it's not so hot. Anyhow, the recording is done, and all I can do is mix now. So any suggestion on improving things in the mix are greatly appreciated :D

link to song
 
I find the violin quite pleasing with plenty of dynamics. What I find wwird is the panning in your mix. Guitar and violin are sharing the center of attention by being panned to center. So, I'd recommend to put your gutiar to the left (11 o' clock) and then the mandolin (or whatever instrument that is doing the tremolo picking) could be placed slighty to the right (2 o' clock).

Imagine that you're in front of the band: Violinist is the soloist, the lead player. The other guys are just giving support to his music.

Luck.
 
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killthepixelnow said:
I'd recommend to put your gutiar to the right (11 o' clock)
Click to expand...
ok... which way do you guys have your clocks tickin?

ah*m... seriously...

i think the PROBLEM is, it´s a very skilled violin virtuoso knowing exactly how to dose his dynamics - and the guitar track does not honor this.

however, you´ve gotta do it in the mix for now, ok.

nah - there are too many possibilities. PLEASE tell a bit about what exactly you have recorded and what you have done so far...
- multitrack?
- one track per instrument?
- mono or stereo?
- were the artists separated or do you have bleeding on your tracks?
- is there any processing in your RECORDINGS (e.g. are they compressed)

then we´ll see what can be done!
 
ch4k4 said:
nah - there are too many possibilities. PLEASE tell a bit about what exactly you have recorded and what you have done so far...
- multitrack?
- one track per instrument?
- mono or stereo?
- were the artists separated or do you have bleeding on your tracks?
- is there any processing in your RECORDINGS (e.g. are they compressed)
Click to expand...

Yes, it's a multi-track recording. But the Guitar and violin were tracked together, and consequently there is bleed. Guitar has one mic on it. Violin has 2 mics (one condensor a few feet above, and a dynamic sort of to the side). There were also two room mics that were pressed against the walls as to act sort of boundary mics.

Then the mandolin was separately with 2 mics (M-S).

Still have all the original tracks.

There is some processing. Some EQ, some compression. The room mics have some pre-delay on them and i was using that as sort of a natural reverb.

thanks for the help guys :D
 
The fiddle sounds fine. I don't think you need to mess around with it. Mandolin sounds good to. Both clear and crisp.

As killthe pixel says, it's possibly the placement of instruments that's a bit strange, because it sounds like the guitar spreads right across the room, with the mando and fiddle being very mono-ish.

Pan the fiddle a bit to one side, the mando to the other, then try and get the guitar slotted in the back somewhere. It doesn't need to have a huge amount of presence because it is not doing a lot.
 
haha! now we´re 4 in a box, probably representing 5 opinions? definitely 2 ways clocks are ticking! :rolleyes:

but we agree there´s something strange about the panning.
-btw- i am using headphones - better tool to find stereo glitches!

INTRO: i hear first guitar strokes strings start on the left and move to the right - so if you used just one mono track for guitar, there´s LOADS of bleeding. i suppose, your guitar is panned left, and its higher frequencies from room mics or maybe violin condensor showing the guitar on the right.

ROOM: i hear much more violin´s reverb from the right - this does not sound natural.

MANDOLIN: at some point i got aware there is something else, then i READ (!) about the mandolin. so it clearly did not get it´s place.

- first things first: mute all tracks, then start with your room mics!!!
i wouldn´t make them hard L-R, but something like 10-02, maybe 09-03.
- now figure out the violins position YOU HEAR in this image, unmute and place your violin tracks so that they quite keep this position.
- same thing for guitar now. point at it, unmute and pan right there.

this should sound much more consistent right now! fun time -> experiment if it gets more interesting alternating the guitar´s or violin´s position, but don´t drag them too far from there!

pad the remaining tracks in your image (mandolin, 2nd violin?), but never go too far L-R. what you get is 2 DRY tracks vs. the consistent violin-guit-room picture. so blend in your dry tracks using some send-room-effect, then it is time to think about depth - something too loud, too bright, more pre delay needed anywhere?

now, how does this sound? (man i wish i had your tracks here ;))

OK, end of part one - THINGS YOU ALREADY KNEW YOURSELF




time for part two - THINGS YOU HAVE ASKED FOR

did i get it right, you have the original guitar recording and applied some compression on this in the mix? then bypass your compressor and check if guitar´s dynamics fit to those of the violin! if it does, the compression should be more subtle to keep some dynamics.

if this doesn´t work, keep your compression and compensate using automation on places, where it´s level disturbs the fainted violin.

ACK to gecko, put it further away lowering it´s level and treble.

either way you should gain a consistent mix.

want it hotter? heat up compression on violin, slooowly! be a bad boy and use forbidden compression on the sum, or better on a group containing all but the room mics. again - cook it slooowly!

does this work? desperately waiting for your results...

have fun!
 
I defer to ch4k4 on this. I didn't check via headphones nor listen for the finer detail. I was just going on initial impressions.

I totally agree with the panning; keep everything in a bunch (though separated) fairly close to the centre. Seemingly paradoxically, this should give you a greater sense of space.
 
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