My first submission - a cue!

[BradGray]

Hey Taxi Community!

I've spent a long time lurking in the forums, watching online, and finally joined this year. I finally made my first submission! Hazaa! It probably sucks, but a place to start no less. =)

I'm new to it all, and this is my very first cue. Dramedy at 5 . I submitted it for the following, but it's my first attempt at cue music. I submitted it for the following: TAXI #S200111DA

Any tips, tricks, feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Brad

On a side note, I stuck to the advice Michael provided on Taxi TV in limiting myself to 4 hours to create the cue. Perhaps it shows, but I do like how it focuses you to make decicions.

[cosmicdolphin]

Hard to say without seeing the listing and hearing the refrence tracks

With nothing to go on other than the title I would say it doesn't sound like Dramedy to me. Dramadey is generally sneaky sounding orchestral music with pizzi strings etc. and I don't hear any of that in your track ..it seems to be piano and electric piano I think with a drum machine.

Have a listen to some Dramadey that's already in a high end Library ( bit of an unfair comparison but a good example of the genre ) https://www.universalproductionmusic.co ... amedy-cues

Generally I would also say it's too repetitive, and the raw sounds don't sounds like they are high enough quality i.e. they have a synthetic midi like quality so you may need to replace whatever instrument library you are using for something that sounds better.

Hope that helps

Mark

[cassmcentee]

I agree, good advice from Mark
I listened till the percussion came in
On the good side, You have the format for cues (building up of layers) working in the right way

[BradGray]

Thanks to you both, I do appreciate the feedback.

The sounds were a blending of a few different ones (virtual instruments) from Ableton, that I thought were decent, but definitely a synthetic quality to some of the tones; which was deliberate. I likely should have added some other acoustic instruments to the mix for balance.

Thanks for the tip on format too....okay, review, revise and try again!
B

[cosmicdolphin]

Hey Brad

I found the LIsting now..it's better to copy / paste the Listing into your forum post if you can otherwise folk have to go hunting and the Listing may not be up any longer

So there's a Hip-Hop Dramedy Cue in KUWTK & a regluar one in RHOBH.

The sounds were a blending of a few different ones (virtual instruments) from Ableton, that I thought were decent, but definitely a synthetic quality to some of the tones; which was deliberate. I likely should have added some other acoustic instruments to the mix for balance. "

Be wary of your sound selection as if you start out with the wrong instruments for the get go , it's never going to be what they want. Listen carefully to the examples..do you hear any synthetic stuff ? Apart from the Hip Hop Drums & Bass they are all realistic / natural sounding orchestral parts..it even gives a list of sugessted instruments to use in the Listing. So try writing something with just those. But they need to be decent sounding sample libraries. Not an Ableton user so I don't know how good the stuff is that comes with it.

“KUWTK” (From 0:39 - 1:04)

RHOBH | Bravo (From 1:13 – 2:09)

Please submit sneaky, quirky Instrumental Cues that you might hear when a prank is being played, or when a funny moment is happening in a scene. Use fun-sounding instruments, like pizzicato Strings, bells, piano (and maybe a tuba) to help you create something comedic, mischievous, and most of all fresh! Keep it fun and steer clear of anything that gets too dark, moody, or dramatic-sounding for this pitch.

[BradGray]

Thanks CosmicDolphin.

Great feedback, and a place for me to learn from. Working on cues is something new to me, and I figured the best way to learn is to dive in; right or wrong. Already, I'm learning more from these responses, and will adapt for my next creations for sure. I've also bought Dean Krippane's book (as suggested throughout the forums) and have dove in there in the last few days as well.

Quite honestly I believe that my first cue will not be forwarded, and that's okay. I did it, submitted it, to dive in and motivate myself to do more, vs just sitting on the fence until all of the stars align. I believe that the frame of the house was okay, but the interior was not properly designed, and that is what I can learn from here.

It's all good. I sincerely appreciate the help in this new journey!
B