My very first submission...

[kevinmathie]

Well, I finally did it. Even though I've been a member of Taxi for a little while now, I've finally gotten around to submitting something -- and even joining this board. You know this Month's message by Michael Laskow found on Broadjam's pages that includes this quote? Quote:"Sometimes I get stuck in a cycle of Analysis Paralysis. I keep "thinking" about what I need to do, and that prevents me from moving forward with the "doing" part. Sound familiar?"He was describing me to a "T"! So, I finally got off my butt, finished an instrumental cue that I started working on months ago, and submitted it to one of the listings that was looking for orchestral instrumentals.But, here's the thing. There's another listing that my track would be appropriate for that has a deadline of September 26th. So, I thought I'd start getting some feedback on it right away so that I'd have time to make any necessary changes before that date.Both listings are for music libraries. Not only am I looking for any general impressions you may have, but specifically I'd like to know how this track stacks up to cues that are included in good music libraries that specialize in film/television. Is it the right style? The right length? Format? Is the quality good enough to compete on quality libraries both in terms of composition and in terms of engineering (I don't consider myself much of an engineer, but primarily a musician)? Also, what about the title? My track has a Schindler's List feel to it, so I've named it "Life's List" (which was a friend's suggestion). Originally I had given it a less descriptive title.I hope it's OK to link to my Broadjam page. If it is, here is the link: http://www.broadjam.com/kevinmathie. "Life's List" is the only composition on there.I have so many questions. And since I'm pretty inexperienced in this particular aspect of the music industry, I feel very unsure of myself even though I'm only taking baby steps.Thanks in advance!Kevin

[davewalton]

(Dave with a rolled up newspaper applied to Kevin's head): Smack, smack, smack... Why did you wait so long? Holy Louise, you're going to have no problems here in my humble opinion. WOW! That is one FINE composition. Please tell me that the solo instrument player is a real person. If you tell me the solo instrument is a sampled computer mock-up, I'm going to either (a) quit or (b) buy a plane ticket to Utah to see how you're doing that. I very much relate to your delema in that it's hard to really know how we fare against the world when we're limited only the the exposure of our small surroundings. I think that's one of the underrated benefits of Taxi is that is exposes us to the "real world" and gives us a good idea of where we really stand in terms of how marketable we are to the "industry", whatever your particular goals happen to be.Anyway, I don't know what listing you sent this in for. If the listing is even remotely related to the style of this track, I'd say it's a no-brainer. If the bar was higher than this, I'd never get anything forwarded. Outstanding.DavePS - In the outside chance that this doesn't get forwarded, it's because you somehow misinterpreted the listing. If that happens, post the listing and someone can comment on what the listing was really looking for. Interpreting the listings can sometimes be an art in and of itself, but any rejection of this track has nothing to do with the music.

[kevinmathie]

LOL! A guitar-player friend of mine would probably add his rolled up newspaper to yours! He's always telling me, "You have to start focusing!" And he's absolutely right. I get too distracted and end up doing urgent things at the expense of important things.Thank you for your very kind words. I think it's just as important to know what works as well as what may not work, so I'm happy to know that this composition "works". Actually, that's an understatement. I'm very relieved, since I have a tendency to second-guess myself a lot.And, yes, the violinist is a real, live person. Her name is Linda, and I hire her as often as I can for the pit orchestra I conduct at a Salt Lake City theatre. She's fabulous -- an incredible sight-reader, wonderful musician, and to top it off, a really nice person to work with.In fact, while I was composing the piece, I was using some lame violin sample from an old keyboard as a mock-up -- not even a decent sample from a current music library. It was really bad. I found myself thinking that I ought to rewrite certain passages because I hated the way they sounded, but stopped myself because I wondered how much of my discouragement was from the sample and how much was from the composition itself.Needless to say, I let Linda play through it one day, and she breathed so much life into the melody that I knew I couldn't record it with a computer mock-up. Sometimes, synth instruments just won't do the job.I've got my sights on the Vienna Symphonic Library, though, so maybe that will help a little. However, I can't imagine that even VSL could replace a talented soloist playing with true emotion.Anyway, thanks again for taking the time to check out my composition and posting some feedback on it!

[matto]

Boy...Kevin you better have a DAMN good excuse for not finishing this any sooner... Seriously, this is a great piece, made even better by the marvellous violin playing. This type of piece WILL get used by music libraries, I can pretty much guarantee you that.Since you're asking about the engineering: The violin is a tad hot, I'd lower it by perhaps 2-3 db's. Since the playing is so wonderful it's not a "problem" per se but it would help, an here is why: music library applications are almost always background music applications, so you want to check your mixes at a very low level and make sure all the important parts are still audible, and nothing sticks out too much...also keep in mind that a violin is in a similar register too human speech, so if it's too loud in the mix that could present a problem when the piece is used under dialog.The solo voice is a beautiful touch, but it's a bit shaky, it would benefit from one or two doubled unison parts mixed in at a much lower level to give it just a bit more fullness and confidence, without sounding like it's more than one person.Other than that this is broadcast ready. Length and format are good, no problem there.Congratulations on writing such a beautiful piece, and good luck to you...now go write a hundred more .matto

[kevinmathie]

Quote:...This type of piece WILL get used by music libraries, I can pretty much guarantee you that.Wow. I sure hope so! It'd be such a trip to turn on the TV sometime and hear this piece being used for something! Quote:Since you're asking about the engineering: The violin is a tad hot, I'd lower it by perhaps 2-3 db's. Since the playing is so wonderful it's not a "problem" per se but it would help, an here is why: music library applications are almost always background music applications, so you want to check your mixes at a very low level and make sure all the important parts are still audible, and nothing sticks out too much...also keep in mind that a violin is in a similar register too human speech, so if it's too loud in the mix that could present a problem when the piece is used under dialog.The solo voice is a beautiful touch, but it's a bit shaky, it would benefit from one or two doubled unison parts mixed in at a much lower level to give it just a bit more fullness and confidence, without sounding like it's more than one person.That is excellent advice! I'll definitely do both of those things. I never really thought of the violin volume from an underscoring perspective, and what you said makes perfect sense to me. Thank you for calling attention to it. I think my other problem is that I got wrapped up enjoying the violinist's performance, and that probably skewed my perception. And, I totally agree with you on the vocal pitch thing. It's been bugging me. I know it's something that could possibly kill a submission, but I just didn't have time to fix it before this deadline. I plan on fixing it for the Sept 26th deadline, though.My problem is that I have one of these new Intel Macs, and my Antares Auto-Tune plug-in isn't Intel-ready yet -- like so many other software programs that I want to upgrade or buy! *sigh*. So, I thought I'd either bounce the track down, import it into a friend's computer that has AutoTune on it, and then reimport it into my session, or just do the tracks over again. Maybe with a lighter, and more confident voice this time; I think this singer kept trying to keep her vibrato in check. I don't know. Your solution is excellent, though. Maybe I should just do that.This discussion brings a question to my mind, though. Let's say, theoretically, that this piece gets forwarded, and the music library that recieves it likes it enough to contact me. Is it a problem for me to have made changes like this? If I tell them that I've lowered the violin volume, and that I've rerecorded the voice, I would imagine that that would make them even happier with the piece, but I don't know how this all works. What these guys generally expect from us.And, do music libraries ever call you up after your piece has been forwarded to them and tell you, "I like your composition, and we'd like to use it if you can make the following changes..."?Thanks for your comments and critiques! This is very helpful for me.Kevin

[matto]

Quote:That is excellent advice! I'll definitely do both of those things. I never really thought of the violin volume from an underscoring perspective, and what you said makes perfect sense to me. Thank you for calling attention to it. I think my other problem is that I got wrapped up enjoying the violinist's performance, and that probably skewed my perception. Hehee, can't blame you there...Quote:This discussion brings a question to my mind, though. Let's say, theoretically, that this piece gets forwarded, and the music library that recieves it likes it enough to contact me. Is it a problem for me to have made changes like this? If I tell them that I've lowered the violin volume, and that I've rerecorded the voice, I would imagine that that would make them even happier with the piece, but I don't know how this all works. What these guys generally expect from us.Well in this day and age of non-destructive everything, just keep the original project (or whatever your software happens to call it) saved, and save the "improvements" as a new project. And of course keep your old mix too. If they were to contact you, tell them you've made a "better mix". If for some reason they like the old one better, you still have that too.Quote:And, do music libraries ever call you up after your piece has been forwarded to them and tell you, "I like your composition, and we'd like to use it if you can make the following changes..."?Yeah that does happen from time to time. If they just love a piece and know they could get a lot of uses out of it, but there's just one or two minor details that need to be fixed, they would probably call you and ask you to fix them.The have to LOVE the piece though and the changes have to be minor... they won't call to say "we could use this piece if it only had a better melody and a cooler groove..."

[hohnogica]

WOW! I still have chills from listening to that!As far as naming goes...only you know what you were feeling when you wrote it...the title lies in the emotion (so to speak).Jamesps DONT WAIT SO LONG BEFORE YOU POST ANOTHER!!!

[kevinmathie]

Thanks, everyone, for your kind words and for your suggestions! I think I've fixed the vocals, and I adjusted the violin mix a bit, although it might not be enough. I thought I'd bring it down a little, sit on it for a day, then revisit it, and bring it down some more if it needs it, and then sit on it for another day.

[kevinmathie]

Woo hoo! Just wanted to let you know that this song was forwarded! Which brings me to a question:There is another Taxi listing for which this song would be appropriate that has a deadline of Sept. 26th. Is it bad form to submit this same song for another listing, even though I've been forwarded for this listing? Or is it expected that we submit our songs to every listing for which it's appropriate until it gets picked up by someone?

[davewalton]

Quote:Woo hoo! Just wanted to let you know that this song was forwarded! Gee, what a surprise. Seriously, that's a REALLY fine piece of work. That track for the right listing(s) will always get forwarded.Quote:Is it bad form to submit this same song for another listing, even though I've been forwarded for this listing? Where's that rolled up newspaper? It would be bad form NOT to submit that to every opportunity under the sun, inside and outside of Taxi. The only time you stop is AFTER you've signed an agreement giving someone EXCLUSIVE rights to publish your song. This goes for any song. You have to think less like a laid-back musician and more like a high-power Los Angeles music publisher. Those people set the earth on fire when they have something new (and really good) to market. As an example, The Verizon Chocolate commercial uses the same track of music as the commercials for the new season of Nip/Tuck. Whoever is marketing that particular track isn't waiting for anything, it's full speed ahead.Thank you. That'll be $50. Dave