Looking for a bit of an uplift

[Casey H]

I've no musical training, background or any of that, I'm just (objectively I think) good at writing music.

While more formal musical training can be helpful, it is not at all a requirement for success writing songs/cues. Lots of people without that kind of training do very well. I've been writing songs since I was a teen in the early 70s (yes I'm old). I would just go with wherever the chords and melody took me. It wasn't till very recent years that I found out that how chord I threw in was a "Flat 6th" or something or another. Basically, does it sound good? Does it have the structure that is needed? Is it produced well? Etc...

I'll check out your Soundcloud page later. Don't let a bunch of listing returns get you too down. It takes a really good track AND it has to meet sometimes narrow requirements for a listing. Even outside of Taxi, in the library world, I have songs rejected by one library only to be signed and placed by another.

Best,
Casey

[Paulie]

I checked out Bounce on your Soundcloud page... tried to check out some others but became quickly annoyed with the back to back unstoppable 30-second advertisements that made me wait. Didn't know Soundcloud was doing that.

You are going through something that is quite common here. Musical training is awesome, but like Casey said, not necessary to be successful. The best thing you can do is post links to your submissions along with the listing description and the feedback you received. Peer to Peer feedback is quite helpful.

Also ask yourself what your goals are... are you doing this to make money, or just for fun to hopefully hear your music on tv some day? This is a super slow businesses, and doing it for money is not the wisest decision for most people. To me it's about as wise as trying to pursue a professional sports career. The chance of making a living at this is low, for a variety of reasons. Most of the people I've met in the industry do it out of passion and love for music creation plus a desire to earn "extra" income. You can certainly make it your career, but it will take a lot of effort, lots of time, lots of networking, lots of learning, failing, falling, starting over, etc.

The best way to get better at something is to do it more often. Many people here have full time jobs, kids, etc., and finding time to make music is a challenge. But if it is your passion, you will find a way, just make sure you maintain your priorities. If it stops being fun, take a break. Study. Learn from YouTube videos. Browse music library catalogs and listen to the genres that most interest you. Drag a track into your DAW and try to recreate it, spending lots of time focusing on the sounds, the effects, the panning, the levels, the structure. Study your art form and you will get better.

And remember that Taxi is just one of many tools, but a fantastic tool that can help you improve as a writer. Keep your head up and keep sharing here!!!

[davidagates]

I've no musical training, background or any of that, I'm just (objectively I think) good at writing music.

While more formal musical training can be helpful, it is not at all a requirement for success writing songs/cues. Lots of people without that kind of training do very well. I've been writing songs since I was a teen in the early 70s (yes I'm old). I would just go with wherever the chords and melody took me. It wasn't till very recent years that I found out that how chord I threw in was a "Flat 6th" or something or another. Basically, does it sound good? Does it have the structure that is needed? Is it produced well? Etc...

I'll check out your Soundcloud page later. Don't let a bunch of listing returns get you too down. It takes a really good track AND it has to meet sometimes narrow requirements for a listing. Even outside of Taxi, in the library world, I have songs rejected by one library only to be signed and placed by another.

Best,
Casey

That's really gratifying to hear, I love it when I hear from people who have trodden a similar path to me.

[davidagates]

I checked out Bounce on your Soundcloud page... tried to check out some others but became quickly annoyed with the back to back unstoppable 30-second advertisements that made me wait. Didn't know Soundcloud was doing that.

You are going through something that is quite common here. Musical training is awesome, but like Casey said, not necessary to be successful. The best thing you can do is post links to your submissions along with the listing description and the feedback you received. Peer to Peer feedback is quite helpful.

Also ask yourself what your goals are... are you doing this to make money, or just for fun to hopefully hear your music on tv some day? This is a super slow businesses, and doing it for money is not the wisest decision for most people. To me it's about as wise as trying to pursue a professional sports career. The chance of making a living at this is low, for a variety of reasons. Most of the people I've met in the industry do it out of passion and love for music creation plus a desire to earn "extra" income. You can certainly make it your career, but it will take a lot of effort, lots of time, lots of networking, lots of learning, failing, falling, starting over, etc.

The best way to get better at something is to do it more often. Many people here have full time jobs, kids, etc., and finding time to make music is a challenge. But if it is your passion, you will find a way, just make sure you maintain your priorities. If it stops being fun, take a break. Study. Learn from YouTube videos. Browse music library catalogs and listen to the genres that most interest you. Drag a track into your DAW and try to recreate it, spending lots of time focusing on the sounds, the effects, the panning, the levels, the structure. Study your art form and you will get better.

And remember that Taxi is just one of many tools, but a fantastic tool that can help you improve as a writer. Keep your head up and keep sharing here!!!

Thanks so much for your thorough and genuinely helpful response. My goals certainly aren't for short term gain, I want to be able to make a living out of music (eventually), but I know it's a slog and will take quite some time. It's certainly a matter of passion and wanting to do it, rather than seeking riches or fame (can't be doing with the latter, that's for sure).

The idea of dropping a track into my DAW and trying to replicate it is an absolutely genius idea, I can't believe it's never occurred. I've obviously tried using reference tracks, but the replication of something to know how to get those sounds, bang on idea!!

I will keep on, keeping on, thank you for your sage advise. What were your opinions on Bounce incidentally, in the spirit of improving and honing?

[Paulie]

I created a video that shows what I mean by deconstructing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbbcfsQMqZA

[Casey H]

Hey David
The stuff on your Soundcloud page sounds GREAT to me! I think you're well on your way to success with placements. Again, Taxi listings can be a bit narrow focused as specific briefs so even great tracks get returned all the time. As others mentioned, the key to forwards in most cases is modeling (without stealing) the reference tracks. You can get forwards if something in your catalog does match a listing but those who get LOTS of forwards, get really in tune (no pun) with the reference tracks.

To quite my friend mojobone, "Taxi is one arrow in your quiver" which means in addition to submitting to Taxi listings, you should research libraries on your own and pitch. The combo is very effective.

Maybe we could co-write a song!

Best,
Casey

[davidagates]

I created a video that shows what I mean by deconstructing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbbcfsQMqZA

Absolutely brilliant stuff, watching it as we speak and taking diligent notes!

[davidagates]

Hey David
The stuff on your Soundcloud page sounds GREAT to me! I think you're well on your way to success with placements. Again, Taxi listings can be a bit narrow focused as specific briefs so even great tracks get returned all the time. As others mentioned, the key to forwards in most cases is modeling (without stealing) the reference tracks. You can get forwards if something in your catalog does match a listing but those who get LOTS of forwards, get really in tune (no pun) with the reference tracks.

To quite my friend mojobone, "Taxi is one arrow in your quiver" which means in addition to submitting to Taxi listings, you should research libraries on your own and pitch. The combo is very effective.

Maybe we could co-write a song!

Best,
Casey

Thank you so, so much. You've no idea what it means to hear someone, particularly with your talents say something like that. I'm all about the grafting and knowing it'll take time, but it can be disheartening, and having feedback like that one your work is a massive morale boost! I'm going to look into directly approaching library companies as well, I don't really know what to do, and one of the benefits of the Taxi system is that (as I'm autistic) I get a brief and I have parameters, with a library company I wouldn't know where to start. Would you just sent a platter of tracks and say, "this is what I can do, what do you need?"

Also I would absolutely love to co-write a song, it's been nearly 13 years since I co-wrote with anyone, so getting something done with someone else with your skill set would be of huge benefit to me!

Thank you again.