How Williams Scores are Mixed

[GoodMusician 56]

I was just listening to some of my favourite scores, and I kinda realized something...

I think I may kinda understand how williams has his scores mixed.

I mean, the normal set up for an orchestral recording has always sounded different to me than a williams score recording for more reasons than how they normally recorded an orchestra recording... but he did make one change I'm noticing.

Normally From left to center you hear

Horns, Violin 1 (Horns), Violin 2 (Horns), Winds in Center

Well, I'm noticing that it's almost as if the brass and strings are on one set... and the winds are on a second... and the winds are brought forward into the mix, as if they were the only instruments playing.

The winds then mix in the audio field with the strings so it's more like this:

Horns, Violin 1, Bassoon, (Horns) Violin 2, (more winds) (Horns) , and finally winds like Flute and Clarinet oboe...

Its just something I'm noticing more and more. Like with Home alone and Jurassic Park, the bassoon will be way off in the left with the violins... and it always caught me as strange as to how it sourced from WAY over there lol...

I guess in a way, the position doesnt' ALWAYS change... but what it definately is, is closer to the perceived front rather than further back...

Just kinda something I'd noticed. ...

I mean, I thought perhaps its a usual way to mix film scores... but Lord of the Rings isn't quite like that either. It's more natural. Same with Titanic.

I checked some other scores... most James Horner are more natural sounding Winds...

Lord of the Rings plays around with where the orchestra is physically seated, but as far as mixed... it's pretty much how its heard, with a bit of room... only solo instruments really are ever brought out on occasion... where as Williams they are all brought out almost all the time.

Hans Zimmer is overly synthed and mixed, so there's a lot of playing with the Mix as far as that goes... Although he seems to have a lot of similar mixing as far as the whole of the winds being brought out.

It seems that Alan Menkin has similar mixing, but he uses far less of an orchestra and everything is live/brought out equally because of this. Somtimes he'll bring them out a bit more when they're solo.

The other interesting thing is that the amount the winds are brought out doesn't really change. Only on very few occasions, special occasions when the winds are solo, will they be brough up just a hair, otherwise they are about equal to the strings and have to compete really with the strings, so if the strings are quiet, and the winds are about the same, you hear the distance, but also hear the strength of the part.

I rather like how they're mixed.

Danny Elfman is a bit odd in his mixing as well. Quite a bit of playing around like Hans Zimmer as far as synth and movement of instruments into different positions then they would exist orchestrally..

Oh well... just some interesting things I'm hearing.