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Hi!
I am finishing my first batch of cues with the goal of pitching them to music libraries. I would love to get anyone’s opinion on these, if they are viable for TV use, if it makes sense to have an “album” of 15, and pitch them all at the same time.
All of them have in common that they are “dark”, either sad or creepy or unnerving or similar.Most of these cues come from rejections from a library I was working for, who always needed minimal music but didn’t always like my synth choices. When I parted ways with them I decided to convert them to solo piano cues and compile them like that.
After spending so much time reading on MLR now it’s clear to me that solo piano is quite saturated, and I probably would do best if I mixed them up with some other styles to make them more “special”. But I moved on and am currently writing an album of Crime Investigation music, so I wanted to try to place these somewhere.
Any advice is welcome! Thanks for your time
https://soundcloud.com/xev69/sets/piano-tracks/s-kxvkuVery nice writing.
Just from a marketing perspective, it might not be a good idea to name your flagship track “atonal mess”. 🙂 I actually do like that track, but I’d call it “Noir Investigation” or something.
I’d recommend slowing the tracks down a bit and giving some more breathing room between phrases. Maybe add a pad element underneath the piano to fill the empty space (I know you said you were having trouble with synth choices? Listen to tracks from MusicBed, the artists there tend to pick synths that work well).
The playing also sounds a little bit mechanical. A bit of rubato here and there would make your tracks really stand out.
I think the piano instrument you’re using is also contributing a little to the “mechanical” feeling. Keyscape and Fracture Sounds Woodchester Piano are the ones I’m using myself nowadays, and they tend to not cause me many issues.
The endings fade out very suddenly. Let them ring out.
Hey Steven thanks a lot for the feedback, I appreciate all your suggestions and will try to implement them. The only thing I don’t know if I can do much better is the mechanical playing. This is likely due to 70-80% of the notes being programmed and not played. Do you think it’s possible I am missing subtileties in the playing because I am not a pianist? And maybe not using the velocities like a pianist would play dynamically? Or is it more a tempo and feel thing?
I feel like I may have bitten more than I can chew with this haha. Lesson learned.
Any advice from other users also welcome!
Any advice from other users also welcome!
Just my take. The “Tone” of The Piano is not very pleasing to me. I would go with something that “has a Richer, and Warmer Tone.
Also, you want something to go under the Piano to give it “that something else, and possibly a bit of movement”. Not pushing a product, but I would go with Omnisphere.
Thanks, yes I agree. The only library that I’ve worked so far often sent tracks back because they didn’t want any abvious resonances in the piano, so I got used to making them sound a little hollow I guess. I also like a fatter darker piano. Good to know there’s use for these.
Do you think it’s possible I am missing subtileties in the playing because I am not a pianist? And maybe not using the velocities like a pianist would play dynamically? Or is it more a tempo and feel thing?
It’s both. I got the same criticism when I started doing piano programming and couldn’t really hear the difference, but I pick up more and more things as time goes on.
I don’t think you necessarily have to be a pianist and play everything in to get the desired effect. You can learn how to place notes “around the grid” and mess with the tempo envelope.
Maybe you could place a track in your DAW of a really good pianist playing something, and try to match them note for note?
I feel like I may have bitten more than I can chew with this haha. Lesson learned.
No, your writing is really good! Honestly, you could probably put these tracks up on an RF site and they would sell as they are.
Not pushing a product, but I would go with Omnisphere.
+1 for this
HAHA, “Atonal Mess” is great. but it doesnt sound very atonal to me . . . or a mess. It reminds me a lot of Eric Satie – sort of a cross between the Gymnopedies and the Trois Gnossiene. it certainly has a late 19th century aesthetic. as a piano player I think it’s a nice performance too – delicate and correctly understated – no weird execution anomalies. I agree about the piano sound or sample – it doesn’t feel “fat” enough to me – and not much vibrance across decays (like those upper harmonics you can hear ring on the real deal). maybe you could tweak that on the production side. I hope music like these gets placed. best of luck
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