Retrowave Listing: Looking Production/Mix Advice

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DanWessels
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Retrowave Listing: Looking Production/Mix Advice

Post by DanWessels » Wed May 26, 2021 11:56 am

Hey all! I've always loved the sound of Retrowave, and am having a blast diving into the genre. Planning to write 2 or 3 few cues to submit. I'd appreciate any production/mixing advice for this genre - here's my first cue:


Here is the listing:

Several RETROWAVE INSTRUMENTAL CUES are needed by an extremely busy Music Library with a tremendously long list of killer placements in Hit TV Shows!

This Library is on the hunt for Mid-to-Up-Tempo Instrumental Cues that are in the general stylistic ballpark of these references we got directly from them:

"End Game" by Droid Bishop

"America Online" by The Midnight

"Spectral Engram" by Bit Funk & Jason Gaffner

"Sunlight" by Krosia

Please send well-produced Retrowave Instrumental Cues with solid rhythms, catchy hooks, and super cool, retro-inspired Electronic instrumentation. Craft your Cues around a singular motif and mood, and create a sense of forward momentum and dynamics by layering instrumentation in and out as they progress. Please be sure that your production and all virtual instruments and samples you use are high-quality and fresh.

TAXI Tip: Retro-inspired does NOT mean dated – your submissions should not sound like they came straight off of a Giorgio Moroder record. Take those nostalgic sounds and pair them with modern production – that's what this Library is looking for!

All submissions should be about 90 seconds to 2 minutes long, give or take. Non-faded, buttoned/stinger endings are strongly recommended. Do NOT copy the referenced tracks in any way, shape, or form. Use them only as a general guide for tempo, tone, and overall vibe. Do NOT submit any material with unauthorized samples of any other artists’ music, sounds, or any other form of media. Broadcast Quality is needed.

This company offers an EXCLUSIVE deal. You’ll split all upfront sync fees 50/50. You’ll keep 100% of the Writer’s share and the Publisher will get 100% of the Publisher’s share. You must own or control your Master and Copyright. Since this is an EXCLUSIVE deal, please be sure the material you submit for this pitch is not already signed with other Libraries or Catalogs. Please submit as many Instrumental Cues as you’d like, online or per CD. All submissions will be screened and critiqued by TAXI. Submissions must be received no later than 11:59 PM (PDT) on Wednesday, June 2nd, 2021. TAXI # S210602RW

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Re: Retrowave Listing: Looking Production/Mix Advice

Post by Zaychi » Wed May 26, 2021 2:07 pm

Pretty cool stuff!

I'd say the kick should get more to the front, and have more body/chomp in the sound. And maybe you overdone the "played backward" effect on the second snare?

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Re: Retrowave Listing: Looking Production/Mix Advice

Post by DanWessels » Sun May 30, 2021 12:07 pm

Zaychi wrote:
Wed May 26, 2021 2:07 pm
Pretty cool stuff!

I'd say the kick should get more to the front, and have more body/chomp in the sound. And maybe you overdone the "played backward" effect on the second snare?
Fantastic advice about the kick! I will look into beefing it up, as well as giving more "body/chomp" (great words!) to the other parts.

Haha yeah, I fell a little in love with the reverse snare, so I'll listen and try to make that a little more tasteful/purposeful.

Thanks!

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Re: Retrowave Listing: Looking Production/Mix Advice

Post by Paulie » Mon May 31, 2021 9:39 pm

Sounds really good musically, it has the feel! You might consider side chaining the bass and pads to the kick drum so that the kick is the dominant sound on the downbeat (instead of competing with the bass abd pads). Love the synth selections, are you using the Omnisphere hardware library for any of this?

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Re: Retrowave Listing: Looking Production/Mix Advice

Post by DanWessels » Wed Jun 02, 2021 9:36 am

Paulie wrote:
Mon May 31, 2021 9:39 pm
Sounds really good musically, it has the feel! You might consider side chaining the bass and pads to the kick drum so that the kick is the dominant sound on the downbeat (instead of competing with the bass abd pads). Love the synth selections, are you using the Omnisphere hardware library for any of this?

PC
Thank you for the feedback! The bass and the pads actually were side chained to the kick, but clearly not enough based on what you heard. Your advice gave me permission to go a LOT harder, and I think it's worked out pretty well!

Yes, all synths are Omnisphere Hardware library (90% of them are from Juno soundsources). I went through and added them all to an Omnisphere project during my initial "patch hunt", so it was super easy to create a few more cues based on the work I did on this one.

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Re: Retrowave Listing: Looking Production/Mix Advice

Post by superblonde » Wed Jun 02, 2021 2:40 pm

Sounds nice to me, on my JBL Flip 4. I've been listening a bit to this genre in past 6 mos which seems to be gaining in popularity. Maybe the lead keyboard could use some more delay and less volume if more ambient mood is desired.
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Re: Retrowave Listing: Looking Production/Mix Advice

Post by blakeminnerly » Thu Jun 03, 2021 8:31 am

Really strong cue. Love the bass and drums, you captured that Daft Punk feel. I like the reverse snare a lot, but might suggest every fourth or eighth time as opposed to every other time. The melody synth was the only part that felt a bit out of genre. Something about the short attack and long reverb made it feel a little more like retro asian pop or hold music (Im sure folks have made a lot of $ doing that, not a diss, just maybe not quite in the genre). Overall. this seems like a strong submission, great work, man!

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