Testing out new instrument set

[VGMRMissCoriel]

I got me a new thing (it cost me $400)
So I needed to give it a spin, What you do you all think?!
Starfox- Andross Space Armada
I'm new at using it so There is a lot for me to sift through.

[Jazz Paladin]

Heya,

Overall, good and true to form.


Hard for me to tell if this is a soundcloud or an MP3 related issue, but I definitely hear a lot of compression related artifacts and pumping, which unfortunately doesn't suit the style of music and instrumentation all too well. But this again may have nothing to do with your arranging/mixing.

[VGMRMissCoriel]

i think it's soundcloud.. I don't hear the artifacts on the original.. give it a download and see if it fixes the issue.. it is a whole new thing for me and i may need to figure out a new way to master it than my usual setup

[Jazz Paladin]

Originally Posted by VGMRMissCoriel

i think it's soundcloud.. I don't hear the artifacts on the original.. give it a download and see if it fixes the issue.. it is a whole new thing for me and i may need to figure out a new way to master it than my usual setup

Tons of headroom is usually the key to avoiding pesky problems from YouTube, spotify, etc...

My biggest problem is usually trying to find a nice balance between keeping things musical yet at the same time at comparable volumes to everything else out there...not an easy task.

What sample library did you upgrade to? I'll be getting the Miroslav for my next big project.

[VGMRMissCoriel]

Eastwest Symphonic Orch Gold
I got it wired into FLstudio 12

[Jazz Paladin]

Originally Posted by VGMRMissCoriel

Eastwest Symphonic Orch Gold
I got it wired into FLstudio 12

Nice! A lot of people really like the EW , I don't hear too much bad about it. There are some orch libraries I'd definitely stay away from, but from what I've heard and can tell, the EW isn't one of them...

I've wanted the Miroslav for years under various formats. Though am glad I held out for so long. Certainly more bang for the buck now than it used to be. Am personally looking forward to it if only because it doesn't sound quite as "Hollywood" as many others. Now if only physical modeling could catch up for string section vsti's...

[VGMRMissCoriel]

I learned about EW from DocNano(who collaborated with me when I couldn't afford it).
I later saw i could of gotten 7 of their sets for the same price but i already did my thing DX

[Jazz Paladin]

Originally Posted by VGMRMissCoriel

I learned about EW from DocNano(who collaborated with me when I couldn't afford it).
I later saw i could of gotten 7 of their sets for the same price but i already did my thing DX

I hate when that happens...missed out on many such deals over the years...

Nothing to complain about in 2016 for me though. Ended up getting free upgrades for Chromophone and Ozone 7 this year due to various flukes. Win some, lose some...

Keep up the scoring! Also, one thing you may find interesting is that a lot of professionals create totally different mixes for Youtube, streaming, etc than those that end up on disc. The reason being that the secondary mixes are tailored to be better suited towards lossy mediums. Not something I personally really have the time to do, but others making the big bucks do...

[VGMRMissCoriel]

I might try to see if ogg or FLAC works better sometime.. perhaps i might need to see if i can take Maximus off

[Jazz Paladin]

Originally Posted by VGMRMissCoriel

I might try to see if ogg or FLAC works better sometime.. perhaps i might need to see if i can take Maximus off

Perhaps. Does Maximus have built in RMS metering? Do you usually try to keep everything within a certain RMS range?

I think I was talking with Doc Nano a while ago about how sometimes reverb combined with the aforementioned limiting can wreak all sorts of muddy and pumping nastiness on final mixes, especially when yet another layer of compression is added by third party programs after you upload your files. And especially on consumer grade gear. No fun at all

Filltering your reverb can also get rid of a lot of that junk. But hard to say for sure.


Like I said though, I think the arrangement is very good, as is the quality of the library.

[VGMRMissCoriel]

I know that the library and my ability to make a song is ok.. but mastering is usually my weakpoint x3
for some reason, what sounds good on my speakers doesn't sound good on anyone else's
well, i do have some hearing loss

[Jazz Paladin]

Originally Posted by VGMRMissCoriel

I know that the library and my ability to make a song is ok.. but mastering is usually my weakpoint x3
for some reason, what sounds good on my speakers doesn't sound good on anyone else's
well, i do have some hearing loss

Yeah, I know what you mean, mastering is a bear. Getting things to translate well to a variety of systems is quite a challenge...requires a lot of patience when testing out on multiple systems!

Believe it or not, I think most of the pros would say at some point in time, you have to make concessions and realize that you can't make a song sound good on every thing. Puny speakers for example will always be bass deficient and physically incapable of reproducing low frequency content, so if you somehow manage to be able to hear the bass well on them, it probably means you added so much low end harmonic distortion that it sounds crappy on hi end gear.

What I am finding as I can more experience is that a) most things I have problems with are best resolved in the mix stage and b) knowing when NOT to process something in the mastering stage is probably more important than just about anything else.

[VGMRMissCoriel]

it's been a long time since I tried not using a limiter. I might give it another whirl

[Jazz Paladin]

Originally Posted by VGMRMissCoriel

it's been a long time since I tried not using a limiter. I might give it another whirl

Nothing wrong with them. Probably still pretty essential for most materials. I think it's generally more problematic when they are consistently applying 3-5 dB of GR on a track, with an RMS value below -10 or -12 for the whole duration.

If you haven't already read it, I highly recommend reading the Art and Science of Mastering by Bob Katz, one of the legendary gurus of our time. Great resource, easily what I'd call the Bible of Mastering.

[VGMRMissCoriel]

Originally Posted by Jazz Paladin

Nothing wrong with them. Probably still pretty essential for most materials. I think it's generally more problematic when they are consistently applying 3-5 dB of GR on a track, with an RMS value below -10 or -12 for the whole duration.

If you haven't already read it, I highly recommend reading the Art and Science of Mastering by Bob Katz, one of the legendary gurus of our time. Great resource, easily what I'd call the Bible of Mastering.

Sounds like a good read.. is there a link or is it an actual book

[Jazz Paladin]

Originally Posted by VGMRMissCoriel

Sounds like a good read.. is there a link or is it an actual book

http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Audi...katz+mastering


I think there is an ebook now, too, but the hard copy with diagrams and pics is great to have by your side

[MES Records]

Did you buy only Symphonic Orchestra Gold? That thing's very, very dated by now and has basically been replaced by the Hollywood Series.
EastWest also has a lot of sales. I got all of the Hollywood instruments + Choirs + Stormdrum + Spaces for 500$ a few years ago.

By the way - you can get every single EastWest instrument for only 29,99$/month:
http://www.soundsonline.com/composercloud

I'm very surprised to see that someone still pays so much for this instrument when they give out their stuff so much cheaper.

The cover is pretty nice though. I don't think you can make this much better with that library.