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  #1  
Old 01-11-2017, 09:01 PM
Bantom Bantom is offline
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Default Singer/Songwriter Music Spread in a 5.1 theatrical Mix

Hi guys, I am working on a feature music documentary for theatrical release and there are scenes where the musicians are practicing in the rehearsal room and they all have a lav mic on.There is dialogue and playing so that lives in the centre for those scenes. The film shows them rehearsing a song, then cuts to the album version (Stereo Mix) of that song that was recorded live in that scene. Every song has vocals in it...thats the kicker.

My questions are will it be too much of a jump going from the centre channel weighted dial/music to a L/R album production track? The visuals compliment the change, but is that too drastic for the theatre? Should it be an LCR even spread? The problem is the vocals in the songs.

My other question is all of the album tracks are stereo and as said above, have vocals. in a 5.1 theatrical mix, would you typically use a plugin like the Neyrinck Halo upmix to spread the music a bit to the centre and surrounds or is it better to keep the music L/R and leave the surrounds for BG/FX?

Normally I will up mix score a bit to fill, but this one is so different because it essentially goes from a mono music source to L/R or 5.1 so i just want to make sure the change/Spread in a full theatre won't be too much.

I am mixing in a calibrated room so I trust what I am hearing, and taking the mix to a full size sound stage is not in the budget, so i would appreciate a little insight into what you guys think is the safest/most effective route in this unusual mix situation.

Thank you in advance.
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  #2  
Old 01-12-2017, 06:17 AM
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reichman reichman is offline
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Default Re: Singer/Songwriter Music Spread in a 5.1 theatrical Mix

Not unusual at all. I run into it all the time when transitioning from spoken dialog to singing from the same actors. For years I've been telling the songwriters and music mixers that if they don't start working in LCR their work is going to suffer.

Obviously, if you have access to stems of the songs, anchor those vocals in the center channel and it will make for a great experience. If you can't do that, audition all the upmixers and find the least offensive one that will put that vocal in the center channel where it belongs.
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  #3  
Old 01-12-2017, 08:28 AM
Leverson Leverson is online now
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Default Re: Singer/Songwriter Music Spread in a 5.1 theatrical Mix

Echoing what reichman said above. Either use stems and put the vocal stem(s) in the center (and then spread the rest of the song around) or use an upmixer to anchor your vocals in the center and spread the rest of the song around to taste. Both Halo and Penteo work great for this.
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Old 01-12-2017, 08:53 AM
Rich Breen Rich Breen is offline
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Default Re: Singer/Songwriter Music Spread in a 5.1 theatrical Mix

I haven't used them for this particular task, but would one of the Audionamix tools help in a case like this (extract the vocal and place center)?
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Old 01-12-2017, 08:56 AM
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dr sound dr sound is offline
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Default Re: Singer/Songwriter Music Spread in a 5.1 theatrical Mix

Rich, You should try this:
https://www.leapwingaudio.com/centerone/
It's made just for what you need.
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  #6  
Old 01-12-2017, 11:44 AM
garret garret is offline
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Default Re: Singer/Songwriter Music Spread in a 5.1 theatrical Mix

Marti. Have you used this? If you extract a centre for the centre channel from this how is the downmix? I have a music doc coming up that this could be very useful for. I will test out the demo. Thanks for the heads up!
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Old 01-12-2017, 08:29 PM
philper philper is offline
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Default Re: Singer/Songwriter Music Spread in a 5.1 theatrical Mix

So the music in the film is by the subjects of the film? And a remix for LCR isn't possible of those album tracks? How about an export from the music DAW of a stereo mix-minus-vocals and a separate vocal stem--that shouldn't be too hard...? I hear you re the vocal jumping from C to LR, having LCR music would make for a much classier mix.
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Old 01-13-2017, 08:11 AM
Rich Breen Rich Breen is offline
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Default Re: Singer/Songwriter Music Spread in a 5.1 theatrical Mix

Quote:
Originally Posted by dr sound View Post
Rich, You should try this:
https://www.leapwingaudio.com/centerone/
It's made just for what you need.
Thanks Marti - I'm not the OP, though I occasionally need to manipulate center material in music mixes, so I'll take a look. I assume it's better than Waves' Center which never sounded like much to me...

thanks again,
rich
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Old 01-13-2017, 08:36 AM
Tstein Tstein is offline
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Default Re: Singer/Songwriter Music Spread in a 5.1 theatrical Mix

When dealing with music mixes from Bands do remember that mixes are often mastered after the mix is completed. Stems and/or Mix minus (if they were even created) are often not included in the mastering session.
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Old 01-14-2017, 06:33 AM
smurfyou smurfyou is offline
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Default Re: Singer/Songwriter Music Spread in a 5.1 theatrical Mix

Since this is not your random needledrop but the subject of your doc I would definitely ask for stems. Very reasonable request in this case. Unless they did a live mix to 2-track... Then follow the above advice
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