Needing advice to help with frustration...greatly appreciated

[jamesgmusic]

Hey Taxi World,

So I'm working on mostly instrumental cues, and I get really confused by some reviews.
Not a defined "hook". I understand a simple melody that's catchy, but I feel when I listen to samples that are given, I orchestrate similar feels and melodic and harmonic structures. So...not really developed melodies? simpler? am I thinking or composing too much? Its hard to assume what a listener will consider to be a hook.
In finding more "rhythmic structures". less syncopation?...more? Does that mean, simple looped beats? I'm wondering if I am better just using the text in the listings, and not so much the audio samples?

Anyway, I know this seems kind of vague and its hard to tell without exactly hearing the submissions and knowing the listing, I just want to understand what is being asked and what is missing so I can deliver a product that can change my path to success. I KNOW I can do this, just need some guidance of how to focus all my experience and skill the proper way.

Thanks for anyone who takes the time,

Humbly,

James

[cosmicdolphin]

Post examples

The listing , your track & the feedback..otherwise it's really hard to generalise

[jamesgmusic]

Yes that I get!
I know I have to go through a lot of returns and pieces for I get it smoothed out and learned. Just to clarify Im complaining by ANY means, just trying to figure out what they mean. I know its all subjective. Just a little different world then Ive been used to LOL

This particular one was for this listing Y170503QD

and you can find them on my Taxi.com page below my name. The three "Cues"

Thank you for taking the time.

[cassmcentee]

Hey James!
I listened to your three numbered cues and here is my takeaway...
You have a great knack for choices of instrumentation for this style!
You know in your head what you want it to do and how it should feel!

Here is how I think you can improve these and get more on target for a screener...
Please understand I'm constantly guilty of this first suggestion within my own recordings...
Rhythm to Timing, I hear how you want instruments to have a whimsical/playful bounce to them
(going back to listen to #14 now)
okay... the xylophone high notes are not feeling the rhythm, at times coming off as too quick
I do this all the time... then I have to turn the metronome back on section by section and clean the rhythm up
I heard these kind of off-time phrasing in all three cues, intentional as they may be, they could be much better and help the rhythm to flow with an even more lighthearted feel

The other thing I heard was the narrowness of all three mixes
I believe you can pan instruments out wider and get them to be even more fun for the ears.
This is a great place to get honest feedback and I look forward to hearing your next mix!
Sincerely,
Cass

[VanderBoegh]

Hey James, here are a couple notes as I listen - which may or may not actually tackle the questions you had about your reviews...

CUE #8
Your sense of "space" is rather jumbled. Some instruments sound like they're playing right next to my ears (the melody), while some elements (cymbals & timpani) sound very distant. This disconnect in space is keeping the track from sounding like a polished orchestral performance, where everything would be recorded together in the same environment.

This track also has an editing glitch at the very end... you have a random note tail popping up at the :58 second mark

CUE #3
Your pizzicato string samples sound a bit robotic and therefore a bit out of the realm of believability. One thing to keep in mind when composing pizzicato parts is that a real player has to pluck those strings with their index finger, and really can't naturally do this as fast as you've composed that part. A real player just couldn't get their finger to move that fast... Unless they were also a finger style bass guitarist, and used two fingers to pluck. But most players I've seen just use one finger (they still have to hold on to their bow with the other fingers), and therefore aren't super fast with plucking. I'd either simplify that part, slow down the tempo of the piece, or have another instrument play that line. It'll make it sound more believable if you do any one of those three things.

Oh, just heard another glitch tail at the end of this one too. At 1:13.

CUE #14
This is the best one, I think, although as Cass pointed out, the timing is a little off (I heard something similar in #8). You'll want to quantize a little bit - maybe to 65% strength - enough to tighten up the rhythm, but not so much as to sound robotic.

Lastly, put names on these pieces!! Even if forwarded, a library will be very hesitant to sign tracks without titles, as it just screams "amateur hour".

Hope all that helps, man. Keep after it!!

~~Matt

[Telefunkin]

Hi James,
Your big friend here is the FORWARDS section of this forum. Many people post links to their compositions, not to say 'look at me', but to provide examples of what the screeners approved of. If you listen analytically to those tracks you should be able to get a better feel for what is working (compared with what was asked for). Listen to structure, emotion, busy/sparse, melodic content, instrumentation, etc. We've all got it wrong many times (and I still do), which part of the learning, but some things should start to click with your chosen genres.

Just for your interest, I recently had two tracks forwarded, but then submitted the same two tracks for an almost identical listing and they were both returned. One of them was accused of being 'too musical'! It happens.

[jamesgmusic]

You guys are amazing, this means a lot to me, and I have taken great notes!

I will keep after it and improve for sure. Just a bit new to me, but I know I got it in me.

Cant thank you all enough for your time!!

[cosmicdolphin]

James I haven't read any of the other comments yet...you seemed to have gotten some detailed feedback but here is my 2cents straight off the bat...

First thing I noticed was source sounds don't seem up the the references ( I managed to find the Listing elsewhere on the Forum thanks to Google ! ) and I got a whiff of the dreaded "midi" type sound..i.e. something you may expect to hear from a workstation synth of yesteryear. There's a guitar strum in one of them for example that sounds just like a guitar patch off my Yamaha keyboard...That can sometimes as much be down to the way things are played or mixed as the source sound itself but if you told me there were some real instruments in it I would be surprised.

Secondly I felt some of it came across clunky in the way it was played, #8 for example seemed quite random in the way the parts came together. It reminded of when I experimented with a computer program that "wrote" music...it did .....but there was no underlying musical idea or structure behind it. It just felt like a jumble of "bits". I don't know how you wrote them but for all my cues I find they work better if I figure out some chords first with an A section and a B section underlying everything and build the track on a firm foundation. I see you playing guitar on your picture, so write something you could perform just on an acoustic and by whistling. Then orchestrate that.

Thirdly they felt a bit repetitive to me generally, like something would go on for double the number of bars I was hoping for before it developed. i.e. #14 which I think is the better one seemed to play the same 2bar glock melody 7 times in the first 30 second..it's just not engaging enough. If that were my cue I'd play it once, then 2nd time around I may change the last couple of notes to up at then instead of down. Then I'd probably leave it out for a little while or maybe change instrument or transpose it an octave..anything to change things up every 4 bars.

Fourthly much of the playing seems quite loose and untidy, like it was played live and no editing was done to tighten up the timing and it wanders all over the place.

I think you had some decent ideas but the execution just needs some work...you'll get there !

Mark

[jamesgmusic]

yeah I understand Mark, unfortunately I am only able to use the gear I have and can afford lol
but you're right. most tones from a Yamaha S80.

Well all the samples i tend to here especially behind reality TV shows, seem extremely repetitive and jumpy. Maybe I just misunderstood. Ill go back and listen to a lot more samples and forwards.

I have a composition background, and was writing on Finale mostly. You might be right, maybe I should stick to my stronger instruments and go from there.

Thank you so much!

James