Guys - any help would so much be appreciated.

Im writing musical scores - a lot of audio tracks for orchestral instruments.

This is my first one using Steinberg Nuendo.

I need some help on where to start with mixing the instruments together.

For example, I have a section in the piece that contains around 8 different stringed instruments.

Im trying to get each instrument part to "STAND OUT" and be clearly "heard" so that each is unique and defined.

What Im doing is I keep making a copy of an audio track just to get the volume up on each particular track so that it can be readily heard.

I know this must not be the right way to do it.

Can someone please steer me in the right direction with regards to some BASIC tips/dos and don's on how to mix different instrumental parts such as strings, together, so that all are clearly heard?

How can I use compression to ISOLATE each part so that each instrument stands out on its own for example?

Any help here would be greatly appreciated just to get me started at least.

Thank you in advance.

Simon

you could lower every other track instead of duplicating the one thats not loud enough. use the "link tracks/channel" feature to move all the faders as one.

you can use the Sends to send some signal to the master bus. it can be chosen as a send in the send list. its called "bus 1" or "left" and "right". be careful that sometimes the signal sent to both "left" and "right" buses is mono'ed. sometimes you need 2 mono tracks in order to send the correct channel to the correct bus.

some simple trick is to slightly pan some channels to the left or right. it does a lot for helping parts "stand out". try to add some highs / cut some lows if possible. effects like reverb or delay can mess up a mix if unproperly used. use a effects on the master like at least a compressor or enhancer. i absolutely LOVE vintagewarmer and t-racks.

lets say you have 4 violins. you can mix one louder so its details are clearly heard and the 3 other quite lower so you have the "ensemble" effect. it works absolutely great for backing vocals for example.

Guys

Thank you SO MUCH for all your input...really appreciate it.

Simon