First deal and some questions...

[JoleneFB]

Hi!

I'm about to sign my very first deal and I'm feeling kinda lost..

The company wants me to send the following stems:

1. Full
2. Rhythm
3. No perussion
4. Alternative mix

So, is rhythm only percussion or does it include pulses, strings etc?

And for alternative mix - should I try to subtract some elements, like melody or so? Or add new tracks/instruments to make it sound entirely different?


Please help me out..

[VanderBoegh]

Hey Jolene, great to hear. Congrats on the deal!

Here's the skinny for those mixes that you'll need to send off:

1) Full = full mix, obviously, haha.
2) Rhythm = percussion instruments (drums, auxiliary percussion, etc), if you have a driving percussive melodic instrument, like say an electric guitar playing palm-muted 8th notes, you could include that as well. You should ask the company though. But for me, when I'm asked for a rhythm track, I usually only send percussion instruments.
3) No percussion = mute all drum percussion tracks.
4) Alternate mix = take some elements out so the track isn't so busy. Some libraries call this a "lite mix" or "minus mix" or "narrative mix" or "stripped mix". Just find the distracting stuff like lead melodies, busy percussion, SFX, etc, and mute them all so you have a less busy mix. But definitely DON'T do an entirely new mix to make a different track...... just mute stuff and re-bounce.

Hope that helps!

~~Matt

[AnneHouse]

Congratulations on your deal Jolene!

[annayarbrough]

Congrats Jolene!

[Tunesmith]

Yes! Congratulations Jolene and I wish you great success with it!

Best,
Linda C

[markhimley]

Woohoo congrats!!! That's a great feeling

[SteveBaruah]

Congrats!

[stansongman]

Congrats, Jolene!
As for the stems, what VanderBoegh said. When thinking about a lite mix, I always think about removing elements that would be less intrusive underneath softer dialogue. So, if you have lines doubled in octaves, or any kind of ear candy that's asking for too much attention, etc., try toning it down that way.

[JoleneFB]

Thanks for your help, that helped me a lot!

[Got2compose]

CONGRATS, BEST OF LUCK!!!