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#1
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suggested levels for all MIDI volumes in a Virtual Instrument.
hey everyone, I have been searching for weeks now and have not found the exact answers I am looking for.
My question is, what is a good rule of thumb for setting levels at the bigining of a mixing session for a MIDI orchestral mock up? There are a few question that I have that will answer the larger question. 1: what should i set my volume at for for headphones when mixing? Should i set the volume i am listening to 100% or 80%? 2: at the start of the mixing process, I pull all faders of individual tracks down to -10 at the recommendation of an engineer friend. Is there any other recomendations on how to "balance" monitor volume and track volumes? 3: there are a few other ways to control volume in an instrument track, such as MIDI vol, CC11 expression, and CC1 Mod wheel. I know that different virtual instruments utilize different CC to control the instrument, for instance Spit Fire libraries rely on expression and dynamics fairly heavily (CC11 and CC1 respectively i believe) so what is the best "starting position" for each of these other controllers in conjunction with the channel strip fader to give me room to work with dynamics, and pop an individual instrument's line out over the rest of the orchestra? I keep running into situations where an instrument, say the basses, are too quiet i can barely hear them, and other situations where I am maxed out and cant bring a violin line up out of the orchestra. So i am just looking for a "best practices" starting point; where should my faders be, where should CC1, CC11 ect be for a piece starting mezzo forte and such. Any thoughts and suggestions would be supper appreciated! Thanks! |
#2
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Re: suggested levels for all MIDI volumes in a Virtual Instrument.
I would highly recommend that you convert all your VI's to audio tracks once you've got the individual parts the way you want them. This makes mixing much easier. Use the MIDI volumes and controls on your VI to get a good audio level, and than commit to audio.
I use East-West orchestral instruments a lot. I use the MIDI to compose the part. But once I have what I want, I convert that part to audio, then hide and make inactive the VI and the MIDI track, and just work with the audio. This will save a lot on your CPU enabling you to have more CPU power available for any plugins you want to use in the mix processing. If you only have a few VIs, you can get away with mixing off the MIDI instruments, but you're still mixing audio levels, not MIDI levels. By hiding and inactivating, I can always bring a VI and MIDI track back if I decide later I want to make some change in the part. Meanwhile, I've freed up all that CPU. I think you'll find that's what most pros do. Good luck!
__________________
"Never believe anything you hear in a song." Tyrion Lannister, Game of Thrones Owner: Dragon Rock Productions LLC |
#3
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Re: suggested levels for all MIDI volumes in a Virtual Instrument.
Keep in mind that it's not only MIDI cc7 and cc11 messages that have an effect on volume but also velocity. Changing velocity levels (low velocity will give a lower audio level) will have a two-fold effect - the first being the level of the instrument and if it's a sampler like the aforementioned East/West instruments the timbre of the sound will be affected by way of playing different samples.
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#4
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Re: suggested levels for all MIDI volumes in a Virtual Instrument.
Many (but not all) of the samples i use are not midi dependent, and the spitfire that I use, utilizes velocity to trigger different things such as legato or portamento. After importing MIDI from Finale, i always have to go and set velocity levels so the sounds I want are triggered. But you are right, its important to keep velocity in mind so the inner voicing do not overtake the melody, on a piano track for example.
DonaldM, thank you for your suggestion. I tried what you recommended today and had a much better time mixing my orchestra. Instead of mixing the virrual instrument tracks and stressing over the many ways of controlling volume, i committed them and needed only to play with audio track automation. And i especially like that the VI tracks are still there in case i need to make any changes at any time. Thanks for the help guys! Really appreciate it! |
#5
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Re: suggested levels for all MIDI volumes in a Virtual Instrument.
Glad it helped. It really makes mixing easier to commit to audio first.
__________________
"Never believe anything you hear in a song." Tyrion Lannister, Game of Thrones Owner: Dragon Rock Productions LLC |
#6
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Re: suggested levels for all MIDI volumes in a Virtual Instrument.
Donald is the man. :)
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Patrick www.LightWingStudios.com Musical Instrument Protection Accessories...Made In America. Dell Precision T7910, Dual Processors (total 20 Cores), 128GB RAM, 4 @ 2TB SSDs, 1 @ 4TB HDs, Nvidia 2GB Dual Monitor Card, Dual LG 48" TVs used as Monitors, Arturia 88 Midi Controller, Black Lion USB Audio Interface, Mackie HR-828 Monitors, Katana Head, Fishman Triple Play, Win 10 Pro, PT 2023.3 Studio, only the Plugins I NEED, WAY TOO MANY Guitars...and an AMAZING wife! AxeShield HD, AmpShield HD, KeyShield HD, AxeSak, AxeGlove, AxeCap & PedalShield |
#7
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Re: suggested levels for all MIDI volumes in a Virtual Instrument.
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As mentioned above to to aim for -18dB on each channel. |
#8
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Re: suggested levels for all MIDI volumes in a Virtual Instrument.
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