SCOREcast 32: Tom Salta

Veteran video game composer Tom Salta stops by to chat with the boys about the art and business of scoring video games during SCOREcast’s 5th Anniversary episode.

Producing Your Score

Nothing will give your music heart, soul, the real human touch, better than the sounds of skilled musicians. Even if you yourself are the finest, with years of experience, even adding just one pro player will double your firepower, and even casual listeners will notice. So, now that you are off the phone and someone is on his or her way, it’s time to think about just how to interact for the best possible results. This is where you will be called on to put on your “producer” hat. Let’s talk about what that entails…

S. Peace Nistades: It’s Not Done ‘Til It’s Done

… One thing every project has in common is deadline and delivery. As I’ve been working on project after project, I’ve put a lot of thought into getting to that final phase as smoothly as possible for both myself and the client by looking at the entire process leading up to deadline and delivery. Something that has remained true about the process on most of the projects I’ve worked on is, it’s never done ‘til it’s done.

All About Delivery for Film and TV Music

From a technical point of view, preparing music files for delivery according to your client’s requirements should be a pretty straightforward thing. Although every project is a little bit different, there are some standard procedures, and we’ll go over them, with some definitions, a few precautions, and one or two minefields. Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011All Rights ReservedOriginal content here is published under these license terms: X License Type:Read OnlyLicense Summary:You may read the original content in the context in which it is published (at this web address). No other copying or use is permitted without written agreement from the author.

Delivery vs. Demo

Today’s Provocation strays ever so slightly off our April theme, but I hope you’ll follow along anyway. I’m going to lay out my some of my own ideas on turning delivered cues into demo cues. My overall opinion: if you want to put your best musical foot forward, there’s work to be done. Potentially lots of work.

Mixing—Technical Guidelines, Part 3

Since, as a mixer, I’m not involved in the mysteries of a spotting session, this month’s column is going to be another in my series of “tech tips”, covering some engineering issues that have recently been in the air.

DSP cards and the Universal Audio UAD 2

In keeping with this month’s theme of “Gear and Software”, I wanted to talk a little more about my number 1 “My Perfect 3″ find: The Universal Audio UAD2 DSP Card. DSP cards for use in DAW’s have been around for a while now, predominantly starting with Digidesign and ProTools, then later came the UAD-1 card from Universal Audio and TC Electronics released the Powercore card around the same time. The Digidesign DSP cards used a proprietary TDM architecture that ran only in ProTools hardware and software. For the rest of us who did not have a spare 10-15K lying around to get into ProTools, we were left out. When Universal Audio and TC Electronics…

Personal Studio Acoustics

The first hint was not being sure what was up with my bottom end. Not the one in the chair, the one in the speakers. I know, I’ve been there. In the chair, in front of the speakers. Spent a good part of my life there. I should know. I’m a mixer. (Sorry, went into Dragnet mode there!) With keyboard, screen, mix controller in front of me, and speakers outside of and behind the computer screen in a nice equilateral triangle with my head and ears, the mix is coming together pretty nicely. Got the harps and guitars panned and strings nicely textured with a good convolution reverb. But now — what about the bass?…

Sound Mixer David Fluhr on Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog”

Join SCOREcast’s resident sound mixer David Fluhr and his team in this incredible look behind creating the sound world for Disney’s new animated feature film “The Princess and the Frog“. Starting January 2010, David will be sharing thoughts and perspectives from his career spanning 25 years as a re-recording mixer for feature film and television in his new regular column here at SCOREcast.

Mixing: Technical Guidelines, Part 2

Recording and mixing music is a collection of skills that can take a lifetime to acquire. But almost every composer needs to do their own mixing sometimes, whether for a demo, low-budget project, or other reasons. The equipment keeps getting better and is widely available, especially with the computer software packages most composers work with. Let’s take a look at a few ideas and concepts about mixing music for the screen. Setting up your studio First of all you need an appropriate place to listen and work. A deep discussion of room acoustics is too much for this article, but for a fantastic resource check out “Acoustic Design For The Home Studio” by Mitch Gallagher….

Working with Others

I started out by scratching my head a bit, considering the topic of Collaboration. After all, there’s often only one engineer in the room, particularly in composer’s personal studio. But then, I figured, even in that case I’m certainly not working alone or in a vacuum. It’s almost impossible not to work with other people in this business, and who would want to? Here are some ways in which a score mixer collaborates with others. The Scoring Stage When called on to work in a commercial studio or scoring stage I almost always work as a member of a team. As an independent free-lancer, I am hired by the composer, and am the designated “team…

Mixing: Technical Guidelines, Part 1

Every composer would like to have the services of a fully qualified score mixing engineer on every project. You would, wouldn’t you? (Insert picture of smiling Score Engineer, like the one in my mirror.) As any specialist, he or she would bring a wealth of knowledge and experience that would make your life easier and your score sound better and more competitive. But – – welcome to the real world – – I realize it doesn’t always work out that way. For reasons of budget and expediency a composer is often called on to record, mix, and submit a finished score on his or her own. As each composer must own the computers and other…