Contemporary Piano-Based Instrumental

[DooWahDiddy]

Hey guys, how's it going? It's been a while since I've been able to watch TAXI TV or comment on the boards, or even submit a song. But I checked the listings today and came across this one, for a piano instrumental, and thought, "I released a whole CD of piano instrumentals!" So I picked the one I felt fit the best, added some light orchestrations behind the piano track, and submitted it.

I'm not putting this one on Soundcloud, but if you want to hear it, it's on my TAXI page under "Sweet Sorrow (with orchestra)". Interested to see what other people submitted. Good luck!




CONTEMPORARY PIANO-BASED INSTRUMENTALS are needed for several $2,000, Direct-to-Music Supervisor, NON-Exclusive placements in a Modern Day Romance Major Feature Film. They’re looking for Down-to-Mid-Tempo Instrumentals that are stylistically in the general wheelhouse of the following references the client gave to us:

“P.S. I Love you” by John Powell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ArRodE4Vv4

“My Week With Marilyn” by Alexandre Desplat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ6dnTadeyY

“Glasgow Love Theme” by Craig Anderson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZyD7h9WRZM

Please submit emotionally moving Instrumentals that convey an introspective and intimate romantic style, vibe, and feel. A solo piano or piano piece with some simple, tasteful orchestration can easily do the trick for this pitch, as they are NOT looking for anything that’s too grand or overly dynamic. Your performance should have solid musicianship from start to finish, so please avoid anything that sounds stiff, unnatural, or MIDI-driven.

All Instrumentals should be at least 2 minutes in length, but no more than 4 minutes (give or take). Please do NOT copy the referenced music in any way, shape, or form. Use it only as a general guide for tempo, texture, tone, and overall vibe. Broadcast quality is needed (great sounding home recordings are fine).

The estimated license fee for each of these syncs is $2,000, depending on the ultimate placement. These are Direct-to-Music Supervisor placements, so you’ll keep 100% ownership of your Master and Composition rights, plus you’ll also get 100% of the sync fee and any applicable performance royalties. You must own or control your Master and Copyright to pitch for this opportunity. Please submit one to three Instrumentals online or per CD. All submissions will be screened on a Yes/No basis by a TAXI screener handpicked by the Music Supervisor - No full critiques. Submissions must be received no later than 11:59PM (PDT), on Monday, June 5th, 2017. TAXI #Y170605PI

[ecurb]

Hi,

Nice sounding piece! I'm hardly an expert (yet ) but it sounds to me like it's certainly in the general style they've asked for. Your developments in the later half probably meander off from the main theme a bit more than the alas do, and the piano is a bit brighter/less mellow, but still sounds very nice.

I did notice what sounds like a small glitch in the audio at about the 9 seconds mark - thought it might just have been a streaming hiccup at first, but I rechecked a couple of times and it happened in just the same spot.

Anyway, since you asked, tracks I'm lining up for this one are named "Maybe One Day", "Sea Breeze"... and probably also "Isn't She Perfect", though stylistically I think the last one may be more of a long shot. All are on my Taxi page now.

Cheers and good luck
Bruce.

[DooWahDiddy]

Hey Bruce, thanks for listening! I went back and checked that glitch, and sure enough it's there, in the master recording. Oh well; I never noticed it, so hopefully they won't either!

I checked out your songs; sounds great! Actually, the original version of my song was solo piano, too. I only went back and added those light orchestrations after I read the listing description. They said solo piano was fine, but I figured it couldn't hurt... I don't know, maybe consider that too? Good luck!

[Schmomposer]

Hey DooWahDiddy, Your tune won't play for me, so sorry for no response..I checked yours out Bruce, and they all sound great, good luck.

I entered 3 into this listing as well, and for the first time in a while, used a real piano and real mics. I really like using them, and I really dislike using them. There's tons of real piano garbage sounds, but for some reason I ended up with some higher frequency noises that are bothering me and might wreck the opportunity for me as well. They are entitled First Love, Before Sunrise, and Patience if you have a minute to check them out. Would love feedback as well.

https://soundcloud.com/jesse-brown-138/ ... m1/s-WfEx3

https://soundcloud.com/jesse-brown-138/ ... m1/s-eZ4Vj

https://soundcloud.com/jesse-brown-138/ ... m1/s-VmV0y

[ecurb]

Hi guys,

Schmomposer, about DooWahDiddy's tracks not playing from his TAXI page, I had that the other day too. Seemed none were playing in the Chrome browser, including my own, but they worked fine when I tried switching to Firefox... [rechecking] yep, still the same, plays in Firefox for me but not in Chrome.

But... you were able to play mine OK, and I presume without switching browsers. Odd.

Anyway, three really nice and beautifully played pieces there IMHO, I can see why you say it's a love/hate thing with a real piano - sure, there's lots of squeaks and pops (could that high noise be the result of vibration in the mic or lead from the key strikes or something like that?), but man, that natural warm resonance just about makes up for it I think. Can't say whether the screeners will agree, or whether they'll decide any of our respective pieces are quite right for this of course, but I for one really enjoyed listening to them, so thanks for sharing!

Bruce.

[Schmomposer]

Hi All,

DooWahDiddy's song is working for me today, and the orchestration and composition seem great to me. I too hear the hiccup at 9sec. That kind of thing is so frustrating, and who knows how to fix these glitches? All one can do is listen closely in the final mix down phase I guess. Everything seemed to be popping and glitching for me yesterday, no matter what I was listening to, and I did the 15 minute boot up from shut down on my computer this morning and things are purring along finally(touch wood). Did you two use plug ins or digital pianos? If you did, I don't know how particular they are going to be about that sort of thing. I've recorded two solo piano albums that have had great reviews written by folks that specialize in piano music and they go on about how great it sounds, so part of me feels nuts for dropping big dough on a piano mic when so many people just can't tell. I think that I personally disliked my recordings enough to want to hear a change, and I think that the folks that are at the very top of this game aren't using plug ins and I really want to punch one through to the end zone this year and take my game to the next level. I'm not sure that my performances are there with these 3 as I sort of rushed and improvised the project, and the noises are frustrating and confusing to me, but I do think that I'm taking a step in the right direction. I've had numerous forwards from taxi, but no deals as of yet, and perhaps this will make the difference. Perhaps I'm full of shit, too....lol..

Either way, keep at it, and best of luck to both of you. I really enjoyed listening to your work.

I am curious about who you guys like listening to in the solo piano realm? I've been inspired by Chilly Gonzales, Nils Frahm, Dustin O'Halloran type of stuff...

[DooWahDiddy]

Hey there, thanks for listening; I'm glad it was working today! That's actually a real piano, not a sample; I also released an album of piano solos, and that was one of them. When I saw the listing, I thought I could stack the odds by adding light orchestration, so I used EastWest samples to do that. But the album version is piano only.

I actually veered off from piano solos though, and my next album was all vocal. But I thought this fit the listing well, so we'll see! As for influences, I'm more mainstream and listen to Jim Brickman, David Lanz, etc. But mostly Elton John and Billy Joel, haha. Good luck to all who submitted!

[ecurb]

Hi guys,

Samples for me. Using the East West Platinum Pianos Bosendorfer on all of these ones - it's quite an old library now, but I still really like it. I do have an old upright Neer piano (the same one I learnt to play on four or so decades ago), badly in need of a tune-up... I haven't seriously considered trying to record with it. Always was a noisy beast, very squeaky sustain pedal even when well maintained as I recall, and I don't have the mics or acoustic space to make it viable anyway.

Cheers
Bruce.

P.S. About influences - um, I grew up with classical music... can I say Valentina Lisitsa?

[DooWahDiddy]

Just an update on this; I did not get a forward. "Too wistful" was the screener's feedback. Anybody else have any luck?

[ecurb]

Sorry to hear that DooWahDiddy... "too wistful?" OK. Not something I would have guessed. Better luck next time I guess.

I got one of mine through - "Maybe One Day" My feedback for the other two I put forward was that "Sea Breeze" was a bit too slow (fair enough), and "Isn't She Perfect" changed mood too much / sounded too melancholy in the B section (which honestly I don't hear, but I guess I'm a bit too close to be really objective).

Cheers
Bruce.