Newgrounds.com — Everything, By Everyone.

At 4/22/14 04:34 PM, ksthultz15 wrote: What do you guys think of IK Multimedia Miroslav Philharmonik. I love it. Would you guys think it's overrated or underrated?

I used to hate it and think nothing of it, now... People sometimes over rate the quality of the sounds in Philharmonik, but I also think people underrate the unique sound it has to create soundtracks similar to Runescape... xD

At 4/22/14 05:00 PM, Bspendlove wrote:

At 4/22/14 04:34 PM, ksthultz15 wrote: What do you guys think of IK Multimedia Miroslav Philharmonik. I love it. Would you guys think it's overrated or underrated?

I used to hate it and think nothing of it, now... People sometimes over rate the quality of the sounds in Philharmonik, but I also think people underrate the unique sound it has to create soundtracks similar to Runescape... xD

Im not into creating orchestral music really. So if I need a realistic string sound thats in the end gonna be processed. Philharmonik is perfect for me.

I did make a trailer music type thing though. Check it out on my soundcloud. All sounds from Philharmonik. Trailer Music

XY Recording Pattern- this shit is the worst thing I've ever heard. You might as well record in mono if you're going to use it...
Multimic Libraries- It maaaybe does a little bit to help you, but not much. The subtle timbral and ambient changes to the sound are easy to do by the work of even a novice producer. Hell, you could simulate it in your plugin using fx... instead they choose to waste hundreds of MB on this stuff. If you want multimic, the most you EVER really need is two, maybe three- decca set, close, and maybe ambient, but that's pushing it.

Hang on a minute! As a recording/mixing engineer, I must take the time to explain: The thing that is going on with an XY Pattern(Coincident Pair mic technique used on the vast majority of professional recordings) is a signal summing into mono of frequencies below 1500 Hz. This is BENEFICIAL to certain instruments (Drum Sets, Brass Sections, etc) as lower frequencies are balanced evenly between Left and Right or just Mono to keep an even mix. It is also the least phase (comb-filtering) affected stereo mic technique and can be processed (Filters, EQs, Dynamics) easily without causing said phasing issues. If you did not know this, ANY additive Equalization (minus Linear Phase EQing) to ANY signal causes phasing (Phasing - When the same frequency information arrives slightly off time from each other). We like our bass heavy in modern mixes, so if you recorded a drum set in anything but Mono or Coincident Pair, it would negatively effect the signal to raise bass frequencies via EQ. This is why most engineers prefer the XY for it's mono compatibility below 1500 Hz. We want the LEAST amount of additive processing after the recording is done, so if you can fix issues at the Microphone and it's set up it's always better than doing after the fact.

As far as multi-mic libraries, they are most likely giving you every crucial position within the space they recorded. The Critical Distance from the recorded source is the point at which the room's reflections (reverberations) dominate the direct source signal. It is important to have "room mics" placed outside this Critical Distance to pick up the recording environment as well as the mics placed within the Critical Distance for the direct sound. These recordings are then mixed and balanced for the most realistic and/or appealing combination (Natural/Analog Reverb is infinity more accurate and smoother than Digital Reverb). The microphones inside the Critical Distance can be set up in a number of ways, including a Decca Tree you mentioned, as each technique lends benefits to different recordings. I have personally set up every single mic technique you can think of in many different applications, and the one thing I could tell you is I wish I could have as many set ups as a Multi Mic Library gives you. Every microphone set up lends itself uniquely to every instrument/source as well as every set they give you in a Multi-Mic Library has a different uses in different mixes/songs!