Anatomy of a Mix

ODESSA

By Ying-Ying Zhang

The Orchestral Distribution Effects in Sound, Space, and Acoustics (ODESSA) Project creates abundant multitrack material of large ensembles playing harmonically complex repertoire. As fully mixed and realized recordings, they portray a blend of timbral perspectives: from the precise musical decisions of the conductor and the orchestra, to the reflections of the hall, and the sonic designs of the engineers who placed each microphone. This “Anatomy of a Mix'' project will be integrated into the new ODESSA web module in the Timbre and Orchestration Resource (TOR). It deconstructs the idea of a blended, orchestral sound into the various microphone systems that serve as its capture points. Using the perspectives of each of these sources: from a contact mic that rides the body of a violin to a pair of small diaphragm omnis facing the wall at the very back of the hall, this web series provides commentary and context for every capture point of orchestral sound and explains what it provides to the timbre of the mix as a whole. Each excerpt (“Subject” in ODESSA terms) is explored from different points of view. For example, a Subject that features the entirety of the orchestra could be examined from the point of view of a mixing engineer summing systems together to create a cohesive stereo mix, but one that concentrates more on an individual instrument line could hone in on how the timbre of that instrument changes given different capture points throughout the room. So far, the Anatomy of the Mix explores Montreal recording but it will expand to encompass later ODESSA iterations as well.