If you have VI and MIR you need no training at all beyond this:  

1 Load instrument (s) with MIR auto on.  

2 Select MIR venue. 

3 Dial overall hall wet/dry a little down.  If it's a bass, low or perhaps percussive  instrument, dial its individual dry/wet down a little to make it sound clearer.

BAM.  You have a mix.  MIR does just about everything else for you. 

This is how I did almost every official demo you hear of mine on this site.  (Uh-oh. I probably shouldn't admit that.)

Have your tried the "MIRx Mode" in MIR? That will give you preconfigured reverb, eq, etc... for every instrument.

IMO MIR Pro and Vienna Suite are very powerful tools, but they maybe a bit of overkill for someone that is just getting started and is working only with VSL libraries. I'd recommend you spend some time just with MIRx mode and ignore Vienna Suite for now, to see if you can get the sound you are happy with.

When it comes to buying new sample libaries, I only purchase new ones once I realize I've outgrown the library I'm using. For example, I was using the SE orchestral strings a lot and eventually needed more articulations and samples so that is when I upgraded to the full version. My philosophy of only buying hardware and software once I've outgrown what I currently have, and know exactly what additional features I need and will use, has saved me a considerable amount of money over the years.

Also, if you are thinking about buying more VSL products, check out this months deal on Vienna Vouchers.

All the best,

Michael

Hi William

Thanks for your reply,

can you elaborate a little more, if i'm using Vienna Ensemble pro, and load a MIR as an input, how do i get that auto?

i think you meant, upload an instrument with MIR pro on in the Vienna instrument player?

i can only see the rooms in Vienna Ensembles

-John

Well at the top toolbar of Vienna Ensemble Pro  are two icons MIR and MIRx - if MIR is red it means it is auto (or you can click on it and it will be).  You then load a VI Pro from the lower left. It will automatically be set up with MIR.  

Then you will either see the MIR space, or if not press f6.  There you can select the venu and the instrument is there in it.  If you look at the upper right you'll see that VI selected the correct settings for the instrument automatically.  You can also select "character" a little below which has EQs designed for that particular instrument.  Below that is the dry/wet for that instrument alone which you can adjust.    That same column if you scroll down has the overall dry/wet offset which is important because it allows you to clarify the sound  of the whole venue with dry signal.  So you just move that instrument wherever you want it.  Also make it bigger or smaller by dragging its handles. 

cool William, all good now

For the rest, as i understood from you and trying myself, the right colume (wet/dry) doesn't go for each set of instrument, also i tried it myself, so basically ..the instruemtns sets per venue, adjust: the size, mic, orientation/direction, position.. what else?

Also how do i get a clear sound, it always sounds muffled, like i'm running the sounds in a bathroom, i know that is the reverb, but no matter what i try it is not clear/crisp/vivid .. your thoughts?

I have created my first song :-)

Thanks a lot William.

-John

let me make it even harder

Which is the best .. for example Brass

CineBrass, Spitfire, VSL with MIR?

@jshamon said:

let me make it even harder
Which is the best .. for example Brass
CineBrass, Spitfire, VSL with MIR?

You shold check what the URL in your browser says...

Dear Ben

I'm a big fan or VSL, that is not going to change, you don't have to feel bad about a post, understand the context of what i'm asking from previous posts, you don't need to sell VSL, they are an awesome libraries, sounds, and great work achieving that.

I was trying to see if i can get the wet sound as in other libraries/vendors by using the VSL dry sound using MIRpro.

If all i need is to load an instrument with MIR and adjust wet/dry .. then why wouldn't i just go with the synchron? I'm not doing that much with MIR, am i? and still i'm sure just by doing that, i won't achieve the "out of the box" synchron sound.

-John

Hi John,

Your post is just a little strange to me... What answer are you expecting to such a question in a VSL forum?

Anyways, regarding your MIR muffled sound issue: There is a room-eq setting, that allows you to set an EQ only for the reverberated part of the sound. Try adding a low-cut / high-pass and set it between 50-150 Hz.

Best, Ben

The great thing about MIR is you can use defaults for almost everything, as VSL put in excellent settings for all the instruments.  Simply using the auto-recognize settings will result in a great sound.  Also, no need to change default mic positions, simply select the venue you want (or the position within a venue with different options)  and it will be good for the mix.  I became a little leery of changing defaults because they are so good to begin with.  Though you should definitely check out the various settings like "Dark" or "Pure" in each instrument as they give a lot of good options.  

so i just recorded a simple song out of music sheet using piano sound, then i used up 7 different instruments.

then i added MIR to each one of them but i selected the right venue, man oh man it sounded so good.

then i added MIRacle at the end on the master channel .. oh my .. it is super awesome.

I bet i can do even x10 times better if i just chose the right ariticulations and make some tweaks,

but it is so amzing enough without an efffort.

now my question is, do i have to move the instruments in the venue? so i'm thinking like a real orchestra players positions, so choir all the way to the back, timpany far and to the side, because MIR places them automattically and they sound good as they are but of course in arbitrary strange spots and orientation.

-John

yes, definitely move them to where you want them on your stage. The nice thing is MIR adjusts all sorts of parameters  while all the user has to do is drag the icon around the stage.  

Also don't be afraid to move players to "unorthadox" positions, facing strange directions and other things...  It doesn't matter what the stage looks like, only what it sounds like.

MIR makes me feel guilty. After decades trying to use layers of reverb and accurate balancing in the mixer channels to simulate a space, now it is just a matter of moving some icons around and adjusting a few sliders. It makes things look too easy for a professional! I question if this is ethically sustainable!

Paolo

Very well said! 😎

@PaoloT said:

MIR makes me feel guilty. After decades trying to use layers of reverb and accurate balancing in the mixer channels to simulate a space, now it is just a matter of moving some icons around and adjusting a few sliders. It makes things look too easy for a professional! I question if this is ethically sustainable! Paolo

Hi Paul,

Okay this is getting really really interesting, i played a song to some friends and they are so impressed, not sure how man of them are going to jump into the world of VSL, i can't have enough of the sound of Trombone, and the piccolo throught MIR

I really need to get new reference speakers as i think they are going to matter how to put all instruments together and how they are going to sound before i compile the sound and send it to let's say Dolby Atmos system.

When i played the same thing in my 5.1 surround, it sounded much better.

any advice on reference speakers? does it matter to buy expensive ones? i have basic ones 16 years old, KRK 6

I also use Sennheiser HD 700 Headphone but i learned about sound reflections that i can't get using headphones (not sure this is still true)

I'm going to take a closer look at Synchron as you suggested, I'm not sure what it is yet, but i have a feeling that i'm going to miss MIR Venues if i go with Synchron, MIR venues are outstanding, however .. i still think why Hans Zimmer (whom i'm a fan of) jumped on Synchron??

-John

Hi John,

Great to hear that you are enjoying our instruments!

We love ADAM speakers here at VSL and Synchron Stage Vienna, and they have quite a range of options!

They also have incredible headphones.

Synchron products are great. The ease of use is one of the major features, but we have also optimized our samples quite a bit for the SYNCHRON-ized version, and of course the many available microphones in the SYNCHRON products offer many options ... and a whole new sound.

Best,
Paul

@jshamon said:

.. i still think why Hans Zimmer (whom i'm a fan of) jumped on Synchron??

Did he?? Yesterday I saw a photo with Hans, Paul Thomson and the Spitfire crew ... The picture was made for a HZ-Strings-Update ... I think Hans is jumping on many trains ... and Stages 😉

@PaoloT said:

MIR makes me feel guilty. After decades trying to use layers of reverb and accurate balancing in the mixer channels to simulate a space, now it is just a matter of moving some icons around and adjusting a few sliders. It makes things look too easy for a professional! I question if this is ethically sustainable!

Paolo

+1