How Good Does It Need To Sound For Film/TV?

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radionowhere
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How Good Does It Need To Sound For Film/TV?

Post by radionowhere » Mon Feb 11, 2013 12:48 pm

Hey People:

Sorry if this isn't the right forum - not clear on the best spot for this.

Anyway, I've got a question about production quality requirements for film/tv licensing, namely - how good does something have to sound in order to make it onto a cable tv show or indie film soundtrack?

Obviously, in the best case scenario, all of our productions would sound like they could match up with anything on the radio, but I'm wondering whether people have successfully been able to place quality songs/tracks with inferior production values in these kinds of situations.

I ask because I've got a new EP of songs I'm happy with, but the mixes (which I did myself) aren't quite there. My plan for the future is to simultaneously improve my own mixing as well as find professionals who vibe with me/my music, but I'd love to place some of my current work as well.

If anyone's curious, here are links to a couple of example tracks:

https://soundcloud.com/radionowhere/emily
https://soundcloud.com/radionowhere/spr ... secondhand

Would love to get peoples' thoughts on this, if anyone has relevant experience. Thanks!
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agershon
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Post by agershon » Mon Feb 11, 2013 3:51 pm

I dig it. Can't answer your question with any authority, but I like these two tunes.

In my limited experience, I'd bet this is "good enough" for placement.

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Post by radionowhere » Tue Feb 12, 2013 12:53 pm

Hey, thanks agershon - appreciate the props!

Hope you're right - does your "limited" experience include contact with music supes and the like?
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Post by Nick Sevilla » Tue Feb 12, 2013 1:02 pm

https://www.facebook.com/SevillaSoundServices?ref=hl

I am of the mind that no matter the target audience / client, you should always aim as high as possible with the quality both of the song/music, and the sound of that.

Firstly, because it is after all, Art. And Art needs to be done well.

Secondly, because inthis day and age, it will last forever, potentially outliving its creators. So it should be able to survive the delivery medium as well. In other words, it should not matter how the Art ends up being heard by the final consumer, because those delivery mediums change with time. Great music transcends any limitation, but should not be purposely limited when being created, when at all possible.

Imagine if Michaelangelo had used the cheapest available paints to make the Sistine Chapel's murals.

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Post by rydberg » Wed Feb 13, 2013 11:38 am

As someone who routinely sifts through a large amount of library music on a regular basis, I'm more likely to pick a track if it sounds like it's jumping out of the speakers at me. There's a pretty wide range of stuff out there in terms of both writing and sound quality and unfortunately, I audition tracks even more ruthlessly than a label A&R guy from the heyday of the record business: if I don't like it in 5 seconds, I'm moving on. The old truism still holds up - you only have one chance to make a first impression. Better make it a good one.

P.

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Gregg Juke
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Post by Gregg Juke » Thu Feb 14, 2013 6:55 am

Hey RW,

Sounds nice by anybodies (reasonable) standards I would think. Go ahead--submit away. Great job.

GJ

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Post by Rosy » Thu Feb 14, 2013 2:07 pm

I don't know the answer to your specific question. I'm guessing it's a subjective thing. But here's some advice I received towards the tail end of making an EP that was somewhat "soundtracky", if you will.
A friend of mine that does work in film and television audio asked for 24 bit 48 khz WAV files of the songs after I had them copyrighted and I registered with ASCAP. 24 bit 48 khz WAV is "standard" for this kind of thing in at least his circle.

Also, it was suggested to also do instrumental mixes with the vocals removed. The thinking here is that someone might like and want to use 40 seconds of your dark and foreboding piece for a lead up to a murder scene or something. However, they might not be able to if you are whining about your ex-girlfriend on top of it.

That's all I got. I don't know. As far as I know my songs aren't being considered for anything, so.....your mileage may vary.

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Post by radionowhere » Thu Feb 14, 2013 4:46 pm

Hey Everybody -

Thanks for your responses! Great to get all the different perspectives, and thanks for the tip on 24/48 and instrumentals . GJ, I think you were saying you liked the tracks (though "RW" threw me a bit), so double thanks!
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Gregg Juke
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Post by Gregg Juke » Thu Feb 14, 2013 8:06 pm

Ah. Yes, I do.

Should have been "RN."

Ey kant tyyp, up-air-antly...

GJ

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Post by DrummerMan » Fri Feb 15, 2013 6:58 pm

In my experience, it has to sound REALLY, REALLY great.

BUT!!!! That doesn't necessarily mean super produced or slick or perfect or a lot of the qualities some of us shoot for in purely music recordings. A lot of producers like things that have a "real" or supposedly natural sound to them. The biggest thing I've found is if you're going this route, try to keep it as open and 3 dimensional as possible. Things that help with this are: good room micing, extremely limited use of compression or processing that drastically affects the tone of the source or the room, and keeping the instrumentation simple/spacious.

On the compositional side of things, Dramatic shifts from "full band" to like one instrument and back (and other things that change the texture in a dramatic way) also seem to be quite appealing to people, but that's getting into a whole other subject.
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Post by jhharvest » Sat Feb 16, 2013 12:27 am

I think it depends on the channel. For a small cable channel (such as the one I was working for) I'd say the requirements are pretty low. As long as it's relatively noise free the sound quality won't be the main obstacle. Instead we'd look for tracks that are easy to license, suit the mood and have the right spectrum, i.e. free in the vocal range because speech intelligibility is an important consideration. Also the spectrum would usually need to match the other tracks used in the program. Big dynamics are usually an ass to work with unless the spot specifically needs that.

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Post by radionowhere » Tue Feb 19, 2013 12:43 pm

Thanks, DrummerMan & jhharvest!

Excellent, actionable info - exactly what I was hoping for when I put up this post in the first place.
Loud guitars, award-winning songwriting, and visits from the devil.
Check it out and pick up a free EP here.

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