Another Action / Adventure from a Newbie

[aldicicco]

I tried to go take the electronica-orchestral route.www.taxi.com/aldicicco"Princess Warrior 081019"Thanks in advance for any feedback you can provide.Best regards,AlACTION/ADVENTURE/HIGH OCTANE INSTRUMENTALS are needed by a UK-based Production Music Library for Film/TV placement opportunities. They need really high energy tracks (no vocals) for car chase scenes, sports highlights, high suspense action/thrill footage, etc. Current sounding styles would be the best choice here: Rock/Electronica/Hard Rock/etc. A blend of orchestral instrumentation with the mentioned stylistic approaches might also be a great direction to take. They'll be looking for tracks that don't sound overly synth generated - authentic, pulsing and exciting! Your track should be within 1:00-3:00 and they'll mostly want to hear mid to uptempo tracks. They offer non-exclusive, 50/50 deals. Broadcast quality needed (great sounding home recordings are OK). Please submit one to three songs online or per CD. All submissions will be screened and critiqued by TAXI and must be received no later than October 10, 2008. TAXI # S081010IN

[mazz]

Hi Al,Nice piece, I like the mood and the composition, I think it's on target as far as high octane goes.Some comments on the orchestration:1. I think you're on the line as to whether your horns are supposed to sound like a synth or sound like horns. Right now they sound pretty synthy. If you want them to sound like a synth, then take it further in that direction and maybe double them with a distorted guitar sound or something to shore up the fact that they're synths.If the horns are supposed to sound like real horns, then the first thing is to play each part separately. Right now they sound like they were played all at the same time from a keyboard and the attacks are too exact and tight. No horn section in the world plays that tightly!! If you can have them each on their own MIDI channel triggering their own samples, that's better for what I'm going to suggest next: use controllers to make the sound swell and breathe. On the long notes, hit the attack and instantly back off on the controller and move it up until the note ends. How far to back off will depend on your ear and taste but this strategy makes the sound breathe. The fact that you're doing it on every track means that you won't be able to exactly match the controller moves which is exactly the point. No two horn players are going to crecscendo at exactly the same rate, even if they're sitting right next to each other. That's the "charm" of real players and what makes the difference between sounding synthy and fooling the ear in to thinking it's a real horn section.2. On your synth arpeggiator part, add some filtering or something to give some movement to the sound. It's kind of static sounding right now which is OK but you'll have more flexibility to swell and ebb the sound along with the other instruments.That's all for right now. Hope this helps a bit. I think you're totally on the right track, just some MIDI tweaking to do. Stretch your mouse hand, you'll need it!!Cheers!!Mazz

[aldicicco]

Thanks Mazz for your generous reply. I hear you loud and clear.I wanted to go for synths and not horns. I've done the single note voicing for horns and agree that it is effective. If its a synth I'm going for, I'll make it obvious. Lord knows, we've all heard some pretty cheesy horn parts at one time or another...The arpeggiator - great feedback too. I've done this type of filtering for some trance music recently and overlooked using this type of shading on this piece.I've got a confession to make here - I don't use a computer at all for my mixes, perhaps my greatest Achilles heel. I should head to Guitar Center today to discuss taking the first steps out of the hardware sequencing stone age. Any suggestions on where I might start? The computers (MAC and PC) are already taken care of.One of the quirky things I'm trying to work through is the DRAMATIC difference between what I hear on my studio monitors and what comes across on small computer speakers.Like I said - my studio sound is fine, the CDs I cut are all nicely mixed, but the small speaker results are not the quality I get elsewhere.I hope to meet you at the rally. Are you attending?Best regards,Al

[mazz]

Al,Yeah, make it more overtly synth sounding, IMO. Dirtier somehow, maybe.There's lots of factors involved in getting mixes to translate. It's kind of a Pandora's Box once you open it. One of the things I can suggest is to find a way to switch back and forth between at least two sets of speakers as you mix. Then take the mixes out in the world and try to tell the difference between what it sounded like at home and what it sounds like there. Honestly, your mixes might have to sound like s*it at home to sound good out there in the world!! I was listening on my computer speakers to your mix and it sounded pretty good.When you say you don't mix in a computer, do you use a mixer for your mixes? Just because a lot of people mix in computers doesn't mean that's the best way or even the way you "should" do it. If your music sounds good, then it doesn't matter how it got that way. I couldn't tell by listening if you mixed in Pro Tools, Blow Tools, Show Tools or on a mixer, it just sounded pretty good and the composition was nice.I'll be at the Rally. I hope we can meet. Word has it that you know a little bit about accordion and I just bought my first one! I might have a question or two for you!!Cheers!!Mazz

[aldicicco]

Hi Mazz,Oh yes - that's my second confession - being an accordionist !There, I've shared two of my darkest secrets - not mixing on a computer and playing the accordion. I'm sure I'll sleep well tonight!I really do love the accordion and would be happy to answer any questions you might have. Piano accordion, right? I can't play chromatics nor concertinas. One goal is to get comfortable with your left hand - there's no way to sneak a look!Thank you for your advice on mixing. Sounds like some black art is involved here, yet I expect the time investment is worth it.Best regards,Al

[mazz]

Al,Piano accordion for sure!! I've started to try to crack the code for the left hand but the chops still need to be worked on!! Pulling the bellows out and pushing the buttons down at the same time is not a natural move!! LOL!Mixing is a black art for sure. We'll talk at the Rally!!Cheers!Mazz