Lend me your ears...

[guest4254]

I'm looking to submit this tune for the Driving, Riff-Driven Rock Instrumental Cue. Do you think this tune might work? Listing S240229VG
Thanks in advance for your input...I'd love to hear any suggestions about the cue itself and the production.

Harry

https://www.taxi.com/members/ex2VQWBFTc ... nemy-lines

DRIVING, RIFF-DRIVEN ROCK INSTRUMENTAL CUES are needed by a very successful boutique Music Library that's distributed by Universal for placements in Sports and Action Programming.

This is a catalog you want to be in! Please listen to the following examples the company's CEO gave us to get yourself in the stylistic ballpark of what they need:

Instrumental Examples

Quoting the Library: "We're looking for high-energy Rock for Sports programming and Action with a confident, a**-kicking attitude and mood. Drums need to be kicking and the general production value needs to be top-notch. Focus on Drum, Bass, and Guitar and avoid synthetic instrumentation. Also, no "lead guitar" melodies, solos or the like: It's much more about having a great riff."

Please submit Rock Instrumental Cues with tons of blood-pumping energy that could work well for a Sports broadcast or highlight reel! Your submissions should have catchy, riff-driven melodies, rockin' grooves, and confident, dynamic arrangements with forward motion while keeping it simple. We know it's difficult to refrain, but this is NOT the opportunity to showcase your guitar solo skills! Rock instrumentation that's in the general stylistic wheelhouse of the references will work best (guitar, bass, drums, etc.) Please be sure that any virtual instruments or samples you use are high-quality and realistic-sounding.

TIPS FROM THE LIBRARY TO HELP YOU NAIL THIS PITCH: "Many composers throw in way too many ideas and are not focused on ONE CENTRAL MOTIF: they try to keep things interesting by adding new harmonic lines and elements (melodies, even improvisations, etc) instead of focusing on the production and textures. What I'm looking for is basically: obvious production music (in form and structure), that sounds like commercial music (production style)." Put simply, keep it SIMPLE! We know that other Libraries like to receive music with complementary A and B sections, but this Library is NOT one of them – stick with ONE CENTRAL MOTIF per submission, please!

All submissions should be about 2 minutes long, give or take. Good edit points and non-faded, buttoned/stinger endings are required. Do NOT copy the references in any way, shape, or form. Use them only as a general guide for tempo, tone, texture, and overall vibe. Broadcast Quality is needed.

NOTE: This company has a strong preference for composers who understand music licensing companies and how typical music library deals are structured. If that's not you, they politely ask that you don't submit to this request. If you're an experienced producer who can deliver the goods in this genre, they're especially interested in hearing what you can do!

This Music Library offers an EXCLUSIVE deal with a cool twist. You’ll keep 50% of all gross income generated by your music, plus you’ll get 100% of the Writer’s share income generated by your PRO. In other words, if the company licenses your music under a blanket deal, you’ll get income. If they license it for a YouTube video, you’ll get income. Not all music libraries pay you for things like that! The Publisher will get 100% of the Publisher’s share.

Because this is an Exclusive deal, the music you submit for this pitch cannot already be signed with other Libraries or Publishers. You must own or control 100% of your Masters and Copyright. Please send as many Instrumental Cues as you’d like, online or per CD. All submissions will be screened and critiqued by TAXI. Submissions must be received no later than 11:59 PM (PST) on Thursday, February 29th, 2024. TAXI # S240229VG

[cosmicdolphin]

Hard to say exactly as you didn't post the links to the refs but I think the main issue is it's too repetitive. Once you played the same thing for 4 bars you need to change something , add another layer or as it suggests new harmonic lines.

In fact , even doing the exact same thing for 4 bars is probably too much - because really that's 4 x 1 bar. It's more normal to change something in the 4th bar to break the pattern up and have it lead us back to the main riff again.

But if I skip through the track the only main change I can hear is an extra cowbell towards the end. Other than that it does the same thing a lot and it's not enough to hold our interest.

The other thing I hear is I don't think some of the timing is tight enough, it's not super bad but it just feels a bit off to me. You should be able to tighten it up with whatever tools you have in your DAW though.

Mark

[guest4254]

Hard to say exactly as you didn't post the links to the refs but I think the main issue is it's too repetitive. Once you played the same thing for 4 bars you need to change something , add another layer or as it suggests new harmonic lines.

In fact , even doing the exact same thing for 4 bars is probably too much - because really that's 4 x 1 bar. It's more normal to change something in the 4th bar to break the pattern up and have it lead us back to the main riff again.

But if I skip through the track the only main change I can hear is an extra cowbell towards the end. Other than that it does the same thing a lot and it's not enough to hold our interest.

The other thing I hear is I don't think some of the timing is tight enough, it's not super bad but it just feels a bit off to me. You should be able to tighten it up with whatever tools you have in your DAW though.

Mark

Yeah, I should've included a link with the examples, which are here:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/jccb061y ... i&e=2&dl=0

I was on the fence about adding more as the song progressed, but I didn't hear much movement during the repetitive parts in the examples. I even put a copy of both examples on separate tracks in my DAW just to go back and forth. They seemed pretty explicit about "keep it simple" and no lead instruments, just guitar, bass & drums, so that's what I did...now you have me re-thinking....maybe an extra power chord here or there....

I also do hear a few areas that aren't quite tight enough, so I'll go back and fix that....appreciate you noticing and telling me. A set of fresh ears is soooo helpful!

[guest4254]

OH, and what about the overall sonic production?

[cosmicdolphin]

OH, and what about the overall sonic production?

Compared to the ref tracks the drums need beefing up too, they sound a bit lightweight compared to theirs. It might be that you need a different darker kit sound or need to layer it with something a bit heavier sounding.

Here is a post with a little tip sheet on avoiding repetition which might give a few ideas on how to break up the cue a little more

topic146048.html

[guest4254]

Great suggestions for battling repetitiveness... Of course for my track I'm pretty much held to using a possible extra guitar here and there, and percussion, but I should be able to make it more interesting.
Making the drums thicker will take a bit of searching...Using EZ Drummer 3 and the Drumkit from Hell Metal Kick, and tuning down the snare and kick a bit were as deep as I could get them to sound without sounding blah.
Will try a few other things...

Again, thanks for the all the advice. I will be giving you tunes some listening later tonite.

Harry

[cosmicdolphin]

Using EZ Drummer 3 and the Drumkit from Hell Metal Kick, and tuning down the snare and kick a bit were as deep as I could get them to sound without sounding blah.

EZdrummer normally sounds fine. MIght be more of an EQ thing then ? They sound thin for some reason. Some NYC compression migt also help.

[guest4254]

Compared to the 2 reference tracks the drums do sound thin. I tried a little saturation on the kick and some eq on both, but need to re-listen with clean ears.

Gonna tighten things up tonight and I have some ideas on enhancing the tracks with some of the ideas suggested in your post, that I'll get to by Tuesday (long work day tomorrow)

Hopefully I can put it all together by Thursday when the track listing is due...

[cosmicdolphin]

This might help

https://www.productionmusiclive.com/blo ... 20midrange.

[AlonMarcus]

Like cosmicdolphin, I thought there was too much repetition. This is the initial reaction that immediately jumps out.
When I listened to one of the references, I noticed that their riff varies throughout its four bars. It is composed of two bars and two more, each with a slightly different melodic tail. This is already a starting point that creates more diversity.
Additionally, I think the drums sound too MIDI, or not lively enough, for whatever reason.
But I must say, the riff is catchy; I couldn't stop singing it after I heard your track.