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It sounds pretty good, not much to say about it… Maybe a link to a ‘clean’ version with no voiceover would be even better for a proper mastering evaluation. I feel it could have been ‘louder’, heavier in some parts but I don’t know what they asked you to do and dialog and engine sounds are distracting and ‘eating’ frequencies’ and dynamics… On a side note, Ducati is located in my home town, a few miles from where I used to live… Never rode one, though…
A Reel is usually a collection of audio or video clips you send to supervisors or producers (or anyone that can give you a job) as a means of presenting your best work in a concise, orderly way. Guess the name comes from the film Showreels actors used to ‘ship’ around to get work. It’s also called a Demo Reel but the name does not imply that the content should be demos or unfinished work, just a collection of your best work or what is most suited to a particular listing or job offer.
Hi
For 79$ you get a lot of resources, courses, seminars but, in my experience, as other similar courses, it’s more geared towards beginner/intermediate level composers. I joined mostly for the contact and listings section but, though it comprises more than 400 entries, it’s not divided into sections like libraries, publishers or music services. Also, if I’m not missing something, it’s not like Taxi at all, there are no job listings, no wanted tracks, no submissions…. Just a big collection of links you have to go through and maybe come here to see reviews and decide if they may be good for you. But if you’re starting out or need technical, musical and marketing advice is a lot of bang for the buck. Could be a good companion for Taxi since it addresses other aspects of licensing.
Hi Toby
I think the main problem is that it sounds ‘boxy’ and with too much reverb. Some instruments sound too distant, like they’re in an other room/hall and there’s a mid-low frequency in the reverb that makes it all muddy. The orchestral samples sound good but maybe the orchestration is a bit too simplistic, and some instruments I would have used differently, but that’s obviously debatable… I think there’s room for improvement.
Hi
every library have their own way, their own rules for mixes, stems, formats etc. so maybe the best thing you could do, if possible, is ask them directly. I would alter the mix to make i sound good on its own, if it sounds ‘blah’ they may not be able to use it. Another solution is bouncing both versions, one being just soloing bass and drum tracks, easy and fast to do, so you have an alternative in case they don’t like the one you send in. Some libraries would also want booms, risers and fx in that kind of mix so, again, if at all possible, ask: if they’re working with you on an album they will probably tell you what they want.hope this helps
Hi Paul
I’m sorry, but you really fooled me… There is something though about your guitars, they sound a bit stiff and synthetic, but maybe it’s just me, or, as you say, something in the sound.. But I got a similar critique one one of my tracks last year, guess sometimes you can be fooled…Hi Paul
The compositions are solid and stick to the style and emotion chosen for each track.
As I said in other critiques, I see that the quality of tracks is getting higher so we need to pay attentions to sounds and mastering.
Being a guitarist, I can hear that the guitars are samples and it shows especially on acoustic arpeggios and lead, distorted lines. Maybe there are better samples or a more realistic way to program them. For distorted guitars you could try using ‘clean’, non distorted samples and go through an amp simulator, that may help achieving a more realistic sound. Drums and piano (I’m referring to ‘Ascension’, mainly) could use more dynamics and sample that change with velocity: accents are very important for realism. You could look for drum midis played by real drummers and that could make a big difference. I think that the mixes could be a bit punchier, listen to reference tracks and experiment with compression and limiting, compare levels and sound pressure till you get close to your references. All in all, I think your tracks are well composed and arranged and could work very well in a lot of libraries. There’s a little more work to do if you want to compete with the best tracks around, especially if you want to focus on styles with a lot of guitars playing prominent parts. Hope it helps…Hi Pete
I think you’re definitely on the right path. Tracks are relevant to the styles you chose and composition and arrangements are good.
I would work more on sounds and mastering. They’re not bad and they may work as they are but I think that the overall level of production is getting higher. Pianos and drums could sound a bit more realistic, sample wise and with more dynamics: it’s a combination of better samples or plug ins and programming: there’s a lot of good stuff out there that’s not as expensive as it used to be. You can find great drum midi loops played by real drummers and that makes a lot of difference in some styles. Like I said before, they can definitely work for some libraries a and some styles as they are but there’s room for improvement.The IRS website is probably a good place to get the info you need…
This form is what you need to get an ITIN number, plus you need to verify your ID.
https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-w-7A W8-Ben form and an ITIN number should be everything you need. A lot of RF libraries won’t even ask you for that, but others will, so better be prepared.
I was wondering if web traffic can be a good indicator of a library’s health and success and if so, has anybody tried it and with which tools? I checked all the libraries in the Non Exclusive section of MLR and it looks like a great part of them hardly get any daily visitors…
Are we talking exclusive or non -EX?
Hi Keith
if you want to have your tracks considered for ads or licensing, I strongly advise you to listen to a lot of current ads and background music. Go to some good libraries and listen to tracks in a similar style. Listen closely to the arrangements, composition and structures. Listen and try to understand the role that melodies and lead instruments play in this kind of productions. Get some modern drum sounds or loops and invest in a few good plug ins for mixing and mastering if you want to do that yourself. Your tracks must sound current and hi quality (composition and sounds/mix) to be competitive. Right now they sound quite dated and demo-like. Sorry I can’t be more positive…Jesse also has a youtube channel with a lot of free videos, interesting stuff. Another good resource is Aaron Davison’s How to Lincense Your Music website. You can buy single courses or subscribe for a year and get everything for a fair price, 100/200$ depending on the current promotion…. There are a lot of Youtube videos on the subject that come up in my feed, some interesting some less, but you really should check when they were posted since this industry is changing really fast. Stuff from 2 or 3 years back may not be still relevant, especially marketing strategies.
in my area (California) its really easy to go to events, and network..
Hi Beatslinger
I live in Italy but in the last couple of years I went to LA a few times, for the Road Rally, for NAMM, luckily air fares are cheap now. I’m getting to know a few people but it’s a slow process if you can stay just for a couple of weeks at a time.