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Well, I'm not Moby but...

...I am bald and I do compose music which I am offering free, LOL

Please visit my website if you're interested,)http://www.frankietgman.com

You'll find a variety of ethnically inspired vibes within a rock context, however I will be scaling down in the effects/samples area and doing more straight ahead rock, again with the intention of having the tunes used in cinema or tv. Would love to work with a producer to help make their scene more captivating so please get back to me if you have suggestions/ constructive feedback.



Please let me know before using any of the music. I'm just asking to be listed in credits/ads so I can get some exposure. Thanks:)
 
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Interesting tracks and vibes. Could use with some decent mixing though, things aren't clear and the tracks are distinctly mono-sounding. What's your process for making music?
 
I hear ya!

Thanks for the feedback MetalRenard,

That's what I need- people who can help me fine tune things and improve.

I use Reaper software to record everything. I use Amplitude, Pod Farm and Miroslav Philharmonik and Toontrack software for starters. I believe the problem became too much layering of parts as this was my first attempt at writing for films. The mixdown lost some clarity and I tried EQing things, almost to a fault but after spending weeks on the mastering by myself, I decided to finalize the songs so I could move on to another project. I have all the master recordings in my files so they can be redone professionlally if someone has an interest in using them. You can tell how a song like Turkish Moon Dance has a clearer sound, mostly due to the use of less doubling and layering of parts. As far as a mono sound, I'm not sure about that because everything was recorded in stereo. Possibly because I purposely did not adjust much in the way of panning, ironically because I felt it would cause too much separation and less cohesiveness. :huh:

Anyway, thanks for listening and getting back with me, I will work on a better mixdown process on the songs I am currently working on, as I have exhausted myself with those tunes for now.

Frank
 
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Oh Reaper? Me too. I love that DAW, it's pretty amazing.
To point you in the right direction, yes, panning is a must. Always use panning on guitars, orchestral instruments, backing vocals, stuff like that. Do not pan bass guitar, bass drums (but you can pan cymbals and toms), lead vocals, lead guitar...
That's the general "rule" but you can do whatever you like if you're looking to create an effect.
Next, mixing, just do tons of research on "how to mix [instrument]" and read everything you can find. Try each approach until you find one that suits you. Trial and error is a must, it helps train your ear for what is good, what isn't, what works and what doesn't.
On cohesiveness, you have to learn how to bring a mix together using EQ, reverb (convolution reverb too), compression and other effects that I won't go into yet. It doesn't just happen, it's a ton of work, but it's most definitely worth it.

:)
 
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Yes, it's all about trial and error, research and hard work which I don't mind at all because it's doing what I love. I could have paid someone to master the songs but to be honest, the samples I heard of their work was unimpressive, seemed like things I could do with the eq's and sound enhancers built into Reaper, which I have not tapped the full potential of, you're right - it is amazing. The good news is I can remix them anytime and there's probably people out there who are fine with them as is, depending on what they need for a particular scene. The main thing is that the vibe suits the purpose, the sound and mix can be tweaked, but I hear what you're saying. Most producers will want something that's ready to go.
Thanks for the tips,:cool:

Frank
 
I agree with MetalRenard's observations regarding the quality of your mixing but you need to be careful of the research and work you are intending to do. The overwhelming majority of information you will find regarding music mixing is based on creating a music product, a product destined for the music market. However, if you are interested in working in the field of music for TV or cinema, then you will be making a film or TV program, not a music product destined for the music market and therefore many of the processes are different. For example, you mentioned having your songs mastered but there is no mastering of music in the TV/Film industry and if you have your songs professionally mastered you will make them more difficult to use in a film/TV program and therefore lower their value rather than increase it! There are various other differences in how music is mixed for TV/film and even differences between mixing music for a TV program and a film destined for theatrical release/screening and actually panning is one of those differences.

G
 
For example, you mentioned having your songs mastered but there is no mastering of music in the TV/Film industry and if you have your songs professionally mastered you will make them more difficult to use in a film/TV program and therefore lower their value rather than increase it! There are various other differences in how music is mixed for TV/film and even differences between mixing music for a TV program and a film destined for theatrical release/screening and actually panning is one of those differences.


Wow! Thanks, G. You hit the nail on the head! My intuition kept telling me not to have the songs mastered by someone else. There are plenty of people out there advertising the service but I never intended them to be radio friendly so I could not see the point in doing that. I also did lots of playing around with mastering presets, eq's, compression (which I really dislike) and sound enhancers, etc. but it was just guesswork. I myself am not happy with how many of the tracks sound but in most cases, I was making them worse with every revision so I wound up having to settle for them as is.

What I need to learn is exactly HOW to get a mix/proper panning or format (if there is such a thing) that is friendly to the majority of film makers. It's tough when you are doing the entire project from performance to mixing on your own but I am up for the challenge. At the core, I know I have some good ideas for atmospheres and moods that can be useful and if I focus on getting a better mix in general, I can work together with the movie producer to get the sound he or she wants. Hopefully, by interacting with other composers here and on other forums, I'll get it down.

Frank
 
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Well yes, of course, mixing is different for films/TV/games since you're not looking to just play music on its own, it will have to compete with SFX and speech. Lots of that comes down to post processing although having a good mix from the start is essential.
Panning is the same until you get into the realm of surround sound in which case you'd mix your track and export stems for someone else to mix, or spend more time (and money creating the right environment for 5.1) learning about mixing in surround sound, for those other applications.

Put it this way, a good mix is a good mix, just keep in mind that when you mix for other media your music isn't going to be top dog, it will be in a supportive roll so it won't be so hot (loud) and other EQ differences, but I don't want to give you too much info in one go for fear of overwhelming you.
 
Put it this way, a good mix is a good mix, just keep in mind that when you mix for other media your music isn't going to be top dog, it will be in a supportive roll so it won't be so hot (loud) and other EQ differences, but I don't want to give you too much info in one go for fear of overwhelming you.


Yes, you are both right. I have to spend more time learning how to get a better mix with Reaper, just a matter of studying the manual and some trial and error.:bang: As for giving me too much info, please don't worry about that, whenever you have something to share or a free moment, keep it coming!:yes:

One thing I forgot to mention is that what you hear on the website are MP3's which have been buffered even further by the Bandzoogle web server to accomodate the average person's computer processing speeds so there is some sound degradation from the original WAV files which are stored on my hard drive. But this again has nothing to do with the mix, just a bit better sound quality overall on the WAV's.


I appreciate constrctive criticism and am not one of those people who think everything they put out there is great, different things will appeal to different people. I'm just trying to get some music out there that I've enjoyed working on.
 
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