Hybrid Orchestral/Rock Trailer

[fusilierb]

Really cool piece! It almost breaks out into an Iron Maiden vibe as it builds. I'd really bring that guitar up quite a bit when it starts that main building line. Good luck!

[rpittelman]

I got returned for recording.

I'm actually a little surprised. I've had tons of stuff forwarded by Taxi over the last nearly 4 years. The only things that I can imagine is that this guitar sound was a bigger issue than I thought? Or maybe my drums were too booming?? Maybe I didn't alter the guitar sound enough on my remix?

I actually can't remember the last time I had something returned for recording....

[dschreiberjr]

So crazy. I thought the updated track was really solid. I, too, actually got returned for the exact same reason. My buddy seems to think it was the mix on our track (Underworld on the taxi page). Does the mix fall under the 'recording' category?

[tower888]

Excellent track rpittleman!

I too got rejected for "recording". I used the same samples and mix style that I've used on actual contracts for video games I've scored... So go figure.

If you want to hear it, it's "Forged in Flame" on my Taxi page:

http://www.taximusic.com/hosting/home.p ... oddkinsley

[dschreiberjr]

Excellent track rpittleman!

I too got rejected for "recording". I used the same samples and mix style that I've used on actual contracts for video games I've scored... So go figure.

If you want to hear it, it's "Forged in Flame" on my Taxi page:

http://www.taximusic.com/hosting/home.p ... oddkinsley

I hear nothing wrong with your recording, Todd. Great track, too.

[tower888]

Thanks Dave! Just checked out yours... Nice track! Digging the choirs!

[rpittelman]

Thanks guys.

So crazy. I thought the updated track was really solid. I, too, actually got returned for the exact same reason. My buddy seems to think it was the mix on our track (Underworld on the taxi page). Does the mix fall under the 'recording' category?

Nice work! Yes, I would put mix in the recording category. I'm not listening in my studio right now but I don't hear anything wrong from a recording or mix stand point on my kitchen computer. I usually like to listen to my mixes on this computer just to hear how it comes out on a lower quality sound system. I'm a bit puzzled on yours to tell you the truth. Very nice choirs by the way. Is that symphonic choirs?

Excellent track rpittleman!

I too got rejected for "recording". I used the same samples and mix style that I've used on actual contracts for video games I've scored... So go figure.

If you want to hear it, it's "Forged in Flame" on my Taxi page:

http://www.taximusic.com/hosting/home.p ... oddkinsley

Nice work on yours too Todd. If you want my first impression there were a few places that kinda stuck out to me on your piece. I felt like the drums, in particular the snare, didn't seem to be sitting in the mix with the orchestra. I'm not sure if this was a reverb issue or a level issue or just the sample, its hard to say. It would seem that this listener was VERY particular for this listing. There were also a few places where things felt a bit more midi-ish sounding. Was the bass a synth bass? That kinda stuck out. All in all I thought it was a very good piece.

I've listened to mine yet again and the more I think about it I am guessing that my drum hits were too loud and I think I'm still having too much limiter/compression issues in the really loud sections.

I've learned to try to not get too attached to any one listing but after doing this Taxi thing for a while you can kinda tell whether you have a decent chance or whether its going to be a long shot. I've had forwards on pieces that I know had worse production than this. I thought I was closer to the mark on this one than I really was. I guess I let myself get too attached to this one listing.

At least this listing got me to produce a piece of music that I am happy with. I think I'll give the mix one more finally tweak and then put it on the shelf till I find a home for it

[Cruciform]

As for the limiter being hit, yeah, it is. You are hearing where my engineering chops are weak. I'm not really sure how to get something like this to be big, powerful and loud with out hitting the limiter. Any advice on this?

I've listened to mine yet again and the more I think about it I am guessing that my drum hits were too loud and I think I'm still having too much limiter/compression issues in the really loud sections.

Rather than hard limiting (if that's what you're doing), you could try any of these ideas.

1) EQ -> Compressor -> EQ -> Limiter: I ruthlessly slice out unnecessary freq content, then compress it, then touch-up eq if needed, then hard limiting for really wild transients.

2) Compressor -> Compressor -> Limiter: Use lower milder settings on the comps but run it through two in series and it results in smoother, more consistent levels

3) Lower the compressor threshold to somewhere in the range of -6 to -12: the comp kicks in earlier and produces a smoother sound because more of the sonic content is being compressed

And if all else fails I often curve volume levels at big hits so less sound is hitting the global limiter at the same time. Say I have thirty instruments all at full velocity at the same point, something's gotta give and it usually results in artifacts or fizziness or unwanted pumping. So I will shape volume envelopes on all unneeded sounds right at that point, allowing only the major impacts and instruments through. You can achieve the same effect by using sidechain compression.

Just my 2c.

[rpittelman]

1) EQ -> Compressor -> EQ -> Limiter: I ruthlessly slice out unnecessary freq content, then compress it, then touch-up eq if needed, then hard limiting for really wild transients.

oooo, that's a good one! I never thought of eqing before and after compression . I will certainly have to try that

2) Compressor -> Compressor -> Limiter: Use lower milder settings on the comps but run it through two in series and it results in smoother, more consistent levels

I have experimented with using multiple compression. I'd have to play with this one a bit more

And if all else fails I often curve volume levels at big hits so less sound is hitting the global limiter at the same time. Say I have thirty instruments all at full velocity at the same point, something's gotta give and it usually results in artifacts or fizziness or unwanted pumping. So I will shape volume envelopes on all unneeded sounds right at that point, allowing only the major impacts and instruments through.

I've thought of this but haven't done it very much as I thought it would make things sound more artificial?

You can achieve the same effect by using sidechain compression.

Well, I sorta know what this one means. The input on the compression has something to do with the attack on track or something?? I'm not really sure how to set this one up

Thank you very much for all of these juicy engineering tips. I will certainly play with these different techniques.

Kudos to you by the way. I saw that you had 2 for 2 forwarded on this one. Congrats. Best of luck to you on this one.

Thanks again for taking to the time to listen and give the input

-Robbie

[dschreiberjr]

As for the limiter being hit, yeah, it is. You are hearing where my engineering chops are weak. I'm not really sure how to get something like this to be big, powerful and loud with out hitting the limiter. Any advice on this?

Sorry, I forgot about this question. Everything Cruciform said is good stuff. EQ and compression before the limiter definitely helps. Personally, I do that as well, but usually not in a situation like this. It takes a bit more work, but I find that you get better results rather than rely too too much on FX on the master track. I usually do all of this in a separate mix session with stems. Cubase (my primary DAW) is really good about giving me stems with minimal organizational work. Starting a new session with stems is also more efficient for your computer. All those plugin instruments you're using don't need to load or stream from the disk anymore. And your relative track levels are retained with stems, so in the new mix session you will already have a 'rough mix'.

Once you have all your stems in a mix session you can go from here. This will be a bit different with each session, but you can do it for just about every session. Since it's a problem with hitting the limiter too hard, I'd say bring all of your faders down (at the same time to retain relative levels) until your loudest point isn't hitting the limiter so hard. Once you do this, the loudest point won't be so hyper compressed, but your softest points will probably feel too quiet. At this point, it's really just about bringing everything else up to a comfortable level relative to that loudest peak. If you still want that part to be really loud, keep everything a little quieter to give it more impact. If you don't mind it having slightly less impact to retain some overall volume throughout the track, then let those tracks come up more.

I usually end up doing a ton of tiny audio edits in these sessions. With different parts constantly coming in and out (which is generally true in most projects) I end up getting the lead parts where I want them. Then mix the rest of the song around that. If the lead drops out for a bar or two, then it might be good to have the rhythm section be louder at that point.

If it doesn't make sense, let me know. Glad to elaborate more.