Is this considered Contemparary?? Roadway Horizon

[thokus]

Here's the deal .. I have questions on whats comtemporary and I got some good answers from you guys , BUT I'm still not sure .. Would this one be considered Contemporary?.. And is it Pop, or Rock, or Pop/Rock.. And does it sound ok ? I did the panning hard left and right thing with the guitars and could use some help on if it sounds ok... Thanks for the listen
Its called "Roadway Horizon". http://www.reverbnation.com/play_now/song_7429884
It's and oldie ,resurrected. Submitted to a Rock listing and got the infamouse "Music" Check mark. So I'm thinkin maybe it wasn't Rock enough . Contemporary? Hmm..
Tom

[kitz]

I'm not sure what contemporary means really but I think you got a great tune here. I don't hear anything that bothers me on this. It sounds like a lot of work went in. Nice builds and ebbs and flows. I like it!!

LarryK

[Russell Landwehr]

I visited dictionary.com.

con·tem·po·rar·y
–adjective
1.
2.
3. of the present time; modern:

Roadway Horizon sounds retro to me.

ret·ro
–adjective Informal .
1.
2. of or designating the style of an earlier time

If I were to try to classify Roadway Horizon, I would put it in a 70's/Surfer/Sunglasses-Cop/Rock category (I don't think Taxi has a drop-down for that yet, though.)

I probably didn't weigh in in the "contemporary" topic earlier, so here's my 27 cents:

In a nutshell comtemporary would be whatever is being CURRENTLY created, distributed and broadcast; and then ripped, shared and listened to by the masses. And this would be in any genre from country and rock to pop and hip hop. And the rules for each genre are different (of course.)

I would like to cite an example here on Taxi. This dude Paul ( http://www.taxi.com/paulotten ) in my opinion is an EXCELLENT example of Contemporary Indie Pop/Rock.

Now listening to this guy today it hit me. There are so many factors. The style of the guitar playing; the guitar(s) amp(s); the FX; the chord structure; the keyboard patches; the vocal(s) performance(s); the lyrical phrases; the melodic structure. These are all things that are hard to quantify but they all go together to create THAT style.

Now that being said... I think we as artists/composers have a certain "style" that we are best suited to. Something that is our perfect fit. And I think that while pushing ourselves into other realms may improve us, we ultimately would have our highest impact in a genre that comes naturally to us.

So do what you do best and do it the best that you can and keep watching for an opportunity. I think in this business there is a TON of opportunities for "New Retro" stuff.

Keep On Keeping On.

[2lane]

Hey Tom, when it comes to contemporary, in definition of A&R these days, I'm as lost as a ball in high weed. I really think it means what ever the hell the A&R guys tell you it is. If it really means what's current on the charts, then contemporary is contemptable ! When I started playing guitar way back when, it was always said to find your own style, but these days, no one
wants to risk putting resources into something new. They want tried and true formulas! I miss the days of new guys coming on the scene....and you go....Wow, this is different.
I think the wah wah guitar drags this backwards to the old days, but I personally like it.
On the other hand, your productions have really grown since I was last around. I'm sorry I can't help you more.
Hope you can get better info than mine somewhere
Can I ask you what you use for guitar amplification?
Steve

[Kolstad]

Contemporary is a difficult concept. Think about when Pulp Fiction came out, 70'ies actors, 60'ies-70'ies fashion, 60'ies music, but the plot and the way the movie was put together, made it a postmodern masterpiece, and thus very "contemporary". Retro became pop.

This sounds like something that could've been in Pulp Fiction to me. The surf genre is 60'ies, the wah is 60'ies-70'ies, the space you have in the mix, the type of compression you use smells "vintage", but there's that little thing in there, that they didn't do back then. So it plays with retro vibes, most about it sounds retro and vintage, but there's a few elements in there that reveals it's not. I would consider submitting this to listings asking for surf, retro rock, a la Shaft, 60'ies, Pulp Fiction ect.

Nothing beats listening to reference tracks, Tom. Go to a high end music library, like Extreme Music http://www.extrememusic.com/ or others (find them at the Music Library Report site). Listen to what they choose to publish under the different genres or labels they put on, and use that as a bar for your own work. Pick a genre you realistically think you can nail with the gear you have, or really would like to nail.

If you shoot for the sun, it's likely you'll at least hit the moon.

[thokus]

Man, you guys !!.. Thanks for the great comments and tips
Kitz... Writng and putting down the tracks doesn't take all that long .. the mixxing is what kills me.. probably a week doing that.
Russell. Thanks for the definitions and wisdom .. You're right that retro listings do come up once in a while .. I'll keep writing what I like and put it out there, fingers crossed. Great insight . thanks
Steve... I agree that "Contemptable" is contemporary .. Most the stuff the listing "ala's" I have no desire to try to imitate , maybe thats why I''ll always be a pauper.. Thanks for the comments.. I do all my recording with PH Reason/Record . Theres the Scream 4 guitar amp in there that I like to use. also the RV7000 reverb does some cool stuf.. I Dont do any "outside" recording except when I do acoustic tracks ..so no outside the computer amplification...Although I do use My external Cry Baby wah , and my Vox ToneLab EX piped into the comp. also.
Magne.. Thanks for the advice and comments .. I am Vintage (old guy). So I guess I cant get away from it . But your right ,just adding a few elements that they didnt do back then might do the trick . Fingers crossed, again.

[feaker66]

Tom

Not the "C" word again

When I first joined Taxi I was told that my songs were not "C".

I have now given up and realize that older folks (not you of course) simply can't sound young.

Your song has some neat guitar and sounds that make it fun and very easy listening.

It does not however bring me to a place in time neither old or present. Some do?

Bet I was a big encouraging help aaaayy?

sincerely

Paul

[matto]

What contemporary artist do you think it sounds like Tom? And who were the contemporary artists mentioned as "a la's" in the listing (if any)?

[thokus]

Matto, Thats the rub.. If it doesnt sound like anybody ,is it contemporary? Thers no ala's .. No listing in mind .yet .
Paul.. great help ... Old can be "c" according to some , if you add a touch of something new..

[Casey H]

Hi Tom
A lot of good playing on this track! Like I've been saying on the other thread and matto mentioned here is it's hard to define the "C" word sometimes without some 'a la' acts to reference.

You have good material here for TV background music that some libraries use for lots of shows. What might be a slight issue is I don't feel style consistency throughout the track. It seems to change up that way. I felt southern or country rock at first but then the licks it went into went in some other directions-- more retro or pure rock at times. Maybe pick any act to mimic-- Allman Brothers, Leon Russell, Steve Miller, (more current act?), whomever. Shoot for a track that's a fairly consistent to one. I think that's more important than just trying to make it fit the word "contemporary".

Best of luck!
Casey