EastWest Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition Virtual Instrument Plug-In (Download) - Manual (Page 222)

HOLLYWOOD ORCHESTRA OPUS EDITION C O N T E N T S <
CHAPTER 6: MIX 222 C H A P T E R <
6.3 MIXING THE HOLLYWOOD ORCHESTRA
The way you choose to mix the microphones in your project can result in a sound that
varies from small and “dry” to large and “wet.” What you are adding in or leaving out
(to some degree) is the natural ambience of the room exactly as it occurred during the
recording sessions. This ambience is heard as long as the samples are playing (including
the release trail samples).
6.3.1 Multiple Microphone Mixes
Because mixing 2 or 3 of the mic positions in the right proportions can add dimension to
a stereo or surround sound recording, it’s helpful to understand the various approaches
when combining them into a final mix.
That said, it is possible to create a piece with only a single microphone position. The
Main mics are a common choice for this, because of its versatility, but in some cases the
Close or Mid mics may be the right choice. While unlikely, the Surround or Vintage mics
might also be a good choice if you need a large ambient space.
The following examples describe basic setups to show how you can use the Output con-
trols, with emphasis on the individual microphone positions. When considering the pos-
sibilities of multiple instruments, each with its own microphone positions, the ways of
setting up the outputs are too numerous to list here. Use the principles described here
to define your own approach.
Recording Each Microphone Individually
In this approach, you can set up one or more instruments with a single mic position and
the output going to one or more audio tracks in the sequencer. Usually, you will work with
the Main mics during the composition phase, especially if this is the mic position that
will dominate in the final mix. Once you’re ready to commit the composition to the audio
track(s), bounce down the track(s) to create a single-mic recording.
Then go into every instrument in Opus that contributed to those audio tracks so you can
unload the Main mics and replace them with a different set, for example, the Close mics.
Bounce down new audio track(s), making sure you name your tracks to indicate which
mic position was used. Don’t worry about the loudness of this track relative to the first
audio track; you can adjust that in the final mix. When using more than 2 mic positions,
repeat the process to create the rest of the tracks.
Once you have all the tracks, you can mix them into a single track, adjusting the relative
volumes to achieve the sound you want.
There are two advantages to this approach. First, it requires a smaller computer system
than trying to load multiple sets of samples into RAM at once. Second, you have separate
audio tracks for the three mic positions which you can use to create a wetter or drier mix.
Recording Multiple Microphones Simultaneously
It is also possible to work with more than one mic position at a time, though this requires
a more capable computer setup to handle the extra samples in RAM and the extra pro-