Thanks again for the kind words - attached revised mp3 that uses only mic mixing and EQ to get a good balance. Same ordering of motif mentioned in my previous post (
link). Also attached screenshots of horns/trumpets/trombones/tuba EQ settings.
How I matched it: two basic strategies: (1) use mic mixing to try and get a similar stereo image and reverb tail, (2) use EQ to try and match timbre, often times doing it in mono. Repeated these steps a few times. After I felt they were roughly matched, I actually did another pass over IB to adjust the tone to personal taste, not worrying about matching it so precisely to BB anymore.
And one last personal opinion, I'm beginning to realize that for this library, good performance programming makes a big difference in how the mix gets perceived. Humans (or at least me?) are silly like that, getting our wires crossed so easily.
Here's a few gems of performance programming I think I've figured out so far. Apologies if these are obvious, but they've been really working well for me to make more natural sounding performances.
- slight different pitch bend on instruments that are playing in unison
- try drawing in slightly pitch bend modulation on very loud notes, especially in very high or low register, to emulate the innacuracy a player might have on holding a loud steady note.
- For accents, experiment between loud note velocity + low CC1, versus medium note velocity and high CC1. Also experiment with slight ramp-in envelopes on CC1 if you want to try a more rounded but still immediate attacks, where low note velocity attack would be too slow.
- For portatos and longer staccatos, experiment with different shapes of CC1 envelope to manage the perceived attack and release of each note. Different CC curves can make a huge difference in the character of the note, and different scenarios will need different CC curves. A CC ramp upwards can create an intensity that drives to the next note. A CC ramp down can help create a slight breath after the note. etc. This is where I think Infinite Brass really shines in expressive power compared to most other sample libraries.
- Adding a small bit of growl in the right places on trombone adds to the authenticity of playing loud and hard. i.e. not using growl for the effect itself, but for the imperfections that it creates in trying to hold loud notes. Might work for tuba/horn too, not sure I haven't really tried.
