Feed back welcome for dispatch listing due 12/10

[bigdrisk]

Thanks for the kudos, Cisco. Good luck to all of us on this one. I'm sure we could all use the cash. I just hope a Taxi member gets the gig.Twilsbach, really sorry to hear you didn't get it submitted in time. Hint: If the deadline is bearing down on you, just upload something to reserve the space for yourself and then upload the real thing later on. If they happen to screen your song before you get the fix submitted, you've only lost $5 (and maybe a little embarrassment for whatever it is the screener had to listen to). The way this one panned out, you might have wasted some time that you could have been spending on something more universally pitch-able. But I did that once, too. I just didn't realize the deadline was in the middle of the day and it went right by without me even knowing it. Bummer.Yeah, the plagiarism thing is so subjective. I don't think the problem is with an actual lawsuit. Those are tough to prove. It's just the perceived embarrassment the producer might like to avoid. What I like to do in listening to other songs for inspiration is to just make sure I don't analyze them or get them in my head so much that I can't help but copy them. Just listen enough to be inspired that direction, and then let your own creativity take it from there.

[trentoliphant]

Great song Gary. Even if they don't take it for this listing - It should be able to placed somewhere (that fairly large fee would be nice though - wouldn't it)Trent

[bigdrisk]

Quote:Great song Gary. Even if they don't take it for this listing - It should be able to placed somewhere (that fairly large fee would be nice though - wouldn't it)TrentWell, I think the production is there, but the title is pretty blah and some parts of the verses are rather corny. I mean . . . "Deer and Elk drinking from a stream, a flock of geese come and join the scene"? Give me a break, right? That's where I was trying to touch on the quirky part. Assuming they probalby wouldn't use the whole song anyway, I tried to give them a more serious verse, and then a little bit over-the-top on the 2nd verse just in case that was more fitting for what they are wanting the scene to emulate. But, assuming the title were marketable, I would still want to rewrite that 2nd verse to something a little less "Disney - Snow White in the forest". But thanks for the kudos, Trent. It DID turn out better than I expected when I first started hammering out the idea.All other things being equal, I think "Country Mile" is the TITLE with the most commercial potential in this thread. But this listing doesn't seem to be too concerned with commercial marketability - just a very specific one-time hole to fill.And yes, that large fee makes the effort worth the risk.

[paults]

I'm glad so many people have posted their songs for this listing. Its interesting to hear everyone's approach to this very specific listing. The common lyrical elements , too. My chorus originally had a "fishing hole/tire swing" couplet,too - it mutated into a lake and climbing the tree when I started singing it, in an effort to add some "quirk" factor.Here are my lyrics:Out in the Country (That's the life for me)Copyright Paul ShamellWell I?m going to a placeWhere the sky is big and blueGonna throw away my cell phoneGonna throw away my credit cards tooWhere the trees are straight and tallAnd the streams run free and strongAnd the air is as fresh as morning dewI?ve been away for far too longCHORUS:Out in the countryThat's the life for meDive in the lake with my clothes onThen climbing up an old tall treeWhen you're in the CountryEvery day is like living in a dreamOut in the countryThat's the life for meWhen I get back to that placeThe first thing that I'll do Is put my feet in a puddle of mudAnd wiggle my toes in gooI don't need that city paceI've had enough of traffic jamsI'm going to drive my car until I run out of roadAnd get back to the landChorusBridge:And, no matter where I've gone I've always felt the tug of homeMiles can't take away these memoriesAnd though its been a long, long timeThe country's always on my mind You can take me out of the Country, But you'll never take it out of meChorusChorus repeat Like the other thread states, the game is still on. I didn't get a yes/no email yet. I may even get a chance to re-sing it!

[djdeweese]

A lot of great work here. bigdrisk I think you are top of the heap for production. I agree with twisbach that I could learn a lot from someone with your skills. Kudos. By the way, is that a vocal harmonizer, or are you singing all the vocals in the track?paults I think you came closest to what I imagined when I thought about what the listing said specifically, e.g. "quirky." That word in the description threw me so much I called Taxi for clarification. The woman I spoke to said to aim for something very true to the original, so that's what I did, but when I hear your track I can imagine the TV scene taking place with the characters pretending to be out in the woods in kind of a tongue-in-cheek spoof. I think you have a great shotAfter I saw this listing Friday I spent the whole weekend on it, completing one new track and a re-tooling of an old piece. But after hearing what you guys did I hope I can use those pieces somewhere else, 'cause you edged me out on this one.Country Living on My Mind: http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... rueCountry Time:http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... trueThanks for sharing your efforts. Hopefully it helps us all play up to the level of competition out there.

[bigdrisk]

Quote:bigdrisk I think you are top of the heap for production. I agree with twisbach that I could learn a lot from someone with your skills. Kudos. By the way, is that a vocal harmonizer, or are you singing all the vocals in the track? Just real quick, in answer to your question . . . I sang all the vocal parts. If anyone is interested in the production details, here goes:1) three passes of four parts, copied to other choruses in the same key, except for the last word of the chorus which has varying cut-offs - had to re-sing the last couple of words for each chorus, and then sing the whole thing again from the key-change out.2) 1st set of 4 parts panned down the middle and louder than the others3) 2nd and 3rd set of 4 parts panned hard left and right and brought into the mix just enough to widen the stereo image, but not so much for it to be an obvious multiplication of vocals4) Antares Auto-tune used on all tracks - 1st set tuned to standard 440hz, 2nd set (left) tuned to 439.7hz, 3rd set (right) tuned to 440.3hz. Auto-tune on all background vocals strongly set to the default "choosy" and "fast" response time.5) Once I cut the lead vocal, I eliminated the duplicated lead part in the 1st set of 4 parts so they wouldn't walk all over each other.Takes some time to do, but is worth it in the end. Using vocalizers, chorusing, or doublers just doesn't get the same sound.I'll come back here later and listen to your renditions. Don't have time right this minute. Thanks for the compliments.

[djdeweese]

bigdrisk - Thanks for the info. I've considered Antares Auto-tune, and will look at it more seriously after hearing your smooooth results. On my tracks, you'll hear a mix of live vocals and harmony with a subtle mix of harmonies from a Digitech Vocalist 2, which is really more of a stage/live performance tool than a pristine studio quality sound. For the quick turn-around of this listing, I'm pretty happy with the results.Your overall mix sounds quite balanced too... do you use special software after the original mix and EQ for mastering?

[montster]

Since starting this thread Ive read so many great comments and heard awesome stuff! Sorry for not getting a chance to add input directly to the discussions as they were happening I tried to check out BigD's thing but it would not play from the link to the page.The production clarity of Country Livin' on my Mind was amazing and the content was very appropriate for the listing.The "quircky" thing seems to be they key to make these pieces fit and that which is the "unknown" factor. I went for tempo and content imagery and the simple instrumentation was also something that seemed to support that idea.I followed a great idea regarding submitting something by the deadline to get it in and then reload a finished product after final touches. I was one of the last submissions and figured I had a little time to remix before anyone would actually get around to listening to my submission. I was more confident with the edited upload, thanks for the tips!(By the way there were 80 submissions to this listing mine being the last one posted at 11:30 on 12/10 as I was on the phone to Taxi.)If anyone's interested in hearing the final mix of my submission all comments are still very welcome. Click below! http://www.myspace.com/earthtoneproductionsongsThanks guys and good luck!!Monty

[djdeweese]

hey montster -- wow, you really worked that mix! you came a long way from that first cut. Thanks for starting the thread and following up. By the way, did you find out how many submissions there were on the phone, or is there a way to see online?You are certainly right about the "quirky" thing being the big unknown. Even after I called Taxi for clarification, and she said shoot for something very true to the original, my gut says they want something a little more over the top for comic effect. I wish there was a way to know what song gets selected and see the final production (besides, of course, being selected) to see what direction they went.By the way, I had to re-load BigD's page, and then hit the pause/play button a couple times to get it to work too. The first load it was totally silent. Good luck---

[bigdrisk]

Quote:bigdrisk - Thanks for the info. I've considered Antares Auto-tune, and will look at it more seriously after hearing your smooooth results. On my tracks, you'll hear a mix of live vocals and harmony with a subtle mix of harmonies from a Digitech Vocalist 2, which is really more of a stage/live performance tool than a pristine studio quality sound. For the quick turn-around of this listing, I'm pretty happy with the results.Your overall mix sounds quite balanced too... do you use special software after the original mix and EQ for mastering? I just use the software that comes with Logic Pro. My mastering plug-in process is as follows:1) EQ - roll off everything at the bass end below 35hz, then EQ to taste2) Multicompressor - usually pull up one of the presets that sounds good, then tweak like an EQ3) Broadband (typical) compressor - Limit gain reduction 1 to 5 db. Subtle - not hitting too hard.4) Adaptive Limiter - set out ceiling to -0.1db, adjust scale such that it's limiting from 3 to 5 db, then increase the output to where the high points of the song are pegging the meters pretty good. It's a taste thing from there. Ballads need less compression and limiting to leave some room for dynamics. Up-tempos can usually stand more.djdeweese, I listened to your tunes. I think you have a really good shot with both of those, but if you were going to try to brush it up even more (before they actually screen it), I would increase the level of the lead vocal a little more - maybe .5 or 1 db - just to make sure the words are heard well. Then on the first song I would try to balance the BGVs a little more. They seem heavy left-sided. This can happen when you are adding delay to one side of the vocal mix. There is just an audio phenomenon that happens and makes the left side seem louder, even though it won't look that way on the meter. Your ears just hear that side first and are drawn that way. Then on the 2nd song, the bass seemed right-sided. Not sure if that's true or not, but might be worth a listen. Also, for the sake of the words being heard clearly, you might consider backing off of the reverb a bit on the lead vocal. I know it's reminiscent of the John Denver era, but we have to remember with this placement that the audience only gets ONE CHANCE at hearing and understanding it.