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Strings

Violin section 1 is the focal point of the orchestra - 16 players

Violin section 2 is the supportive backbone of the violins - 14 players

Violas add warmth and depth to the strings - 12 players

Celli are good for strengthening melodies or playing counterpoint with the violins - 10 players

Basses helps ground the music and offer a lot of depth - 8 players

Woodwinds

The Piccolo has as a very high range making it perfect for highlighting specific moments.

Flutes can take the lead melody aswell as support the whole orchestra - 3 players

Oboes occupy the alto register of the woodwind ensemble - 3 players

Clarinet useful in various situations - 3 players

Bassoons are perfect for creating supporting rhythmic lines - 2 players

Brass

Horns add a harmonic backbone to the music aswell as adding a rich and powerful timbre - 4 players

Trumpets add a bright and vibrant sound to the music - 3 players

Tenor/ Bass Trombone have an impressive dynamic range covering various textures - 2/3 players

Tuba used to anchor the harmony of the music

Percussion

Timpani drums are large tunes drums used to support the rhythm of the music - 4 players

Marimba, xylophone, glockenspiel, tubular bells are all elements of tuned percussion essential additions to support harmonies and melodies,

Harp and Celeste are great for supporting melody and harmony of a piece

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https://blog.native-instruments.com/5-quick-tips-for-epic-movie-trailer-impacts/

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How to Make Your Master Loud WITHOUT Distortion — Sage Audio

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Articulations Explained & How To Use Them To Orchestrate Better

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9u7f0Ux0VE

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The concept of creating depth always seems to stem from the use of effects, you know, using delays, reverbs and things of those nature.
So why is that when we try to use these effects processors, our mixes sound flat and washy but not three dimensional like we are lead to believe?
In this article, I am going to explain why your mixes aren't sounding three dimensional and provide you with some ideas to set you on the right path.

Also, in this article I'm actually going to show you that depth goes beyond the use of just effects. In fact, the subject of creating depth is linked to so many different aspects of the mixing process that it's no wonder why it's so hard to explain.

Nonetheless I will attempt to scratch the surface in this article.

Creating Depth Comes Mostly From Instinct

The first point that has to be made is that a three dimensional mix shouldn't be at the forefront of your mixing decisions. The purpose of any great mixing engineer is not to try and create width, height and depth (or any other technical mixing term for that matter). Instead the goal is to create a very pleasing and emotional listening experience so that the song can be properly communicated to the listener. As a by-product of these efforts, you will get all of those nice things like width, depth and height. It just sort of happens along the way.

This is exactly why most engineers can't explain how they achieve depth because it's not something they are necessarily trying to create. They've developed their ears so well over a certain period of time that they just understand what sounds great and they will naturally obtain the depth most amateurs strive for..

It's more second nature for them and not so much of an analytical approach. Inf fact, if it weren't for Modern Mixing I probably wouldn't have thought so hard about the subjects that I talk about.

Oh well...

Make Your Life Easy and Not Difficult

I use to work as an electrical apprentice and I would always do things the "hard way". An example is when I was installing light fixtures, I would climb on counters or step on plaster buckets - anything to avoid lugging the ladder around.

Eventually one of my foreman's saw what I was doing and told me that while I was avoiding one chore I was also making the actual job much harder then it had to be. His exact words were "Work Comfortably". Oddly that has stuck with me ever since.

So my way of passing this knowledge along to you is through the exact same bit of advice. If you want to hear depth then you need to get your basic room set up in order to accommodate that.

Basically a good pair of monitors and some acoustic treatment. I won't talk about it much in this article because I've already talked about it here, here, here and here. It's also mentioned quite a bit in my interviews with other professional mixing engineers.

Remember, a room with bare walls and $200 speakers is hardly going to let you hear depth. If you can't hear it, than it's not likely you will be able to create it.

Also, I'm not saying you can't get a mix using headphones, it's just extremely rare. Put the odds in your favor and "Work Comfortably"

Loud VS. Deep

What I really mean is: how loud you want your record versus how deep do you want your record?

Truthfully, I would never put "loud" and "depth" in the same sentence, when talking about mixing.

Wait, I just did...

Anyhow, it's important to remember that the louder you make the record, the more dynamics you are going to lose (obviously) and the less deep it's going to sound. Genres like Pop and Hip Hop are perfect examples where loud and up front seem to be more desirable then deep and open.

Can you still get a mix to sound 3D even though louder and upfront is more of the desired sound?

Yes of course.

It's just important to know that you are going to loose some of that sense of depth. What's more likely to happen is you will get a trade off, you loose a bit of depth for a little loudness.

Start With a Great Sound

The most obvious answer to getting sounds to come out front would be to leave them dry. That's a good start but it's a pretty simplistic approach and can really only happen under the best circumstance. Really what you need to do is listen to the sound and determine what it actually needs.

When you get a great capture (recording), on great equipment, from a great artist, in a well-treated room and the recording is technically "perfect", you could leave it "dry" and it would have a TON of dimension to it and it would sound forward in the mix.

The reason is because the high quality gear does a great job of making the mid range focused but does so in a pleasing way, thus it cuts through the mix. Also a properly treated environment will inhibit ambiance in the recording giving your ears some ques on room and space which helps with depth.

On the other hand if the vocal performance is a disaster and was recorded on a $100 setup, in a poorly treated room, then you are going to need to do a lot of work just to get it sit in the speakers and not sound cheap. This seems to be the case a lot more these days.

Remember that a terrible recording is almost never going to have the dimension you want, right out of the box. You are going to need to use some cleaver ingenuity to get it to sound half decent, at best. So step up your recording game, if you can control that part of the record making process.

Why Balancing Will Lead You to Deeper Mixes

I know this subject is getting beat to death at this point but it really is important for a good musical experience as well as creating depth.

This is something most people don't think about because it just seems like it's the thing to do. You know "Mixing is all about the balance." It's taken as a necessary step for the mixing process but not so much about what it can do for your mix.
How does it create depth?
Balance alone will not create depth as it is only one part of the process but it allows you to designate space in the record for where each part is going to live. You do this all while listening to each instrument in it's natural form (no processing).

Now that you feel like you have a vibe going and everything is where it sort of needs to be, you can already hear some of the depth taking place. You'll hear that maybe the vocals sound a bit up front, the strings are sounding like there in the back and so on.

This will give you a realistic picture of where everything needs to live in it's natural form. From there it's about either enhancing that depth or completely changing it all together.

Try to Visualize the Sound

I'm a big visualizer and I can literally see the sound in front of me as I mix. I don't just hear it but I can also see it. So by visualizing the sound in the speakers, it allows me to place it wherever I want.
You know how people say don't mix with your eyes, mix with your ears?
I completely agree that you shouldn't be looking at the screen but what I do is I use my ears and my eyes to create the three dimensional space that I see in front of me. It's almost like my ears give me the clues to where the sound is and then my eyes to create the picture. This helps me build the landscape that I am trying to create. Try it out if you haven't done it already.

Try not to get hung up on this though. Remember the musicality of your mixes come first, way before any concept.

Visualizing the sound is similar to watching a 3D Movie

So you know how when you go see a 3D movie you can see into the screen, as well, things come out of the screen - almost as if they were right in the room with you?

That's EXACTLY how I hear the sound in the speakers and I wanted to share that with you.

Some sounds are going to be out in the back and kind of create a landscape while others are going to up front and in the room with me.

If you take a look at the drawing you can see that all the circles represent the sounds that are inside of a mix and the black box would represent the speakers.

You can see that some of the sounds are in front of the speaker, while other sounds are in the back. Of course, there are other sounds in between.

Sonic Contrast

One thing that you need to understand as an engineer (and even more so as a producer) is that contrasting your sounds is one of the best ways to help create depth in your mixes.

This is mostly done through sound selection. But it's important to note that it's not just about choosing good sounds, it's about choosing sounds that play nicely with each other.

Basically a crappy sounding drum loop might actually fit better in a mix then a clean and perfectly recorded one.

You get the idea...

You are trying to create a vibe through sound selection but also choose the sounds that fit the best together. In doing so the depth kind of just happens on it's own.

Here's a few ways to think about mixing depth in regards to contrast but they can stretch well beyond this:

Punch - Mostly in drums and vocals. I prefer when these two things cut and punch is the word I use to describe that.

Muddy - It's okay to have a sound or two that takes up the lower register, even if it's not the bass or kick drum. Just make sure all your sounds don't live down there and make sure they compliment the bass and drums and aren't fighting them for attention.

Sharp/Focused - Generally these are going to be the sounds that you really want heard by the listener. These tend to be the things that get the most attention.

Blurry/Fuzzy - It's almost always perceived that having a blurry sound isn't very good in a mix but I disagree. Remember if it contrasts nicely against other things in the mix than there is nothing wrong with it. A blurry string section against a crystal clear vocal can do wonders for depth. Think photography (foreground and background)

Wet/Dry - The most obvious in creating depth but if something is dry it is always going to sound more forward.

Make Things Mono to Make Things Wide

This makes absolutely no sense right?

Stick with me...

One concept that has been brought to the mixing world by Dave Pensado (I think) is the concept of stereo sounds actually being "big mono". What it means is that instead of having a sound that is clearly coming from the left or right channel, you have something that takes up a big portion of the speakers, including the phantom center.

If you have enough of these big mono sounds in your mix, it's going to sound like a big washy mess of sounds with no clear direction from anywhere.

Now I am not the kind of engineer who thinks that all "big mono" sounds are bad, I like how some sounds fill the speakers up. Sometimes it does a good job of filling those empty spaces. I usually like how certain bed tracks sounds when they fill up the speakers. A good example is a pad.

But in a lot of scenarios you are going to get your hands on song with too much "big mono". You can tackle this problem in a few ways:

1. You can use some type of stereo processing to make it wider and maybe eliminate the centre channel as much as you can (harmonizers, stereo wideners, doublers)

2. You could spereate the stereo file and then treat the left channel differently then the right channel. If you make them different enough you should be able to remove the phantom image. (Think different uses of compression, EQ or even distortion)

3. You could separate the stereo file, use one channel and throw away the other. So now you have a mono sound that you can place appropriately in the mix. It helps to focus things. This is something that Ali Stanton does a lot as you will read in my interview with him.

Of course I am giving you a highly condensed explanation and using only 3 examples but if you understand the concept then the sky is the limit as to what you can do. This concept of "big mono" and removing it from your mixes can do wonders for separation, clarity and most importantly depth !

Distortion/Saturation/Clipping/Tape Emulation

I lumped all of these into the same category because they all do similar things. Yes they all sound different but they are definitely related in what they do.

I find that this can be one the best things you can do to your sounds as far as creating depth. This is still one of those things that's hard to explain and needs to be experienced first hand.

By driving a sound with a little bit of distortion/saturation, it will gives it just enough life to help it pull through a dense record. Thus, you are creating an illusion of depth. Instead of the sound blending in sonically, you are placing it in front of sounds that may be a little duller and less present.

Also remember that you don't necessarily need a "saturation unit" to add some grit to your sounds. Almost all plugins these days come with some type of Analog style input/output built into it, which means you can drive it one way or the other and hear all those beautiful harmonics being added to your sound.

Any time you add and sort of harmonics to your sounds, they are going to start to get a little more focused in the mid range. The more you sharpen and focus a sound, the more you will get it to stand out in the mix.

I like to use these techniques especially when mixing vocals, drums and pianos. Experiment though and see what works for you.

Also keep in mind that clipping, whether it's analog or digital, can be very helpful in getting things to cut and add some dimension to your record.

Frequency Manipulation

It's no secret that an equalizer is the most commonly used tool to create clarity and separation in a mix. The problem is that it is extremely over used and abused. So instead of clear mixes, you end up with a nasty mess of phasy and harsh sounds.

You want to avoid that as much as you can, so as you're building your mix, try and focus on getting rid of the things that you don't like first, before you start adding anything.

By cleaning up any weird resonate peaks, you can get a much more stable sound that will fit better in the record and as a result help with our perception of depth. If something is constantly ringing, especially in the lower register, it's going to skew our perception of how close or far the sound is as well as trigger weird resonant bursts in any effects (reverbs/delays).
Try NOT to take everything you hear as fact...
One thing that I tend to hear a lot in the topic of creating depth is:
"In order to put something in the back of the mix, you should cut the lows and cut the highs and visa versa for something you want to sound up front."
This will work to some extent and in theory and in the real world I think that's generally how sound works, but since music is an art form and not "reality" I've found that those perceptions are only partly true.

I almost never cut the high out of sounds I want in the back, unless they have a ton of highs that I need to get rid of. A big reason is because I'm usually adding some mids and higs to things I want to sit up front (ie Vocals and Drums). This automatically makes other things sound dull and means that you might not have to cut the highs from those other instruments.

What I'm trying to say is that it mostly comes down to listening. If you set up your listening environment properly then you can make these judgment calls and not have to take everything you read/hear as fact.

Trust nobody but your ears!

Everything Doesn't Have to Be Pristine

This is one of the biggest misconceptions about mixing that I read on a constant basis. It really is troubling to be honest with you. The statement sounds something like this:

"Your goal as an engineer is to make sure that every frequency can be heard properly"

That's complete nonsense. That is not the goal of an engineer and it really is no wonder why so many people are out there looking for "freqeuncy charts" - I know I was at one point.

The goal of an engineer is to make sure the song is being conveyed to the listener in the most efficient way possible. In doing so, there are going to be a lot of sounds and frequencies that aren't going to be crystal clear but they are there to help support the rhythm, the feel, the body or even the emotion of the song.

I think a better way to phrase that statement is to say that everything important should be heard while everything else supports that.

So in essence if you truly want depth in your mixes, you really have to let go of the notion that everything needs to be crisp and that everything needs EQ.

Some things won't need EQ and will be a little fuzzy or unclear but that's okay because that fuzzy instrument is going to make the vocals (for example) sound crystal clear. Again, this goes back to the concept of contrast.

Give Your Mixes the Dynamics They Deserve

Dynamics are not only a useful tool for conveying emotion to the listener (which is the MOST important thing), they also have this way of helping create the illusion of depth in a mix.

It's funny because this is truly the one thing that would make most amateur mixes sound much more dimensional.

People are still smashing their mixes through amateur mastering practices and are completely ridding their songs of depth and dimension for a little extra volume.

Your ears need dynamics to fully interpret the data they are receiving so that they can tell you how deep, tall, or wide something is. The more you restrict those dynamics, the more you are going to restrict the dimension of the song.

Of course there are some top mastering guys who can get a mix really loud but still maintain dynamics but they are the 1% that know what they are doing. For most of us home studio owners, it's a better idea to pull back a little on the mastering and let the track breath. I guarantee you will hear much more depth.

This is the exact reason why I am finding myself mixing with less Mix Buss processing these days because all it does is restrict my dynamic range. Of course I do like to use buss processing inside of the mix for Drums, Vocals, Guitars etc. Definitely helps shape the record.

I'm not saying you can't mix really well with mix buss processing, I'm just saying that I am doing it a lot less. I usually will add something on closer to the end to hear what the mastering is going to do to the mix and then make adjustments if I have to. I'll even leave my "mastering" on and print. 😛

Effect Your Way to a Deeper Mix

And finally we have the effects portion of this article.

So how come I didn't put this one first if it is so important?

Well it is important, and extremely so but it's like trying to put the cart before the horse or like trying to build a house with out the foundation. If your mix doesn't already have some type of definition to it, effects are only going to add to the disaster - not give it depth.

But if everything sounds very nice and musical with out any effects, then you better watch out because when you do add a hint of reverb or delay you are going to hear the magic of 3D come to life.

The first person I ever heard talk about reverb being a front-to-back panner was Dave Pensado and basically that is exactly how I hear it. But I also use reverb a lot of times for vibe and feel not just as a front-to-back panner.

With that in mind, you need to decide what is going to need space in your mix and then also how much space it needs. For instance a drum kit might not need a hall reverb and would probably benefit more from a room sound. Or maybe your drums don't need anything at all.

Another thing to keep in mind is that less is always more. Sometimes a tiny amount can be just enough to put an aura around a sound and give it a little separation from other things in your mix. You don't necessarily need to drench everything.

A tiny amount (like 2-3%) on a few different things (not everything), can really give your mix a sense of space that you have never heard before. That is of course assuming that a number of the previous steps in this article are being followed.

So Go Forth and Create Depth!

Again, if your mix is not balanced properly and it sounds like a frequency nightmare, chances are that adding in effects is only going to add more fuel to the fire.

Let me know how this article has helped you and don't be shy, share the ways you like to create depth.

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13 Advanced Concepts for Creating Depth in a Mix

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The concept of creating depth always seems to stem from the use of effects, you know, using delays, reverbs and things of those nature. So why is that when we try to use these effects processors, our mixes sound flat and washy but not three dimensional like we are lead to believe?

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How To Mix Orchestral Music - Compression Basics & When To Use It

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One of the most common struggles of a music producer is to create a sense of vibrant, realistic depth in a track. It usually comes together with the feeling that "this could be done way better". Maybe you've had to endure comments like "your track sounds too flat" or "that's way too two-dimensional" on your creations.

You've probably realized that you need to work on your depth-creating abilities when producing music, but how and where do you start? You probably already know that reverbs emulate the echoing acoustics of different spaces... but throwing a bunch of reverbs in randomly doesn't quite seem to do it. What exactly is depth? How can we even perceive the depth of sounds?

Many questions... but we're here to assist you in creating awesome depth. Let's dive right in with 5 steps to create depth in your mix.

1.Contrast
Having contrast in your track is vital for depth. Picture this...
It's a beautiful, sunny day in early summer. Your legs are sore, but with the promise of an amazing view, you push the last distance up the great hill ahead. Finally, you reach the summit. The lush forest and sturdy mountains seem to go on endlessly... You close your eyes for a few seconds to soak in the view.

Now imagine you take out one of the trees that you saw from a great distance and put it in an endless Matrix-like white room with nothing else in it. With no recollection of its' distance from the summit, would you still be able to assess how far it is?

For all you know, it could just be a very small tree, very close to you. Or it could be absolutely massive. Without anything to compare it too and without depth, you can't assess size.
How exactly does this apply to music production?
Imagine if you, in your new track, only used sounds that are upfront and in your face. It could sound pretty nice, but without any effects, there would basically be no audible depth. The track would just sound dry and two-dimensional.

Take that same track and add some reverbs. Now we have another diffused dimension that feels like it's "behind" your dryer sounds. Going a step further, what if you edit some of the sounds in your arrangement to sound like they are further back in the mix? Mixing these two types of sounds would create contrast and depth.
See article: 10 Mixing Mistakes To Avoid
2.EQ

The frequencies of sounds change depending on their distance. A human voice heard in front of you will have different frequency spectrum than the same voice heard from a hundred meters.
Here's a simple rule of thumb:

Sounds heard from a close distance:morehigh and low frequencies. Higher frequency sounds are generally perceived as "closer".

Sounds heard from a far distance:lesslow and high frequencies, generally in the mid frequency zone.

If lead sounds and lead vocals should be at the forefront of your mix, these should be brighter and more distinct than the rest of the sounds.

Let's say you have a sweeping pad sound that's playing simultaneously to your lead instrument/vocal. The pad should have less high frequencies to create the illusion that it's sitting "behind" your lead instruments.

You may use a lowpass filter to remove some of deep low-end, and use a highpass filter and remove some high-end. It could look something like this:
Position your instruments
Using this technique, the pad gets a secondary focus. Your lead sounds and percussion will now dominate your high-end and stay positioned at the forefront. The pad will sound as if it's further back.

Bonus tips:

You can control the illusion of depth by how much low and highs you cut

There are no limits to sounds you can apply this too - experiment!

Don't forget to remove harsh peaks and do the usual "EQ" work

Combine this technique with reverb or delay effects for the greatest realism

See article: Mixing in Mono: Why & Why Not
3.Reverb

Reverb is probably the effect that pops into your head first when thinking about creating depth in your mix. You're absolutely right - reverb is the effect for creating virtual spaces in your mix. This directly affects perceived depth.
What is reverb?
If you've played around in Ableton Live (or yelled something in a huge space), you probably know what the typical reverb effect sounds like.

It's a reflection of sounds of different spaces. The reverb effect in music production is re-creating this sound phenomenon, most commonly by using mathematical delay-type algorithms. The effect distorts and reflects the audio signal in the sound characteristics of various rooms.
For example (using Ableton's reverb as an example)...
A Small Room reverb has the following characteristics:

A Large Hall reverb has the following characteristics:

The numbers in the larger hall reverb are a lot higher for all these settings.

What do these settings mean anyway?
Decay time
The decay is the time it will take for the reflections to stop. If you set a long decay time, the reverb reflections will be heard for longer, which simulates a larger space. A shorter decay time simulates a smaller room because the reflections die out quicker in a small space.
Size
It means, as you probably could have guessed, the size of the room. The lowest value of 0.22 means the smallest room, equal to a tiny bathroom. The highest of 500.00 means a huge cathedral.
Predelay
Predelay means how long it takes for reverb to be heard. Imagine you are standing in an extremely large church, shouting "HEY!". The echo will not be heard instantly but will be a bit delayed due to the mere size of the space. It will take a while for the sound to bounce.
How to use reverb in your mix
Can you just throw random reverbs on the sounds in your mix and call it a day? Well, you can, but in order to create the best depth in your mix, you really shouldn't. Reverb needs a bit of planning before-hand.
Match your reverbs to your story
Say, for example, you want to create a track with a huge sound stage. Epic strings, heavy battle drums, and a deep piano to accompany it. Long, large reverbs are probably the best route to go, as thin, subtle reverbs wouldn't quite portray the feeling.
When using reverbs to create depth in your mix, do this:

Start off with the basics, then experiment

Group your reverbs - use the same reverb for similar sounds (guitars for example)

Consider what feeling you want to convey,

Use reverb sparingly, don't soak everything in reverb

Having both dry and reverb-heavy elements makes for a nice contrast

Use reverb buses for maximum control - don't clutter reverbs

Equalize and sidechain your reverbs to fit better in your mix

See Article: 5 Essential Mixing Tips
4.Delay

The delay effect repeats your chosen audio signal. It plays the signal back, often in a rhythm matching the tempo of your track. It usually comes with a few settings.

Most delays can be set to beats like 1/1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32 and have an option for choosing milliseconds is often included. A delay can also, depending on the model, distort and twist the repeated signal for a more experimental result.
How to use delay in your mix
Similarly to reverbs, you should use different settings in different contexts.
It depends on:

Types of sounds and instruments used

How huge you want your mix to be

What feelings you want to convey to the listener

There are some very specific delays that sound amazing on the instruments they are intended for...
Slapping delays
Slappers are very short delays, with little to no feedback, that add both depth and extra energy to your sounds. These are often used very subtly as a way to make a signal less dry, without impacting the dry sound too much. The result is a more fluid, spacious sound that fits better in the mix.
Longer delays
Tape and analog style delays are amazing for a more trippy space effect. Commonly used as long delays, in beats ranging from 1/2 to 1/16, they are great for sounds you really want to echo into the depth of your mix.

For most delays, except slap delays with are better left a bit off-beat, experiment with how the delay fits in with your tracks rhythm. See if 1/8 sounds better than 1/4, and don't forget triplets. If your track is straight 1/4, triplets can really add an extra dimension to the groove, filling in the rhythmic gaps.
When using delays to create depth in your mix, do this:

Use delay buses to leave your original audio signal intact

Try side chaining your delays to your kick drum and/or other sounds

Automate your delays to change things up

Be mindful of how your delay plays into your groove

Use the low and high pass filters of your delay to shape the sound

Try a subtle slap delay on your guitars and vocals

See article: 5 Tips For A Better Mix
5.Space

What we mean with "space" is that in order to create depth in your mix, you have to be able to hear it. At least sometimes. Full mixes with many different sounds are great, but sometimes it can be hard to make out space without having any silence. Having a part where only a few instruments play is a great way of creating space and ultimately depth in your mix.
Do this to create space:
After your tracks highest peak, remove some of the instruments and give the listener a sense of the space in your mix. Let your reverbs and delays fully ring and show off that sweet contrast of yours. For the best effect, make sure you leave something at the forefront of your mix for comparison, maybe a hihat or a kickdrum.

To summarize...
In order to create depth in your mix, follow these steps:

1. Create contrast- use both sounds that are up-front and in the back for great depth.

2. Use equalizer- equalize your sounds with depth in mind.

3. Reverb- use reverbs to create virtual spaces in your mix.

4. Delay- use delays to add depth and rhythm.

5. Space-space makes the listener aware of the space and depth of your mix.

Now you have the 5 ultimate steps to create depth in your mix. Get out there and create some deep mixes!

About the author
Pelle Sundin is a Swedish music producer and freelance copywriter, currently active with his chillout project PLMTRZ. He also produces psychedelic trance. When he's not producing music, he surfs, skates and chugs coffee.

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One of the most common struggles of a music producer is to create a sense of vibrant, realistic depth in a track. It usually comes together with the feeling that "this could be done way better". Maybe you've had to endure comments like "your track sounds too flat" or "that's way too two-dimensional" on your creations.

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https://cinematiccomposing.com/blog/mixing-orchestra-mockups

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Stereo depth is all about how far away/close sounds appear. Adding effects like reverb make the sounds seem further away, whereas a drier signal make them seem closer.

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Hello Music Theory: Learn Music Theory Online

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Music is a lot like a spoken language. It has grammar and structural rules that we can use to create phrases and longer passages like movements and symphonies. And just like language, there are specific parameters that can tell us how to play a specific note or chord

In this post we'll focus on what articulation means in music, and the multiple different types of articulation you could potentially see and how to play them.

Definition of Articulation

In music, articulation is a lot like punctuation in language.

It tells us how to play a specific note or chord, outside of what specific note to play and for how long.

For example, let's take a short melody:

The notes are in specific lines and spaces in the staff, and this tells us the pitches of the notes.

The stems and tails of each note tells us they are all quavers, or eighth notes.

The key signature on the left side (or lack thereof) tells us what key we're in, and the time signature tells us how many beats per measure to play or sing.

These things are always shown on all written music.

Articulation is an additional parameter that tells the musician how to play or sing the notes.

Each of the notes in the melody above can be played really short and disjointed, or they can be long and flow into each other.

Some can be accented or quieted compared to others around it, and come can be connected and some kept separate.

Let's take a look at each type of articulation.

Types of Articulation Marks

There are seven main articulation marks used in music.

These are:

There are others, such as ornaments and dynamic markings like sforzando and (de)crescendo, but these are slightly different to articulation, and we'll focus on just these ones for this article.

Here is the melody above, using all seven of the articulation marks listed:

Slurs (Legato)

A slur, also sometimes called a phrase mark, is the only type of articulation listed here that covers more than a single note.

It indicates to the musician that they should play or sing multiple notes as one connected phrase.

For example, singers and wind instrument players shouldn't take a breath between notes connected by a slur, and string instruments should play all of the notes with the same bow stroke.

This is called playing a phrase legato.

In the melody above, the slur is the curved line between the two notes at the end (D - C).

You can also have slurs that last for more than 2 notes, such as the ones in the melody below:

Slurs are always between notes that are different pitches.

Don't get the confused with tied notes which are notes that are the same pitch.

A good example of the use of slurs in music is the start of Mendelssohn's "The Hebrides".

Each of the phrases are all connected by slur markings and played legato:

Staccato

The opposite of playing legato is to play a note staccato.

From the Italian word for "detached", staccato means to play a specific note or group of notes separate from each other.

Every note that has a staccato marking (a dot above or below the note head) is played very short and is not to be attached to the note after it.

The first note of the main melody above has a staccato mark below it.

Here's another example, in which all notes are played staccato.

Notice how when the stems of the note face down, the staccato dot is above the note head, and it's below the note head when the stem faces up:

Here is an example from the beginning of Beethoven's "Piano Concerto No. 3 in C min".

The descending lines in bars 2-3 and 6-7 are all played staccato:

Staccatissimo

In Italian, the suffix "-issimo" means "very" or "really", so staccatissimo means to play the notes very staccato.

This means extra short and keep each one really detached from the ones around it.

In the main melody written above, the staccatissimo marking is below note #5 (the A) - it looks like a small, filled-in pyramid.

Here is a short melody with all staccatissimo markings.

Again, like all of the articulation marks, it is written above notes with the stems pointing down and above notes with the stems pointing up:

An example of staccatissimo can be found in Beethoven's "Sonata No. 21 in C Major", at the 0:46 second mark, starting at bar 30:

Accent

An Accent mark looks like this: >.

It is a mark that tells the musician to accent a specific note by playing or singing it louder, and with a stronger attack, than notes that don't have an accent.

It doesn't affect the length of the note, meaning you don't have to make it shorter than written (like staccato) or longer than written (like legato).

The third note of the main melody has an accent mark over it.

Here's a short melody with all the notes accented:

Brahms uses accent in this passage in his "Piano Concerto No. 2 in Bb Major" to accentuate the triumphant melody:

Marcato

A Marcato articulation is like an accent mark but more intense.

If staccatissimo means "very staccato", think of Marcato as "very accented".

It means to play the note or chord louder and more forcefully than the notes around it.

It looks like a standing up accent mark: ^.

The fourth note (the B) of the main melody above has a marcato mark above it.

Here is another example.

Notice that, unlike the accent mark, the marcato marking is always above the note it articulates, even if the note's stem points upwards:

Tenuto

A Tenuto marking looks like a small line either above or below the note (again, depending on which way the stem is facing).

Meaning "to hold" in Italian, it is a direction for the musician to sustain the note that it's marking for its full value.

This is different from legato playing, with slur markings, because you don't necessarily merge one note into the following, and it's different from staccato as well because you don't want to shorten the note at all.

It can sometimes mean to play the note slightly louder and longer than the notes around it, making it stand out, or potentially hold the note a bit longer than it's written.

The third note of the main melody above has a tenuto marking, as does each note in this melody here:

Scriabin uses tenuto markings in the opening piano solo in his "Piano Concerto in F# Minor", starting at 0:23:

Fermata (Pause)

A fermata is the only articulation mark that really changes the beat of the music being played.

Also referred to as a pause or hold, it indicates to the musician that they should hold that specific note, chord, or rest for longer than it's typical value.

Sometimes this can be a small difference, and the note only played a bit longer than normal, but sometimes the conductor or player can hold the note for as long as they want, causing the music to feel like it's suspended, and build anticipation for the next note.

The fermata in the main melody above is on the third to last note, the G.

It looks like an open circle facing down with a small dot inside it.

Here is another example of it (usually it is found right before or at the end of a melody or a movement):

Here is an example from Beethoven's "Piano Concerto No. 3 in C min".

Listen for the chord hold at 33:55 and then the single note hold (on G) at 34:14:

Instrument Specific Articulation

Articulation can vary depending on which instrument you are playing, or if you're singing in a choir.

For example, woodwind and brass players create articulation by tonguing, which is the use of the tongue to create and restrict airflow.

For these instruments you can play legato by using the flat of your tongue, like in the word "la", or play staccato by using the tip of the tongue, as in "tah".

With a stringed instrument, you can play pizzicato, which is plucking the string with your finger.

This causes the notes to sound staccato, but is different from regular staccato markings.

Playing with a bow rather than your finger is called arco, and you can play staccato, tenuto, or legato all using a bow as well.

Legato is when you let the string vibrate between notes, so that the sound of the note is sustained until the next note is played.

To play more staccato, touch the string with your hand or the bow to stop it from vibrating in between notes.

That's it for Articulation

There are a lot of different articulation markings, and even many more rare ones that this article doesn't cover.

They can also be used to different effect in different context, so always check with the conductor or other players when you come across an articulation mark, to make sure you know what they expect for it.

If you have a comment or any questions, please write to us in the section below!

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What Is Articulation In Music? | HelloMusicTheory

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Music is a lot like a spoken language. It has grammar and structural rules that we can use to create phrases and longer passages like movements and symphonies. And just like language, there are specific parameters that can tell us how to play a specific note or chord In this...

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Today I am going to write about my thoughts regarding how I approach a Trailer for Sound edit and Mix. What role does sound play in it and what is its purpose?

First off, remember that a trailer and teaser are different. The purpose of a teaser is just that. Tease. Show a bit of the movie so much that nothing is revealed in detail yet creates an interest. A trailer on the other hand also generates interest but also gives a bit more exciting scenes and a bit of the context of the movie. Usually teasers are more musical in India. Rarely are they based on effects although that trend is changing now. Also, a teaser is under a minute in most cases.
Approaching a Trailer
There are 2 common ways to approach a trailer. They can break down into sub-divisions for ideas later. The ways are:

1. What is the Trailer trying to say in looks and edit?
2. What is the flow?

Both of these are very useful methods to approach a trailer and something that I frequently do. Lets face it, not all trailers are well edited. There are some that are not upto the mark or may feel difficult. Even so, when doing the sound edit, try and see what the Editor / Director has to say with the trailer.

Every good trailer has a rhythm to it. Try and get that in first. Because the only way you are going to make it impressive and sustain the audience is by following that. Because that makes most of the effects flow with the narrative. Every trailer has a narrative, even it it looks like a mish mash of visuals.
Choosing Sounds
These are some tips that I use when doing sound edit for a trailer:

1. Choose sounds that sit well with the Music. Always try and have the reference score for the trailer. Remember, the purpose is not to show off sound design, it is to show the trailer.

2. Choose sounds that dont have to much in the 2k-8k frequency range as that would immediately shoot up the LEQ and loudness and would be very difficult to get it under control. That being said, dont try to make too many EQ decisions during the sound edit as it would be difficult once the music comes in to the mix.

3. Don't layer too many sounds for one aspect.The idea is to fit it in the narrative and the flow. So, it wont help having too many tracks that clash at the same frequency range. As usually music will take prominence when considering the flow. That doesnt mean that you dont give FX importance. It is critical to choose the right one.

4. If at doubt with some effects, have an option muted underneath for the mix. This will help the mixer if there is something else that is needed.

5. Ambience should be minimal unless it is a scene that is depicted as real without score. The reason is that there is no time nor the aural space to establish the ambience. In a film, one has all the time to get the audience in. Not so in a trailer. This requires that it is there to support what is before and after the scene.

6. If doing it for a 5.1 or other surround format, make sure you have atleast 2-3 layers of sound for ambience if used or crowds etc. The reason is that it will sound more full when they are placed in the surround space rather than panning just a single stereo track.

There are much more, but most of them stem from these points above. These are just general pointers that will help you to start off.
Mixing the Trailer
One of the very important things in a mix is controlling the levels. Not just levels, the loudness is the most important factor. This is where the idea of having the session as i outlined above comes to play. But another very important factor is how the LEQ(m) calculates the levels.

The LEQ is an averaging loudness measurement based on the Fletcher Munson Principle. The Dolby LEQ uses a variation of it with the peak calculation ranging from 4kHz to 8kHz. Dolby calls this the Annoyance Frequency. The measurement is based around this. So the more peaks you have around this, the faster your LEQ meter will rise. And you need to keep it within 85 for an approved trailer.

The Trick with the LEQ is always averaging. If you need something loud, you need an equal amount of signals soft before it. Else, it just becomes loud and the whole trailer will have to be pulled down. Imagine this, If there are 10 students in a class and the average pass mark is 50, if 5 students get 100 and 5 get zero, the average becomes 50. Basically it is the sum divided by the total number of students. In the case of the LEQ, it is the sum averaged over time. But the sum based on frequency. The values approved by TASA are based on these values:

If this was plotted, you would see a bump at the 4k to 8 k range. (For those who really want to know the formula is:

and L(i) is given by

Dont ask me for an explanation!)

But what we need to understand is one more thing apart from this bump. The values for the low frequency are really not calculated much into the meter that Dolby has because it has a high pass filter on all channels at around 80 Hz. The second fact is it also has a 3dB less calculation in the surround channels for these values. This means that we need 3dB louder signals in terms of frequency to achieve the same LEQ in the front. Confusing? Dont worry. It only means that we have an ability to mix the surrounds louder than a conventional mix and use that as an advantage to get bigger mixes that dont affect the LEQ much and help us stay in the designated range.

So the tip to to get a bigger sounding trailer mix, you can have more low frequency elements, less mids, more sounds in the surrounds. But in all of this, make sure the mix sounds balanced and not tilted towards the rear. You can get some techniques that I use in some of my earlier blog posts on how I achieve this. It only has to do with coherent and non coherent signals, Once this is clear, the mix part becomes very easy and trust me it wont take years. What takes years is aesthetics. But you can shorten the technique and path to this because I just told you how! 🙂

Now how do you control all of this? That is where the basics of using an EQ, a multiband Compressor and proper panning techniques come into play. The reason I have the trailer video above is to show how the mix and balance was done. (the high frequencies on the youtube version were boosted to get it through laptop speakers as that was the primary way this was being heard.) I have done the sound edit and the mix with the sound designer being Stephen Gomes and Dialogues by Lochan Kanvinde. If you notice, to create the link I have a reverse drop whoosh from the title of Dharma to the opening duduk of the trailer. This establishes the fact that we have started it from the title and it is not a separate entity. Everything from the rain to thunder and even the reverb tails were based on that tempo. The idea is that is sounds musical although it is an event. The percussive elements gave me an opportunity to establish tempo and energy already. This also gave me the idea to drop elements rather then the score for dialogues. Our mind wont notice this and will fill the gaps in this.

For the mix, I used a lot of multiband compression rather than EQ as that gave me an even tone while holding on the LEQ too. The LFE and Surrounds were also as I described above
Digital Trailers
A lot of times I have heard trailers for the digital version just loud and boosted by 3-5 dBs in many cases. There is absolutely no need for this and in my personal opinion will cause the trailers to be lowered even more in the theaters. It is perfectly possible to get a good sounding trailer at 85 too. Ofcourse it depends on the way the trailer is edited. There is no point in having all the loudest portion in the movie in one trailer. It just causes the Dynamic Range to drop and thereby increases the LEQ.

The whole point being that the better dynamic range we have in level, frequency and pans, the more impact we can get for a trailer mix. Hope it was useful!

Have fun mixing more interesting stuff guys!

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Today I am going to write about my thoughts regarding how I approach a Trailer for Sound edit and Mix. What role does sound play in it and what is its purpose? First off, remember that a trailer and teaser are different. The purpose of a teaser is just that.

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The other chart is much better but here's where everyone would be situated onstage

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If you were limited to choosing just one plugin to use exclusively for the rest of your production career, EQ would be among the wisest ones to pick. EQ, or equalizer, is a powerful tool with realms of diverse production options - not least its use in EQ'ing orchestral instruments - but often overlooked or misunderstood by less experienced film and game composers.

In the following tutorial, we'll look at some general tips for applying EQ to each of the four orchestral instrument families that will provide a starting point for you to accentuate certain characteristics of your instruments and give your composing a voice. Just like with any good tool, the only way to get a really good understanding of your EQ plugin is to spend some time tweaking it.

What is EQ Used for?

EQ's most basic function is to cut or boost certain frequencies relative to each other, giving you a lot of control over how your mix ends up sounding - in other words, it's like a sophisticated version of the treble and bass controls on your stereo.

Having invested in a good orchestral sample library with a plethora of sounds, you'll be anxious to get composing. Modern sample libraries are extremely good at producing "out-of-the-box" instruments. In other words, most of the samples you use will already be EQ'd to a generally good standard. This is particularly true if you purchased an all-in-one sample library package rather than buying different instrument groups individually. However, EQ can and should still be used to enhance and add realism to your orchestral MIDI mockups.

For this tutorial, I'll be assuming a basic knowledge of what an EQ plugin is and how it is used. The images I've provided here are not to scale, as specifying exact frequencies for every sample library would be impossible, but they will provide a nice visual starting point for you to replicate and tweak as necessary.

Let's get right into it!

EQ Tips for Strings

Let's imagine two different string recording scenarios. First, we have a large string section that is recorded using overhead mics from a relatively distant location. Second, we have a string quartet with each instrument mic'd up very closely. Both are very different string sounds that have their own merits in different situations. The first would be associated with that Hollywood "soaring strings" homogenous sound, whereas the second is much more intimate, with the details of each instrument easily heard. We can use EQ to accentuate certain features of each of these examples.

The first recording of the large string section is likely to contain more room noise than the second recording. Therefore, if you locate the frequencies of the room reflections in your own samples and boost them, you can get closer to recreating that homogenous Hollywood experience.

Conversely, the second recording of the string quartet is likely to contain the gritty textures that occur as the bow passes over the string, which are particularly audible when the performer is using the frog of the bow. These nuances would never be picked up in the first recording, so boosting them in your own samples can create the illusion of a close-mic'd, intimate string sound.

EQ Tips for Brass

Brass instruments can be difficult to work with regarding EQ; this is because they typically take up a very large frequency range. However, they are also quite malleable. Due to the almost abstract nature of the brass sound, you'd be surprised how much you can edit the EQ of a brass sample while still keeping it sounding perfectly legitimate.

So, if you need to create some room for another instrument section to punch through, don't rule out brass, because they are likely to be able to withstand a cut in a certain frequency range more than other families. A great demonstration of this would be the brass theme from The Matrix. Highly edited using EQ, yet still undeniably brass.

Try also experimenting with the "bite" of brass instruments. The trump-like growl that features in some styles of playing is completely different to the more mellow performance of others. Locate the frequency of these growls, and then boost or attenuate them to suit your needs.

EQ Tips for Woodwinds

In contrast to brass, woodwind instruments are typically less resilient to heavy EQ'ing, so a delicate touch is required here. Anything more than that is likely to make your woodwinds sound more like general MIDI than the high-quality samples you paid for.

Woodwind instruments also operate in a relatively narrow frequency range, so making room for them in the mix isn't too tricky and they should be pretty good at blending in out the box.

I'd like to point out one feature of woodwind instruments that, when boosted, can really add character to your samples. That feature is the fingering. This is a very nuanced EQ technique with extremely subtle results, so I would recommend using it for solo woodwind instruments that are the focal point of the music.

Let's take a flute as an example. As the flautist presses the keys of the instrument, this creates a percussive sound. If enough air is being blown through the instrument as this happens, then you get a rather nice-sounding "pop" sound.

Contemporary composers have taken advantage of this technique and even written whole pieces around this acoustic phenomenon. While you may not want to go as far as that with your own compositions, boosting the frequency of the keys being pressed adds a fantastic level of detail to your samples. I would liken this technique to when pianists in pop albums purposely mic up the piano stall because they feel that the creaking adds character to the recording.

EQ Tips for Percussion

The percussion section is where you have most creative freedom regarding EQ, and it's a great place to get started tweaking. In many ways, anything goes!

Let me clarify - if you're looking to replicate a percussion instrument very accurately (a roto tom, for example), then of course over-the-top EQ'ing is going to prevent you from doing this. But the nature of percussion is such that instruments don't have to be replicated accurately to sound fantastic (white noise is often used to create snare hits, for example). Allowing yourself to create more abstract percussion sounds using EQ can (as long as your composition isn't for live performers) give it a very unique flavor.

Let's take a taiko bass drum for example. This magnificent instrument is one of the deepest instruments the percussion section has to offer. If it's bass you're after, you could consider using quite intrusive EQ'ing to accentuate this.

In the example above, only the bass frequencies will be punching through. Now let me be clear: This will definitely not sound like a taiko bass drum. So if that's your aim, then EQ'ing in this fashion is a bad idea. But if you're simply looking for a percussive gesture, then don't be afraid to really step in and make some changes to the sound. In this example, the lack of mids and highs could be complemented with another instrument. Have fun combining instruments of different frequency ranges to create a truly unique percussive sound.

The secret of EQ'ing orchestral instruments well is knowing when to be bold and when to be delicate. This knowledge only comes with experience and practice, so my word of advice is to experiment.

James Ede is the founder of Be Heard, a company that specializes in the creation of music and sound for mobile games. He has formed a diverse team of musicians from all walks of life, and together they enjoy bringing games to life with a creative and quality sound.

Featured image by Chad Kainz

Do you have any useful tips or tricks for EQ'ing virtual instruments for film and game composers? Share them in the comments!

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EQ'ing Orchestral Instruments | Midi Film Scoring

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If you were limited to choosing just one plugin to use exclusively for the rest of your production career, EQ would be among the wisest ones to pick. EQ, or equalizer, is a powerful tool with realms of diverse production options - not least its use in EQ'ing orchestral instruments - but often overlooked or misunderstood by less experienced film and game composers.

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1. Pick the right format

Are you trying to hype up a launch, get people to try the game, sell downloadable content (DLC) to existing users? Different objectives lead to different formats:

Announcement trailer: super short (~30s), more cutscenes than gameplay, little text (launch date), minimal call to action (follow). Aims to get people excited without revealing too much.

Launch trailer: short (~60s), more of the gameplay, positive reviews, strong call to action (buy/download). Aims to persuade viewers that they need to try the game 'right now'.

DLC release trailer: long (>1min), focus on gameplay and the new features, content of interest to fans (eg. dev interviews). Aims to tell the fan base about new features that they can upgrade to.

2. Aim for content variety

You want your trailer to be visually varied. For that, make sure to tap into all the content types at your disposal: gameplay, cutscenes, animations, live-action, interviews, text:

Live-action

Live-action: live-action footage is rare in game trailers. Mainly because it's often not the medium that game developers are most comfortable with. But done well, live action will make your trailer stand out, and engage beyond the traditional gamer fanbase.

Animated sequence: Of course, you can make a custom animation just for the trailer. In this case, the trailer is pretty much one big animated sequence announcing the plot.

Cutscenes: Cutscenes make for very interesting content, after they've been remixed and edited down into a short peefy sequence.

Gameplay: The gameplay usually needs a fair amount of editing to fit the trailer format (see below)

Voiceover: Let's not forget that not all content is visual. A voice-actor recorded soundtrack, is a tested & proven way to tie everything together.

Text: "Text" is indeed quite helpful to re-inforce certain points. Make sure to stylize the text - you don't want your game to look like a word document.

3. Nail the intro

You don't have much time to make an impression and set the tone for the rest of the clip. You want to start with the message that clearly sets your game apart.

Straight-into the gameplay: jump right in! This is best for situations where users already know about the game, and you want to emphasize new aspects of the gameplay (eg. DLC releases)

Brief set-up: Start with a short animated sequence, usually made of remixed cutscenes, to set the stage and quickly establish why the game is great.

Long titles: You can delay things a few seconds with titles. Combined with the right soundtrack it can help build anticipation and give a cinematographic feel.

Long plot description: In this case, the intro takes up almost the entire length of the trailer. Great if you have an animated sequence of fantastic quality that tells an interesting story, and if viewers are already familiar with the gameplay.

Bumper or no bumper? A bumper is a short branded animation at the beginning of your video (and sometimes at the end of your video as well). Done well it gives "gravitas" and "polish" to your trailer, done wrong... it can bore and drive viewers to drop off.

1. A bumper is probably more useful for out-of-context situations (eg.: someone stumbles on the video on YouTube), but less useful if they are already on your app page in an app store. Maybe make two versions of the video?

2. No matter what, don't make them too long - imagine some really impatient kid watching your trailer and wanting to get to the real stuff. Keep them short.

4. Supe up your gameplay

Don't hesitate to add zooms, freeze-frame, slow-mo, lens-effects to your gameplay. Adding those cinematographic effects will help a lot. Especially if your game doesn't have a lot of camera movement.

This is your chance to add all those cinematographic effects that you dreamed of (but couldn't get done with the game engine) while staying true to the actual game. Just don't over edit.

This is also where professional editors shine. They choreograph the visuals around a catchy soundtrack and vice-et-versa. It builds intensity, pace and rhythm.

5. Synch the action with a great soundtrack

Feel free to use a new soundtrack if the game's soundtrack doesn't lend itself to the short form of the trailer. Use royalty free music, or music you own the rights to, to avoid copyright issues.

No soundtrack: suitable for utltra realistic cutscenes, to transport the user in the universe of the game, which is supposed to be reality like

Running soundtrack: That's when the soundtrack is only loosely coupled with the action. Fine for visually intense games, not so much for monotonous footage.

Synched soundtrack: Talented editors have a knack for artfully synching the soundtrack with the action. It just makes the trailer that much more engaging.

6. Add a second serving of yummy Sound FX

In addition to the gameplay's soundFX, sprinkle some more to jack up the intensity of the trailer. Remember those "inception"-like base low rumbles, it just makes things more dramatic.

7. Plan for small screens

Many of your soon-to-be-users will watch the trailer on a small screen, so:

Avoid small fonts: use big fonts instead, that take up more of the screen

Avoid static camera angle: trailers that are filmed from just one angle tend to be boring to watch (eg. long wide shot in ). Instead add close-ups and panning even if it means loosing a bit of pixelization

8. Get your assets in order

Record your gameplay:

For PS3 and Xbox, you'll need a video capture card (good article here). For iPhones, you can invest in a video capture card or use Display Recorder or other hacks (more here). For PC games, Fraps has been the standard for a long time. You want something that won't slow down the game and drop frames while recording.

The gameplay should be:

high resolution (720p minimum)

16:9 aspect ratio (otherwise you won't get the cinematographic look without unwanted pixelization)

high bitrate (as high as possible, but certainly >2Mbps)

standard "codec + format" (eg. h264 + mp4 works well with most modern editing software)

Gather your assets:

9. Get it done well

So you have answered the questions above, prepared the assets, now is time to get the trailer made. You have a couple of options:

Edit/Animate yourself: it's not a bad place to start if you have the time and have done it before, it helps you answer some of the questions above, and can lead to a good first pass. But realistically you probably won't get the best output unless you are an experienced pro at after effects / final cut pro, have a taste for music mixing, can tell a good story, and are ready to spend a good chunk of time.

Post to craigslist to find an editor: it's a slow process, you have to sift through tons of emails, choose based on reels only, and reels are misleading and hard to compare. Utlimately, you take a risk, since you have to see what the editor makes with your own footage to gauge the fit.

Use a video production company: they are expensive, but if your footage is particularly interesting, you may get a good deal from someone talented who wants to build their portfolio.

Use Videopixie - a marketplace of editors and animators: you upload the assets, then editors submit multiple cuts, and you pick the style you like best. It's the easiest way to get lots of creative videos for your game without breaking the bank, and without spending your nights editing yourself.

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Tips on how to make an engaging game trailer. We take a look at some of the best game trailers out there and identify best practices that you can apply to make trailers and app previews for your own games.

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How To Mix Orchestral Music - Equalizers & Specturm Analyzers

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There are few places where music and sound design intertwine as much as they do in movie trailers. And when it comes to trailer sound, Jan Hoeglund and the trailer sound team at Audio Imperia really know their stuff - so I was really curious to hear their insights on what defines the sound of the modern trailer. Here's Jan's overview of 10 signature sound elements in today's trailers, complete with examples:

The right trailer can set the success of a film, a video game or a tv show before they are released. It is a major element in the big marketing machine of studios' release plans and the music that goes along with the visual part of a trailer plays no small part in that. There is a lot of players in the game that have this formula down to a tee: Extreme Music, Two Steps From Hell, Immediate Music, Audiomachine, Brand X, Ninja Tracks, Really Slow Motion, Confidential Music, HiFinesse, Sencit, Riptide Music, just to name a few. And each of them bring a different flavor to the table.

One of the more exciting things in the modern trailer music world is the incredible phenomena where a single sound can make a trailer track stand out. Writing trailer music is a very different style of music and different style of writing as a composer to begin with. Here are some of the most recognizable trailer sounds of the recent years:

5. The "Distorted Drum Kits and Synthesizers":

- that you can hear in a lot of the music by Ninja Tracks, such as "Tension Ratio" or "Exposure" (below):

6. The "Distorted Risers" at the end of Twelve Titans Music's "Artifice", used in Avengers: Age of Ultron:

7. The "Filtered Guitar Alarm" in the Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation Trailer:

Original Track: Think Up Anger "Mission Ready"

More powerful trailer sounds:

There's a growing number of trailer sound libraries out there - here are some of the most popular new ones:

More trailer sound libraries here

9. The remix of Cat Stevens' Wild World in the Mad Max: Fury Road trailer:

Original Track: Confidential Music "Shepherd" (the track was also used on the The Martian campaign)

10. And of course the very iconic machine gun style electric guitar sound of Attila Ats track "Shredder"

- used in the Oblivion, World War Z, Star Trek Into Darkness and many other trailers.

The focus on these individual marker sounds will only become more important. We live in a world where technology progresses faster by the minute and there is so much noise that is trying to get our attention. To cut through that, you need to create something that is truly memorable and instantly recognizable, because as unappealing as this may sound, trailer music is music for advertising and is there to help sell a product or to help sell tickets. Since there is only a very short amount of time in which you can sell a story to the audience you need those "Musical USPs".

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It is very hard to predict trends or predict which tracks will work with the audience. Things that have shown to be quite popular are piano intros with a lot of reverb (Avengers: Age of Ultron, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, etc.) and of course the trailerized covers of songs (see #9 on the list above). The last category in particular seems to be becoming more and more popular and prominent in trailers of all types and genres, so keep an eye out for those.

I talk a lot to up and coming trailer guys and if there's a list of things that you could hand out to people who are interested in getting into writing for trailers, I would say:

* Production value: Almost more important these days than proper orchestration is the quality of your track. You need to be able to deliver a highquality, polished track.
* Be loud but be reasonable with your mastering and your compression. It is totally fine to use things like New York compression and multiband distortion on the master bus, but do it within reason. Things can always be made louder at the end, but it is difficult to bring things back down from an overly normalized and compressed track.
* Write for the trailer editor and make that a priority: Provide a number of sections in each track that are easy to cut while still providing a great and cohesive piece of music.
* More than ever it is important to find your own voice as a composer. There is a lot more competition and it is very easy for trailer companies to find young composers. So take your time, do your research and find the style that suits you best. You won't be able to do a lot of styles well, so really be honest with yourself and focus on your own style.
* Melody is still important. Despite the fact that knowing synthesis and sound design well is very important, being able to write a catchy melody still means a lot. There is only a few composers that can do that well. So you could be one of them.
* Song titles actually do matter, so keep that in mind. You want to catch the eye of trailer editor, so tailor your song titles to what movie genre you think clients could use it in.

Most importantly, if you decide to go for a career in the trailer music industry bring a lot of patience with you. It takes time to get your first placement, so don't get discouraged if you don't land an international blockbuster trailer within your first two months.

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A big thanks to Jan Hoeglund and the team at Audio Imperia for the insights on trailer sound today!

The Audio Imperia Producers & Developers
Valentin Boomes * Danny Cocke * Joshua Crispin * Histibe * Dylan Jones * Bryan Leach * Darin Leach * Tomás Lobos Kunstmann * Paul Ortiz * Jeremiah Pena

About Jan Hoeglund
After finishing his graduate degree in Chinese, Jan moved to the US from Germany in 2010. "Fresh off the boat" he got got job working at an artist management agency handling the day-to-day management for bands such as Periphery, The Word Alive, We Came As Romans, and others. Being very passionate about cinematic music, trailer music in particular, he eventually switched over to working in the field of sampled instruments where he started working for 8Dio first, before joining the amazing team at Soundiron. He's also involved in the Audio Imperia label, which was created to provide talented trailer music sound designers a creative platform to showcase their talents.

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The 10 Signature Sound Elements of Modern Movie Trailers: | A Sound Effect

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There are few places where music and sound design intertwine as much as they do in movie trailers. And when it comes to trailer sound, Jan Hoeglund and the trailer sound team at Audio Imperia really know their stuff - so I was really curious to hear their insights on what defines the sound of the modern trailer.

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A modern full-scale symphony orchestra consists of approximately one hundred permanent musicians, most often distributed as follows: 16–18 1st violins, 16 2nd violins, 12 violas, 12 cellos, 8 double basses, 4 flutes (one with piccolo as a specialty), 4 oboes (one with English horn as a specialty), 4 clarinets (one with bass clarinet as a specialty, another specializing in high clarinets), 4 bassoons (one with double bassoon as a specialty). In theory, all woodwind players are expected to be able to play all auxiliary instruments in addition to their main instrument. Furthermore 5–8 horns, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones (one with bass trombone as a specialty), 1 tuba, 1 kettledrum player, 3–4 percussionists (of whom at least one must also play kettledrum), 1–2 harps and a keyboard player (piano, celesta, harpsichord, etc.).

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does anybody use a "cheat sheet" for orchestra instruments' composing guidelines?

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Does anybody use a "cheat sheet" for orchestra instruments' composing guidelines?

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Let me just start by saying that I am aware that the best way to know the struggles of playing an instrument is to actually play it. Now for me it's no

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What is depth in terms of the Stereo Field? What effects are used to create depth within the Stereo Field?

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Making it loud!!! How do you achieve a loud master that will grab the audiences attention?

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What makes an excellent film/game trailer mix? How do you achieve an excellent mix?

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A different approach to compression needs to be taken compared to EDM when mixing orchestral instruments. Post your research findings

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How do you EQ Orchestral Instruments?

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What are articulations and how can they be used within your Trailer?

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There are certain instruments used for specific compositional elements within trailer music. What are they? and What compositional elements are they associated with?

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What are the different instrument families (sections) within an Orchestra? Name the instruments within the instruments families? How many instrument are there in each section?

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Panning should be used to create a realistic aural picture of the instruments you are using in your composition.
Where should the different instrument families be panning in the Stereo Field?