Next time I'll skip the TAXI and take the train...

[celeste]

I think that this is the end of my TAXI endeavors. I was initially excited because I got 2 forwards. I didn't realize that they were going out to be lost in some type of cyberspace world. I thought that if something was forwarded, the company would look at it. Then I got some rejections. That's ok, but I think the person who listened to the music is tone deaf. They were very critical of my intonation and production. I actually had this music produced by one of the most famous producers in the world. I will leave his name out of this: I will say that he warned me not to pay money to get somebody to listen to my music. Here is the listing as well as two independent critiques and the taxi critique: Y090622XMSOFT ARRANGEMENTS OF TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS SONGS IN INSTRUMENTAL VERSIONS are wanted by an Austrian Production Company with Major Distribution, for a comp CD that will be marketed and distributed to European Wellness Hotels. They want to hear covers of traditional works only, please do not send your own original songs. Compositions should have simple structure and instrumentation but also need to be a full arrangement, they definitely do not want solo pieces. They are suggesting that acoustic guitar or piano be the main instruments in the piece and they do not want any heavy drums or loud, disturbing effects. Suggested accompaniment are soft flutes or soft saxophones. They don't want to hear violins or tin whistles or trumpets. Compositions that are smooth and easy to digest by the listeners is essentially what is needed here. These instrumentals must be Broadcast quality (really great home recordings are fine). Their deal is a non-exclusive license along with mechanical royalties paid per unit sold. Please submit one to three compositions online or per CD. All submissions will be screened on a YES/NO BASIS - NO CRITIQUES FROM TAXI - and must be received no later than Monday, June 22, 2009. TAXI #Y090622XMComments from a college music professor in music with a PhD in music performance:“I am amazed that you were able to get the mix and master quality to this level. I am very impressed with your sound engineer.”Comments from the sound engineer who mixed and mastered these songs. He personally has produced numerous platinum records:“Hey, it came out good. We did a good job here. I am especially impressed with your guitar work.”Comments from TAXI:“Not Master/Broadcast Quality””“the feel captures the trad feel of this melody, but check the tuning.. i'd redo this one”“Not Master/Broadcast Quality”“Sax, guitar is what they asked for.. performance are closer that # 1, but tune up guitar and watch the blend.. music editors are very selective, for any broadcast application, add your own variations, imprint when you're working with these trad melodies, songs”(Actual listing: Suggested accompaniment are soft flutes or soft saxophones.)I guess that I should have known better than to think that something like this was legit. I'll chalk it up to experience and go with CD Baby.

[celeste]

I'm not mad at not getting forwarded. I just see no reason to pay somebody to beat me up emotionally all the time because my music didn't match their preconceived notion of what is good. If a famous producer says it's in tune; I'll go with that.

[taxirobin]

Hi Celeste - I'd like to look into this for you but I don't have enough information. If you'll send an email to headscreener at taxi.com with your full name and the name of the song (include the listing number so we have everything in one place), I'll see if I can address some of your concerns. Robin

[celeste]

I will. It will have to be later. I have to go teach a class now.

[celeste]

I emailed you. Thanks for at least listening.

[didger]

Celeste,Can we hear the song?

[celeste]

www.myspace.com/celestialsoundsThe songs that I got mad about are Silent Night and Joy To the World. Also rejected was Angel Lullaby.Butterfly Dance and Trout Stream were rejected once, then forwarded; however, they seem to have been forwarded into cyberspace.Also highly criticized for poor production:www.myspace.com/bluesremedymusic"Front Porch"This song was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Paul Hornsby. But apparently he can't produce up to TAXI standards. I can understand somebody hating the song, but hating on Paul's production is comical.

[daniel481]

Hey Celeste,Sounds like you're pretty bummed out about the response that you've gotten so far, and trust me, you're not the first person who hasn't liked what they've heard when they first start submitting things to TAXI. I've been a member for a couple of years and have had both success and frustration from it. I've also had a fair amount of success outside of TAXI, in terms of scoring some major video games, etc. I haven't been around the forums a ton lately, but I saw this thread and I'd like to try to clear up a couple of things for you before you completely dismiss TAXI.First of all, you say that "Butterfly Dance and Trout Stream were rejected once, then forwarded; however, they seem to have been forwarded into cyberspace". The way you state that, I'm not sure if you totally understand what being forwarded means. To put it simply, all it means is that the screener thought that the song(s) fit the listing criteria, so they sent them along to the listing party. Then, at some point (could be right away, could take a while) the listing party will go through all the music they've been forwarded, and will decide if there are any tracks they are interested in signing at that point. There's no guarantee that they will or won't, and if they choose not to, then you will most likely never hear back from them. In a little over a year of getting a pretty substantial amount of forwards (something like 30), I heard back from three companies that resulted in deals. Between those 3 deals, I signed over 100 cues. Some people have a higher ratio, some have a lower ratio. That's just how it goes. Once the tracks are forwarded, TAXI is basically out of the picture and makes no promises as to what will happen.Now, to the rejections you're unhappy about. I listened to the songs you mentioned, and they sound pretty good. You definitely have some talent and can play. But to be completely honest, they're not great and all do have issues that are keeping them from reaching their potential. "Silent Night" definitely has some tuning issues between the guitar and the melody. There are several flat notes in the lead, and the while the guitar may have been in tune with a tuner, I can hear some intonation problems. It may just need a setup. There are also some minor timing inconsistencies."Joy To The World" has the same issues to my ears as far as tuning and some small timing issues."Front Porch" is not a bad song, and the performances are not bad either, but honestly, they're not great, and the production isn't great, either. I know that you find that hard to believe because the person who recorded it is quite talented and has had many successes, but for whatever reason, it does appear to be true. And unfortunately, I've known of many instances where a person has hired a big name to record a track, and whether it's because of a tight budget, a short amount of time to do the work, or additional players on the track who are good but not great, have had the final product come out to be not as strong as was expected. So maybe that's what happened here. Even amazing producers need all of the ingredients (plenty of time, amazing players, killer song, and again, plenty of time!) to make world class tracks.Again, the song isn't bad, but when you're fighting for these kind of placements, not bad, pretty good, or even good usually isn't going to cut it. Everything has to be GREAT! Outstanding, rising above the rest, whatever. To me "Front Porch" sounds a little dated, the drums kind of just meander along without really driving it, there are some little timing inconsistencies throughout, and the instrumental break feels way to long. The mix is also not very punchy (that could mostly just be the lack of drive in the drums though). I'm not sure what the listing was asking for, but unfortunately I do basically agree with what you mentioned from the taxi critique.Anyway, I really hope you understand that I'm not trying to be critical for criticals sake, but am just trying to help. I do think that you have the potential to write good songs, and like I said, you can definitely play, but there are a few things holding these back from being at the level where they're likely to get placed. Many, many successful people on these TAXI boards started off getting upset that they got somewhat negative critiques, but then got over it, allowed themselves to see if the critiques were right, and then went about figuring out how to make them better. I hope you will, too!So anyway, I do hope that helps in some way, and keep writing/playing music!-Dan

[michael11]

Jul 21, 2009, 2:10pm, daniel481 wrote:Hey Celeste,Sounds like you're pretty bummed out about the response that you've gotten so far, and trust me, you're not the first person who hasn't liked what they've heard when they first start submitting things to TAXI. I've been a member for a couple of years and have had both success and frustration from it. I've also had a fair amount of success outside of TAXI, in terms of scoring some major video games, etc. I haven't been around the forums a ton lately, but I saw this thread and I'd like to try to clear up a couple of things for you before you completely dismiss TAXI.First of all, you say that "Butterfly Dance and Trout Stream were rejected once, then forwarded; however, they seem to have been forwarded into cyberspace". The way you state that, I'm not sure if you totally understand what being forwarded means. To put it simply, all it means is that the screener thought that the song(s) fit the listing criteria, so they sent them along to the listing party. Then, at some point (could be right away, could take a while) the listing party will go through all the music they've been forwarded, and will decide if there are any tracks they are interested in signing at that point. There's no guarantee that they will or won't, and if they choose not to, then you will most likely never hear back from them. In a little over a year of getting a pretty substantial amount of forwards (something like 30), I heard back from three companies that resulted in deals. Between those 3 deals, I signed over 100 cues. Some people have a higher ratio, some have a lower ratio. That's just how it goes. Once the tracks are forwarded, TAXI is basically out of the picture and makes no promises as to what will happen.Now, to the rejections you're unhappy about. I listened to the songs you mentioned, and they sound pretty good. You definitely have some talent and can play. But to be completely honest, they're not great and all do have issues that are keeping them from reaching their potential. "Silent Night" definitely has some tuning issues between the guitar and the melody. There are several flat notes in the lead, and the while the guitar may have been in tune with a tuner, I can hear some intonation problems. It may just need a setup. There are also some minor timing inconsistencies."Joy To The World" has the same issues to my ears as far as tuning and some small timing issues."Front Porch" is not a bad song, and the performances are not bad either, but honestly, they're not great, and the production isn't great, either. I know that you find that hard to believe because the person who recorded it is quite talented and has had many successes, but for whatever reason, it does appear to be true. And unfortunately, I've known of many instances where a person has hired a big name to record a track, and whether it's because of a tight budget, a short amount of time to do the work, or additional players on the track who are good but not great, have had the final product come out to be not as strong as was expected. So maybe that's what happened here. Even amazing producers need all of the ingredients (plenty of time, amazing players, killer song, and again, plenty of time!) to make world class tracks.Again, the song isn't bad, but when you're fighting for these kind of placements, not bad, pretty good, or even good usually isn't going to cut it. Everything has to be GREAT! Outstanding, rising above the rest, whatever. To me "Front Porch" sounds a little dated, the drums kind of just meander along without really driving it, there are some little timing inconsistencies throughout, and the instrumental break feels way to long. The mix is also not very punchy (that could mostly just be the lack of drive in the drums though). I'm not sure what the listing was asking for, but unfortunately I do basically agree with what you mentioned from the taxi critique.Anyway, I really hope you understand that I'm not trying to be critical for criticals sake, but am just trying to help. I do think that you have the potential to write good songs, and like I said, you can definitely play, but there are a few things holding these back from being at the level where they're likely to get placed. Many, many successful people on these TAXI boards started off getting upset that they got somewhat negative critiques, but then got over it, allowed themselves to see if the critiques were right, and then went about figuring out how to make them better. I hope you will, too!So anyway, I do hope that helps in some way, and keep writing/playing music!-DanI think you both produce fantastic music but inhabit different ends of the musical spectrum.

[celeste]

Thank you Michael. My music is too "organic" or natural for some people's tastes.