How to get old soundtrack sound

[jkoseattle]

I love the old recordings from the 50's, usually in mono, for movie soundtracks and musicals. Modern versions of that kind of music just don't work for me, and I know it's because the recording techniques and equipment are different. The bass is too detailed, the stereo is too pronounced, the balance is too perfect, etc..

Musically, I have no trouble handling the old orchestrations, harmonies, phrasings, all that. It's just the audio quality that's wrong.

I'd like to be able to emulate that old sound in some of my upcoming work. I've tried things like mono, rolling off bass and treble, compression, but I've never come that close. The sound is so clean and "safe", yet exciting because it evokes that era. What am I doing wrong? Is there maybe an effects plug-in I can use? I am limiting myself to EastWest ComposerCloud, so not interested as much in instrument patches. Any help is appreciated!

For examples, try the soundtracks to Gigi or An American in Paris. Or really any soundtracks from that era.

[abacab]

Maybe using one of the "vintage" vinyl effects or something like that would do the trick.

[Christian Jones]

Try these, and one of them is free. Reels has a demo. I got it for $39 during last Black Friday from Plugin Boutique. I love running piano and strings through it to get that old Melotron sound w/ the wow and flutter. Also pick up Izotope Vinyl which is free w/ an Izotope account. 

https://www.audiothing.net/effects/reels/

https://www.izotope.com/en/products/downloads/vinyl.html

[Kurre]

My guess is that it have to do with the acoustics of the recording place.

Experiment with that ir thing that i read about.

It's more than likely that the recording studios were different from modern studios in material, size and damping methods.

 

[Mánibranðr Studios]

This is also useful.

[JonD]

IMO, the key to that sound is the band/orchestra needs to sound like it's in one space.  Overdubbing was rare/nonexistent, one or two mics was common (allow lots of mic bleed), and no crazy panning (Try putting everything in the middle third or so).

And, of course, it needs to sound like analog.

[Alan Tubbs]

Ribbon mics to record. Also remember that the songs were mastered for optical tracks and vinyl and have little bass and attenuated highs. Some noise can be injected, but most noise you hear today is from old optical tracks transfers, not the originals.  The sound as recorded was as clean as you can get today, if thicker and not quite as precise.  
a soundstage ir could be a nice complement.

[mettelus]

iZotope's Vinyl is free, and I think that has a decade dial on it but forget for sure. Check a recording that you really like for frequency response. The high end might be rolled off more than you may be anticipating.

[jkoseattle]

Thanks for all the ideas. The XLN thing looks pretty nice, I'll see what I can get from the comments here though. also installed Izotope Vinyl, which I think might have come with an old version of Sonar because it looks familiar. It's a little too basic I think, but will certainly be helpful.

[mettelus]

iZotope's Vinyl has been around a long time. Be sure to remember you have it if used in projects. It is one of those plugins that inserts noise with the transport stopped. Remembering you have used it will save you some heartache trying to troubleshoot your audio interface in the future!