Melancholy Solo Instrumentals Return

[drseanjackson]

Hi All,

So I received a return for a piano instrumental that I submitted, "Low Point". I am judging from the review that the problem was mainly regarding the mixing/production side and not the actual musical content:

"One thing I've noticed while screening material for this pitch is, Sean, is how many good pianists there are on TAXI, and you are no exception. Another unfortunate common denominator is the underwhelming quality of the recordings. I'm sorry to say that this offering is no exception there either. because I know what it's like to be on the mixing stage for a film, I must hold the recording bar very high for this pitch. When going solo, everything is exposed. It can be a home recording but it has to be top notch to compete."

I totally agree that it has to be top notch to compete but I don't have much to go on with this review to figure out how I may improve on this mix.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Sean
PS Having trouble uploading to my Soundcloud account so please look for "Low Point" on my Taxi page if you get a chance.
PPS This was for the following listing:

U151116SP
MELANCHOLY, SOLO PIANO INSTRUMENTAL CUES are needed by a UK-based Production Music Library with lots and lots of great TV and Film placements. They want to grow their catalog of somber, Down-to-Mid-Tempo Instrumental Cues in the general stylistic wheelhouse of Vadim Kiselev, Isaac Shepard, Sebastian Larsson, etc., etc., etc. Please review the following references to get you in the vibe of what they need: “Melancholic Piano” by Vadim Kiselev: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urYz8mNtSm8 “Letting Go” by Isaac Shepard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcc0BWe5SDA “Into The Dark” by Sebastian Larsson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19L9Z11D3K8 Please submit emotionally engaging cues that translate emotional melodic lines in a minimalistic, yet emotionally compelling way. Base your cue around a central melodic theme and don’t include any “scene changes” within your piece. Stick to one idea for this pitch! Submissions should sound like a real acoustic piano, NOT a synthetic, stiff, or MIDI driven performance. All submissions should be at least 2 minutes in length with easy edit points (if possible) and natural, non-faded, buttoned endings. Do NOT copy or rip off the referenced artist in any way, shape, or form. Use them only as a guide for tempo, texture, tone, and vibe. Broadcast Quality is needed (Great Sounding Home recordings are fine). This company offers an EXCLUSIVE 50/50 deal on performance royalties, and an 80/20 split in the Writer’s favor for any applicable download fees by clients from their Library! Please be sure the material you submit for this pitch is NOT already signed with any other Libraries or Catalogs. You’ll get 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 to submit. Please submit one to three Instrumental Cues online or per CD. All submissions will be screened and critiqued by TAXI and must be received no later than 11:59PM (PDT), on Monday, November 16th, 2015. TAXI #U151116SP

[marked]

Hi Sean,
Beautiful piece of music. I think you captured the mood and vibe really well. Apparently the quality of recording is key to this particular listing. I felt the quality of your recording seemed pretty close to the examples used in the listings. I got a return on both of my submissions for this listing for quality reasons also.

My screener (#385) quoted:
Hi Mark. The listing asks for an authentic and real piano sound, whereas the dry and flat recording make this sound artificial. The characteristics of air, high-end and tone are all missing from your recording. A well-mic'd and recorded acoustic piano is optimum for this type of exposed solo performance, but there are some top-end sampled pianos that can be made sound convincing. Again, the listing is looking for a convincing piano sound. Sorry.


The screener is right in pointing out that a well-mic'd acoustic piano is optimum. Sadly, I don't have it in my budget right now to buy better piano samples or book studio time. I used Logic Pro X's Steinway Grand Piano samples (triggered from a Yamaha MM8 keyboard), which I think are pretty good, but apparently not good enough or right for this cue (or the screener's sonic taste). I would have liked to have some feedback on the vibe, mood, and performance, and not just dryness or artificial sound of the piano samples.

Hey, at least your screener inferred that you're one of the many good pianists on TAXI, to which I would agree.

My submissions for this listing are on my TAXI page: "Secrets" and "Winter Wood" if you care to take a listen.

Thanks.
Mark

[Bilium]

Hi Sean,

I listened to your work before I listened to the referenced material . As I was listening to yours I thought that if it were slower, or more sparse, it would invoke more melancholy. listening to the referenced piece I suspect I am right - Although your song is a nice piece of music, it is a little too fast and structured, in my opinion, to invoke the solemnity of melancholy.

Great work - good luck

(this is my first post - I hope I am doing this right )

[daveydad]

Interesting... as one who got 2 forwards I thought this was a very nice piece, although in places it does veer away from melancholy and feels more hopeful. I noticed you also ended it on a major chord... maybe that hurt too. Recording-wise... it does sound a little bit distant to me. Was this a real piano? Tough call. I wonder how many submissions they got for this one. If you'd like to hear my tracks, Long Forgotten and Silence Speaks are on my Taxi page.

[drseanjackson]

Thank you so much for your responses everyone. I actually wondered about the major chord at the end as well David...I think you're right that it may have hurt indeed. I was using EWQL Pianos Gold Steinway D sample for the recording. I think my main concern with the review was that it seemed to suggest that the production quality was not on par which is my bigger challenge here. Your recommendations (thanks Bilium) regarding more sparse, slower and less structured are all things I could easily improve on but the mixing/mastering process has been my challenge...it is usually the reason for my returns which is pretty frustrating.

Thank you for mentioning your listings, Mark and David. I am going to have a listen so thank you in advance for the inspiration.

Really appreciate the feedback.

Sean

[HenriettaAtkin]

Sean,

I agree with everyone that "Low Point" is a beautiful piece of music. There seemed to be a bit too much reverb for my taste, but that is just me.

Henrietta

[ComposerLDG]

Hi Sean, beautiful piano piece. I wonder if the piano sounded a little warmer if it would have helped. Steinway D is usually a pretty bright sound, more for projecting than for emotion/heartstrings. On these kinds of listings I tend to use a warmer sounding piano or try to eq the Steinway sound to make it a bit darker. Wonder if that would have helped?

I had a forward for this one too, if you'd like to have a listen for comparison. It's on my Soundcloud at https://soundcloud.com/ldigiorgi/goodbye

You sure can play! Really nice piece, and very impressive that you attended Julliard. Hope my humble .02 helped. Good luck with future submissions.

-Loren

[edmondredd]

Hello,
I recently joined Taxi- about a month ago- because of this listing.
And I got a return because of some pedal noises.
I went to the forum to see if they were any help on this and found this thread.. Can't express how happy I was to find out about you guys..
Sean, your submission is awesome.. I agree with ComposerLDG about the sound of the piano being to bright, and a bit distant but I like the tune so much
I also had the chance to listen to Mark's piece too, and will probably have a listening to all the pieces listed in here and in another thread I discovered about the forwards..
This forum is overwhelming, I just don't know where to start from

I submitted Lassitude, available on my Taxi page (still don't know if this is linked to my page or not).. Would love to hear your feedback too..

[drseanjackson]

You all are awesome! It is great to experience first hand why Michael L encourages members to use the forum. I really appreciate the feedback Herietta, Loren and Edmond. I feel confident to be able to shape this track into what I originally intended.
Edmond, not quite sure how to get to your Taxi page. Could you post the link? Looking forward to hearing your work.

Thanks again.

Sean

[edmondredd]

Edmond, not quite sure how to get to your Taxi page. Could you post the link? Looking forward to hearing your work.

Didn't mean to hijack the thread but here it is: http://www.taxi.com/edmondredd