Romantic Comedy listing - feedback please

[stevebarden]

I have a new piece for the Romantic Comedy listing that I'd like to get some feedback on, particularly in the mix. Is it balanced? Can you hear everything clearly? Do the articulations sound correct for the genre? I'm still getting used to the massive number of choices in the EWQLSO Gold library.Thanks for you help!SteveFunny In Lovehttp://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_id=2063 ... ueROMANTIC COMEDY INSTRUMENTALS are sought after by a Major Music Publisher with distribution through a huge Production Music Library. This Publisher is also an Emmy-winning Composer for daytime television and this is a fantastic opportunity to be introduced to a Publishing/Licensing relationship as well as the possibilities of future composition projects with a VERY successful industry pro. Excellent arrangements, performances and recordings are a must! This Publisher will be looking to sign 8-12 tracks for an upfront "buyout" fee that will be in the $2K range. While it will be an exclusive purchase of the material, this Publisher will not take any portion of your writer's share. He won't be looking for custom compositions, but rather a collection of "B" material - tracks that are laying dormant in your catalog. While we can be a bit more liberal for this one, you'll want to be sure that the compositions themselves are very well written and the recordings are Broadcast Quality. This material will be pitched primarily to Film/TV projects. Please submit 2-3 instrumentals online or per CD, but be prepared to send more if the Publisher gets in touch with you. He will ultimately be interested in signing 8-12 tracks for the buyout fee mentioned above. All submissions will be screened on a YES/NO BASIS - NO CRITIQUES FROM TAXI - and must be received no later than February 9, 2009. TAXI #Y090209IN

[Casey H]

Hi SteveNice piece... I'm not the right one to comment on the audio engineering aspects... I'm not hearing great sound quality (as opposed to OK) but I can't put my finger on it. Hopefully you'll get help from others.The music is good. Like most of us, I'm just not completely sure what constitutes a "romantic comedy instrumental". Early in the track, it borders a little on the "silly" side as far as where it would fit with the (bassoon?) thing. At 1:15, the whole tone changes to a more majestic "Disney" feel.... Almost like 2 different pieces... I've been told that consistency is important for film/TV instrumentals-- that doesn't mean there shouldn't be change, build, etc... just that the overtone has to have one "feel". Neither portion is bad by itself, I'm just not sure if they work together.Anyway, there's a lot of good instrumental composers out there so you should good advice here...Best, Casey

[stevebarden]

Feb 4, 2009, 9:53am, hurowitz wrote:Hi SteveNice piece... I'm not the right one to comment on the audio engineering aspects... I'm not hearing great sound quality (as opposed to OK) but I can't put my finger on it. Hopefully you'll get help from others.The music is good. Like most of us, I'm just not completely sure what constitutes a "romantic comedy instrumental". Early in the track, it borders a little on the "silly" side as far as where it would fit with the (bassoon?) thing. At 1:15, the whole tone changes to a more majestic "Disney" feel.... Almost like 2 different pieces... I've been told that consistency is important for film/TV instrumentals-- that doesn't mean there shouldn't be change, build, etc... just that the overtone has to have one "feel". Neither portion is bad by itself, I'm just not sure if they work together.Anyway, there's a lot of good instrumental composers out there so you should good advice here...Best, CaseyHi Casey, thanks for you input. Romantic Comedy is indeed a troublesome genre to figure out. There are two aspects of the music: the comedy part and the romantic part (too obvious?). I've been listening to a lot of soundtracks to get ideas: You've Got Mail, Groundhog Day, While You Were Sleeping, Dave, Father of the Bride, etc. The romantic music in a romantic comedy is not different than music for purely a romantic film, however, the comedy aspect is one that is often "silly". The characters get into silly situations. The level of the farce dictates the intensity of the silliness.I realize that this cue is basically two different pieces of music but my goal was to showcase both aspects of the styles. George Fenton is prolific in that genre. You get a lot of "oom-pa" and pizzicato strings in his scores. Granted, trying to write a generic cue in the genre is difficult. Without a specific scene to write to I am walking a fine line between "exactly what they are looking for" and "not even in the ballpark"! While I will agree with you that it is probably better to stick with a consistent sound, I'm torn with the duality of the genre.I hope others will weigh in in the discussion.Thanks.Steve

[Casey H]

Feb 4, 2009, 11:23am, stevebarden wrote: I realize that this cue is basically two different pieces of music but my goal was to showcase both aspects of the styles. That's a bad idea, putting 2 styles in one cue. If you think they both have merit for the listing, separate them and submit as two different submissions. The listener will be listening for the cohesiveness and flow of a given piece. Casey

[allends]

Feb 4, 2009, 9:17am, stevebarden wrote:I have a new piece for the Romantic Comedy listing that I'd like to get some feedback on, particularly in the mix. Is it balanced? Can you hear everything clearly? Do the articulations sound correct for the genre? I'm still getting used to the massive number of choices in the EWQLSO Gold library.Thanks for you help!SteveGood one, Steve! I'll just give you my impression as a listener since I am inexperienced with this type of work. My ears were only wishing for 3 things:The beginning note of your melody at 00:05 startled me a little and I didn't catch on what I was hearing until you switched up the octave. Then my mind said "oh, I get it". Don't change this unless you feel it too. If you do, maybe a change in timing, note velocity, volume envelope, or a different articulation would give it more realism.The length of the note the high strings are playing at 01:40 cuts out unnaturally soon for my ears. It's a very subtle thing so handle this suggestion with care.Finally I would like to hear more stereophonic spread throughout the piece, but most especially starting at 01:15. I can hear that you have panned your instruments nicely, so I'm not sure what the solution is. More panning? Fattening the strings by doubling maybe? Applying an effect like a touch of convolution reverb or a tiny amount of early refection or stereo delay? I'm sure you'll think of something that fits your vision.I'm totally with you on the composition and your approach to the listing: the piece is so sweet and comedic too. Your comedy section reminded me very strongly of Richard Marvin's score for the TV movie "Balloon Farm". My kids loved that movie so we taped it and I have watched it way too many times!Good Luck,Allen

[elser]

Hi Steve, nice job, sounds like you've put some considerable time into this. A few things did strike me. Primarily the emotional direction in the first half. It doesn't have a romantic feel to me. I guess to my ears it sounds more like comedic tension. I think that's a diminished motif you're using which of course suggests movement and tension and a need for resolution.But at 1:17 the mood suddenly sounds pure romantic comedy to my ears. I think I would just stay with that theme for this listing and use the first half for a different cue.One other thing that I noticed is the decay/release of some of the instruments doesn't sound quite natural. Is there some compression on this? the crescendos didn't seem quite as powerful as they could be as well.All in all a very nice piece but in order to nail the listing it might need some tweeking.Best, Elser

[billg]

Hey, I like this Steve. The only thing I was going to comment on was to add to the what sounds like a lack of stereo spread. Don't know why that happening but I was wanting to hear it "wider".

[stevebarden]

It turns out that the mix I originally posted was basically in mono. Everything seemed to be panned in the center. It's weird because the EWQLSO Gold (as well as all of their versions) are supposed to be placed in their orchestral stage positions by default. But for some reason they didn't sound that way so I had to manually pan each instrument into their proper position. I'll investigate further later on. Anyway, I've updated the mix. I'll respond to the other comments tomorrow. It's late and I'm tired.Goodnight.Steve

[georginasaint]

Hi Steve - well I'm very impressed with how quickly you've got the hang of the EW library! I would definately split this into two submissions, personally. This is the guy who is looking to buy out 8 - 12 tracks isn't it? So I would submit three pieces if you can. I might be wrong on that, but I think we have to show we have some stock for this one. The first part I'd say is spot on for RomCom - I can see the guy sneaking around outside the girl's house with a ladder ... the second half could well be for "the first kiss" scene. Rom Coms have so many emotions. There are upbeat parts, silly/comic parts, sad parts, great elation, huge let-downs, etc. I've been watching quite a few for this listing and they vary so much but what I notice overall is that the comedy bit isn't always "funny" it's often "pathetic" or "cute" as to laugh out loud - but you do see that too of course. Sorry Steve, you wanted mix feedback!!! I've gone off on a tangent. I'm not great at mixing myself. The only thing that popped out to my ears were the mid-range strings in the romatic parts, they sounded choppy and I felt they need to be more flowing. Anyway, I hope some of that is a help...Georgie

[teleblaster]

Really nice piece of work Steve. I'm just an old worn out Tele' picker, don't got much orchestral experience.....but to these ears it sounds like you nailed it. I like the 2 motifs segueing into each other. Seems like music supervisors like some movement and variety, and it gives your piece better odds at making a cut somewhere.Only nit is I would try to increase the dynamic range a bit. Cheers,Erich