Dated Sounds

[RiffKitten]

Hello! My name is Andrew and I've been a member of TAXI now for a few weeks. I've submitted to about a dozen listings, and my return and forward tally are roughly the same. In the case of the returns, I generally agree with the feedback and find it helpful. Really good advice.

I have noticed one 'theme' related to my Trap and Hip Hop instrumentals - most of them have been returned due to dated sounds. I'm a little bit perplexed, as I use modern soft synths like Serum with modern preset packs geared to different genres of current electronic music. Maybe they are a bit too synth-heavy? Or is it the synth sounds themselves? I THINK that the screener was referring to my choice of synth lead sounds, but I'm not sure.

Here is the listing: https://www.taxi.com/listings/S230525MU

Here is my song: https://www.taxi.com/members/Y5pvjOVZR2 ... versus-you

Here is the feedback: https://www.taxi.com/my/submissions/20391269/critique

Now that I listen to it again, it sounds less and less cool than I thought it sounded - I don't really like it at all. But I'm hoping that it can at least be a learning experience. I can't even be that objective at this point, so I hope you guys/girls can help. I totally agree with the screener that it's too busy - I'm just trying to get a handle on the 'dated' part so I can improve my Hip Hop / Trap stuff!

Thanks for any feedback!

[cosmicdolphin]

Good work on getting half your tracks forwarded. Unfortunately none of the links back to Taxi you posted will work for anyone else, it's normally best to paste a copy of the listing and links to ref tracks in your post so there are no hoops for us to jump through.

Without being able to listen to the ref tracks or read the brief I would say your track sounds too synthy and polite ...some of it reminds me more like the sounds I'd expect from an Erasure record than a Trap track. I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with the instruments you are using, it's just down to the way you use them. If you don't listen to much Trap then you might not recognize the signature sounds and how they are made so try watching a Trap tutorial , sometimes you can even find them for the reference tracks if they are popular enough.

Overall I would say Trap is more edgy, dirty, dangerous etc sounding than what you have here and part of your issue will be your sense of musical taste if you don't know the genre and the other part is learning the right production tricks and signature sound.

Mark

[prizzi]

Andrew,

This is more of a comment because I am new to this thing too so not sure how much this helps or anything... But when I listen to Me Vs. You I think it sounds retro (90's almost). I think thats cool so in my mind this could probably work for another listing. Have you thought about that possibility?

Not sure if that helps any but that was my thought. Mark would know more than I but your music caught my attention because I follow up the the forwards forum to measure my returned tracks. So far I haven't had any dramedy forwards yet.

Also congrats on the Smack Talkin' forward! Yeah I have Native Instruments Komplete along with some Spitfire Labs sounds. Your dramedy track sound pallet seems way more spot on than some of my returns have been. Especially using those pizz strings to just outline some of the melodic parts rather than use them as the central focus.

BTW what was the synth sound in the opening chords? Is it layered with some mallet type sounds?

[RiffKitten]

Hi both,

Thank you so much to take the time to listen to my music!

Mark - oops, I completely understand and will remember that for my next post. I definitely hear you and agree with you. I do listen to certain subgenres of Trap for pleasure, but maybe too passively. Sometimes (actually always) the production quality is absolutely astounding, but I squash down my composer brain so I can just chill and enjoy it, if that makes sense. I think watching some production tutorials sounds like a great idea - thanks for the tip. Love your musical descriptions too - I'm definitely hearing the politeness of my track now. I appreciate your advice! I think with more practice and active listening that I might understand the palette of Trap sounds better.

Prizzi,

I'm can totally hear the 90's feel now! I'm glad that you liked the track - fingers crossed that an appropriate listing pops up.

I really appreciate the kind words regarding Smack Talkin'! I was really, really excited when it got forwarded. For the opening chords I used a virtual instrument called Scarred Bells by Infinit Essentials. It's really cheap and I bought it on impulse once. More importantly, it's pretty useful and cool sounding! You basically can balance the respective mix of four layers: Vibraphone, Kalimba, Glockenspiel, and Xylophone - it's a nice overall sound that blends well. For Dramedy stuff, thank you - I've been at it for a while - I composed for a few lightly dramatic plays in college. I enjoyed the experience and learned a lot. I did feel that that was a tricky brief to only have a little bit of pizz, because everything inside me was screaming 'more pizz!'

Andrew

[prizzi]

Thanks for mentioning that plugin. I figured it was some kind of layering going on so that explains it. I have Hybrid Keys for NI Komplete and its great but it takes awhile to make edgy sounds for trap since it has a roll the dice feature where it randomly combines mallet-type percussion. It sounds similar to the the Infinit Essentials plugin.

Trap is so popular and doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon. I often try to refrain from the pizz strings but when used sparingly it screams instant dramedy/urban comedy. It's so easy to reach for the sound but hard hitting drums and a cool riff also go a long way.

With the reference tracks you try to get in the ball park and it's cool to hear everyone's take on what sounds like urban comedy/dramedy. Sync is so interesting because you need to think in the box while trying to think outside the box to make your track stand out.

Write. Submit. Repeat.
-Phil

[Paulie]

Kick and snare are both wrong, and the synth riffs are too busy for current trap. Trap is a very simple thing melodically. As far as the kick goes, it needs to be tighter, shorter, thumper. The snare is the dealbreaker, snares today are crispy, sharp, brittle, usually a combination of a snare and snap or clap. Tons of great snare sounds out there, I strongly encourage folks making beats to check out @Imamusicmogul on YouTube. He does fantastic beat recreation videos and I love his trap sample packs.

[RiffKitten]

Phil,

You're spot on about trying to be creative while writing something inside the box. My 'Riff Kitten' artist project has rewarded me by thinking outside the box - for instance, my most listened to songs on Spotify are the strange ones that I thought would fail! But I'm slowly learning that with sync, the objective is different. I watched part of the new member TAXI video, and found it really interesting that TAXI composers should be solving a problem for the clients. Clients want music that fits and completes the scene with as little hassle as possible - not necessarily looking for the 'Best Composer Ever.' Although I'm sure there are cases where they are looking for that, too.

Thanks Paulie, I appreciate your advice! I will absolutely check out that channel. It's amazing what specific information is out there. Thanks for the tip.

[Paulie]

TV sync supervisors and music editors are NEVER looking for the best composer out there. They are always looking for composers that can create and support the moods of their scenes. It's all about mood, not technique or originality. If you want to be successful in tv sync, you must accept that we are artisans, not artists. We exist to serve our client's needs, we are not here to be discovered as the next great artist, we are not hear to show how much we understand Beethoven or Williams or Zimmer. They ask for something (more often than not they ask without providing enough good guidance), and we deliver it.

[RiffKitten]

Thanks Paulie,

That's good advice. If I'm being completely honest, I probably still needed to hear that!