Vienna Symphonic Library (VSL) Vienna MIR

 Vienna MIR (Multi Impulse Response) is a software solution incorporating a complete reverberation and mixing stage.

Vienna's software developers are taking the concept of convolution reverberation to the extreme. The application of up to 256 multi-channel room impulses results in an enormous number of calculations that need many innovations and ingenious programming to allow for flawless execution on a single 64-bit computer.

But, why all the effort? Imagine the sound of a Bösendorfer Imperial Grand. Do you think it would be sufficient to record a single Middle C to make for a convincing virtual instrument? Of course not. You have to go for individual samples from as many keys as possible, sampled in as many velocities as the human ear is able to distinguish. The same is true for sampling a room. What the industry has had up to now are single samples from an acoustic entity much larger than even the biggest instruments. There's no way you can "play" a room like that. But this is what great rooms are all about – they want to be played by musicians, conductors, arrangers, just like any other instrument.

This is the reason the Vienna Symphonic Library started to record multi-samples from great musical venues. In fact, Vienna MIR is more than just "a multi-sample" and this is where it far surpasses any other convolution reverb product. Vienna MIR is multi-source, multi-directional, multi-positional, and multi-format. Because every room has its own voice, with its own characteristics, its imperfections – its "magic".

Let's look at what happens when you place a Vienna Instrument, e.g., the solo horn, on Vienna MIR's virtual stage of a given concert hall. First of all, the position on stage triggers the selection of one or more sets of 8 impulses (6 for horizontal directions, 2 for upward and downward directions). Equally important, the directivity characteristics of each instrument are applied before the convolution of impulses, making the result dependent on the frequency distribution and the volume an instrument is emitting in various directions. A horn, directed to the rear, obviously has a different spatial frequency profile than the frontally blaring trumpet, for example. The MIR engine calculates all of this in real-time, and what you get is what you hear – a solo horn that sounds exactly as if it were playing on that very spot on stage.

Of course, you are not limited to those spots that were used for impulse recording in the first place. The Ambisonics format for the impulse responses allows for seamless interpolation of each and every point within the available areas of the room ("Hot Spots").

The MIR Control Icon
These new approaches to virtual orchestral music require novel ways of handling them. Creating music is not about tweaking thousands of parameters individually – it's about intuitive interaction with your instrument, or with the players you've written music for.

Vienna MIR provides you with a well-designed control icon that gives you an at-a-glance overview while allowing you to control almost any sonic aspect of a given instrument with ease.

This innovative graphical representation of an instrument and its player allows you to shape your music from the conductor's point-of-view. Simply ask musicians to change their position, their orientation, their volume, without ever leaving the whole ensemble out-of-sight. Get instant information on their loudness, their interaction with the room and their corresponding sonic and spatial profiles. Forget about mixing consoles with knobs and dials, but rest assured that all of the necessary parameters are available whenever you feel the need to use them.

Technology:

• Highly specialized impulses of line arrays in 60° steps in six horizontal directions as well as upwards and downwards.

• Up to 40 sectors per stage for instrument placement, with interpolation between sectors for seamless transitions.

• Up to 5,000 individually recorded impulse responses for each room, depending on the size of the stage and the number of microphone positions.

• Instrument-specific algorithms according to individual directional frequency profiles.

• Four-channel Ambisonics recordings for output in various stereo and surround formats (up to 8 output channels).

• Recorded from up to four carefully selected positions – from the conductor's rostrum as well as from the audience perspective.

Ease-of-Use:

• Intuitive graphic user interface with innovative multi-parameter control icon.

• Real-time playing mode (low latency for arranging) and mixing mode (higher latency due to larger buffer size for calculating up to 20,000 convolutions during mix-down).

• VST/AU inserts for each instrument channel as well as the master channel.

• Character Presets for quick timbral changes, available for most Vienna Instruments.

• Advanced GUI features such as Instrument Grouping, Hide Icon, Scroll Zooming, etc.

Vienna MIR Download Edition

• Stand-alone application for Windows XP/Vista 64 systems.

• Runs exclusively with Vienna Instruments.

• Includes five halls of the Vienna Konzerthaus.

Vienna MIR Premium Edition

• Boxed product, multiple DVD-ROMs.

• Stand-alone application and VST/AU plug-in for OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) and Windows XP/Vista 64 systems.

• Open for Vienna Instruments as well as any third party VSTi or other external audio signals.

• Additional acoustic spaces.