Category
Aim
Technique
Requires
Effect
Apply saturation across different instruments
Tape saturation
Applying saturation can help 'glue' a mix and blend various instruments together
Synth bass
Synthesiser
Can enhance or help to blend the low end of orchestral parts
Use fixed volume levels
Have a fixed, general volume level when mixing
Have each instrument track begin with an 'empty' bar or count in
Allows articulations and MIDI values to be 'reset' for each track
Reamp a sofware part through outboard hardware effects or amplifiers
Reamping equipment (Mics, speakers, etc)
Allows for external hardware effects to be applied to virtual instrument parts
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5. Mixing & Audio Processing - Summary
Mixing & Audio Processing 5a)
Just as with real orchestral recordings and recordings in general, tape saturation; be it real or simulated, can help provide another layer of 'glue' to blend various instruments together and help mask different sonic qualities of different libraries. This can be particularly useful when using sampled instruments from different developers who will likely have used wholly different recording equipment and processing techniques. By using a form of audio saturation, hardware mixing or summing, a common ‘colouration’ provided by the virtual processing can be present across the various instruments
Mixing & Audio processing 5b)
The huge flexibility that MIDI and Virtual instruments in general provides, which is seen as one of the biggest advantages of the technology, is also regarded in some cases as one of its biggest disadvantages. In an interview with sample library developer Spitfire, Music Supervisor Maggie Rodford details how music technology has continually changed the landscape of music creation (Rodford, 2015). In response to this, the interviewer raises the point that this technology now means that decisions can be put off almost indefinitely, with the option of changing any element of the score always at hand at any moment. This is an issue that first reared its head in the very earliest days of recording technology with the advent of the four-track tape recorder, and which was only compounded with the advent of more recording capabilities culminating in what we have now in the digital world as unlimited tracks with unlimited rewrites and edits. This very issue is raised by Hans Joachim Braun in Music and Technology in the Twentieth Century, stating:
During the last twenty years, a large number of different programmes and computer languages have been developed. Today they offer sophisticated possibilities to analyse, process and create sound in real-time. Recent technologies have made it possible to subject almost all parameters of music material, of its interpretation and, probably in the near future also of its distribution, to complete 'editability'. - (Braun, 2002)
This ‘complete editability’ can also have an influence on virtual instruments, where not only the music but the sounds and performances used can be constantly edited and changed. As such, a suggested working practice is to adopt that of conventional recording and production projects and deal with each stage of creating the musical work separately. One the composition, orchestration and arrangement is complete, followed by the programming and sequencing of the works using sampled instruments, then each part should be ‘printed’ or committed to a recording. This allows the composer to focus purely on the next stage; that of mixing the work, and discourages endlessly changing and tweaking parameters and elements of the music which the digital domain provides.
Mixing & Audio Processing 5c)
If sampled bass or cello sections are not effective in terms of providing the required bass or low end of a particular piece; be it the recording methods or the size of the ensembles used for the samples, the addition of a synthesised bass line can be used to add more weight and strength to the bass section. This is a similar approach to that of using a frequency generator to enhance that of kick drums for example; adding sub harmonics and frequencies to the sound of the original recording. Using a synthesised bassline also can help to blend and tie together disparate cello and bass sections.
Mixing & Audio Processing 5d)
When mixing in general, but particularly when working with virtual instruments and MIDI data, it can be vitally important to maintain fixed volume levels across the entire mix. This ensures that when a particular instrument or section needs to be louder or quieter, the dynamics of the instruments should be changed to reflect the change and not merely manipulating the volume faders, which will contribute to an unrealistic balance in relative volumes.
Mixing & Audio Processing 5e)
Given the multiple parameters and controls MIDI tracks can use over on instrument, it can be helpful to begin each part with a bar or empty space at the beginning of each track to reset all applied controls. This can prevent a MIDI track beginning a part with one
Mixing & Audio Processng 5f)
The use of reamping and routing signals from 'in-the-box' (i.e digital audio) to be recorded or processed through hardware can provide another approach to mixing virtual instruments