Help Mixing EastWest Symphonic Orchestra

[Killchrono]

Hey there. I've recently started to get serious about composition again after years of not really doing any.

A few years ago I picked up the Complete Composer's Collection deal from EastWest, and I've been using their Symphonic Orchestra (platinum) collection for most of my orchestral compositions. Only problem is, I'm having trouble getting the samples to sound good. I know SO instruments aren't the greatest samples of all time, but it's all I have for now, so any advice to help get it up to scratch would be very much appreciated.

I've picked up some tips through online tutorials and have gotten a start on some ways to make it sound good with some very basic EQ-ing and of course volume and velocity automation, but I want to know if anyone has any experience with Symphonic Orchestra to help make it go that extra mile and make it sound as authentic as possible.

Specifically, I want to know a few things:

- Should I use Play's in-built reverb, or stick to my own plugins and in-program devices? If it makes any difference, I have Symphonic Orchestra Platinum, so I have access to close, stage and surround recordings for instruments.

- What kind of devices should I be looking to add to help flesh out the mix? I know reverb's the big one for orchestral sounds, but any tips for EQ-ing or compression would be great; I know orchestral sounds don't need an abundance of either, but I've read that some minor of both can help certain sounds in the mix.

And of course any other pieces of advice I may not have thought about.

I hope that's descriptive enough. I'm happy to elaborate if need be in case people are wondering about specific sounds etc.

[Vig]

The answer to your question is 100% context-dependent. Can you provide a sample of your work that you would like advice on?

[Killchrono]

At the risk of turning this into a WIP feedback thread (and I apologize if it is, feel free to move it to the WIP forum if that's the case), I'm working on a couple of tracks. Here is the demo I've uploaded to Soundcloud. It's not anywhere near complete yet, haven't even added all the instruments layers, but this is what I have you want an example of some stuff I could use feedback on.

One of the big obvious parts in this piece would be the trumpet melody, but even the lower strings and snare drum could probably be polished. I'll post some more examples when I get around to converting/uploading them, but this would be a good start if you could provide some feedback.

[mickomoo]

I found a panning and predelay chart that substantially improved my work with EWQL in gold. Idk though if I have a good ear for what sounds best though.

Also what tutorials have you found? Im kind of stuck in terms of my production as well.

[timaeus222]

It's a good idea to use the close-mic samples and then use your own reverb consistently to help it blend better with other instruments, if you happen to be doing a hybrid orchestral song. Otherwise, try mixing close-mic and stage, perhaps 80-20 or 70-30 or so. The reverb will stack pretty quickly. Try testing that on the EWQL site demo.

Compression (the good kind) is also a great idea for any instruments that need extra power. I recommend Cytomic's The Glue for strings ("Full Parallel" with a lightened threshold-gain relationship plus "Smooth Strings" works pretty well for spiccato, for example), and if you get good at it, you can start crafting your own presets for other non-percussive parts of the orchestra (there are loads of drum compression presets already) that ultimately are based on really good quality algorithms.

And try that chart mickomoo found.

Edited August 12, 2013 by timaeus222