Question for the experienced Cue creators?

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BradGray
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Question for the experienced Cue creators?

Post by BradGray » Tue Jul 14, 2020 4:31 pm

Hey All,

A question for the experienced cue creators, about workflow. How do you approach the creation of cues?

I.E.
- Work on a cue, one cue at a time until complete
- Create parts, moving across several cues one after another - like an assembly line
- Other?

Thanks!
Brad

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Re: Question for the experienced Cue creators?

Post by hummingbird » Tue Jul 14, 2020 6:01 pm

Speaking for myself, I generally work in a two or maybe three part system.

I work on a cue from the ground up and stop working on it either when it feels finished, or if it feels like a mess. If it feels finished, I let it sit, usually overnight, and come back to listen to it again with fresh ears, tweak the mix, and call it done.

If it felt like a mess, when I come back the next day I have to decide 1) does it have merit I couldn't see the day before because I was too close to it, if so, I work on it some more & likely put it away again before coming back to tweak the mix; 2) it is truly a mess and I need to decide whether it's worth trying to fix it or just start a new track.

There might be some overlap in that Track A which I completed yesterday gets a tweak of the mix and final runoff of mixes/stems takes a little while and then I start a new Track B that same day.

I generally don't work on multiple tracks at once except for reviewing my mix. It would feel like having too many irons in the fire and they might cross-pollinate despite my best intentions. :lol:
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Re: Question for the experienced Cue creators?

Post by cosmicdolphin » Wed Jul 15, 2020 4:11 am

Hi Brad

I'm on cue number 340 now, it's taken a few years but I will generally work on one cue from start to finish. What I won't do right away is the Alt MIxes as these can vary from library to library.

At times there will be more than one in the hopper, as I might be working with a collaborator so I won't twiddle my thumbs waiting for their parts - I'll just get a head start on my next cue.

Often once they get signed there's a bit of work to do on a previous cue making Alt MIxes etc or possibly the library has sent some notes for changes required. So that takes precedence over whatever I'm writing at the time.

Mark

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Re: Question for the experienced Cue creators?

Post by jazzstan » Wed Jul 15, 2020 3:59 pm

While I had been a one-at-a-time for a long time, I've been experimenting with "batch" processing. But it depends on the style, of course. But for ambient, drone and other low-melodic content, I will create a bunch of different variations of given synth patch - pitch, velocity, filter sweeps, etc and then bounce them to loops. Repeat the process with different VIs and I end up with a number of mix-n-match loop parts. I know some folks work in Midi all the way thru, but I prefer to work with audio, so this loop approach works for me. It also applies the separation of left-brain and right-brain tasks that I learned from the book "Fett's Mixing Roadmap". One part of my QC process is to mute (or move, or change color) a loop once I've used it -- that assures I am not repeating not repeating not repeating myself.

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Re: Question for the experienced Cue creators?

Post by BradGray » Wed Jul 15, 2020 4:07 pm

Thanks to you both!

I was thinking on different approaches in being more productive with the cue creation, but I guess just practice and work to get better at them in general. I'm quite enjoying how creating in different styles really forces you to learn more about your DAW and modern music production. Now to just get good at it! =P

I'm no where near 340, I think I've broken the 12 mark over the last 9 months, with a handful of submissions but more learning than anything.

Cheers!
Brad

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Re: Question for the experienced Cue creators?

Post by BradGray » Wed Jul 15, 2020 4:11 pm

Thanks JazzStan. Once I get my "Model T" cue down, I will experiment with the batch idea. I do like the idea, I think I need to be far stronger to be able to think across submissions, to be effective. I know I'm not there yet, but something to work towards. =)
jazzstan wrote:
Wed Jul 15, 2020 3:59 pm
While I had been a one-at-a-time for a long time, I've been experimenting with "batch" processing. But it depends on the style, of course. But for ambient, drone and other low-melodic content, I will create a bunch of different variations of given synth patch - pitch, velocity, filter sweeps, etc and then bounce them to loops. Repeat the process with different VIs and I end up with a number of mix-n-match loop parts. I know some folks work in Midi all the way thru, but I prefer to work with audio, so this loop approach works for me. It also applies the separation of left-brain and right-brain tasks that I learned from the book "Fett's Mixing Roadmap". One part of my QC process is to mute (or move, or change color) a loop once I've used it -- that assures I am not repeating not repeating not repeating myself.

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Re: Question for the experienced Cue creators?

Post by jazzstan » Wed Jul 15, 2020 4:24 pm

Brad, I just changed DAWS a few months ago... so I've had to relearn a lot of stuff - and fight muscle memory the whole way. (after 12+ years with Cakewalk, it was getting a bit unreliable, so I moved to Cubase). And at my age, my forgetterer works better than my rememberer. One of the things that works for me was to try do SOMETHING on my DAW every day.

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Re: Question for the experienced Cue creators?

Post by cosmicdolphin » Thu Jul 16, 2020 12:50 am

BradGray wrote:
Wed Jul 15, 2020 4:07 pm
I think I've broken the 12 mark over the last 9 months, with a handful of submissions but more learning than anything.
That's just not productive enough in this game, if a library does get in touch they'll likely want a batch of cues to sign you on with. I know libraries that won't do the paperwork to onboard a new writer for less than 5 cues and they want them all in the same style so you need to learn to get faster.

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Re: Question for the experienced Cue creators?

Post by cosmicdolphin » Thu Jul 16, 2020 12:54 am

jazzstan wrote:
Wed Jul 15, 2020 4:24 pm
Brad, I just changed DAWS a few months ago... so I've had to relearn a lot of stuff - and fight muscle memory the whole way. (after 12+ years with Cakewalk, it was getting a bit unreliable, so I moved to Cubase)
Interesting. I've used Cakewalk since the mid 90's and I find it more reliable than ever since Bandlab took over the development. Cubase was the one DAW I didn't try when it looked like Sonar may not be around as it needed a dongle to demo.

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Re: Question for the experienced Cue creators?

Post by BradGray » Thu Jul 16, 2020 3:24 am

Definitely agreed.

I'm working to put in at least a couple of hours a day, but I had to actually pause for the last 2 1/2 months, as I had a certification in cybersecurity to complete. It was the CISSP which honestly required 3 hrs of study a day, for about 3 months solid, but it's all finished now. =)

Also part of the issues with speed to create is working in new areas that I'm less familiar with, and the learning feedback and learning process.

That said, I like the direct advice as it pushes me to just do more!

Thanks,
Brad
cosmicdolphin wrote:
Thu Jul 16, 2020 12:50 am
BradGray wrote:
Wed Jul 15, 2020 4:07 pm
I think I've broken the 12 mark over the last 9 months, with a handful of submissions but more learning than anything.
That's just not productive enough in this game, if a library does get in touch they'll likely want a batch of cues to sign you on with. I know libraries that won't do the paperwork to onboard a new writer for less than 5 cues and they want them all in the same style so you need to learn to get faster.

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