Ska Instrumental Return "too fast" but slower than reference

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Ska Instrumental Return "too fast" but slower than reference

Post by jamesnorth » Tue Jul 26, 2016 6:05 pm

Hi Guys,

Pretty new around here, but having a great time writing to spec for a bunch of instrumental stuff - I've had a number of forwards so far, so fingers crossed!

I've had a return for a Ska listing telling me it was too up-beat and I'm just a bit confused about that feedback.

Here's the listing:
New Listing EMOTIONALLY UPBEAT SKA INSTRUMENTALS are needed by an A-List Music Supervisor for several $2,000, NON-Exclusive placements in a series of Virtual Reality Video Games by a AAA Game Developer. Please submit fun, and slightly quirky Mid-to-Up-Tempo Instrumentals that could be found on a playlist with bands like (but not limited to) Save Ferris, Reel Big Fish, The Toasters, The Aquabats!, Mustard Plug, etc., etc., etc. Take a listen to the following references to get a great idea of what they need:

“Come on Eileen” by Save Ferris: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCzWPBR30Nk

“Sell Out” by Reel Big Fish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEKbFMvkLIc

“2-Tone Army” by The Toasters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC6UF2Fn65A

“Super Rad!” by The Aquabats!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-goLUhTBtrw

“Mr Smiley” by Mustard Plug: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBngTQCICPM

Give them lively instrumentals that sound like a believable Ska band, with Rock based instrumentation combined with a great horn section. Be sure to keep the fun moving throughout, with a playful melody and an engaging beat. Your submissions should be at least 2 minutes in length. Good edit points and non-faded, buttoned endings are needed for this pitch. Do NOT copy or rip off the references in any way, shape, or form. Use them only as a general guide for feel, texture, tone, and vibe. Broadcast Quality is needed (great sounding home recordings are fine).
Here's my song:

https://soundcloud.com/jamesnorthproduc ... ar/s-zjBEI

Here's the feedback:
This is a little too up beat to work well with this VR experience. Great track but just too fast for this project.
My song is pretty much exactly the same speed as one of them (I used it in the project as a tempo guide) and slower than a few others.

Can anyone share their thoughts?

Cheers and keep writing/forgetting/repeating!
Last edited by jamesnorth on Tue Jul 26, 2016 7:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
James North

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Re: Ska Instrumental Return

Post by coxnvox » Tue Jul 26, 2016 6:41 pm

Sounds like you nailed it to me, James...
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Re: Ska Instrumental Return

Post by jamesnorth » Tue Jul 26, 2016 6:49 pm

coxnvox wrote:Sounds like you nailed it to me, James...
Thanks heaps for taking the time to check it out ...

The more I listen to the examples, the more I realise that mine is actually *slower* than pretty much all of them except one - and in that case it's the same speed as it.

Is this sort of feedback common?
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Re: Ska Instrumental Return "too fast" but slower than refer

Post by coxnvox » Wed Jul 27, 2016 11:51 am

I'd say the typical feedback has mostly helpful info, with a couple "head-scratchers" mixed in. If what you listed was the only comment, I'm guessing it was a "yes/no" listing? Those tend to have more "off the cuff" or "gut-instinct" type of responses, which I generally find to be mostly unhelpful.
Peace!
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Re: Ska Instrumental Return "too fast" but slower than refer

Post by marked » Wed Jul 27, 2016 1:33 pm

Hey James,
I wasn't able to listen to your track. It's showing up as "private" when I go to your link.

I am similarly puzzled about my return for this listing: http://forums.taxi.com/topic135877.html

Mark

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Re: Ska Instrumental Return "too fast" but slower than refer

Post by jamesnorth » Wed Jul 27, 2016 3:44 pm

marked wrote:Hey James,
I wasn't able to listen to your track. It's showing up as "private" when I go to your link.

I am similarly puzzled about my return for this listing: http://forums.taxi.com/topic135877.html

Mark
Hey Mark

Thanks for the reply ... The link should work if it's used in full in a browser - it is a private track but will play with that bit of code at the end - you should still be able to hit play.

Interesting you had the exact same feedback - I'll listen to yours shortly.

Mine is slower than all of them, so either the feedback is not thought out, or the reference tracks are too quick.

I totally get it if there's something else not quite right - but it being too fast when it's slower than the references is odd. I was actually concerned when I entered it that it was too slow - I was worried I couldn't drum much faster and keep accurate time ;)
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Re: Ska Instrumental Return "too fast" but slower than refer

Post by jamesnorth » Wed Jul 27, 2016 4:43 pm

Through the forwards blog I found this great song that was forwarded.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7PYH-wU9qo

It has no horns (which the listing specified) and it's at the half-time or reggae end of ska rather than the punk end of ska in terms of its tempo. Many of the examples were in excess of 200BPM.

I don't care that mine wasn't forwarded at all - I've had a bunch of forwards. It's just really thrown me for when I do sit down to write stuff based on the examples ... exactly how literally are we supposed to take them and the words contained? I've done TV and Film work quite a bit here in Australia and mostly get the ability to see the scenes in question and write for them, so we're relying totally on the listing.

I've had stuff forwarded with Taxi that was way further off the mark - so I'm a bit confused!
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Re: Ska Instrumental Return "too fast" but slower than refer

Post by jadams » Fri Jul 29, 2016 9:05 am

James,

The horns thing is baffling.

This is unfortunately very common in my experience. I've had songs returned for being too slow when I in fact tempo matched my cue to the reference material. (And it wasn't paced in half-time either.)
I just had another cue returned for being too foreboding. I found a member who's song was forwarded for that same listing and his was much darker and foreboding than what I submitted.
I would tend to agree with what Kerry stated.
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Re: Ska Instrumental Return "too fast" but slower than refer

Post by marked » Fri Jul 29, 2016 11:21 am

Hi James,
Finally got around to listening to your track. Sounds good and the tempo is right in the ballpark, so no telling why he/she would reject based on tempo.

Good luck with future listings!

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Re: Ska Instrumental Return "too fast" but slower than refer

Post by jamesnorth » Fri Jul 29, 2016 4:52 pm

coxnvox wrote:I'd say the typical feedback has mostly helpful info, with a couple "head-scratchers" mixed in. If what you listed was the only comment, I'm guessing it was a "yes/no" listing? Those tend to have more "off the cuff" or "gut-instinct" type of responses, which I generally find to be mostly unhelpful.
Peace!
kerry
Thanks Kerry - yeah seems there is a lot of variation :? :D
jadams wrote:James,

The horns thing is baffling.

This is unfortunately very common in my experience. I've had songs returned for being too slow when I in fact tempo matched my cue to the reference material. (And it wasn't paced in half-time either.)
I just had another cue returned for being too foreboding. I found a member who's song was forwarded for that same listing and his was much darker and foreboding than what I submitted.
I would tend to agree with what Kerry stated.
Joel
Thanks for the advice Joel ... yeah I wouldn't have spent the time getting the horns right if I could've gotten away with just guitars/bass/drums :)

Sounds like the feedback can be a bit strange occasionally.
marked wrote:Hi James,
Finally got around to listening to your track. Sounds good and the tempo is right in the ballpark, so no telling why he/she would reject based on tempo.

Good luck with future listings!

Mark
Hey Mark - yep it's really similar in tempo to yours actually.

Thanks man - you too - keep rocking!
James North

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