Toons and Tunes

Whilst I work on developing cartoons to produce there is always the matter of finding suitable music for them. A persistant often mystifying challenge for one lacking any true musical inclination or ability, such as myself.


That however, does not prevent me from trying.


Anyone that has spent any ammount of time searching the net for "amateur" animated wonders will have undoubtedly run across various animations featuring music by the creator(s) favorite groups or songs they just liked.

To me that really takes away from any ammount of polish the work had. Yes, the music may have added to the animation, but it is still cheapened. Unless the people behind the work had the permission of the artist or know people that create the tracks for them.

What has moved me to blog on this subject is yet another frustrating attempt to use a couple of music mixing/ social networking services that are out there. To find free stuff and mix what free things I have found.

The first of which being Jamglue

Jamglue for all of it's bells and whistles suffers from one big flaw--it's really buggy. I have attempted to use it now on a couple different pcs, and the experience is the same. I start working with it, only to find the tracks i'm attempting to use either don't load properly into the mixer or things freeze up.

Another frustrating shortcoming is the fact that Jamglue doesn't really provide means of taking snipets out of your sounds and loops. Meaning there are always annoying skips since you can't just cut off the end of them. Unless you do so with your own seperate audio program before uploading to Jamglue. Which sort of defeats the purpose of using the site to save money or get around lacking use of your own programs.

Now I come to Splice Music

Splice is another music mixing/social networking site. That's really about all I can tell you. I NEVER seem to get the site to work properly. That's when everything is moving along fast enough that I can actually see the pages and navagate a couple of them before the whole shebang freezes up.


Again, I've tried in vain to use the site on different computers with decent internet connections.


I must admit I gave up on both sites shortly after becoming aware of their existance, and can't really remember which site did a particular thing better than the other. It seems that my memory shall remain unrefreshed.


What's that I said about free stuff?

Free, truly free, music and loops and sounds do exist out there.


Just head over and check out Soundsnap It's a great site and service with plenty of free audio goodies. Free is it's purpose. Also it was thought up by a bunch of sound lovin creative-type people working to provide free content.


I have to say most of the stuff is pretty good, it's all a matter of what you prefer. There's also decent variety.

Music Loops: The Catch


The tricky thing with finding music loops is the fact that you are most likely going to require some sort of audio program or two.


If you're not musically inclined that is going to require reasearch. And shelling out a little cash for what you can reasonably afford may be preferable to dealing with the frustrations of sites such as Jamglue and Splice, or spending ages lost online sailing through an ever darkening sea of links.


Also being that you usually get what you pay for, you can put a little trust in something you actually had to go to a store to aquire.


I figure if a program I'm looking at for my projects costs the same as a videogame, it's a reasonable expense. One that could potentially pay-off way more than that game. And of course both could horribly suck.


So in your research see if the company offers free demos. Heck, if you run across one at the store you don't have to buy it then, go home and check it out before you buy.


Suggestions?

I personally own Sound Forge Audio Studio(no linky) I got it at Bestbuy, had Sony on the box figured I could trust it.


I've had it for a while, but life's had a way of providing distractions that have kept me from having to really explore it's capabilities.


What it is mostly for though, is audio recording and editing. Not really much by way of mixing via throwing together various loops and sounds into your own song.


It did however come in two flavors, both with a cd containing bonus sound effects or musical intruments. I went with the sound effects. Aside from that I wasn't able to figure out much of a difference between the two.

The few times that I have used the program I haven't really had many complaints. I was able to record vocals for a test animation. I was also able to accurately cut and paste and rearrange some music.

Here's links to those over at my Deviant Art gallery. Sorry, I'm being to lazy to figure out how to convert and embed them here.

1. http://panzerbanana.deviantart.com/art/Canard-Toon-Teaser-31616040
2. http://panzerbanana.deviantart.com/art/Bobo-and-the-Mummy-29309367
3. http://panzerbanana.deviantart.com/art/Walkin-Down-the-Road-Title-29308826
4. http://panzerbanana.deviantart.com/art/Canard-Lipsynch-Test-29307981

As I mentioned I was VERY able to edit my sound selections. The chase with the mummy, the music is just a part from a larger file I have. I cut out the part I liked and just pasted it a few times to the length I wanted it.

The program, as with any, takes a bit to get used to but once you start figuring it out it's fun realizing what you'll be able to do with it someday.

For music mixing...I have "Music Maker" or something. I don't have the box with me at the moment. Again saw at Bestbuy went home did soem researched tried the demo.

It does have a bunch of different tools and instrument varieties. BIG LEARNING CURVE. Which is probably a lot smaller if you have musical ability. But I figure I at least have some music making means at my own disposal. And I do have a way to mix the free stuff I am finding.

On that note this blog is over. Sorry that it was so long winded.

Til next time, happy toonin'!

A Long Long Road To the Light

As the sight has become mostly functional, and the blog is up. I now begin the promotional efforts. No small task given the size of the internet.

I must also face bits of discouragement when I happen upon places that have tried their hand at my same goal. Though I believe Cartoon Syndicate offers something they don't and that is focus. Creating cartoons/animations aren't simply a side note.

And so where possible I post, I e-mail people that seem to fit the bill. Also I stew and think of topics to cover regaurding aspiring cartoonists.

One thing does come to mind to mention in light of the spirit of this post. Agents and promotional services, use at your own risk.

There's a saying "you have to spend money, to make it". Or mayhaps I just thought that up. Anyway, that's all well and good should you have it to spend.

Beware, those just starting out in dealing with such services. This is less a warning of rip-off and more bringing to mind the fact that there are many others using such services.

Be they seeking free lance work a means to present their work to a new audience.

Way back, I got a promo from such a place, talked me into a sweet deal. I bit, and nothing came of it. Some places do seem more interested in your money than help. Prime placement "captive audience".

I managed the same level of success for free. Granted there was potential, it just didn't happen here. Also customer service seems to go out the window when they learn you're no longer continuing with their services.

So those of you with the hopes such things might work for you, be wary. There's a lot of "competition" out there. You really have to decide what "potential" is worth to you.

Until you've managed to get your name around a bit, your money is probably better spent on the tools and supplies of your trade.

~Happy Tooning~

Cartoon Syndicate Blog is Live!

The first official CS Blog. Hopefully the things that shall come to befound within this blog will be helpful to aspiring cartoonists out there.

I've been around the net a fair bit and have come to find it's hard to track down the places cartoonists hide. Long ago I withdrew from most popular culture and happenings on the net as I had grown quite discouraged.

Now I begin past endeavors anew. Cartoon Syndicate I hope will grow into a resource for aspiring cartoonists as well as more established ones. Also the focus of Cartoon Syndicate is primarily on creating animated cartoons, quite a daunting task for those just getting into things.

As information and experiences become available they will be shared here in hopes to inspire and enlighten.

Also I'm thinking of inviting guest bloggers, interviews, and shining a light on those other "little guys" out there just doing their thing, and doing a good job of it.