Need some opinions on a new mix

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famous beagle

famous beagle

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I accidentally posted this first in the mixing/mastering forum. I've closed that thread to move it here.

Hey everyone,

This is the first piece of many that I hope to get placed in a TV show, commercial, or film. Here's the first mix. I was hoping to get some input on what, if anything, needs fixing before I stockpile it in the "ready to submit" pile.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page...songID=8213414

Also, could you let me know if any particular scene or image comes to mind when you hear it? I had something in mind when I wrote it, but the title would have given it away, so I changed it to "First Piece" for now. I'd like to get people's unbiased input on what comes to mind.

Thanks!
 
good work dogg... minor quibbles... some of the backing tracks sound way too vsti... sound triggered not played... also i could use more dynamic veriation...
 
Sounds very nice beagle :)! If I were a film maker, I'd certainly find use for it.

I got the image of some guy leaving town in his car driving through the outskirts of town...contemplating some big change in his life, like he just left his girl or quit his job or something and he's thinking about what he just did...and I think he's kind of psyched? Apprehension, mixed with hope...I dunno, probably not what you had in mind. Cool track anyway.
 
Really nice capture of the guitars.
Filmic is the adjective I was searching for - though if it's for television it might be (ah hem) episodic!
 
Real nice acoustic sound.
But the rest sounds great to me, too.
Very heart-felt tune, nice mix.

Joey :):):):)
 
Demented - thanks for the listen. Would you mind being more specific regarding the backing tracks? As in ... which instruments sound too VSTi? I thought I had done pretty well at blending them.

Heatmiser - Thanks. I actually had the car thing in mind too when I wrote it--a car driving down a winding road, maybe during Autumn with some leaves around. So you were very close!

Rayc - thanks for the comments. The electric was a strat through AmpliTube (I was recording at night when my son was sleeping, so miking an amp wasn't possible), and the acoustic is my workhorse---a Seagull.

Joey - thanks for the listen and the comments! :)
 
Sounds really clean and good.

Personally, when a lower element comes in (not sure what it is...almost like an upright bass sound that's all attack and no sustain)...I'd like more actual low end...like a djembe or something...but I also assume that mixing for TV is very different than mixing for personal audio consumption.
 
chrisharris said:
Sounds really clean and good.

Personally, when a lower element comes in (not sure what it is...almost like an upright bass sound that's all attack and no sustain)...I'd like more actual low end...like a djembe or something...but I also assume that mixing for TV is very different than mixing for personal audio consumption.
Click to expand...

I think you're talking about the Shika drum. I'd never used one of those before, so I didn't really know what they're supposed to sound like! :)
 
Well, I'm a filmmaker.

The piece sort of reminds me of a scene right after the conflict in the climax, possibly a scene where where the protagonist is finding himself. Sounds like something that would fit in a Dawson's Creek-esque drama.

I think the brass instrument that starts at around 0:18 and the melody starting at 0:25 are the ones that sounds VST-ish.
 
Sounds like something that would fit into a late 90's romantic TV drama. The main character is watching his/her loved one sleep as he/she quietly packs a bag to leave forever.
 
JonPaulP said:
Well, I'm a filmmaker.

The piece sort of reminds me of a scene right after the conflict in the climax, possibly a scene where where the protagonist is finding himself. Sounds like something that would fit in a Dawson's Creek-esque drama.

I think the brass instrument that starts at around 0:18 and the melody starting at 0:25 are the ones that sounds VST-ish.
Click to expand...

Hmmm ... that sucks about the brass. I was hoping that the samples were decent enough and buried enough to be fairly convincing. There are three samples: trumpet, french horn, and trombone. I'm hoping to get some better samples soon, so hopefully that will help. I don't think it sounds bad though.

Regarding the melody, the sound is kind of my own creation (or, at least, my own edit on a sound), so I know that's going to sound like a synth. And that doesn't bother me. Anything that makes sound can be an instrument, whether it's by acoustic or digital means. After all, those early analog synths that are now being sampled digitally were many times trying to recreate acoustic sounds; they were just doing a horrible job of it. And they became instruments in their own right.

The Rhodes was supposed to be a portable alternative to a piano. It doesn't close at all, but now it's its own cool sound.
The Mellotron was one of the first samplers really. Doesn't sound very close to what it sampled, but again, it's now become its own thing.

Those cheesy brass synth sounds of the early analog synths fueled countless pop hits in the eighties, like VH's "Jump," Michael Jackson's "Thriller," etc. So they became legitimate instruments in their own right.

The brass samples in my piece don't sound bad to me at all, but I would like them to sound as close as possible, because I love the sound of real brass (and most orchestral instruments). So I'm hoping my new set of samples will be better. I can't afford to pay anyone to play real brass instruments, and I can't afford to buy any myself yet, so I have to work with what I've got. I certainly don't think they're bad enough to avoid using at all, but that's my opinion. I'm not a brass player, so maybe the difference is more evident to someone with much more brass experience.

Of course, I am a guitar player, and the electric parts on this were recorded with AmpliTube (I had to go direct --- I recorded this at night while my 11-month old son was sleeping) ... and they sound pretty good to me. :) Granted, there's a little difference, because there's still an actual guitar involved. But an electric guitar by itself isn't complete without an amplifier.
 
I liked the sounds in it a lot. I agree with what JohnP said about the placement. It sounds like an interim type thing when someone is executing a plan. Reminds me of some of the sounds in Napoleon Dynamite a bit.
 
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