And now for something completely different....

[brindabella]

First I want to apologize for never giving an opinion here about anyone's music.The reason is that I dont have the knowledge to criticize,since my mixes are so bad, anything else sounds wonderful to me. Which is why I need your opinion now I want to submit this under World music, and have doubts about the mix, and specially the drums.http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... tream=true

[Casey H]

Oct 5, 2008, 10:25am, brindabella wrote:First I want to apologize for never giving an opinion here about anyone's music.The reason is that I dont have the knowledge to criticize,since my mixes are so bad, anything else sounds wonderful to me. Which is why I need your opinion now I want to submit this under World music, and have doubts about the mix, and specially the drums.http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... eam=trueHi Brindabella Nice piano piece. I could see a piece of this sort, if master quality, possibly fitting various cues. I'm not an engineering mix guy but I'm sure others will chime in. I'm not sure if it fits "world" music, though it "world" is a wide genre. Is there a specific listing you are targeting? If there is and you post a description, it may help.One thing that hit me as I listened is I could see this used as bumper music for radio. (15-30 seconds at the beginning or end of a show segment).... Best, Casey

[spaceeagle]

Hello brindabella Thanks for putting your tracks up, To me the piano had a salsa type feel sombody was puttinga lot of work in on the drums but they were quite hard to hear and I though detracted from the world feel as they were kinda rock/jazzy,Maybe try the piano with a instrument like bongoes or latin percusion that can give a track world music type fell. Allso I would look at mastering a bit even just a limiter on the track would really help to bring it into the speakers a bit moreHope this helps

[brindabella]

Oct 5, 2008, 11:10am, hurowitz wrote:Oct 5, 2008, 10:25am, brindabella wrote:First I want to apologize for never giving an opinion here about anyone's music.The reason is that I dont have the knowledge to criticize,since my mixes are so bad, anything else sounds wonderful to me. Which is why I need your opinion now I want to submit this under World music, and have doubts about the mix, and specially the drums.http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... eam=trueHi Brindabella Nice piano piece. I could see a piece of this sort, if master quality, possibly fitting various cues. I'm not an engineering mix guy but I'm sure others will chime in. I'm not sure if it fits "world" music, though it "world" is a wide genre. Is there a specific listing you are targeting? If there is and you post a description, it may help.One thing that hit me as I listened is I could see this used as bumper music for radio. (15-30 seconds at the beginning or end of a show segment).... Best, CaseyNew Listing VARIOUS WORLD MUSIC INSTRUMENTALS (no vocals!) are needed by a UK-based Production Music Library for Film/TV placement opportunities. They'll be open to a variety of regions and Ethnic instrumentation, but be sure the sounds are authentic and the arrangements are dynamic/compelling. They'll be really interested in tracks that have a current tone along with the World Music stylistic approach. They won't want to hear anything that's overly synth generated - the more authentic the better! Be sure that there are no vocals in the track and that the performances are outstanding. Your track(s) should be within 1:00-3:00 in length and Broadcast Quality is needed (excellent home recordings should be okay). This company offers non-exclusive, 50/50 deals. Please submit one to three songs 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 November 26, 2008. TAXI #Y081126WOThank you for responding, Casey. This is the listing. I think the range is very ample? That description covers almost anything from a tarantella to a Cha Cha Cha.

[brindabella]

Oct 5, 2008, 11:18am, spaceeagle wrote:Hello brindabella Thanks for putting your tracks up, To me the piano had a salsa type feel sombody was puttinga lot of work in on the drums but they were quite hard to hear and I though detracted from the world feel as they were kinda rock/jazzy,Maybe try the piano with a instrument like bongoes or latin percusion that can give a track world music type fell. Allso I would look at mastering a bit even just a limiter on the track would really help to bring it into the speakers a bit moreHope this helps Thanks,but please tell me what do you mean by the drums were "quite hard to hear". You mean you dont hear them or you hear them too much? It is a Cha Cha Cha. According to Tito Puente salsa is some sauce you put on your food, not music . I am using EZdrummer, dont have the latin expansion for the bongoes

[spaceeagle]

I though there may have been to much reverb on the drums compared to the amount on the piano maybe try brushes or shakers for a ch ch cha feel.I think for the above submission it may not be quite right as they seam to be looking for a ethnic feel , I always imagin music with a indian,african feel or maybe that stuff with all the pan pipes from latin america but I may be wrong, but I think this track would go under latin which is its own thing

[brindabella]

Aha! Too much reverb! I will look into it and see how it sounds with a bit less. Thank You! Yes, I was going to submit it to latin but didnt have time. I will call Taxi and see what they think of a cha cha for world music.

[Casey H]

Hi B. The two things that hit me was that overall quality of the sound isn't quite there (again, for others to help you with) and that it wasn't Latin enough to be "ethnic". It didn't stand out as "world"... This listing looks like it's medium to high bar using phrases like "dynamic and compelling" and also mentions "current sounding'. I really don't know what is current sounding in this genre so a little research is needed. Maybe some folks can point you to some current sounding world audio clips.This is a Y/N listing so you can't invest $5 to get feedback.BTW, no reason to feel that you can't comment on other's music. You still know what you like! Casey

[ncc1701]

Hey, Brinda. I feel like I'm in the same boat as you - not enough expertise to make educated comments like some of these guys. But at least after doing this for coming up on 2 years now, I've gotten to know the vocabulary.Yeah, drums to me sound like they were almost recorded in the next room from where the piano was mic'ed. So backing off on the reverb and bringing them up in the mix a little might help. Would you also consider upping the tempo just a little bit? Even 10 bpm might give it a little more of that "dynamic and compelling" energy.I think it does stand on its own well enough to fit as a cue, as someone said, but if you really wanted to take it in another direction, you might think about adding some guitar riffs here and there just to give it some color. And some alternate percussion or just more variation in the percussion could be ear-catching.I've always liked your piano stuff and it's great to hear you branching out! Kathleen

[jazzstan]

General agreement with comments above. I'd go with a more subtle drums, jazzy brushes maybe, or just some light percussion, and go for other instrumental listings (not world, tho.)But as I was listening, (and taking a stance opposite of Kathleen's) I wondered what it might sound like with a solo piano at MUCH slower tempo, very legato, with a lot of emotion/passion, then for a DRAMA listing perhaps? There's a lot of interesting harmonic stuff going on, which seems to go by too fast at this tempo. Plan "C" simplify = spread out the musical themes - and go with a light Tango or Samba feel. That's my 2 cents, and worth every penny!