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jwnicholson78

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Posts posted by jwnicholson78

    The Outer Banks - updated 7-9

    in Songs

    Posted

    On 7/16/2022 at 10:43 PM, bjornpdx said:

    Hi Jeff.  I think "summer vacation" is a music genre isn't it? This one certainly has that carefree feel to it. Nice blending of images with the music.
    -Bjorn

    Hi Bjorn,

    Yes, totally agree.  I love making the summer vacation music video every year.

    Thanks for the listen and the comment.

    TV Music

    in Songs

    Posted

    On 7/18/2022 at 11:54 AM, Bajan Blue said:

    I know some people do mix on headphones and do so very well, I would never like to have to mix on Headphones - I could never get used to that!!!

    On 7/19/2022 at 11:18 AM, Mark MoreThan-Shaw said:

    Me neither ! Although for some they have no choice. 

    I share my music space (I hesitate to even call it a studio) with the main TV in the house, a Peleton and the play area for 10 and 12 year old boys. 

    Headphones are the only option.

    The Spaces Between - Updated

    in Songs

    Posted

    On 7/13/2022 at 1:57 PM, Mark MoreThan-Shaw said:

    Yeah I don't think I could have done it when my kids were younger and hold down a  full time job too. Mine are at Uni / College now  and I can generally do two tracks per week depending on how busy my day job is, but back in the day it would take me the same amount of time as it takes you now.  This is why I often harp on about DAW workflow in some of the threads because when you work to deadlines every minute counts and when you use it pretty much day in day out you get a much better idea of it's strengths and weaknesses.

    I'm not sure it would be usable in it's current form, one of the unwritten rules is " no foley " ..which means no sound effects that are not musical parts and you have a fair few going.  You could always bounce another mix without them. That transition around 36s is a bit clunky so you'd probbaly want to smooth that out and make it more musical. Those tranistions are often used as edit point when cutting to picture so some sort of rise & hit type sound usually works best  ( like a reverse cymal swelling in the forward playing cymbal for example .

    If you send it to a bonefide sync library you'll need to be a member of a PRO ( Ascap / BMI in the US  ) as the mebership number goes with the metadata and is how they know who to pay royalties to. There aren't really any that would take a one off track as it's not worth the Admin to onboard a new writer for one track, most want 4 or 5 or some want a full album. 

    There is a lower tier of libraries that don't really deal a whole bunch with broadcast, they are more for content creators to get music from..corporate videos, Youtubers etc. You don't necessarily have to join a PRO to submit music to these places as they aren't really supplying TV shows so there are no royalties, you just get a share of the revenue that someone paid to use your track in their Youtube channel or whatever.  If you wanted to try one of those places like Audiosparx, AudioJungle, Pond5 will probably let you sign up and put a single track up. Be warned though that one track is a bit of a needle in a haystack and you need a volume of material in any library before it will likely start getting used.

      

     

    More excellent comments and suggestions.  Thanks so much for taking the time to detail your experience.

    I don't think any of my songs are ready for prime time yet, including this one.  Plus I spent so much time on it, I'm sick of it now and ready to move on, even though it's not perfect.  I do like the idea of continuing to practice and get better and build up a body of work so that once my kids also go off to university and I have more time, submitting stuff to libraries is something I could think more seriously about.

    • Like 1

    The Outer Banks - updated 7-9

    in Songs

    Posted

    20 hours ago, PhonoBrainer said:

    Good one! I've never been there but feel as if I had. I could see why you brought the bass up a bit, and for my ears it could do with just a hair more low end but that's just me. Pretty impressive, being done on the Android tablet, bet you had that thing maxxed!

    cheers,

    -Tom, who travels infrequently, unless we're counting mental walkabouts

    Thanks Tom.  I agree, it could still use a little more low end.

    The tablet did pretty well all things considered, especially considering most of the synths were doubled or tripled.    FL Studio Mobile is pretty efficient, and the best $15 bucks I ever spent on an Android app.  It's fun to noodle around with on long flights, too.

    TV Music

    in Songs

    Posted

    Impressive.  When I listen to these it strikes me how much improvement I need in mixing and mastering (but then I already knew that).

    I have a cheap pair of Panasonic headphones that I am listening on right now.  I have never been able to get any of my songs to sound worth a damn on these headphones,  They are like my own personal torture device.  But what strikes me is how crystal clear everything is in your songs.  Bass and kick have punch and the high ends sparkle.  I feel like if I can get my songs to sound like this on these headphones I will be in good shape.

    That plus the writing and production is top notch.  Thanks for sharing.

    Jeff

    Anyone Care to Waltz? - updated

    in Songs

    Posted

    Bass and organ are much more separated and distinct. Nice job.

    I'd love to hear the organ go up an octave at some point and play some fills to add punch in some of the bigger moments.  But that's just me, I'm a sucker for a Leslie.

    Malena - Ennio Morricone Cover

    in Songs

    Posted

    On 7/15/2022 at 4:14 PM, markno999 said:

    Jeff,

    Appreciate the listen.  That means a lot as I am a great admirer of your work.  

    For those interested in checking out Orchestral music templates, part of the realism in this track, and the others I have done, comes from a template which I purchased from Synthestration.  https://synthestration.com/store/

    Ryan Thomas, who works with East West, provides a demo song in this orchestral template so you get a look at his programming along with getting the template.   This particular template is for Logic Pro which is what I used for this piece but Synthestration has templates for other libraries such as ProjectSAM, Spitfire, etc..and other DAWS.   Most of the templates for this style of music will be found on Logic, Studio One or Cubase.     

    This particular EW template includes sends to EW Spaces II broken out for the different sections and this really creates much of the realism.    The instruments are very well recorded and balanced in the library as well so there is very little mixing going on.   I really only play the parts and add Expression and Modulation Wheel for dynamics.    The lead Gyspy Violin in this piece has a lot of the expression you hear already baked into the sound.  

    Opus also includes the Orchestrator which offers a number of instrumentation breakouts so you can quickly hear how different parts works together, and includes common Ostinatos and other tools for building a realistic sounding piece.    While I have studied music and harmony for many years, this is really new to me so it is great that many of these new products like Opus offer some short-cuts for beginners in this area of music.


    Regards

    Thanks for the heads up about SYnthestration and their templates.  I am going to have to check them out.  I've got Spitfire BBC and I'd love to see what the templates can do with that.  Do they have templates for Cakewalk?

    Jeff

    NORWAY!

    in Songs

    Posted

    Beautiful pictures and videos. The music has a melancholy note to it that fits the video well, I think.

    I especially liked the acoustic guitar when it came in.  Curious what you are using for your orchestral library.

    Sorry to hear you got covid, but a glad you are over it.  Our home family got it to even though we are all vaxed and boosted.   These new buggers are hard to avoid.

    Jeff

    • Like 1

    The Spaces Between - Updated

    in Songs

    Posted

    On 7/11/2022 at 6:57 AM, Mark MoreThan-Shaw said:

    If you're interested in writing for Libraries, I suggest following the Sync My Music Youtube channel - there is a free 5 part course about writing for production music libraries there where you can get an overview of what it's all about.

    ...

    Thank you for these comments.  I really appreciate your feedback.    A lot of what you say confirms what I expected - that it's a competitive space, and it takes a lot of work to have a significant chance.

    I feel like I have made some progress in improving in the last couple of years, but I also feel like, when I listen to songs that I have produced vs. professionally produced work, I still have a LOT more to do.  Unfortunately, with a full time job (that I do enjoy) and young kids to take care of, I'm lucky if I can make a song or two every other month.  I think I worked on this one for at least 3 months.  So going all in isn't really feasible, and for now, I think about continuing to try and improve my skills for the time being and maybe when the kids go off to college, I can spend more time and get more serious in music production.

    In the meantime,  I wonder if there are there libraries that I can submit my music to, on the off chance that someone would pick it up and use it?

    Again thanks for the feedback!

    The Spaces Between - Updated

    in Songs

    Posted

    15 hours ago, Keith Wilby said:

    Sounds a lot better for it to me, nice one 👍

    Thanks!  Sounds better to me, too :)

    I was having fun with all the sound effects, but after I had let it sit for a while, I realized they were a little overbearing.

    The Outer Banks - updated 7-9

    in Songs

    Posted

    13 hours ago, DeeringAmps said:

    Spent a lovely week on the Outer Banks once. My wife is what I refer to as a “horse girl “ so much time was spent pursuing the indigenous ponies. 
    IIRC one did not walk barefoot to the sand as the paths were loaded with what her Auntie referred to as “foot-fers”!

    t

    Sadly, I didn't actually see the horses myself.  My wife booked a tour, but she miscounted and turned out we were short a space when we went to the tour company.  So I took one for the team and went back to the house while everyone else went to see the horses, but at least they took some good pictures.

    • Like 1
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