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I’m using a couple of 4 foot concrete columns, the kind you can put in your garden. Heavy, stable and posh looking…
You’re welcome 🙂
I’m from Italy and I only need a W8-BEN for those few American libraries that require one for tax purposes. Payments from your PRO are unaffected by that. If they don’t ask you for one when you sign the contract with a Library you won’t need one. In case you need one, you’ll probably have to get an ITIN number too, from the IRS.
You’re welcome 🙂
Yes, i find it’s usually faster to cut the main mix down for almost any style if there are definite sections. Generally using two tracks or crossfading gets good results even if you have to cut parts of a section. As I said, having small elements to connect sections like a drum roll can help mask little inconsistencies and make transitions smoother. There are a few cases when I really have to go back to the mix project and do some custom transitions but having stems reduces the need a lot (I seldom even use stems). Be sure to have a limiter in the editing session if you add elements to a full mix or crossfade sections: you don’t want to get digital distortion.
I generally cut my edits from the main mix too and it helps to think of tracks in sections so it’s easier to cut and paste different sections or themes. I usually prepare a very short button end and maybe a short version of the intro for 30 and 60 sec edits, they can come handy when you have to be precise with the time. Probably not applicable to this style but I always extract a few drum fills to use in transitions, it could be a timpani roll or a harp cascade or violin run, some element that may help tie different sections more naturally.. Also having stems ready may help when you cut a section and need an instrument to keep playing on the first beats of the new section, to avoid cutting notes or reverb tails, you might need it in this style. So, yes, thinking ahead may save you some headaches later but I never do stuff like having the sections last for x seconds so adding them up I get maybe 60 secs…
Hi Serge
one of the most useful assets of a library producer is the ability to do timed edits of their tracks: 30, 60, maybe 90 seconds, stingers… Full tracks may typically range from 2:30 to 3:30. The track is really nice and sounds professional, good composition and arrangements, reaistic orchestral sounds and nice mix. It also seems to work very well under images of nature so I guess it has potential for documentaries or cinematic videos. You just need to apply your skills as an editor and extract a (or even two or three) 3:30 edit that still works fine. You can have different versions maybe with different intensities to give variation and choice to a supe. I think most libraries could use cinematic tracks like this but you could go and listen to what they have in those categories and find a good match. Nice work.Never put tracks that you sell thru libraries in a Content ID program, you’re gonna p*ss off owners and clients. The only exception are exclusive tracks but then it’s usually the library that manages content ID and you can’t put them in another ID program. If you want to monetise tracks you should write new stuff for that. On the other hand, if you want to monetise a video with your music that is not in a ID program you should have no problem.
@johnnyboy The ones I’m using are not, they are usually ‘programmed’ with a midi drum, actually played not programmed on a keyboard. I often use them as templates for custom quatization. If you open them in a midi editor you can see the single hits fallin before or behind the beat, depending on the groove. Then there’s probably lots of programmed stuff that is right on the grid, little velocity variations or accents, be it drums or other instruments.
@Johnnyboy Not all loops are quantised, hi quality loops, even midi ones are not. Or at least not to the grid, they have a feel, a groove, I won’t say they’re not edited at all but they’re not stiff and mechanic.
I use Superior Drummer 3, great samples and endless tweaking possibilities, like a great studio with all sorts of mic placements, close and far, bleeding options… I use it mainly for rock and pop but there are also dedicated sample expansions for Jazz. You can use midis inside the plug in, from the internal library, your own or buy midi loop expansions for almost every style. They have a few jazz collections that don’t sound bad at all. The thing with midis is you can tweak and mix stuff and take maybe kik and snare from a loop and add a ride from another or write your own fills… Very flexible and sounds quite realistic..
So double bass IS a VI… Take extra care to make it sound real, especially on high notes where you can spot ìt… The first drum loop sounds stiff and repetitive, the ones on the other two songs sound a lot better and more natural… Use as many variations as you can find, it would surely be easier to get away with it if this was rock or pop… That’s why I prefer to use a good drum library and high quality drum loops, gives you more flexibility. I don’t usually do jazz, though… All in all it’s quite a good job, just focus on those details that may get you in a good library.
Hi, tracks 2 and 3 sound good while the first one sounds a bit stiff in performance and a bit repetitive, builds too slowly. Also sounds like you’re using drum loops and they’re not sounding great on this track. Overall sound is good, maybe just watch a few ‘booms’ and low freq on the drums but it’s consistent with the style. As far mixing/mastering it probably depends if you want them to sound contemporary and compressed or more vintage, there’s probably a niche for both or you could do different mixes, offer a choice.
Hey Johnny
tons of mediocre tracks is very bad too but the problem is solved by curated, serious libraries. Surely, a lot of more ‘generic’ libraries that used to do well for me have been swamped by that tide so you hardly get any play, let alone sales…
I always tried to go for quality too, I think is what may make you stand out, I used to add a guitar solo section to my rock library tracks, just for the fun of it and I still spend the extra hour to get the right sound or chord progression or a tiny bit of originality… But when I work on library music I have to think about selling the track, not satisfying my ego or artistic needs… It has to serve a purpose…Writing music for the sake of writing music is wonderful. Alas we have to pay our bills and gone is the age of patron of the arts willing to pay for our compositions… If you’re in a forum for licensing music, you probably want to make money out of it. I’ve been a professional musician all my adult life and what I noticed since the advent of digital studios and the internet is that a lot of composers are willing to compose and sell music for little or no money cos it’s just a part time job or a passion for them. A lot of musicians are willing to play live for little or no money for the same reason… Don’t want to open a can of worms but we all know how the story goes… So, I guess that people on MLR should be interested in making money out of their music, a lot of it, actually… sorry for the little rant…