Thanks so much for the explanations.
It's a great interface! Makes for quick work and decisions.
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OMG, thank you so much for asking this...
I wish that this were in the FAQ or something. I've been laboring over whether to begin with silent stage or synchron stage for weeks because I do NOT want to be locked into any sound stage. And when I finally came to understand what "Silent Stage" was, which is the most brilliant concept ever, I came to find out that Synchron supercedes, it and that all surround technologies will ignore silent stage. I feel like i'm taking crazy pills.
Like who opts OUT of creative control to place their "Players" where they want (especially when no other company seems to be doing it). I'm a bit heartbroken.
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OMG, thank you so much for asking this...
I wish that this were in the FAQ or something. I've been laboring over whether to begin with silent stage or synchron stage for weeks because I do NOT want to be locked into any sound stage. And when I finally came to understand what "Silent Stage" was, which is the most brilliant concept ever, I came to find out that Synchron supercedes, it and that all surround technologies will ignore silent stage. I feel like i'm taking crazy pills.
Like who opts OUT of creative control to place their "Players" where they want (especially when no other company seems to be doing it). I'm a bit heartbroken.
It's worth noting that with Synchron-IZED libraries, you can disable the IR and reverb and use essentially use them just as you would the silent stage libraries. They are, in fact, the same samples, just pre-configured to "sit" with full Synchron products.
*Synchron* products, on the other hand, have the room information inherent in the samples.
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I'd like to add a few more observations.
1. Mix Presets. For a moment let's put ourselves in VSL's position - or indeed in the position of pretty much any and every maker of virtual instruments.
If you want your product to have an immediate positive impact on new and prospective customers, you'll want to provide presets that have instant appeal; served up on a plate with no effort required by the customer. And it's long been an industry cliché that your up-front presets will need some beautiful reverb to ensure they have that immediate, irresistible and inspirational je ne sais quoi.
Moreover, the vast majority of prospective customers don't (yet) have the knowledge, experience, technical expertise, craft and skill-sets required to prepare their own fx, reverbs and configurations that can surpass the attractiveness of the maker's presets. So it's really no surprise to find that many if not most virtual instrument makers design their products with the majority very much in mind.
But potentially there's a serious downside to this marketing strategy. As Jordan Peterson said, "you don't get people to stand up on their own two feet and to adopt responsibility, if everything is given to them". Therefore, as the instrument maker, you must choose to what extent you want to perpetuate the myth that by buying and operating your ready-for-use products, your customers can automatically become succcessful music-makers; and, conversely, to what extent you develop your products and your relationship with your customers such that both you and they willingly engage in the long, intricate process of exploring, learning and improving design and use of your products.
In my opinion, VSL have struck an optimal balance in the very demanding ordeal of riding these two horses. Some customers may find the complexity of VSL's products to be puzzling or even annoying, whilst others may complain that not enough latitude or leeway is designed into their products for users' solutions. There is no way of pleasing the whole market in this particular field of endeavour.
2. Surround sound is not, I would submit, about to transform digitally-aided music-making into a new and higher stratum of artistic virtue. Recent history shows how few rock and pop bands made use of more than stereo for concerts and recordings (Pink Floyd being the most notable example). And in films, I recall seeing the first Star Wars in a central London cinema fitted out temporarily with very large surround sound speaker stacks, but can't bring to mind any other examples. I still recall Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon concerts in London's Earl's Court Arena, München Olympic Stadium, and Wiener Staatsoper; mostly the surround sound was about special effects. Those were exciting, thrilling and lovely experiences for audiences, but I think very largely due to the novelty value of surround sound. I'm betting it won't become more commonplace - especially not for orchestral music.
There have long been ways of configuring Silent-Stage libraries to produce surround sound. But the fact remains: it didn't become a thing.
3. Silent Stage vs Synchron Stage A. I see no cause to lament VSL's change from recording samples in Silent Stage to Synchron Stage A. For one thing, as noted by VSL, musicians tend to enjoy the sound of their playing in Synchron Stage A. Having worked on a contract involving me in use of an anechoic chamber, I don't imagine that musicians found the experience of sample-recording in the Silent Stage to be particularly helpful, gratifying or even pleasant. I'm all for making things as pleasant and as natural as possible for the musicians who render the samples we use.
The highly professional recording techniques used in Synchron Stage A of course include use of close mics to provide as dry a sound as possible wherever required. The residual acoustic ambience of these close mics can hardly be regarded as any kind of impediment for the vast majority of use cases.
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For one thing, as noted by VSL, musicians tend to enjoy the sound of their playing in Synchron Stage A. Having worked on a contract involving me in use of an anechoic chamber, I don't imagine that musicians found the experience of sample-recording in the Silent Stage to be particularly helpful, gratifying or even pleasant.
To avoid misunderstandings: it is to be noted that the Silent Stage is not an anechoic chamber. It has a short reverb, a bit like any treated recording studios pop and rock musicians are use to record in. So, it is still a natural environment, even if very "intimate", a bit like a heavily carpeted bedroom.
A large stage like Synchron Stage A is obviously much more gratifying, since it is as playing in a concert hall, a much more satisfying situation for a player.
Paolo
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Good point, Paolo. I should perhaps have added that an anechoic chamber is the most extreme case of a treated room and as such, is the farthest from being a "natural" acoustic environment, just in case anyone read my post as equating Silent Stage with an anechoic chamber.
But Silent Stage being "a bit like a heavily carpeted bedroom"? I'm not convinced about that analogy. I'm sure you'd agree that even the thickest and heaviest floor carpet can't stop slap-back echo between parallel walls. (Or did you mean carpets also used as wall drapes?) Anyway, although it's probably impossible to set up tests with my VI Instruments in order to do a thorough job of revealing all aspects Silent Stage's acoustic character, I've not heard the slightest hint of any slap-back echo. So I'd say Silent Stage was way more comprehensively treated than could be mimicked by a heavily carpeted bedroom.
Also, I've used the word "natural" a bit too readily; it's not necessarily right for the point I want to get across. (And in this sense I'd also take issue with your point about Silent Stage being a "natural environment".) Let me elaborate. For instance, as you know, plate reverb does not have a very natural sound (it could perhaps be described as a very speeded-up model of room reverb). And yet from the many accounts I've read about singers being more comfortable with quite a bit of added reverb on their voice in their headphone cue mix while recording, it's not hard to imagine that in many cases (especially in the old days) the mix engineer would have added plate reverb to the singer's cue mix. What does a singer get from this added "unnatural" reverb? Isn't it the benefit of having almost immediate and somewhat sustained feedback of their pitch and expression? Otherwise, in a very dry acoustic environment, aren't these vocal qualities quite hard for the singer to be sure about and finely manage, if heard only from inside their skull and with only their short-term memory to reflect on, during the physical performance of singing? And aren't there perhaps some similarities here for players of acoustic instruments?
So I should talk about an acoustic environment (real or simulated) in terms of its "liveness", rather than its "naturalness." And then of course there are countless degrees between extremely live and extremely dry, with the farthest extremity of dryness, such as an anechoic chamber, being "dead". From what my ear tells me, I'd want to call Silent Stage "very dry" (indeed far too dry to count as a "natural" acoustic environment, though that's beside the point). Would Silent Stage have been comfortable for a solo singer recording without the benefit of some sort of reverb added in their headphone cue mix? Who knows? My conjecture would be, no, probably not. Was Silent Stage comfortable for the various different kinds of orchestral instrument players who recorded there? Did they have headphone cue mixes with added reverb? I'd love to know and would be very interested to hear from any who took part in recording in Silent Stage.
And finally, from the standpoint of end users, are Synchron Stage A sample recordings too live? I'd say the jury is still out on that question. However, from what I've been finding when artificially placing these samples into other acoustic environments and artificially giving instruments other positions on stage, I'm very satisfied with my Synchron libraries.
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But Silent Stage being "a bit like a heavily carpeted bedroom"? I'm not convinced about that analogy. I'm sure you'd agree that even the thickest and heaviest floor carpet can't stop slap-back echo between parallel walls.
Well, every bedroom is different. Mines don't have free wall, being covered with bookshelves everywhere.
I'm in my 70sqm studio right now, and the reverb is extremely short (under a second, with no echo). I built it with a slanted wooded roof, laminate floor, abundant carpeting, and all walls covered with books. Playing flute or sax in it is very pleasant, with a very focused sound.
Paolo
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BTW Paolo, though not a player of any acoustic instruments these days, I do have some idea of the excellent acoustic damping properties of bookshelves! My bookshelves are behind me and seem to prevent any echo when I talk on Skype using a large dual-diaphragm omni mic.
I know we're way off topic - my apologies to cmillar - but I'm posting this because I've just remembered a great series of videos on YouTube that really highlight the superb acoustic damping of bookshelves, for others who may be interested. The series is called Tiny Desk Concerts and features many well known musical acts performing in a book store! The series is posted on YouTube by NPR Music.
I've linked one performance here by Yo-Yo Ma, and there are plenty of other videos in this series featuring some wonderful acoustic instrument players and superb singers, including some very famous artistes. And all with that very focused sound you mention. (A little too 'naked' and 'forensic' for my taste; I prefer a 'produced' sound. But then again, I'm not an instrumentalist.)
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