Feedback for Epic Action Trailer

[eandersonmusic]

Hey Taxi fam!
I would love to hear some feedback/suggestions on my submission to this listing.. I still have a few days to make changes, any feedback would be much appreciated!
This is my first post in Peer to Peer, and not sure if I'm attaching links properly.. please bear with me

Here's a link to my Taxi page, the track is called 'Battle to the End'

https://www.taxi.com/members/erikanderson


Here is the Taxi listing:

EPIC, ORCHESTRAL, ACTION TRAILER-Style INSTRUMENTALS are needed by a Music Licensing Company with a large list of placements in Films, TV Commercials, and A-List TV Shows.

Please submit well-produced Trailer-style Instrumentals that will have viewers on the edge of their seats! Your submissions should have three "acts" that build throughout to a climactic ending and feature high-quality Orchestral instrumentation – some synthetic or sound design elements are fine to add as long as the focus of your pieces remains on Orchestral elements. Engaging motifs, top-notch arrangements, and polished production are must-haves for this request. Please be sure that any virtual instruments you use don't sound stiff or obviously MIDI-driven. The more your pieces sound like they're being performed by real musicians playing real instruments, the better.

TAXI Tip: Don't be afraid to layer up your instrumentation to create a huge blockbuster sound! The bigger the better for this type of Instrumental.

Submissions should be about 2 to 2-and-a-half minutes long, give or take, and have non-faded, buttoned/stinger endings. Do NOT copy the references in any way, shape, or form. Use them only as a general guide for tempo, tone, and overall vibe. Broadcast Quality is needed.

Here are the first 2 examples:

[BBvideo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-eFm--k21c[/BBvideo]

[BBvideo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEK5JNvvnis[/BBvideo]

[johndalenow]

I would definitely re-work your first "act" from 1 to 39 sec. Whatever connection there is between the first act and the other two acts is much too obscure. Acts two and three have obvious connections, but the first act doesn't seem to fit at all. The atonality of the first act is also a glaring problem, for my ears anyway. Your engineering ability and ideas, in general, reflect considerable competence and musicality. Best of luck! John Dale

[eandersonmusic]

Thanks John!
I didn't want to give too much away when I posted, I actually wrote this in '2 acts' instead of 3 I didn't even realize it until I got the returned feedback. What a rookie mistake, so I tried to add the 3rd act.. I was going to stick the new section in the middle, but decided to start with the new additional act.
Good call on that, ok so I'll scrap the beginning, and try to squeeze another act in between the existing two.
Damn.. I really hoped no one noticed, but this is why the Forums is so awesome.. we all need people to bounce ideas off and get feedback.
Thanks again John!

[eandersonmusic]

Newly revised version is up in place of the older version posted at the top of this Topic. About to submit it to the listing now!

[superblonde]

This new version sounds much better than the previous. It seems to me that some continual hihat's (or other percussion) throughout the relatively thin & silent middle section would carry through better, i.e. keep the energy going in a subtle way.

It is odd that I dont see this listing on the listings page, what is the id? Unless it is dispatch so I dont see it.

Are you writing a Trailer.. or are you writing "Trailer-Style INSTRUMENTAL". I hear the trailer in your track but I'm not sure I hear 'Instrumental', maybe because of the expansive silence/thin texture you've chosen. I can't say if your choices are right or wrong but they sound more unique.

I dont think you have a tight ending because of the extended fade-out. You do have a button button ending, but... it still feels like too long of a fade before it. Look up some of Steve Barden's tracks and study the endings.

It will be interesting to hear how this particular track fairs.

[eandersonmusic]

Hey superblonde, thanks for the kind words!
It is a Dispatch listing.. I may have edited too much of the listing, will try to include more info next time.
And honestly I'm not sure what the difference is between a Trailer and Trailer style Instrumental, I have noticed that most of the recent Trailer listing have said Trailer style. Maybe I should find out..

[Casey H]

Cool track!! I'm not all that knowledgeable on the details of trailers, just think that this sounds good. The solo piano part in the middle sounds a bit out of place to me like this becomes a different style for a while. Grain of salt, I write songs, not really cues.

The fade is fine. I learned from one of the most successful Taxi members of all time years ago that a fade being a little too long is always preferred to being too short. A little long is desirable for many applications because the music sup can always fade it out on their own sooner. I welcome other comments on that from cue folks.

Casey

[eandersonmusic]

Thanks Casey!
Yeah.. the middle part.. it was hard to get back into the original groove I was in. I think I spent as much time trying to squeeze in another act as I did with the rest of the cue
I know this really isn't the way to compose, but I didn't just want to trash this one.. hopefully won't have to 'fix' another cue in the future