Add edit points when reference tracks don't have them?

[JimOfferman]

I wonder if it is a good practice to add edit points to tracks written for a specific listing when the reference material provided does not have them? Asking both in general terms and in relation to my composition for listing S241229BE.

Thanks!
Jim.

[cosmicdolphin]

Yeah it's a good idea , a lot of references given are not production music library tracks so they may not have any. But for what we do here, you need them included.

[JimOfferman]

That's a very clear answer, thanks!

Follow up question: how obvious do these points need to be? In my composition, it is easy to pick out the piano notes that start a phrase, but the notes only fully ring out at the end of the piece. Additionally, there are lead in notes that announce the start of the next phrase. Can such notes stay or should they go? Willing to be brutal in the interest of making music that works for sync.

[cosmicdolphin]

Follow up question: how obvious do these points need to be? In my composition, it is easy to pick out the piano notes that start a phrase, but the notes only fully ring out at the end of the piece. Additionally, there are lead in notes that announce the start of the next phrase. Can such notes stay or should they go? Willing to be brutal in the interest of making music that works for sync.

More obvious than you might think. In your track " The Clouds we call home" , there isn't really a good place to edit because as you move between sections stuff overhangs.

For example, there seems to be an obvious contender at around 1:05 but the strings carry on under the piano so an editor wouldn't be able to use it. The best thing if you're not sure is to take your track into a stereo editor and try chopping it up yourself, see if you can get a clean edit. I'd say try to include a couple in each track but it is also genre dependant and easier in stuff that's more on the grid.

Mark

[Casey H]

Yes, some things are more "a given" in Film/TV music and will not always be shown in the reference tracks. Best to follow those things in the absence of information saying otherwise. For example, a ring out ending- not a fade, end in the same key as started (end on the root note), and provide edit points if you can.

That doesn't mean tracks without edit points don't get used. But it increases the odds.

I agree with Mark that is should be possible to make the spot around 1:05 an edit point, not overlapping the phrases.

Good luck!
Casey

[JimOfferman]

Hey Mark,

More obvious than you might think. In your track " The Clouds we call home" , there isn't really a good place to edit because as you move between sections stuff overhangs.

Ouch. Thanks for speaking truth!

For example, there seems to be an obvious contender at around 1:05 but the strings carry on under the piano so an editor wouldn't be able to use it. The best thing if you're not sure is to take your track into a stereo editor and try chopping it up yourself, see if you can get a clean edit. I'd say try to include a couple in each track but it is also genre dependant and easier in stuff that's more on the grid.

That's precisely why I asked! I felt that 1:05 would make a pretty good edit point already and was able to cleanly pick up from there (or, actually, 1:06) in a wave editor. But I'm not going to be making those edits, so let's make it more obvious!

Here's a snippet of my revised version of the track, with all overhanging notes removed to make that edit point clearer:
https://www.taxi.com/members/kMKYrIiITq ... -no-fades-

Is that obvious enough? I could go even further and put fades on everything:
https://www.taxi.com/members/kMKYrIiITq ... ith-fades-

Personally, I feel that last version is taking things too far. It no longer sounds musical to me. The unfaded version sounds fine to my ears and doesn't ruin the track as a whole (though I would probably keep the overhangs in tact if I were developing this track for a consumer release...).

[JimOfferman]

Yes, some things are more "a given" in Film/TV music and will not always be shown in the reference tracks. Best to follow those things in the absence of information saying otherwise. For example, a ring out ending- not a fade, end in the same key as started (end on the root note), and provide edit points if you can.

Good advice, thanks. I guess my newbie mistake here was thinking: "the references don't have edit points, so I don't need 'em."
Lesson learned!

That doesn't mean tracks without edit points don't get used. But it increases the odds.

Definitely want to increase the odds of my tracks getting used! Heck, I imagine the library (assuming I get a forward on this) might just pass on licensing the track even if they like it, for lack of edit points.

I agree with Mark that is should be possible to make the spot around 1:05 an edit point, not overlapping the phrases.

Making those cuts as we speak!

[JimOfferman]

Seeing the wave forms of the versions with and without edit points side by side was quite the eye opener!

Edit: Couldn't figure out how to post an image here. Thrown it on Imgur instead: https://imgur.com/a/b0YxKsl

Here are the two versions, if you want to compare:

Without edit points:
https://www.taxi.com/members/kMKYrIiITq ... -home-wip-

With edit points:
https://www.taxi.com/members/kMKYrIiITq ... it-points-

[cosmicdolphin]

Here's a snippet of my revised version of the track, with all overhanging notes removed to make that edit point clearer:
https://www.taxi.com/members/kMKYrIiITq ... -no-fades-

Is that obvious enough?

Yep, that's perfect. Do that.

[cosmicdolphin]

Seeing the wave forms of the versions with and without edit points side by side was quite the eye opener!

Yeah you can tell just by looking at the new version where a good edit point would be, it's much more obvious - and that will save an editor time which is something they don't have a lot of. You're just trying to make someone else's job easier.