Need help with some composing terms

[pharaoh1tay]

Hey guys,My publisher advised me that I need "tighter endings" on the instruments I submit. What exactly does that mean? Forgive me for the lack of knowledge in this, I'm very fresh in the TV/film/commercials side of this industry. Thanks in advance and God bless.

[pharaoh1tay]

PS: I know I can ask the publisher but I don't want to give him the impression I don't know what he's talking about... which is why I come to my big brothers and sister on Taxi for advice

[hummingbird]

he might mean button endings. Definitive finishes. No fade outs. He might also mean build to a definitive ending. Maybe you could post an example, it might help us help you.

[pharaoh1tay]

Wasn't sure how to post a file on here so i made a short youtube of it... I just added a snippet of the track. Thanks H-Bird! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQlJS_950Ik

[mazz]

The ending on this piece could probably have ended around 56 seconds when everything hits just before the synth carries on. These days in a lot of music it seems like endings are an afterthought, kind of like "OK, I'm done looping my loops, now what do I do?". In Film and TV music, a lot of times they'll use your ending for a transition or a cut and if the ending has some relationship to what came before it, it makes it sound like the composer thought about how to tie things up, just didn't pull the plug on the loops or start taking them out one by one, which a lot of times just sounds like lazy composer syndrome.Endings are very important in Film/TV, and they will always want a "button" ending and not a fade. But make the ending mean something and have some punch to it so they will be more inclined to use it.HTH,Mazz

[pharaoh1tay]

Very good advice. Thanks Mazz.

[fullbirdmusic]

Yeah, fade-outs in my experience are a no-go. Both on underscore tracks (traditional orchestral cues) and on traditional song formats. Like mazz said, make them mean something! It's great to have those kinds of endings because the editor could easily move them around the film, show, or whatever and use them in different scenes. Good luck!Wes

[markjsmith]

Some editors will want stingers(short endings) that can be edited in to your track so they can tailor it to the length of a cue. Endings are REALLY important to video editors, many times a cue will need to end with a tight (button) ending such as a stab w/a choked cymbal etc...