2/2 Alt Instrumental returns

[greggo]

Got two returns today for alt/rock instrumentals. Wondering how I can "up" the production value a bit? I'm totally aware of the hi hat problem, but what else? Thanks!

http://www.reverbnation.com/tunepak/2412327

[jefflaplante]

I listened to "It's Go Time"
First off, this tune has potential. There are some positive elements to it.

Here are some opinions to make it better:

1. The bass sounds too mechanical...not realistic. I would find a really good bass player to add some dynamics to that low end.

2. The drums (which you are aware of) need some reprogramming. Sometimes less is more...especially when using cymbal samples.

3. In all honesty (and I hate to be offensive), IMO, the guitar playing is rather sloppy. Sorry...I know these words can hurt...but that is the way I heard it. A lot of the time, the guitar is either rushing past the beat or lagging behind the beat. Hope this helps and sorry for being brutally honest.

I also listened to "Just Do It"

Much better. The only thing that is bad is the drum sound. Unfortunatally, it is really bad. You def. want to do something about the drums...they are way too tinny and high end. Use some EQ or something...I am not an expert when it comes to stuff like that, but there are other people on here that can tell you exactly what you need to do.

[guitarhacker]

What I heard sounded OK. Nothing too bad but at the same time nothing too exciting.

My take is the song (1st one) is that it wasn't very interesting..... it stayed on the root a lot. No really interesting guitar playing going on...

It sounded like a typical basement jam band without a singer.


second tune is on now.... again.... good basic stuff, but nothing that really reaches out and grabs you and pulls you in making you want to hear more.

The bar with Taxi is pretty high..... so good songs don't get forwarded..... they must be outstanding. It can be very frustrating.... trust me, I know. I have no forwards with Taxi but I do have some songs in a film library that was submitted other than through Taxi....and they turned me down 2x before they signed me.

[orest]

What did the listing say more than "alt/rock" ? Any bands mentioned in that listing?
The second song felt almost more like 90's grunge music than alt rock.

I think the songs would benefit a lot if a melody is in there as well. Now the tracks feel more like backing tracks, they don't stand out so much.
I agree what the other said as well. The ground is good, but you need to polish the songs to bring them the extra spice.

[greggo]

Thanks guys.

Alexander - here's the listing: CONTEMPORARY ALT/INDIE ROCK INSTRUMENTALS in the range from Kings of Leon to Silversun Pickups to Yeah Yeah Yeahs, etc., are wanted by a West Coast-based Music Library whose clients include Xbox, Microsoft, Visa, Clorox and more. Instrumental presentation must be top-notch! They offer a standard non-exclusive, 50/50 deal and they don't acquire your song's copyright. Songs must be broadcast quality (great sounding home recordings are OK). You must control the publishing and master rights to your instrumentals - no samples that require clearance, please.

I studied the bands, guess I just fell short.

@Jeff- no offense taken. I'm here to learn.

[wings]

This totally isn't my genre, but FWIW, I heard some clipping on my Mackies when I played this. You might want to watch your levels.

[japaneseprincess]

Jeff and everyone else covered almost everything. if you are submitting to rock listings, everything needs to sound like as if its played by a live band.

you have some good ideas in both songs, guitar sound and riffs are right for silversun pickups. I also submitted for this listing and it came out good so i may be able to give you more advice.

for structure, if im doing instrumental version for film/tv, i would make each track just about 2 minutes. i often do simple ABAB, if its not long enough i would pop a bridge or intro to make it longer. clear simple structure really helps listeners to get engaged to music.

what we can do about sloppy guitar takes? i would normally do 2-3 takes for each section, i use a click track panned to hard right (or left) as well as drum track playing, i can keep my rhythm constant (but not robotic ) this way. when i have 3 takes, i stop and have listen to each take (with the click and drums) to see if i have enough to mix and match best bits, cross fade them well to make a perfect take. i normally spend about 2 hours for writing/recording all guitar parts for one track/song. for bass, about 1 hour.

yes you do need more realistic drum sounds and programming skill, need a real bass. i only use a very cheap beginner's bass (cost me about 80 USD or less), with fairchild compressor plug and gtr3 bass amp.

drums, you have lots of options. BFD2, EZ drummer, Superior2, SSD, Addictive Drums, Ocean Way, etc etc.. all of them are very realistic. they also needs some good tweaks when mixing later on.

for both tracks you may want to work on melody parts especially the first one...

[ImpSageRaven]

drums, you have lots of options. BFD2, EZ drummer, Superior2, SSD, Addictive Drums, Ocean Way, etc etc.. all of them are very realistic. they also needs some good tweaks when mixing later on.

Nice...didn't even consider stand-alone sort of applications/plugins like this for drums...

Gregg I listened to all your tracks and the bass work although somewhat muddy in the mix is what is shining through to me. It's present, catchy and groovy . The tracks will most definitely do the trick...but it's hard to say if they will actually PULL the listener into what they're hearing...more like make them say..."oh this is cool...good stuff"....instead of "whoa...what just happened there?? that track was epic!"

For some reason the cymbals on each track seem way too high-pitched in my ears as well...meh...that could just be me though...

Overall there is some clear cut talent there in those tracks...they definitely fit for a lot of things...just a matter of time to find the best fit

[greggo]

Thanks for the advice Taeko, and congrats on the forwards. Great suggestions. But, I used EZ Drummer on I think the second track and Superior Drummer on the first track. I was under the impression that they were real enough sounding. What am I missing?

Also, I know I need to get a bass at some point, probably sooner rather than later. For these I used Trillian, which I thought was pretty authentic sounding. Guess not and I'm aware that there isn't really much of a substitute for a real bass player. I've had a bass player friend of mine send me wav files in the past of his part, but didn't do it on these for some reason.

Thanks for the comments Imp. Good stuff to think about!

G

[orest]

Did you use the drums as is, or did you tweak them when you produced the tracks?
I think a good compressor and dynamic changes does the trick to make the drums sound real.
When I play the drums live on the keyboard, I hit the keys hard and not so hard to get the dynamic.
Sometimes I use the beats included in EZ, when I do, I use the beats with ghost strokes.

It took me a while to figure out how to play the drums and tweak them the right way.