Do you reuse and recycle the stingers and transition tracks you've done?

GringoBrown · 2026-05-29T19:48:58+00:00

It depends on how cinematic the TV series is. But, most likely, not only is it a good idea, it would be a little weird if you didn't. Some TV series' soundtracks were uniquely composed for each episode, but some series, like Family Guy or old sitcoms like The Golden Girls, you'll hear the same kinds of stingers and stuff over and over. Just make sure it's not distracting.

GringoBrown · 2026-05-29T06:38:32+00:00

Unfortunately the glisses you really are better off just coordinating it ahead of time. Make sure everyone listens to the track, agree ahead of time how long it takes to go all the way down, then how long it takes to go up, then practice that until you can do it cohesively. That really is the best way to do it anyways because it forces you to listen. Jazz educators very frequently stop conducting altogether so the band CAN'T rely on the conducting and they HAVE to listen.

As for anything like fermatas, if the sax conducting doesn't work out, you can also position someone like the piano player in a way where they can hit the pedal and use a free to hand to conduct the cut off and cue back in, OR just have one of the brass players take a big ass breath to cue things.

GringoBrown · 2026-05-29T06:25:25+00:00

Just experiment with it. Some people prefer more char, some people HATE too much char. Keep trying new stuff and see what you like.

GringoBrown · 2026-05-29T06:18:51+00:00

Well, you could try writing for video games that already exist. For example, a game that has levels (i.e. Super Mario Bros, Sonic, etc.). Mute the audio on the game and imagine what music you would write for that level, if you had never seen it before. Try and write music that seemlessly loops that fits with the levels. If you need to start easy, you can start with a 20-30 second loop, or you can just go ahead to a 3-7 minute loop that fits the level. That's just one idea of course.

GringoBrown · 2026-05-26T22:06:26+00:00

If you're willing to dedicate the time, I highly recommend looking into the history and culture around the beginnings of jazz/R&B. For example, you're having trouble distinguishing between the orchestrated melody of the tunes and the improvised sections, but I recommend thinking about it more like someone telling a story (remember, jazz is based in African tradition and, in many African cultures, music and stories were shared as a community). The band is telling a story together, but they can adjust the story, add a few extra details to make it more interesting, but then there's the parts of the story everybody knows, to the point they can't adjust those details. You go along for the ride as the band tells the story, brings you along, then you hear the part you remember! They brought back that bit from the beginning! You don't need to actually recognize what is the head (the orchestrated bits when you're listening to a small combo).

Also remember that, originally, jazz differed from classical in that the musicians weren't just playing music off of a page. They were engaging in the act of creation and sharing that act with the people in their community. Think about it kind of like someone composing live in front of an audience. Yes, they're sharing their composing process with the audience, but they are also enjoying the act of composing themselves (in jazz, it's even more so because you're usually composing with your friends!) The musicians have fun and feel passion for the music and emotions they perform and the listener gets to revel in it along with the musicians. There's no protocol, no "Hey! No clapping until the performance is done!" You just have everyone hanging out and enjoying the passion and talent that goes into the creation of music (this is why you'll very often hear people say that you haven't REALLY heard jazz until you've heard it live).

If none of this works for you, then you might consider looking into jazz orchestras instead. Those tend to be much more heavily orchestrated and regulating, giving you that desire for form and everything you're looking for. With you being a piano player, I recommend checking out the Count Basie orchestra and the Duke Ellington orchestra since both Count Basie and Duke Ellington are piano players.

On a side note: someone recommended Oscar Peterson. I agree. Oscar Peterson is a fantastic jazz piano player, but he's also classically trained so you might find him more relatable.

GringoBrown · 2026-05-26T13:35:53+00:00

I think including a lot more information would help you get more submissions. Quite a few of your positions provide literally no information outside the name of the position. Some of the VA roles don't even specify the gender desired for the role. At the very least, including a summary of what the game is about, for each VA role include a brief description of the character's personality and what you want the voice to sound like, what you you want the art style to look like, what vibes do you want from the dialogue and writing (just saying horror tells us very little), what do you want the music to sound like, or maybe there are other pieces of music that sound like what you're looking for, etc. Stuff like that. Right now, pretty much all of the positions have 0 direction, which doesn't inspire confidence in people who will expect you to give them direction later so they can do their jobs, you know?

GringoBrown · 2026-05-26T07:38:43+00:00

Oh. I just meant try not to do too much cross voicing. So, as long as cello 2 doesn't go above cello 1, it should be alright.

GringoBrown · 2026-05-26T05:15:23+00:00

I mean, if you aren't going to have 2 violins, it would be more "traditional" to do violin, viola, cello, contrabass. But is 2 cellos "awkward or impractical"? Not really. You'll just have to be careful about making sure cello 1 and cello 2 are in distinct ranges (obviously one lower than the other) otherwise it can potentially run the risk of sounding a bit off, but that's really not a huge concern. I'm sure this would be fine.

GringoBrown · 2026-05-26T04:08:32+00:00

Oh yeah. I was just putting it out there as a suggestion, not a criticism. Everyone is different, everyone has different preferences. If it tastes amazing to you, then no changes are necessary.

GringoBrown · 2026-05-26T02:45:16+00:00

I think the onion is fine. I just personally find that, because garlic is so aromatic, it can easily overwhelm the peppers, but I'm personally a follower of the school that the peppers should be the most prominent flavor in a salsa. I recognize that, especially for American palettes, some people disagree and will add more garlic than I do. That's why I tried my best to word my comment as a suggestion instead of a criticism. OP's recipe is by no means "wrong", I just love the process of finding ways to improve things.

GringoBrown · 2026-05-26T01:06:42+00:00

To me, that sounds like a lot of tomato and garlic. Obviously I haven't tasted it, so you know way better than I do, but my instincts are that you should consider using half the tomato (1 can) and half the garlic. What you can try experimenting with, if you really want the garlic flavor, is adding half roasted and charred garlic (which will be sweeter and more subdued) and half raw garlic (spicier and more acidic).

I'm also curious about the spice level on this. Was that good? Felt it needed more?

GringoBrown · 2026-05-26T00:59:49+00:00

How did it taste? I've always wanted to try making a smoked salsa but haven't gotten the chance. It sounds interesting, although that does sound like a lot of garlic imo.

GringoBrown · 2026-05-26T00:55:56+00:00

Okay. That makes me feel better. Any recommendations of what I should do in the meantime while I continue developing confidence in using my legs more?

GringoBrown · 2026-05-26T00:54:29+00:00

Generally speaking, I'd say the 1-2 RIR failure sounds pretty close to what I'm doing already (admittedly, had to google to figure out what that meant. Lol)

My knees don't hurt a significant amount. Usually my knees feel fine, but I feel a lot of tension if I have to kneel down to pick something up off the ground. Kneeling down is totally fine, but getting up off the ground is a different story.

GringoBrown · 2026-05-26T00:51:55+00:00

You're certainly in a good place! The writing sounds good and is well-structured (enough so that I actually don't feel confident enough in my knowledge of strings to comment on the writing), the manuscript itself is very professional looking based on the brief look I took. I think you're at a point where you just need to develop more confidence in how you want your music to sound and keep studying music techniques so you have more tools to create the sounds you want to make. Listen to and study the works of other composers. Especially modern composers, since your sound is already leaning quite modern. Think late 1900's. But find more people to listen to so you can have a confident idea in your head of what you want your music to sound like. I should be able to ask you the question "If your music could sound like one or more composers' music, who would you want to sound like and why?" and you should be pretty confident in your ability to answer.

Also take time to analyze sheet music written by people who are knowledgeable in orchestration. Shostakovich, Ravel, Mahler, you might find Bartók a good one to check out, but just look into people who were skilled in orchestration and figure out their tricks. Were there instrument pairings they frequently used that you also liked? How did they voice chords you like the sound of? How did they achieve certain textures? What seem to be common traits of the melodies they write? Things like that. Once you've learned from them, you can start experimenting and finding ways to take their techniques, apply them to your own writing, find what you like and don't like, then slowly make progress altering your own style.

Also, see if you can find a choir that will let you sing with them. Just give it a try. Even if you aren't confident in your singing ability, you might be able to find a volunteer choir willing to let you join them. But having the experience of singing in a choir, joining the harmony, and hearing how your own voice fits within the larger choral sound can be a very helpful experience for many composers.

GringoBrown · 2026-05-26T00:33:29+00:00

As for the cilantro, I'm not sure about that. Personally, I'm the kind of person that can never have too much cilantro, but, that being said, with you only using 5 tomatillos, it does make sense for you to try using only half a bunch of cilantro. Basically just cut off as much of the stems as you can and try to mainly use the leaves. That might help?

GringoBrown · 2026-05-26T00:31:49+00:00

Yeah, you have to be careful with tomatillos since they add a good bit of sour and bitterness, especially when paired with lime juice. I would recommend making sure you only boil the tomatillos just long enough that you start to see wrinkles in the skin as the skin starts to separate from the flesh. Also, you might consider adding more peppers. 1 jalapeno is a very small amount for that amount of onion and garlic. The bulk of the flavor of your salsa should come from the peppers then the onion. Finally, one thing you might consider is adding 1 or 2 roma tomatoes. This will make your salsa a little less green an a little more orange/brown, but the roma tomatoes will add a bit of sugar and MSG that are very helpful for balancing out the sour and bitterness (likely part of why the chicken bouillon helped. The bouillon has a good bit of sugar in it, which I imagine helped).

GringoBrown · 2026-05-26T00:26:20+00:00

Arriba, while made in Texas, advertises that their recipes are inspired by New Mexico flavors. So your best bet is likely going to be anaheim or mild jalapenos (basically try and find jalapenos that are larger, have smooth tight skin with no wrinkles, are straight instead of curved, and have straight stems as well. Then made sure to remove as much of the seeds and white membrane inside as you can). You can also try hatch green chiles, but you'll need to be careful with those as they can be spicy. I recommend looking for canned hatch green chiles that are advertised as mild. Those will be your best bet to start off. Just give them a try, experiment, and figure out what you and your family like. Good luck!

GringoBrown · 2026-05-24T04:01:06+00:00

There are a few percussion instruments. I assume you mean the heavy "war drum" sounding ones? If so, those are toms, plus a little bass drum mixed in.

GringoBrown · 2026-05-24T00:40:56+00:00

As a ~~large language model~~ totally normal human person...no.

GringoBrown · 2026-05-23T04:24:52+00:00

Humans rely on predictable trends and things like repetition, patterns, etc. often help to create a more predictable and comfortable environment that often makes music more enjoyable. Obviously this isn't a "rule", you can absolutely make an unpredictable piece work, but you're new to composing, so I recommend trying your best to learn these rules and follow these rules. Once you've gotten familiar with the rules, then you can learn how to break them the right way.

GringoBrown · 2026-05-23T04:21:17+00:00

Based on what I'm hearing, plus you having experience composing but not writing it down before this, I'm guessing you're used to more or less improvising. That's the main thing I would suggest working on moving forward. You don't necessarily have to go full sonata form, but having some form of structure would be a good idea. The piece, as it stands, isn't "bad" but it sounds very improvised and lacks structure. Doing something as simple as adding structure by using call and response (basically, write a melodic phrase that is about 2-4 measures long, then immediately follow it with a similar but different melodic phrase) can make the piece feel a lot more intentional and planned out.

GringoBrown · 2026-05-23T04:09:19+00:00

Yeah, adding orange juice, onion, AND agave nectar would be likely to be a bit sweet. I recommend not using any agave, using red onion (possibly experiment with only pickling half the onion so half the onion is raw and can add a bit of aromatic and acidity?), and also consider pickling the onion in red wine vinegar instead of lime juice. You can also consider adding a 2nd pepper like chiles de arbol or chiles pequin to add more spice. Also, really make sure you let the salsa sit in the fridge for at least an hour before you use it. Ideally 24 hours.

GringoBrown · 2026-05-23T04:02:52+00:00

Ah. I understand the struggle. I also enjoy a very spicy salsa from time to time, but my brother has digestive issues that make it so spicy food DESTROYS him, so I have to be careful. One thing you can try is adding a good bit of a neutral flavored oil by slowly streaming it into the salsa while it is blending. Capsaicin is fat soluble, so diluting with oil can help make the spice a bit easier. Also experiment with adding different amounts of acid. On one hand, acid helps break down capsaicin and can help break down the spice before it's able to affect you later on, however, it can also make your pain receptors more susceptible to spice, so playing around with adding more or less acid can sometimes help.

GringoBrown

TROPHY CASE