Recording - May 2012 - 51

MAY 2012 Understanding Broadcast Quality

License Your Songs in Film and TV
By Michael Laskow and Robin Frederick
In last month’s article, Robin and I gave you tips on Creating Contemporary Sounding Music and Writing Universal Lyrics. I can’t over-emphasize how important both of those tips are when pitching your music for film and TV placements. But you can have both of those aspects well covered and still miss the boat on your songs, recording, and productions if they’re not Broadcast Quality. So that’s our mission in this month’s edition—to help you understand what Broadcast Quality means. Defining Broadcast Quality Defining Broadcast Quality can be hard because it can mean different things in different contexts. Actually, the term has traditionally been used in the video world far more than the audio world. Prior to Film and TV music licensing for Indie songwriters, artists, and composers becoming commonplace, the term that was used to describe great sounding recordings and productions was “Master Quality.” We quit using that term for Film and TV music opportunities years ago at TAXI. The reason is that Master Quality applied more to the record label world. We started using Broadcast Quality in 2001 to signify that the quality had to be high, but it was different than Master Quality. Tastes Change in Music, Recording and Productions Styles… How is Broadcast Quality different from Master Quality? The bar is arguably a tad lower for Broadcast Quality than Master Quality, but both seem to be moving targets in today’s world. Some of that may be the result of tastes changing from slick and overproduced to more lo-fi and somewhat under-produced songs becoming fashionable. Frankly, I think the lines are often blurred, but one thing remains certain: nobody on the “buying” side of the music industry wants poorly recorded, mixed, or produced music. Even people who love the most obscure, underground, Indie bands and artists expect them to be recorded and produced appropriately for their genre. I can almost hear you yelling, “I hear music that’s distorted all the time, but TAXI didn’t forward my music for a pitch because the listener said he heard distortion!” That’s the problem with trying to define Broadcast Quality. There’s Black Keys (intentional) distortion, and then there’s (unintentional) distortion that shows up on songs where it obviously wasn’t intended to be an effect. Knowing the difference is important! And for the record, the recording quality alone may not be the determining factor in what is, or is not Broadcast Quality. IsThere a Broadcast Quality Checklist? Actually, I couldn’t find one, so I created the one below. I’ve listed some examples of things that can determine whether or not your song or track would be considered Broadcast Quality. This list probably doesn’t cover every conceivable issue, but I think it’s a good starting point: Thinly recorded, tinny sounding instruments: Ever hear an acoustic guitar that sounds like a razor blade was used as the guitar pick and there’s no rich bottom end? That’s a great example of what “thin” sounds like! When the top end is overly and un-naturally bright, and the bottom end is nonexistent, all that’s left is tin. An unbalanced mix: The bass is too low, the drums are too loud, the vocals are too soft, the guitars overshadow the vocals… you get the idea. Listen to contemporary artists to see how their mixes are balanced. As I said before, tastes change over time, and that goes for how mixes sound. Get current. Stay current! Too much reverb or delay in the mix: Contemporary sounding recordings and mixes tend to have less reverb and delay than more dated sounding recordings. There are always exceptions to every rule, but if your mix has as much reverb as the snare and the vocals on the Eagles classic, Take It To The Limit, you’re probably overdoing it. Today’s mixes tend to be “drier,” so go with the flow, don’t fight it and stay stuck in the ’70s! Dated sounding instruments: Old ’80s sounding

synths on songs that aren’t supposed to sound like they’re from that time period are a dead giveaway. Strings or horns that sound like they’re pre-sets that came with your DX7 are not a good thing. The people in the industry have become accustomed to a high quality samples that have expression and articulation used properly. Canned sounds that sound like they’re right out of the box can kill a music supervisor’s interest in just a few bars. Chorused guitar sounds being used in a genre or style where that would be considered “old school” and not contemporary sounding: That one pretty much speaks for itself! It’s not 1983 any more. Maybe that sound will come back, but it’s rarely considered to be cool and hip in today’s market. Rule of thumb: If your guitar sound would work on a Cindy Lauper record, it probably won’t work well in today’s market! Distortion that obviously wasn’t intentional: Another one that speaks for itself. Poor signal to noise or hissy sounding recordings: Tape hiss used to be the culprit. Not so much in Continued on page 52
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Recording - May 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - May 2012