Need help! New age/ethno/elec track, good enough?

[zircon]

My girlfriend and I recently wrapped up a collab track that is a fusion of new age, world, and electronic elements. It has some vocals though not through the entire track. We were influenced by artists like Sting, Enya, and BT, and the intention was for it to be on an album I'm working on. However, I am now thinking about submitting it to some New Age listings at Taxi - I just don't know enough about New Age to know whether it can be classified as that, or what artists it is really similar to. While we were influenced by some well-known ones, I don't think the song ended up sounding like them.Here's the link;http://www.soundtempest.net/Antigravity.mp3Note that we're almost definitely not going to change any of the writing - I might sub in live acoustic guitar (using samples right now) and maybe do some production tweaks, but the song itself is not being changed. So, I am mainly looking for advice on how good the song is in comparison to other New Age tracks, and perhaps what other New Age artists it conjures up. Thanks in advance. General comments are also appreciated.

[mazz]

Very nice piece, great vocals, mixed very well. Your sounds are always top notch.I did a ton of New Age music in the 80s and 90s and I can tell you it's a very broad category.So far your piece fits very well into the genre with the exception of the drum kit parts. They are generally too heavy to fit into the general aesthetic of New Age. The percussion and ethnic drums are right up the middle of the genre and sound great. A lot of New Age music is marketed to people for Yoga, Massage, Sacred Dancing, etc. etc. So a tribal edge is always a good thing, which you have here but the drum kit will probably jar some people a bit too much.Since those drums only come in near the beginning, you could easily do a remix and just take them out. What is happening behind them would be just fine and I don't think you'd lose the build that you are after. It won't be as dramatic but that's OK given the New Age genre. Everything else sounds right on to me.It's always nice to hear your stuff.Mazz

[zircon]

Hi Mazz, thank you very much for the advice!! Doing an alt. mix w/o the kit is a very good idea. I didn't think of that, and I'll definitely be doing that for my Taxi subs. The reason I included that section at all was because of several really cool tracks on BT's latest album, "This Binary Universe" which had a mix of ethereal ambient stuff and heavier up-front percussion. It was a really interesting blend so I wanted to try it myself for my own album.

[mazz]

Yeah that BT album is pretty cool but I personally wouldn't call him New Age, but that's just me.I love mixing the ethereal and the heavier stuff as well, then playing Herbie Hancock style riffs over the top. And I don't even smoke you know what any more Good stuff man!Mazz

[matto]

Hey Andrew,I agree with John that the drums are a bit heavy for most of what's usually called New Age. So doing that remix is a good idea.Other than that, I'm just in love with Jillian's voice so I would have loved to hear more of that. Not to dis your work in any way, but there's just something about a really great singer that kills me.However I should add, I've never been a big fan of music that can't decide if it wants to be vocal or instrumental...so take the comment with a grain of salt.But I do think for most New Age submissions songs that are either all instrumental, or then have more vocals in them, will usually work better. And of course the same would be doubly true for film and tv applications.I know you don't wanna change the song so these are more general comments if you intend to write more music to pitch to this general market in the future...Sounds fantastic btw.matto

[jeffe]

Good work on this one. I quite like it.It's quite difficult to classify this one. Although it has good elements of new age, it moves itself into the rock/pop area too. Then back out again.I think this would be a great track to put on an album. Sadly, I don't think it's single material. The only reason for that is that it's not simple enough.Lovely song though.

[zircon]

Thank you all for the comments. Very helpful. Like I said I will be keeping it as-is for the album version (with some slight production tweaks), but I will definitely be using the advice here to sculpt one or two alt mixes for New Age subs.matto; I passed on your comments to Jill and she was quite flattered. If you check out her website, she's recently updated the design and added new demos as well as a "Services" page with some standard project rates... in case you're ever in need of a vocalist.

[horacejesse]

Sorry, Zirc, when I click the link it says it is downloading a page and then it says done, but the page remains blank.

[zircon]

That's strange, works for me (just tried on a different computer/connection). It has been re-uploaded anyway at a higher CBR, just in case...

[horacejesse]

Some new issue with my computer perhaps. Exactly the same thing happens when I try to listen to Dave's minimalist piece.