Mix advice for Guitar/Folk Jingle

Important question: Is there a voice-over planned? That changes some considerations.

Generally:

Almost all of the instrumentation's voices are midrange. Harmonica, two guitars, solo. Especially if there's a voice-over, [ intellegibility issues] a good thing would be to move one of the guitar's ranges [I know there are some high notes on guit R...but open strings drone in midrange] upward...use a capo on 7th or 9th fret, for example...using alternative chord forms...or use a mando playing 2/4 with the clav. See if you can move the harp up an octave on the left. This opens space for voice w/o mid clutter.


The clave is a nice touch in the high end, but the timing with the guitar groove is a little off in places...it sounds like the guitars are rushing the pulse, if the clave is quantized to a midi grid; or the clave is working behind the pulse a lot. Not jiving perfectly, all the time.

The chord at 4 seconds...and then throughout the piece... is poorly defined; and the B in the melody there could use some movement up or down instead....a little too much constant major 3rd tonality for interest...and, over an ambiguous chord. Actually, I spend a little time on that top voice in the Piedmont picking guitar to get a little more motion and interest in it.

The solo....if it plays during voice: conflict of freq range. And I play in on mando, above vocal-speech range. If no voice, and generally, the reliance on triplet figures lends an out-of-character [folk/grass] bent. I'd prefer to hear mostly eighths...a little harder...and a more cogent melody: it sounds meandering, hunt and peck....I'd work out some concrete melodic finery in 8ths there. And I'd still use a mando...or a fiddle...to pop it out of the predominant frequence range.

The intro chord to the solo could use a substitution...a formal, notable introduction...setting up the entrance of the feature....like a following section does.

The echo on the drum seems excessive...not 'communicating' with the rest...

I don't know how far along you are with the project...but there's a lack of punch/ sparkle in the HF's of the recording. Like the guitars have dead strings..and they're recorded in an anechoic chamber.

Good luck with it!
 
Thank so much for your response Jeff. That's the kind of feedback I was looking for. Will address these points and see what I can do.
 
So glad you took it in the spirit intended.

I've had the 'luxury' of having some of my own work like this picked apart mercilessly by guys who make a living doing this stuff...in person...as the work played. Ooof. I had to pay for the pummelling.

#1 was time and groove issues.
#2 was frequency use and spread, with regard to end-use.
#3 was interest and proficiency in execution.
#4 was compositional acuity.

As a result...and, in that I was steering my recording efforts toward this broader opportunity to make money....I started listening to every commercial music floor...movie soundtrack...with new ears....to listen to music I once only heard.

It's a very high bar... just listen!! Some of these 60-second-ditty magicians have names you'd recognize as credits roll in Hollywood movies. Some are just beginners. It's a nice industry to be working in....and a very accessible opportunity for a home recordist to exploit. It's all about the music, and its appeal to the publishers and licensers. Hype and promotion is meaningless.

ps: #5 endings are real important. Gotta have an impactful, composed ending to every piece...every tune should be a minimum of 3 minutes. No fades.

That's about what I know. A lot more waiting to be discovered.
 
BTW....

This is theme-material for the company website?

I suggest you copyright the piece, and license it for no fee to the company...using a written document...for use limited to that application, and acknowledgement that you are the author, on the page where it plays...small print. That way, there's no ambiguity as to who owns the rights: music-for-hire [they own it], or a self-published and licensed work [you own it]; and you are free to license it to other interested parties, if the opportunity arises. If the company wants to have exclusive use [a company 'theme'], the license should specify that...and it clarifies your position as owner. I'd also include that if they cease regular use, the license is terminated....leaving the work as your sole property. If they should ever use it in broadcast, specify that you are to be notified, so you can register the title with ASCAP or BMI [costs nothing with ASCAP...BMI charges for publishing rights registration....go ASCAP] so as to obtain performance royalties...publisher and composer cuts. It still costs the company nothing...and you position yourself to gain from it if it ever makes it to the airwaves; and that they are to forward you 'cue sheets' that indicate number of broadcasts of the work. Those go to ASCAP.

You never know where a piece will end up, or who will think it's 'da bomb'. You're putting all this work into it. Think ahead!

Funny...I heard a Verizon commercial today. They call the map of their 3G coverage "Big Red". They're using a theme from the 70's, that was once used in adverts for "Big Red Gum". Just an example of how this stuff morphs. The owner of that stupid ditty just got another phat check.

Oh yeah...I like the panning and mix in the recording.....forgot to mention it.
 
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