Danny Boy - Solo Piano

[hummingbird]

Quote:Vikki,Very nice version of Danny Boy! The background choir really adds a nice feel to the piece.If I could make one suggestion on your production: Your reverb sounds too bright to my ears, it gives an unnatural ambience to the voice, like you're singing in a very empty room with tile on the walls. If you can, cut some high frequencies (above 8Khz) on the reverb return. This will warm it up and make it sound more natural. Another thing that works for me when mixing reverb is to turn the reverb all the way off and then bring it in until you can hear it as a reverb and then back it off a little bit. Then try muting it and un-muting it and just close your eyes and try to feel the difference between the dry and reverb'd sound. There should be a feeling of space without necessarily hearing the added ambience other than as an integral part of the sound.Man, the screener has their work cut out for them on this one. Great job everyone!MazzThank you for that feedback, Mazz. I appreciate it a lot. I've adjusted the reverb somewhat and am just uploading the remix.My reverb has these settings:Room size (Default is 4) - I usually drop it to 2 for lead vocalsDamping (Defailt is 50%) - as isWet Mix (Default is +0.00 dB) - as isDry Mix ((Default is +0.00 dB) - as isWidth (Default is 100%) - I dropped this to 50% for lead vocalsMode (Deafult is Normal) (other choice is 'freeze') - as isOn the background choir I have room size 3 & width 50%.I'm not sure, with these settings, how to cut back on the high frequencies on the reverb return.... but I adjusted the wet mix to - 6.61 dB. I think it adds a touch of reverb without too much but I'm not sure if it's a better setting.http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... tream=true

[hummingbird]

Quote:Bombaycharlie1,Really nice job! Man, if yours doesn't get forwarded, I'll be floored. Beautiful harmonies.Hummingbird,Nice approach with the vocals! I like that. You know, because your version is sung with lyrics and all, you'll have the added benefit of getting paid something like 5 times more from ASCAP/BMI if it airs on TV than any of our versions would, since vocal performances apparently are considered more "valuable" than instrumental pieces, with a corresponding bump in pay.Smart choice!Thanks - glad you like. Actually, I didn't even consider the royalty thing when I was creating this. I was just playing my strength. Can't get any feedback that your instrument doesn't sound real when it's you singing into the mic

[hummingbird]

Quote:Quote:Apparently ASCAP's system is very good at detecting vocals but not so good at detecting instrumental music, particularly if it is behind dialog (which it is most of the time, right?). This is according to Film Music Magazine a couple of issues back. Mark Northam of Film Music Network is a big composer's advocate and is always dogging the PROs to upgrade their "song-centric" way of doing things. After all, a large majority of the music heard on TV is instrumental and yet the American PROs continue to devalue instrumental music in comparison to songs. One theory is that they don't want to split the pie up in to a bunch of smaller pieces, thus taking income away from their big songwriter members. The PROs appear to be like the big record companies, slow to get on board with the new technologies.MazzI hate to come across sounding ignorant but if you litter a movie with songs and/or bits of instrumentals, aren't you still splitting the pie up? Or am I understanding this wrong? I tried to read the article but it wouldn't load (it's probably aol, sigh).I think songs simply (or, rather, not so simply ) have an added element, in that lyrics are labor-intensive, both to write well-crafted ones, then to write the music that supports them. I'm not saying in any way that instrumentalists should be shorted, I just think it's apples and oranges. I often think I should give up singing and write instrumentals so I don't have the added complication. This in no way reflects on how instrumentals can heighten the mood of anything they touch, just that comparing instrumentals to songs is hard to do. I know I'd rather be paid just as much for my instrumentals as my songs but I also know it took me less time to write the instrumental than it did the song.I bet I'm gonna get my hat handed to me for saying that and it's probably well-deserved for commenting on something I don't completely understand. I'd rather write instrumentals, myself but I'm such a sucker for good lyrics, I can't seem to move on from there.Squid - we're talking *background* music. For example, my vocal tapestries would be considered *background vocal music* and therefore would (prior to this) be in a different royalty category than *background insrumental music*. Foreground vocal music is a different kettle of fish. How they tell the difference, I don't know.H

[mazz]

Hi Squid,Actually I was referring to songs being used as background noise in, for instance, a bar scene, as opposed to how songs are used on some shows at the end to help tie up the story. They are completely different things. The background song should be considered background and the song over the ending montage with a minimum of dialog is for sure featured. It's not about how hard it is or how long it takes to write a song VS instrumental, it's about usage.In my understanding, European PROs pay the same for instrumental and songs, featured or not. Maybe some of our European colleagues can weigh in on this at some point.Mazz

[squidlips]

Thanks for clearing this up for me, guys. I was a little confused about the difference in terminology between "songs" and "instrumentals." I get what you're saying now.

[mazz]

Vikki,Where in the signal path are you placing your reverb? If you are using your reverb as an insert on your vocal channels and the reverb itself doesn't have EQ in it then you need to change your signal routing to do what I'm talking about.I'm not sure how familiar you are with aux sends and returns but I'll assume you are and give you a thumbnail sketch of how to set this up:Place your reverb on an aux return channel or a regular unused channel and insert an EQ after it. Make the output of the aux sends on your vocal channels go to the input of your reverb channel. Set the reverb mix to 100% wet, no dry signal. Use the aux sends on each vocal channel to send a portion of that channel in to the reverb. Use the EQ you placed after the reverb to take some of the highs out and then use the fader on your reverb channel to adjust the level.I hope this makes sense.Mazz

[hummingbird]

Quote:Vikki,Where in the signal path are you placing your reverb? If you are using your reverb as an insert on your vocal channels and the reverb itself doesn't have EQ in it then you need to change your signal routing to do what I'm talking about.I'm not sure how familiar you are with aux sends and returns but I'll assume you are and give you a thumbnail sketch of how to set this up:Place your reverb on an aux return channel or a regular unused channel and insert an EQ after it. Make the output of the aux sends on your vocal channels go to the input of your reverb channel. Set the reverb mix to 100% wet, no dry signal. Use the aux sends on each vocal channel to send a portion of that channel in to the reverb. Use the EQ you placed after the reverb to take some of the highs out and then use the fader on your reverb channel to adjust the level.I hope this makes sense.MazzYes, it makes sense in terms of the fact that I can do an Aux send. However, my reverb mix has "wet" as 0.00 db, not %. I set it up like you said and moved it to +.74 & used some Eq & even if that isn't right, it sure sounds better!! I fiddled with the backtracks and doubled them up using an Aub Send as well. I uploaded a new mix. If you don't mind listening again to see if I'm any closer..... that would be great. Owe you a drink in LA http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... tream=true

[mazz]

Vikki,Almost there. Now you need to take the "dry" setting on the reverb and turn it all the way off. The sound is better (warmer to my ears) but there's a bit of hollowness that is caused by the dry sound in the reverb return slightly delayed from the original dry sound. As soon as you turn off the dry completely, you should notice a big difference. When running reverb or any effect as a return as opposed to an insert, you almost always run it with no dry signal, it's not necessary. (BTW 0.00 db is a fine setting to leave the wet knob at, you can control the mix with the channel fader now).See you in LA at the bar (and elsewhere!)Mazz

[hummingbird]

Quote:Vikki,Almost there. Now you need to take the "dry" setting on the reverb and turn it all the way off. The sound is better (warmer to my ears) but there's a bit of hollowness that is caused by the dry sound in the reverb return slightly delayed from the original dry sound. As soon as you turn off the dry completely, you should notice a big difference. When running reverb or any effect as a return as opposed to an insert, you almost always run it with no dry signal, it's not necessary. (BTW 0.00 db is a fine setting to leave the wet knob at, you can control the mix with the channel fader now).See you in LA at the bar (and elsewhere!)MazzThanks Mazz - I've adjusted as you suggest & uploaded a new mix. I hope it's better!!http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... tream=true

[mazz]

I like it much better now. It sounds more natural to my ears.This Eq'ing the Reverb technique is a great way to add more sounds to your reverb pallette, particularly if your reverb plug-in doesn't offer some EQ parameters.Take care,Mazz