"Dark" TECHNO/ELECTRONICA/DANCE

[trentoliphant]

I've got a couple of songs that I could try to rework for the following listing."Dark" TECHNO/ELECTRONICA/DANCE INSTRUMENTALS (no vocals) in the range of New Order, Daft Punk, Depeche Mode, Propellerheads, the Prodigy, Babble, Book of Love, etc. are needed by the President of a Los Angeles-based Publishing/Management Company for a current cable TV series he's pitching songs to. Great performances are essential. His deal is very simple - he splits the license fee with you 40/60 [that 60% is for you] and he doesn't take any publishing. The company's president will screen the submissions. Broadcast quality needed [excellent home recordings are OK]. Please submit one to three songs online or per CD.Here are the songs (both under 1:00)Dormodicahttp://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_id=5995 ... uePiercing Eyeshttp://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_id=5995 ... m=trueI've already had Piercing Eyes returned twice for other Electronica listings, I'm not sure if it was a target issue or production issue. (Probably both).Would either of these two be worth trying to fix up for this listing, and if so, any ideas on how to improve them?One of my concerns is on-targetness (I'm still trying to figure out the commonalities between all of the examples). And the other is production value (I guess that would pretty much sum up every listing right?).Even if they aren't quite on target for this listing, I would appreciate comments on how to improve them for other listings.Thanks,Trent

[zircon]

Hey man, I submitted to this too.Dormodica: I think this is below the bar for this listing in terms of production & songwriting. The use of a woodwind lead and what sounds like brass arpeggios/chords just doesn't make sense in the electronica/techno genre. If you listen to an average Prodigy song you will hear an instrumentation that is MUCH heavier on the synths. More distortion, more squelchy stuff, faster sequenced patterns. Also, you're moving around a bit too much with the melody and bass. Think simple hooks & riffs that can be repeated with variations in the timbre of the sounds. Think more like this;http://soundtempest.net/Example4.mp3This is a famous Prodigy song, "Smack My Bitch Up". I couldn't tell you exactly what they are looking for in this listing, but this track is a classic and Prodigy's most famous song; plus it's dark. Piercing Eyes: Again I think the sounds need to be edgier. You also need to focus more on the groove. Take out all the bass drum hits except the beat. Really pump them up w/ compression and bring in a nice thick clap on beats 2 and 4. Open hihats would help too. Layer your current bass with a mean, biting acid synth bass. If you did all that you would be on your way to sounding more like Daft Punk. Here's an example of what they might have had in mind, "Robot Rock" by D.P.-www.soundtempest.net/Example6.mp3(Just imagine it without the vocoded vocals)Keep in mind that for electronica, the production value is VERY important... musically you can have something pretty much vapid, with just a few synth squelches and a 'four-on-the-floor' beat yet still resonate with people IF it is really produced well.Anyway, hope that helped, while this style is my specialty the disclaimer here is that I don't know what the screeners (or the client) are thinking. If you're curious, here's one of the songs I submitted."Mindbender" - http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... &stream=1I also submitted "Depth Charge", which is definitely darker, but probably a bit too fast for the listing.http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... 8&stream=1

[trentoliphant]

Thanks for your input, I'll take some time tonight and rework one of them. Based on your ideas Piercing Eyes might be the better one for me to focus on for now.I knew I needed to upgrade the production on them, I just wasn't sure where to start. I've actually taken a look at your site and read through the tutorials there. Thanks for all that information.I wasn't able to listen to your songs - I got this error "Windows Media Player cannot play the file. The Player might not support the file type or might not support the codec that was used to compress the file."Thanks for your helpTrent

[zircon]

No prob, please let me know if you have any questions on any of the tutorials on my site... I'd be happy to clarify and/or expand on any of the info there. I could really talk about this stuff all day. I'm kind of a geek. Here's a direct MP3 link to Mindbender, sorry those Taximusic links didn't work. Really don't like that site.http://www.soundtempest.net/Mindbender.mp3

[trentoliphant]

Wow, what a great track.I also listened to a bunch of the tracks on your site - you do some great work.I think I'm starting to hear what I need to do on this track.I have been so focused on getting good samples for my other tracks that I haven't really been focusing on synths too much and playing around with them. I think I'll have to do that.Trent

[daniel481]

Here's what I've been working on for this one. What do you guys think?"Joy Order"http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... trueThanks in advance!Dan

[trentoliphant]

Here is a remix of Piercing Eyes. I did what zircon suggested (at least what I interpreted ). Any other comments?http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... =trueTrent

[trentoliphant]

MichaelWhy won't you be submitting Ordered Pair? It's great. Trent

[zircon]

trent; I think what you have now is definitely closer. For some reason, the stream is rather lo-fi, so it's hard to really tell how the production value is, but I feel like it's a good improvement at least. If you care to refine this further, here are some other suggestions;* Replace the kick with a drum machine kick. It sounds like you have more of an acoustic bass drum now, but you want something more synthetic, more of a deep 'thud' then an airy hit of felt against plastic. A TR707, TR808, or TR909 bass drum hit would all be good places to start.* Likewise for the other parts of the kit, in general, go with synthetic when you can...* Add some other kind of overlayed drum pattern with the lows cut out, just to increase the energy of the drums in general. Maybe just add some other kind of 16th note pattern, synth or otherwise, like a simple octave arpeggio. It will help keep the energy up.

[daniel481]

Hey zircon, just curious if you got a chance to listen to listen to my track, as well...I submitted but I'm curious to see what you think!