A very different sort of challenge

[davemcg61]

This took some time, about 6 hours to decide how to massage this classical piece. I've listened to plenty of classical orchestras from my CD and digital music collection, but this was very different. It took about an hour to get the levels set. The next five hours were deciding how to place the instruments, helped by the photos in the main description post. Don't ruin the dynamics of the song, I kept telling myself. So its a stock Logic Platinum Analog Tape plug-in on the master output bus, set at 1.6:1, kept at the default output level of 0dB, however I did change the make-up gain from +1.5dB down to -1dB, and allowed the computer to auto adjust the attack and release times. The limiter has +3.5 dB gain and is set to -0.2dB peak, which is only briefly approached 4 times. Only opinions would tell me if I did a reasonably good job, or if I bruised the Mozart.

[Mixinthecloud]

I think you have done an excellent job with this piece. And yes, no Mozarts were hurt during this exercise.
A couple of things did pop up for me. I may have softened the piano a bit EQ-wise by rolling off some top end where it gets a bit strident. I may have also backed off the orchestra a tad in relation to the piano, or automated the dynamics between the two in places. I try to remember the orchestra is accompanying the piano.

Your imaging is very good and there is a very nice sense of place too.

[davemcg61]

Thanks for the kind words, Mixed. If you looked at the image I attached, the piano track was the only one treated with EQ prior to hitting the output bus. Giving the keyboard a slight wide boost above and below 500Hz seemed to be the way to make the piano the center of attention. Automating never crossed my mind, so I'll give that a try. I also looked at the hall stereo track, playing back only that track in mono to hear if it really needed any phase alignment. There didn't seem to be any sudden drop-offs in volume, so I left it alone. Thanks again!

[davemcg61]

Remixed and mastered with above suggestions in mind. The mains, hall and overheads were sent to one bus while the rest of the orchestra spot mics were sent to another bus. The piano track was not sent to any bus. Instead of the stock compressors, Waves C4 was used on those two buses, and the NI V76 on the piano pair. The compressor on the master is the Waves SSL in analog mode set at 2:1 ratio, 1ms attack time and auto release.