Any word on Cocktail Jazz Compilation?

[Paulie]

Anyone heard back on this listing? Listing due date was May 4, it's been three weeks. I'm a little anxious, went a little crazy and submitted ten tracks... have never done that before.

[mteezykeys]

I submitted ten tracks as well. mostly stuff already in my catalog of unsigned material. Haven't heard anything yet either. Probably just a ton of submissions from all the jazz members waiting on a jazz listing.

[funsongs]

Now you two got me wondering where's Bob Mete's post: "Yeah, me too - what about MY 10 tracks?!"
System overload much? Or folks took an extended holiday?

[funsongs]

duplicate deleted

[Burnzy]

Nice work getting 10 tracks together! I missed the boat on this listing. Good luck!!!

[Paulie]

Brutal... 1 out of 10 forwarded. Here are five of the tracks, the rest are on my profile page as well.

• Shed A Tear - Forwarded.
• Noire Are You - Returned because ride cymbal was too hot.
• A Glance To Remember - Returned because of 20 seconds of silence at the end. There's no silence on the portal, or on the original file on my hard drive. Potral file transfer process did this, I'm asking for reconsideration, screener liked the track.
• Fog Of Love - Returned because trumpet is too hot in the mix.
• Your Hand In Mind - Returned because the piano sounds like two different players, not a single performance. Is a music supervisor really going to not put this under a fancy dinner scene because of that? C'mon man... the cocktail stuff I've had placed is barely audible, I think this one is a little silly.

Sharing to help people understand how closely our music is scrutinized, as well as to relieve a little pressure on my brain.

[funsongs]

Brutal... 1 out of 10 forwarded. Here are five of the tracks, the rest are on my profile page as well.

• Shed A Tear - Forwarded.
• Noire Are You - Returned because ride cymbal was too hot.
• A Glance To Remember - Returned because of 20 seconds of silence at the end. There's no silence on the portal, or on the original file on my hard drive. Potral file transfer process did this, I'm asking for reconsideration, screener liked the track.
• Fog Of Love - Returned because trumpet is too hot in the mix.
• Your Hand In Mind - Returned because the piano sounds like two different players, not a single performance. Is a music supervisor really going to not put this under a fancy dinner scene because of that? C'mon man... the cocktail stuff I've had placed is barely audible, I think this one is a little silly.

Sharing to help people understand how closely our music is scrutinized, as well as to relieve a little pressure on my brain.

While I can agree with your reaction "Brutal" - these old ears agree with the screener on the 'hot trumpet', and '2 pianos' feedback; only because (including the one that got forward),
I would've mixed those two horn tracks with the lead instrument about 2-db lower (I wonder if the spiky graphic influenced his thinking); and the Left/Right stereo piano I would pull closer to the center, to sound as one piano: i.e. left hand/bass at 11:00; and the right hand/treble at 1:00. Seems the hard spread of them could be the culprit that makes it sound like two.
But hey - I'm not a Jazz guy; the compositions sound great for the genre: Cocktail (Lounge) Jazz. Very "double-martini worthy".
(Oh, wait - I don't drink martinis)

PS: hopefully the one that got the forward will get placed and pay well and make up for the ones that got returned - which you can 'fix', and resubmit for another similar listing.
Good luck; hope that helps.

[Paulie]

Thanks Peter. Hopefully the one track will lead to a contact or two and then I can submit the other tracks for consideration as well. Every time I have had a contact after forward when I submitted multiple tracks for the same listing, the library took the returned tracks. This has happened four times since i rejoined.

[Casey H]

Ouch! That stings. Glad you got one through which gives you a chance of getting a deal down the road for that one and then being allowed to submit more. I guess submitting 10 wasn't a bad strategy!

I don't have the expertise to comment on the screener's reasons, all I can say is it was a high bar listing-- can't say if they were being too picky. The good news is, as Graham said, you got screener feedback and more feedback here on the forum that will improve the tracks to pitch elsewhere. Of course, ask 3 producers/reviewers to critique a track and you will get 5 answers. That is, when a track is a solid one that may or may not just need a tweak here and there. The obvious no-go's, are simple.

Old joke: How many music engineers does it take to change a light bulb? 10... One to change it, and 9 to say how they would have done it.

And if you created these tracks because of this listing, the listing did you a huge favor.

Sorry for your disappointment. Best of luck!
Casey

[Paulie]

I'm immediately drawn to the brushed snare because my dodgy ears pick it up as a constant layer of background white (or pink) noise, and distracts me from the rest. Its entirely legit for the style, but I'm just highlighting that other ears like mine (if there are any) might be equally distracted."

Thanks for the great feedback. I struggle with balancing brushes all the time, but I've heard this same feedback more than once I try comparing to various classic jazz recordings and the spectrum varies wildly. Part of the issue is my lack of hearing in general, but especially at the high end. This explains why I often get feedback of snares, hi hats, rides, etc. being too hot. I often check out the Ozone Tonal Balance graphic to make sure things aren't too crispy, but it's an art for sure.