Al sent me the following e-mail and would like a critique of
“Asain Tragedy”.
Asain Tragedy
I’ve been checkin’ out your site for awhile. I’ve never responded to any forum before and am just a few short months into composing for libraries. Thanks for the opportunity to post a song for critique. I’ve been accepted into 3 libraries: http://audiosparx.com/alvienneau , “Mainstream Source”, and “Music Dealers”. Haven”t sold a thing. Maybe this critique will help. If you know of any libraries that this type of music would be better suited for, I’m open to any and all suggestions.
Keywords: Asian, Tsunami, Loss, Tragedy, Sad, Grief, Emotional
Hi there
When writing music that you want to be commercially successful, you need to be brutally honest to yourself if
1.) you have done absolutely the best effort you can possibly do
2.) if one of your musical heroes, whislt writing the same tune, would end up with the same tune/production.
Would you reply yes to both 1 and 2?
So, I am going to cut to the chase:
-) the synth melody line instrument sounds plain weird in some parts and needs to be ditched. It also leaps out at you in the mix.
-) the string samples, even if they are supposed to sound synth-like sound very dated
-) the intro is far too long
-) the overal production of the song sounds too cheap – invest in some quality plug-ins, Head over to 8dio.com or http://www.soundiron.com or some other sample libraries
-) in something that space-y you need more layers and textures that come in and out to make the whole thing sound more sophisticated
-) the ride cymbal you are using is a very cheap sample – clearly has no round-robin facility – buy some better drums, go to http://www.soundsonline.com/EastWest-Quantum-Leap or http://www.fxpansion.com/index.php?page=1 or http://www.toontrack.com/products.asp?item=7
Musically there is not that much wrong, but sample and production wise there certainly is.
I don’t mean to come down on your track like a ton of bricks, so take this as very well-meant advice, because it sounds to me like you could be successful in library music, but you need to sharpen the tools you have. A good idea is to head over to a well know library like http://www.extrememusic.com/ and search in their database for something in the style of your track and see what their production sounds like, then use that as your benchmark.
Hope that helps!
Nice tune 🙂 I love the 2nd part with the strings.
I thank you guys for the feedback. I’m gonna make the changes. Flute and shorter intro. It’s difficult to get perspective on my own music. If any one is willing to review some of my stuff on the audiosparx.com/alvienneau website for a general, overall… less song specific perspective, I would be eternally grateful. Maybe return the favor with a track or 2. Again thanks.. Al
Al, you might also check out https://musiclibraryreport.com/miscellania/cue-tips/
Thanks Art, I read them yesterday and thought they were great.
Nice work. The lead instrument sounds ok at first, but then the melody starts to meander a bit before the chords come in and I started to be distracted by the lead sound. Might sound better on some kind of Asian flute or have another sound come in to play off it. I do a lot of world music and much of it is improvised, but underneath all the texture there is still some kind of form.
Eb
I’d agree pretty much with ebjazz. The intro is way, way long. It takes til about 48″ before you hear the chords. By which point that lead sound is really starting to annoy. As are those bells. Do like the string/pad section in the middle – very atmospheric. But I’d suggest this ought to be basis of the track and needs to come in much sooner. If you’re going to do “ethnic” I’d say you need the correct instruments, it’s crying out for a bamboo flute as the lead. For me I’d rebuild the thing – make the strings the main part, have a short break in the middle with the flute, then go back to the strings.
Agreed in general with DS and Eb. I also think it would be better served with a realistic Asian stringed instrument. The current lead sound gets repetitive. I really like the pads/strings as well. IMO, the overall concept is fine, just needs a little tightening and tweaking.
2c.
Hey, I thank all for the time and consideration. I will make a couple of suggested changes and if Art is in agreement, upload the amended version. Thanks Al
Sure, no problem Al.