Getting the most out of reference tracks and feedback.

[prizzi]

Hello,

I am fairly new to Taxi and I have watched many of Taxi's videos and tutorials from other members. I am still learning a lot. One of the most valuable pieces of help is the forwards blog. Lately I have been making use of listening to the forwarded listings in order to improve my next submission.

A little bit of perspective here.....
For the past year or so I have made it my goal to write at least one dramedy track a week. Last summer I wrote 20 tracks and I am continuing on this year. A mentor of mine who has many taxi forwards suggested I hone in on one genre at first. This has been great advice and I am now concentrating on both Tension and Dramedy specifically. I did have one forward for a piano instrumental so I was excited about that one.

Anyway, a few years ago I got serious about this sync thing. I invested in NI Komplete as well as some new hardware. I also joined TAXI. I realize this is a slow process and it takes time to really get the hang of making your music effective. I feel I am getting a bit stale with some of my dramedy tracks.
I watch TV and listen, I read sync music books and I listen to the TAXI Youtube videos.

Whenever I get a return I look at my feedback also. I am finding that sometimes feedback moves me in a certain direction then I get off of into the weeds with developing my ideas. I get bogged down and doubt if what I am working on is any good for the listing. Then I go back to the forwards blog and think wow, those forwards are spot on!

In other words a new track gets off to a good start and then I find I am not sounding similar (sonically) to the forwarded tracks.

Do any of you get off to a good start and then realize you are getting off track and cant get back on with what you have started?

Does anyone have any strategies that have worked with respect dramedy tracks (or any other genres?) Matt Vanderbough stuff is awesome other forwards sound like hip hop with repeated chords that develop through out which again ends up sounding spot on to that genre.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you all!

[mattbee]

I try to keep myself on track by doing the following:
I print off the listing, and highlight any important parts that are key to the listing. I then do a page of rough notes/brainstorm whilst listening to the references, such as BPM, instrumentation, key etc... Then I try to triangulate them, and make sure I'm not ripping off the exact key/progression etc... I keep the references open in a browser and try (I say try, because like you say, it's easy to dive in and get buried in the weeds) and refer back to it to make sure your sails are still set for the right direction Hope that helps!

[prizzi]

Thank you for your reply ! That is helpful.

I have been placing the references in my DAW as I compose so I can at least get the form that they are looking for. I make notes within my new session also. In one recent dramedy forward for example I noticed that there two sections within the B section that contained sparse elements then builds to the end. While I usually shoot for a AABA form it was interesting to see how others can keep things interesting.

Sometimes I cannot figure out what make the sonics sound on point also. I do have a good amount of sounds in my NI Komplete library but again trying to get close the references is sometimes challenging. I tend to gravitate towards a certain pallet so that I get in the ball park however that obviously has not been working too well. I have some session templates that get me off to a start however using a reference track serves as a much better outline I am starting to think.

Thank you for your note mattbee!

[cosmicdolphin]

Do any of you get off to a good start and then realize you are getting off track and cant get back on with what you have started?

No not really. Have you tried starting at the end instead ?

What I often do is write 8 bars that would be the fullest part of the cue i.e. the final section and put all my ideas in there ( sometimes tooo many ideas ) . Then you can paste multiple copies across your DAWs timeline and work backwards stripping things out. You'll likely come up with other little ideas for edit points and variations as you go.

There are a bunch of little tricks to keep the cue interesting which I wrote about a couple of years ago and if you look down the thread there is a PDf you can get to refer to : avoiding-repetitiveness-t146048.html

I also make an analysis of the reference tracks and list everything and if I get 'stuck' I just read it again and get my ideas from there: Here is a an example ( I have a blank template that I use that I got from Sync Academy )

--------------------------------------------------------
Reference Track Analysis Sheet : Swaggin Drama
Key = Gm

Tempo 150 4/4

Instruments :

Intro
-----
Thuddy Electronic Kick ( interesting pattern not just straight ) possibly doubled with an 808
Typical Trap like HH pattern
Constant synth arp sounds like it plays constantly on the home chord of Gm through the intro
Synth hook lead like an 8bit C64 type sound but it's subtly doubled with a different sound underneath
Melody does some sort of high octave double 2nd time around
Some sort of perc, possibly a processed clap doubles the main melody hook but also plays in between
Trap type snare fill builds to A section ( snare sounds like it has quite a lot of reverb )

A section
---------
Big orchestral cymbal crash + Low Brass hit ...Low Brass also doubles the Kick pattern now
Main hook is now played on strings
There is also a low string note at the start of every bar doubling as a psuedo bass line
Low 16th note synth seems to play the root notes
Another synth is playing almost as counter melody to the string hook( seems a bit weird )
There is some sort of reverse computer type noise as well as a backwards sucking type noise acting as a rise leading into the next bar
Every 4 bars there is a clap drenched in reverb
Eventually another synth joins in playing an slow type arp similar to the melody hook but different notes at times

B section
---------

Seems to keep the drums etc of the A section but changes to legato strings
Introduces another ascending syth arp that opens up the filter and builds into the next section

C section
---------
Main kick drops out
Drums change to a more cinema perc type feel
808 plays new bass line
New synth melody
Snare comes back
Snare build with a new synth doing and 8th note build

Back to A section with a few differences.

Sound Qualities
---------------

Punchy drums with LoFi feel to synths which seem 8bit type
Complex with lots of low level details, parts playing off each other

Structure
---------

Intro just on one chord
A section
B section
C Section
Back to A section

Emotions
--------

Building
Cinematic
Swagger

------------------------------------------------

Hope that helps

Mark

[cosmicdolphin]

. I keep the references open in a browser and try (I say try, because like you say, it's easy to dive in and get buried in the weeds)

A good alternative is to download the ref tracks ( I wil leave you to figure out how ) and use a plugin like Metric AB so you can instanyly A/B switch between your own track and the refs.

[Paulie]

You mentioned you've watched a few videos, I've created a couple specifically for Taxi members, specifically about dramedy. Both of these are hip hop dramedy, still a popular tv sync genre today.

The bottom line is to keep it simple.

https://youtu.be/jRIVgrMN74g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlGRHvuGdW0

[prizzi]

Thank you all so much for your time. Paulie and cosmicdolphin. These is great advice. I will download that PDF as well as take a look at that video. I have watched your tension cue videos Paulie and they were very helpful. Great stuff in those tutorials! Work smarter not harder!

I guess for me also its figuring out the ingredients in some of these reference tracks. I cannot always tell what is playing exactly. Doubling of certain instruments etc. Filling out a bass part with a sub bass etc. etc. etc. That's certainly been a challenge. I have decent plugins so I should be able to get in the ball park however that's the part that is a big learning curve for me.

It's kind of like tasting a beer and knowing exactly which hops, malt type etc is in it. I know it is a Stout so there is probably some chocolate malt, not too many hops in there but I can't seem to replicate the "secret sauce". I guess it just takes practice.

I appreciate your responses. Thank you all!

[prizzi]

cosmicdolphin I just printed out that PDF. I wish I had this a few years ago ha ha ! Thank you!!!

[cosmicdolphin]

cosmicdolphin I just printed out that PDF. I wish I had this a few years ago ha ha ! Thank you!!!

No worries ! Share it to anyone you feel may benefit.

And make sure to watch Paulie's tutorial, it might help you identify the sounds you're hearing in the ref tracks.

Another good exercise is to remake a section of a ref track ( say the main 8 bars ) and then see how close you can get it. If you can't figure out a particular instrument then ask on the forum.

[prizzi]

Great idea thank you! I may put some tracks back up on my SoundCloud account to get some feedback too.