I had a client last night that needed me to program in a few notes of an electric bass performance using VIs.
The track was recorded well, except for 15 seconds or so where there was some bad feedback from the mic amping the cab. The producer does not have access to the original musician and needs the section replayed and matched to how the original was supposed to sound.
I like these kinds of challenges, because it gives me the rare opportunity to get paid for sound design when I’m usually stuck doing edits and mix revisions.
Anyways, I ended up trying all these virtual instruments: Trillian, Kontakt libraries, the Ableton library, etc. I finally settled on a preset from Reason that matched the source material close enough. I spent some time editing and dialing the amp in with Guitar Rig, and was ultimately successful in grafting the part into the recording where you couldn’t tell it wasn’t the bassist.
So... im sort of proud of myself. I send over the files, call the client, tell him to have a listen.
The client (the song is for a tv advertisement) is super happy with the job I did and says he will have his video guy send me a rough of the advert in the morning.
I just woke up, checked the inbox, and watched the advertisement. The part I played in was edited out in the final version.
I called up the client, worried that I might not have done as good a job as I thought. You know, these types of situations can really bring out the insecurities in us musicians.
He thanked me for the follow up, said he was delighted with the job I did, but told me since they didn’t use my edit they now want to renegotiate the price (they paid upfront).
Me: so you liked the sound design and performance and the way I was able to fix the song?
Him: yes. You did a great job. We will use you again in the future!
Me: thanks for the kind words. I’d really like that. Why didn’t they use the part in the final advertisement?
Him: the song was too long. That’s why I think we need to talk money.
Me: you know, I didn’t write the song. I just replayed the part and fixed the bad recording.
Him: that’s not relevant.