New To Cues/Instrumentals - A Little Help?

[dtotheb]

Hey guys, I'm new to this whole music cues/instrumentals thing. Anyone have time to take a quick listen and offer some advice?

Thanks in advance!

https://soundcloud.com/dtothebmusic

[erynmichel]

Bumping for you since this will be me someday.

I'm a baby mixologist who does country and folk, but once I learn more about Logic and recording, I also plan to try my hand at instrumentals and cues. I hear them in my head but I don't have the skills yet.

FWIW, I adored the two I listened to, "Flying high acoustified" (although I think the piano needs to be a little "cleaner") and "funky modern vintage." I can hear these in the background of a commercial for sure! But the vets here will have more to say about balance, levels, yadayada. Your endings are also really good--I hear "no fades" all the time, so an artful way to end a track abruptly seems like a hard thing to do, and you seem to have a handle on it.

Also FWIW2, folks tend to be more responsive to just one track at a time, and if there is an actual listing or return. Most everything works for someone somewhere and for something, but it's hard to guess or give feedback without knowing what the client needs. That certainly softens the blow when a track gets returned--even if it's good, maybe it just didn't fit a need... or that's how I console myself anyway!

You have a very cool thing going, and I'm a fan. I look forward to hearing more from you and wish you all the success!

[stevebarden]

If you're just learning about writing production music, I highly recommend a couple of books by my buddy, Dean Krippaehne, "Demystifying the Genre" and "Demystifying the Cue", plus (a shameless plug) my book, "Writing Production Music for TV - The Road to Success". These are all available at Amazon.

[lesmac]

Nice work Danny. Very cool tracks.

Good advice above.

I'm sure you'll be getting forwards if you write to the listings. Pick a listing and drag the ref tracks into your DAW for the tone, sounds, structure etc.
Look forward to hearing more of your work for sure.

[annayarbrough]

I'm sure you'll be getting forwards if you write to the listings

+1

That's the thing to crack, really—your music sounds great! Once you can really nail the listing, you'll have no problem. Developing that skill is an art form in itself.... the closer you can get to the descriptors and a las (without ripping anything off, obviously) the higher chances you'll have.

One thing to watch with cues—having vocals/vocalizations in there can sometimes disqualify/dramatically reduce your chances of signing.

That aside, I doubt you'll have any problem when you dig into it!

[GuitarKit]

Yeah man. Really nice stuff.

My two cents, no matter how good your track is, it won't get forwarded if it's not what they are looking for. The trick is to be able to read the listing and give them everything they want.

Don't pay all the attention to the youtube examples. They are in the general ball park. Pay most of the attention to the descriptions.

All the best.

[LOCK88]

Yeah man. Really nice stuff.

My two cents, no matter how good your track is, it won't get forwarded if it's not what they are looking for. The trick is to be able to read the listing and give them everything they want.

Great tracks Danny!

[dtotheb]

Bumping for you since this will be me someday.

Many Thanks! I thought it was something I said , but good to know one track at a time is more kosher around here. Thanks for listening and looking forward to hearing your work as well!

[dtotheb]

If you're just learning about writing production music, I highly recommend a couple of books by my buddy, Dean Krippaehne, "Demystifying the Genre" and "Demystifying the Cue", plus (a shameless plug) my book, "Writing Production Music for TV - The Road to Success". These are all available at Amazon.

Great recommendations, I'll check these out! Thank you!

[dtotheb]

I'm sure you'll be getting forwards if you write to the listings.

Thanks for listening Lester, and thank you for the advice. This is all new to me, so it really helps.

What do you mean by "write to the listings"? It's my understanding that we are unable to contact them directly, right?