Help! EDM/Electronic Production

[SawtoothPorter]

I thought I had a solid track (with texture and drama) but the listener at Taxi did not. I would love some firm tips about how I can improve this song.

Moody, Atmospheric INDIE DARK POP SONGS with Female Vocals are needed by a globally distributed Production Music Library with an awesome, 20-year history of great TV and Film placements. They’re looking for Down-to-Mid-Tempo Songs that could generally fit in the stylistic wheelhouse of these references the company gave us: “Killer Shangri-Lah” by PSHYCOTIC BEATS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFi5HbEy3iY “I Can't Help Myself” by Phil Kieran: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeFeoSFobA8 Give them well-crafted Songs with melancholy lyrics and dark-ish, moody vibe and style, overall. Your production and arrangement can vary, but should be somewhat in the ballpark of the references above. Having a cool, “indie” style vocal performance that’s really compelling (in the context of this unusual genre) could propel you to the top of the list for this pitch! Lyric themes can vary, but they should be something you’d typically hear on the darker side of the Electronic Indie Pop genre. Universal lyrics that avoid references to specific names, places, dates, times, brands, and profanity could have an edge, but we don’t think they’re critically important for this request. Do NOT copy the referenced artist or songs in any way, shape, or form. Use them only as a guide for tempo, texture, and tone. Broadcast Quality is needed (great sounding home recordings are fine). This company offers an EXCLUSIVE deal. You’ll split all upfront sync fees 50/50. You’ll keep 100% of the Writer’s share and the Publisher will get 100% of the Publisher’s share. You must own or control your Master and Copyright. Since this is an EXCLUSIVE deal, please be sure the material you submit for this pitch is NOT already signed with any other Libraries or Catalogs. Please submit as many Songs as you’d like online or per CD. All submissions will be screened on a Yes/No basis – Short critiques only. Submissions must be received no later than 11:59PM (PDT) on Wednesday, March 21st, 2018. TAXI #Y180321MA

I like the sound of the female vocals, but wish the production was stronger with more drama and textures. The drum sounds could use more power and passion to help create more lasting impact.

The Screener checked instrumental performance and music on reasons.

Link to song:https://soundcloud.com/sawtoothporter/background-2

Thanks!

[VanderBoegh]

Hey Sawtooth, thanks for posting and letting us have a chance to hear and read the screener's comments.

I'll have to agree with the screener on this one. The female vocal is pretty cool (although there are some pitch issues around the 1:00 mark), but the musical track behind the vocal sounds pretty weak and flimsy. If you listen to your track, then dial up that "I Can't Help Myself track and compare the two, you'll see that yours doesn't have the depth in the mix (in other words, you don't fill up the frequency spectrum as much as the ref track), nor does your song have the volume to make it sound competitive with the references. Just some general volume increases across the board may help, but so might choosing different bass and drum sounds.

One last thing, your song ends with a fade-out, which is usually a death-sentence for any music you pitch to a music library. You'll definitely want to go back and compose a definitive ending for this track, because no matter how good you get it sounding sonically, that ending would still be a deal-breaker.

Hope that helps!

~~Matt

[SawtoothPorter]

Such great feedback! Thanks! I am pretty new to making electronic music (2-3 months in) so any feedback helps.

[SawtoothPorter]

Would you mind giving this remix a listen? I want to make sure I am going in the right direction.

https://soundcloud.com/sawtoothporter/background-remix

[lesmac]

Listened to your remix. Nice and nearly there.

It seems to be floating at the moment without a bass line. I think there are some long notes in there that are trying to be bass but they are coming across very feint. I'd add some distortion or layer something with some grit to help it come through. Either something like that or add a new bass line altogether. There are some very distorted synth basses with lots of layers in electronic music. The bass has gotten bigger in the last 3 or 4 years.

Yours is a great track and you'll get it there by referencing contemporary tracks as Matt mentioned above.

[SawtoothPorter]

Anyone interested in what this track ended up sounding like with a bassline the link is below:

https://soundcloud.com/sawtoothporter/background

[lesmac]

by SawtoothPorter » Tue Apr 03, 2018 3:59 am
Anyone interested in what this track ended up sounding like with a bassline the link is below:

Just listening on my laptop with headphones I don't think what you have done has helped the track. Now all I can hear is a big boring bass pad and not much else. You brought out the bass but its not helping. I would try and put a melodic bass line in that has changes, drops out in places and has some dynamics.

If you are going to stick with what you have it needs to be dialled back at least.

[SawtoothPorter]

Well cheese and crackers! As soon as you pointed that out that bass sounded like a square wave fart with a flange on it!!!!

I am going to take some time to actually compose a bass part Les. I will post a new version when I think it is good.

Thanks so much for your honest feedback.