Overall, I think this is a great excerise in comparative listening with the real deal and your own sequence. The more you do it, the sharper your ears become and subsequently the more convincing your tracks become. I have heard VERY convincing tracks done with VSL, many of which were done by the VSL team itself.
Nice job, Carl. Evan's comments about verb, EQ, and balance are spot on. At times, I even suppliment the strings with other non-VSL samples. As a conductor, the symphonies with which I work often have 16-18 first violins and 14-16 seconds, making as many as 32 violinists. VSL wasn't sampled this way, even though it's quite realistic in its integrity of sound. Sequencing an orchestra, even with VSL, is still a sonic illusion, so to get the most ideal impact out your work, supplimenting where needed is quite a legit thing to do.
What I do is to take maybe 3-4 different non-VSL violin patches (good ones!). For each supplimentary patch, I may edit the envelopes at least 6 or more different ways to match a particular passage played by the VSL violins so that each secondary patch "follows" as closely as possible. VSL is still 70-90% of the violin mix, but having that extra little *something* tucked low has often provided additional support without adding an artificial quality. It does take some special care to set the supplimental patches "in the same room" as VSL's sections, but it's worth it.
Keep in mind that too much of this can be as noticeable as not having enough.
I've yet to try Match EQ in Logic, but I have used similar EQ's to take snapshots of full orchestral moments on favorite CD's just to get a sense of what's going on sonically. I can then determine how to best suppliment my own sequence-- either by supporting it with a denser orchestration, by supplimenting with secondary patch doubles, by boosting or cutting levels, or by manually notch-adjusting the EQ. I can't say that I'd recommend applying a CD's EQ snapshot to a VSL mix. It may cause more problems than it solves.
Often, listening to recordings on a regular basis gives the ear something to lock onto immediately-- it provides a sonic "expectation" so that when you do get around to mixing your own VSL sequences, your desired sound is already in your head., Having these source recordings around during the mixing phase is a great reminder of just how close you are to getting the results you want.
I know everyone is probably very busy with projects, etc., but it would be fun to transcribe 8-10 bars of a favorite soundtrack or take 8-10 bars of a favorite classical score-- provide a pdf file and mp3 excerpt here on the forum, and then see how different people are able to replicate the same passage with VSL. It could provide some valuable insights to how others work, knowing that there may be a million different means to the same end.
Don't know if anyone would be interested in doing this as an extension of what Carl has begun, but comparing notes could be the most educational experience of all....
Just a thought.
Thanks,
JWL
Nice job, Carl. Evan's comments about verb, EQ, and balance are spot on. At times, I even suppliment the strings with other non-VSL samples. As a conductor, the symphonies with which I work often have 16-18 first violins and 14-16 seconds, making as many as 32 violinists. VSL wasn't sampled this way, even though it's quite realistic in its integrity of sound. Sequencing an orchestra, even with VSL, is still a sonic illusion, so to get the most ideal impact out your work, supplimenting where needed is quite a legit thing to do.
What I do is to take maybe 3-4 different non-VSL violin patches (good ones!). For each supplimentary patch, I may edit the envelopes at least 6 or more different ways to match a particular passage played by the VSL violins so that each secondary patch "follows" as closely as possible. VSL is still 70-90% of the violin mix, but having that extra little *something* tucked low has often provided additional support without adding an artificial quality. It does take some special care to set the supplimental patches "in the same room" as VSL's sections, but it's worth it.
Keep in mind that too much of this can be as noticeable as not having enough.
I've yet to try Match EQ in Logic, but I have used similar EQ's to take snapshots of full orchestral moments on favorite CD's just to get a sense of what's going on sonically. I can then determine how to best suppliment my own sequence-- either by supporting it with a denser orchestration, by supplimenting with secondary patch doubles, by boosting or cutting levels, or by manually notch-adjusting the EQ. I can't say that I'd recommend applying a CD's EQ snapshot to a VSL mix. It may cause more problems than it solves.
Often, listening to recordings on a regular basis gives the ear something to lock onto immediately-- it provides a sonic "expectation" so that when you do get around to mixing your own VSL sequences, your desired sound is already in your head., Having these source recordings around during the mixing phase is a great reminder of just how close you are to getting the results you want.
I know everyone is probably very busy with projects, etc., but it would be fun to transcribe 8-10 bars of a favorite soundtrack or take 8-10 bars of a favorite classical score-- provide a pdf file and mp3 excerpt here on the forum, and then see how different people are able to replicate the same passage with VSL. It could provide some valuable insights to how others work, knowing that there may be a million different means to the same end.
Don't know if anyone would be interested in doing this as an extension of what Carl has begun, but comparing notes could be the most educational experience of all....
Just a thought.
Thanks,
JWL