Not Broadcast Quality

[johnclavin]

Hi,

I submitted 3 songs, "Verizon on Hold 1" "Whimsical 1" and Whimsical 2" to this listing;

"FUN/WHIMSICAL INSTRUMENTAL COMPOSERS needed by a Leading International Music Production Company representing composers of Film, Television, Commercials, and Video Games. They are not looking to license tracks for this particular request, but hoping to find talented composers to sign and represent. They would like to hear fun/whimsical (but not too quirky) instrumentals that display your musical talents and recording abilities. They prefer working with composers who have some film/TV credits (although not required to be considered), so please mention credits in your bio if you have any. Broadcast quality needed (excellent home recordings are okay). Please submit two to three instrumentals online or per CD, include bio. All submissions will be screened on a YES/NO BASIS - NO CRITIQUES FROM TAXI - and must be received no later than Monday, December 21, 2009. TAXI #Y091221FN"

Listener # 53 did not forward them because they were not Broadcast Quality. The "recording" box was checked. I listen to a lot of TV commercials and network TV shows and I don't hear a lack of Broadcast Quality in these 3 songs. That being said, I do hear orchestration issues that could be improved on. Could it be that "Not Broadcast Quality" could be referring to orchestration issues also?

[davewalton]

Yes... this is a situation where your samples (piano and "flute") aren't really very good. Nothing to do with you, just that your competition uses very high quality samples (Listen to Vikki, Mazz, Richard and others who did get forwarded for this). Broadcast quality in this case is purely the mediocre quality of the sounds. Upgrading instrumentation isn't always expensive. Sampletekk has *great* piano samples for under $100. East/West has their "Silver" version of their orchestra available for just a few hundred dollars.

Anyway... it's really a necessary requirement to update/improve the quality of your instrumentation. Run your compositions just through the Silver version of East/West Orchestra and it would be a whole different thing.

Hope that helps,

Dave

PS - It's always good to counter any spousal resistance to this by starting with the phrase "But honey, Dave says..." while wearing a "Listen to Dave" t-shirt.

[hummingbird]

Good advice from Dave.

I wanted to talk about your titles. If I were the person sorted thru submissions at a library or publisher, and I had a short amount of time, and had the choice between listening to 'whimsical 1' or 'The Approximate Clock', which one do you think I'd choose?

Having good libraries of samples to create your composition, and good composing/production skills is vital. However, I also think we need to try to demonstrate our creativity by naming our tracks to represent the music, and to catch the interest. In other words, consider your title a 'hook'.

[johnclavin]

Thanks for the feedback Dave and Vikki. This is good information.