What TV show can you barely tolerate due to the backing music/scores?

Discussion in 'Lounge' started by Cardamom, Apr 12, 2016.

  1. Cardamom

    Cardamom Platinum Record

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    I'll go first.

    SHARK TANK. Blessed bovine, those horn blasts and 'ominous moment in your face' war drums on a freakin' loop. Tried to watch the show with closed captioning but it turned out that it didn't have any.

    HAWAII 5O. Not as bad as Shark Tank but pretty redundant and war-drummy too. Guess it fits in with Hawaiin culture, but still ... tone it down!

     
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  3. panther5

    panther5 Kapellmeister

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    Most of the music I find is tolerable, however, it's TOO FUCKING LOUD! I can't hear the actors' dialogue most of the time. It drives me nuts! Music scores are supposed to enhance the dialogue and mood, not drown everything out. I find this happens in tv as well as movies.
     
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  4. One Reason

    One Reason Audiosexual

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    I tell u what drives me bats..... the overly simple, retarded lil tunes that accompany the endless drivel of pharmaceutical commercials.. like Cialis, Crestor, Abilify, Symbicort and worst of all Otezla.. :suicide::deep_facepalm:
     
  5. jaymo99

    jaymo99 Platinum Record

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    always hated Miami Vice and its sound track,,, always loved Breaking bad soundtrack and true Blood
     
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  6. thantrax

    thantrax Audiosexual

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    I love Weeds and Saving Grace sound track.
     
  7. Montgent

    Montgent Kapellmeister

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    I've always thought that Kitchen Nightmares should just be a commercial for "Action Strings." I don't have a "worst" music for a tv show, but the cartoon, Regular Show, has the best cheesy 80s music, courtesy of Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo.
     
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  8. stevitch

    stevitch Audiosexual

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    People still watch TV? Unfortunate.
     
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  9. Producer

    Producer Platinum Record

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    Best Answer
    As a mixing engineer for various TV shows (don't think of something in hollywood style. Just typical soap operas) the first mistake people in this position tend to do is pumping up a track in order to emphasize the action or drama etc in each scene.As the years go by you realize that mixing a song 10-15 dbs lower than before and still being loud enough,means that in the previous state, not only the music was loud enough, but the audience couldn't even hear the actor's "heavy" line in order to proceed in action or drama etc.

    The second mistake comes years after.You are now experienced,working with proper monitors,room acoustics etc.You prepare your mix,lowering it a bit more to be safe, and when you try watching your effort on TV, you get a clipping sound.Music overcomes dialog most of the time and you feel novice,although this time it's not your mistake. Most of the TV stations have a heavy limiter before their signal goes out in order to "normalize" the difference between shows,commercials,news etc.This f***ing little tool is programmed by technicians in order to give proper levels to the audience.The problem is that they don't know anything about loudness or RMS.They don't even use EBU standards.They don't even use a multiband limiter.Just a single band brick.As you all know.If you squeeze the hell out of the mix,tracks with more rms will stand out and all dynamic range will be killed.

    Coming to the conclusion ,my way of protecting my mix was to ask those technicians what's the limiters threshold.Normally on EBU standards should 've been about -20 , -18 depending on how much the want to squeeze.Now comes the Sh*t part.Even if i deliver the whole mix in -20dbs even with my own brick wall to prevent some spikes exceeding it, the people who are responsible on feeding the TV station's server, think that my mix is too low (having in mind some cheap ads coming with clipping levels on 0,-5dbs) so they decide to turn up the entire mix level 10 or 15dbs.The result is AGAIN a clipped mix with music overlapping voice.

    So i guess something similar might be happening in cinemas etc. It's been a year or so to work on a TV mix so now being on the audience side i show "compassion" for all those mixers having to overcome all those noobs.

    P.S. The last 2 years i was mixing, i was even using a fake studio name for the credits, in order to protect my studio's quality.

    Sorry for being too long,but i felt i should 've put my 2 cents on watching things from the other side.
     
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  10. solo83

    solo83 Platinum Record

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    Quintin Tarantino soundtracks can become annoying as hell. He over does it a lot of times.
     
  11. Von_Steyr

    Von_Steyr Guest

    Miami vice was and still stands as one of the most original stuff ever produced for tv,from cinematography to music.
    Imo it aged well and visually still today no other show can come close.
    Not only did it feature top notch musicians like Phil Collins,Peter Gabriel,Foreigner,Glenn Frey,Clapton,ZZ Top,etc,but also outstanding work from Jan Hammer.
    I like both shows,but Breaking Bad was nothing spectacular sound wise,it was more sound design oriented,cant even compete with Jan Hammer`s repertoire with Miami Vice.
     
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  12. Von_Steyr

    Von_Steyr Guest

    Quality scripts and acting has lately migrated from cinema to tv.Today`s cinema mostly tries to please toddlers,while tv is where the quality is today.
     
  13. fraifikmushi

    fraifikmushi Guest

    Hogan's Heroes!
    Nah, just kidding. I can't think of any shows that put me off sound-vise right now, but I have to admit I never watch any bachelor-talent-model-cooking bs but only tv series on demand.
    But what I really, really hate and what disturbs me almost everytime I have to endure it: shaky cam! Unbearable. Makes shows like 24 or lost almost unwatcheable.
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/graham-milne/shaky-cameras_b_1380069.html
     
  14. kptainfilou

    kptainfilou Member

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    NCIS Los Angeles, tragic, pathetic, over re-used background music.
     
  15. Cardamom

    Cardamom Platinum Record

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    Esp. British TV. Great acting, great plots. Happy Valley, Y Gwyll (Hinterland), Shetlands ... great scoring. Never over the top or in your face. Not so sure about American TV ... kinda varies.
     
  16. Von_Steyr

    Von_Steyr Guest

    Some of the so called "pros" working for tv are really uneducated in even the basics and many home schooled producers who emerged from the underground can run circles around them.
     
  17. MORTIX

    MORTIX Kapellmeister

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    I did find some nice tunes on "Suits".. I dont think i ever shazamed a tv show but they made me do it.. But yeah some tv sounds are just unbearable.. Some kind of funny too..
     
  18. Herr Durr

    Herr Durr Guest

    I find it unwatchable anymore..and have for a long time, I just chucked my cable package
    for the Latin line up so I can still get a cheaper internet connection only, and have a digital antenna now for the rare occasion
    I want to tune in for news or Me tv for 60's 70's and 80's classic shows, and movies.

    Those old shows generally had some good themes, I wonder if the programming quality and
    themes have declined in concert ( no pun intended ).

    Is tv good in anyone's country? How much American crap ends up broadcast worldwide ?

    I like to watch CHiPs re-runs so I can see officer Bonnie's ass in those tight highway patrolwoman's khakis ,
    but the music sucks ! :bleh:
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 14, 2016
  19. boomoperator

    boomoperator Rock Star

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    @Producer: Are you mixing with R128, or are the situations you describe "pre R128"? You don't see (hear) stuff changing in your country/network lately?
    btt: a reason people perceive music being too loud over dialogue could be that the majority of shows is mixed and delivered in 5.1, where the 'average' audience listens to the LTRT decoded stereo track. Agree?
     
  20. AwDee.0

    AwDee.0 Kapellmeister

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    ah man the intro to "4400" tv series would make me cringe everytime. it sounds like it was mix/mastered on laptop speakers.
     
  21. killa

    killa Member

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    I telll you what. For a while I've been tempted to put a limiter on my TV so they cant play those adverts so loud late at night. That should be built in to new TVs...
     
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