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ORIGINAL, ROMANTIC PIANO-Based INSTRUMENTAL?

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 7:31 am
by arska
I'm struggling with below listing for couple of reasons: First, I really like to play that sort of music on my own but it has become hard to pay attention especially to how I'm playing, is this sensitive enough, with emotion.. I've never took piano lessons (at least yet) so therefore also I'm quite in darkness..

On second, have I figured out the genre correct that is asked in the listing...

Any comments on these would be valuable and appreciated. Here's my candidate:

https://soundcloud.com/r2h-music/a-firefly

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Listing:

ORIGINAL, ROMANTIC PIANO-Based INSTRUMENTALS are needed for a $2,500, NON-Exclusive, Direct-to-Music Supervisor placement in Feature Film by an A-List Canadian Director and Producer. Please submit emotional, Down-to-Mid-Tempo Piano Instrumentals in the general stylistic wheelhouse of Yann Tiersen, Michael Nyman, Max Richter, etc., etc., etc. Please listen to the references the client gave us to get a sense of what this Supervisor is looking for:

“Comptine D'Un Autre Ete L'Apres” by Yann Tiersen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omK5H4_giSo

“Big My Secret” by Michael Nyman:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8WVYCN3zZQ

“The Departure” Max Richter:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZH0MUSCsj0

Please give them compelling, well-crafted, heartfelt and emotionally moving Instrumentals that convey an intimate romanticism. Your performance should have solid musicianship from start to finish, so please avoid anything that sounds stiff, or MIDI-driven. Do NOT copy or rip off the referenced acts or songs in any way, shape, or form. Use them only as a guide for tempo, texture, and overall vibe. Broadcast Quality is needed (great sounding home recordings are fine).

The estimated license fee is $2,500. This is a Non-Exclusive, Direct-to-Music Supervisor pitch, so you'll keep 100% of the sync fee. Plus you'll also keep 100% of your Publishing and Master ownership. You need to own or control your Master and Copyright to pitch for this opportunity. All submissions will be screened on a Yes/No basis - No full critiques. Submissions must be received no later than 11:59PM (PDT), on Friday, January 6th, 2017.TAXI #Y170106PB

Re: ORIGINAL, ROMANTIC PIANO-Based INSTRUMENTAL?

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 10:56 am
by Len911
Arska, I'm not a piano expert, but there is just something that sounds strange, when a note is held it has a strange decay like it drifts out of tune. I've heard this before recently on a piece, I'm not sure who it was. I looked over your past posts and saw something about a pro tools mini grand. I found a demo on youtube, and I think that may be it, I can hear the same drift occasionally. I think your piece is fine, it has dynamics, I just think I don't like the piano sound. From :42 sec to :52 sec you can really hear it. 1:37 to 1:44, another note that goes sour.
https://youtu.be/tJv8ChxRI3o

Re: ORIGINAL, ROMANTIC PIANO-Based INSTRUMENTAL?

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2017 7:18 am
by arska
Len911 wrote:Arska, I'm not a piano expert, but there is just something that sounds strange, when a note is held it has a strange decay like it drifts out of tune. I've heard this before recently on a piece, I'm not sure who it was. I looked over your past posts and saw something about a pro tools mini grand. I found a demo on youtube, and I think that may be it, I can hear the same drift occasionally. I think your piece is fine, it has dynamics, I just think I don't like the piano sound. From :42 sec to :52 sec you can really hear it. 1:37 to 1:44, another note that goes sour.
https://youtu.be/tJv8ChxRI3o
Thanks a for this and digging my old posts too =) I think its true, I just have got used to the sound of Mini Grand but now that you say it, there seems to be some out of tune issue, perhaps yes!

At least East West has Quantum Leap:

http://www.soundsonline.com/Pianos

But perhaps there is even better ones, comments would be appreciated :)

Thanks also for other comments of my track.

Re: ORIGINAL, ROMANTIC PIANO-Based INSTRUMENTAL?

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2017 8:41 am
by daveydad
Odd, I'm listening to it now and I don't hear any notes going out of tune. I did think I heard a couple of wrong notes barely played on the left hand at a few points? Other than that, I think it's nice... although I kind of wonder if the piano is a bit stiff/harsh in places.

Re: ORIGINAL, ROMANTIC PIANO-Based INSTRUMENTAL?

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2017 9:30 am
by MattCurious
Are you using D-Verb on Protools? I've found that with certain sounds (including piano) there's a weird effect where decaying notes seem to drop in pitch.

Re: ORIGINAL, ROMANTIC PIANO-Based INSTRUMENTAL?

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2017 9:58 am
by Len911
Addictive keys Studio Grand is only $90 if all you wanted was a Steinberg. The Ivory II needs an ilok and some of them are in the price range of the east-west

https://www.xlnaudio.com/addictivekeys

http://synthogy.com/

Re: ORIGINAL, ROMANTIC PIANO-Based INSTRUMENTAL?

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2017 10:17 am
by Lipskimusic
Yes, that may be the case as some Reverb (and Delay) effects have an additional 'modulation' functionality. It is also worthwhile do edit the sustain pedal manually (in particular if you quantise the midi notes as in many DAWs that does not affect the sustain commands).

Re: ORIGINAL, ROMANTIC PIANO-Based INSTRUMENTAL?

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2017 11:30 am
by Len911
I don't think it's the reverb in pro tools, In the demo video I posted, I can hear it as well. It's like the transients sound fine, but as the notes decay, and sustain into other notes, it sounds terrible to my ears. To be fair, I searched and found some reviews that seemed to think it sounded great. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of reviews.

here's a couple of comparisons, they're not the same song, but each has some hard playing that demonstrates well the difference I am hearing, how the mini turns into a sour sounding chord, and the ivory sustains a little sweeter??

mini grand
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH2d0FOAHrE

ivory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4TSBnWwk0Q

Re: ORIGINAL, ROMANTIC PIANO-Based INSTRUMENTAL?

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2017 11:45 am
by Lipskimusic
BTW - I had carried out some research the other day and came across at least two providers who offer Yamaha Midi Grand conversions services. Did anyone of you ever tried one of those? One of them seems pretty expensive and the other one is fairly affordable. Apart from micing it properly, I think the quality of the results largely depends on how much time they spend adjusting the midi velocities of the track(s) submitted to the action/response of their grand (and how much attention to detail is actually taking place).

I am happy to hear your comments.

Cheers,
Matt

Re: ORIGINAL, ROMANTIC PIANO-Based INSTRUMENTAL?

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2017 12:08 pm
by Len911
Matt, is it an acoustic grand that plays the midi file you send them and then records it?

Definitely more quality, but if the piano you used to record the midi file only had a 1 velocity sample that played at a different volume depending on the velocity, you couldn't complain that the result wasn't satisfactory, because you could never really hear what you were composing on a 1 velocity sampled instrument, you would be guessing, and translating the volume to what you thought it should sound like on an acoustic piano.