34 out of 34 returned so far !

[gitarrero]

May 13, 2008, 10:18pm, hoknes wrote:Any thoughts on this? What about quality of recordings? Mine could be a bit better but I know they arent terrible - if we are just pitchings songs and not official recordings can't they see past that also ??well, I can tell you that all songs I know (..that are handled by highly successfull publishers) that got pitches are no "demos" - they're fully produced.I think that's just a sign of time - nowadays you can produce high quality tracks with a studo worth of maybe about 10-15k $ (or even less) - that was not possible 20 yrs ago. since every kid has a computer at home with a soundcard and sequencer, everybody basically can do a record - the diffrences lying in the know-how of how to do it.so it's just "the standard" now that the production sounds great.I have a simple & small studio (1 room in our appartement) and it didn't cost me a fortune to build it. but I produce tracks that compete in pitches for major artists - just as an example of what's possible with todays digital technique.so if you want to get forwards for high-bar listings and eventually make a living of your music, than I'd suggest to either learn how to produce by yourself or find a partner who you can collab with and who has the knowledge of doing great productions. ..and of course, you can pay somebody to do the production for you since it might be not easy to find somebody who do it for free AND has the professional knowledge (btw - I also offer productions for songwriters )hth,martin

[heinsite]

ok marty--you beat me to it, i was going to ask but then kept reading--i'm obviously in need of somebody who can produce my genius (ha--almost). if you're interested, email me and i'll send you a few (switzerland?, man this day and age is amazing...)and you can tell me honestly if it's worth our while. i've been working with a couple of taxi folks on lyric writing, but need to take some of my more serious stuff up a notch, as taxi doesn't think i'm there. i don't always agree, honestly.thanks,warren

[heinsite]

PS to squids--i agree with some of what you say, however some of us have grown so much already (not necessarily in the "taxi" world, but are unrecognized, even by our friends here at taxi, that there has to be something to be said for just being who you are, and taking your chances and having a great belief in your talent. that's it for now,the best to you, i enjoy your posts....warren

[ckbarlow]

I gotta chime in here because of extremely recent experience re: this topic.Of course it depends on the listing -- "broadcast quality" that won't be re-recorded, vs. a song for someone else to produce. In the latter case, just yesterday I got a country/pop forward with a simple guitar + vocal demo, and the TAXI screener wrote specifically: "This simple vocal and acoustic demo shows you don't need a big, fancy demo with a full band to sell a catchy song. I can hear how this could come up sounding really mainstream and commercial."So - at least for cases where you are definitely pitching a song as opposed to a ready-to-wear recording, you can stick to the basics. Just as Vicky said, record those basics as well as you possibly can, absolutely.But in both cases, I'm finding that it's good discipline not to record a note -- as easy as today's technology makes recording -- until you have worked and re-worked and re-worked the core, the basic song, until it's the best you can figure out to make it.

[ckbarlow]

And by the way, Vicky, you are an inspiration. I said "wow" out loud reading your post above. Thanks for consistently showing us newbies how it's done (both on these boards and with TAXI itself).

[billg]

Hello there CK! Congrats on your forward. What I was saying about demos wasn't that they had to be like 24-48 track full productions, only that they have to sound good these days. I've heard your stuff & I will bet that your simple demo sounded damn good!

[hummingbird]

May 17, 2008, 1:32pm, ckbarlow wrote:I'm finding that it's good discipline not to record a note -- as easy as today's technology makes recording -- until you have worked and re-worked and re-worked the core, the basic song, until it's the best you can figure out to make it.excellent advice!! I do tend to take off too soon.

[hoknes]

I appreciate all the comments. I only started submitting this year and yes I submitted a lot quickly cause I knew I would learn a lot by the critiques but now that I got my first 40 turned down i'm trying to figure out what it takes to make it just that next step better. I 90% agree with everything they write. But I have a couple songs I feel are really strong and they were turned down so thats frustrating.

[squids]

May 18, 2008, 9:24pm, hoknes wrote:I appreciate all the comments. I only started submitting this year and yes I submitted a lot quickly cause I knew I would learn a lot by the critiques but now that I got my first 40 turned down i'm trying to figure out what it takes to make it just that next step better. I 90% agree with everything they write. But I have a couple songs I feel are really strong and they were turned down so thats frustrating.Yes, frustration is the word for that. I know that word. I'm going to have that word tattooed somewhere. Soon. I can almost guarantee that in another year, you'll be reading someone's post who's jes started and hear them say almost the same thing and you'll smile. You'll be in a much different place then so it'll be easier. That's a fact.

[stoney]

To repeat whats already been said. I think it's important to recognize that, as everyone has mentioned, in one way or another that pitching music of any kind/style/genre/media outlet doesn't result in one production outcome. For example if you are pitching (were not submitting really) for film/TV your music must be of the highest quality both in terms of production and writing. However if you are pitching for a publisher looking for songs for any number of their artists (when I was with Warner we got industry lists just the same as here) the production can be of lower quality but song writing has to be impeccable in fact higher than impeccable. My A+R once said they expect there song writers to have 1 hit in every 100 or more songs, that's referring to top of the biz top line writers. Likewise a friend of mine who is on the verge of signing with a label in the UK recorded a song that was demoed to the highest quality, the backing track was an integral part of the tune. Melody was not the only factor the string hook and synths sounds dominate too thus becoming integral to the production sound. The scratch vocal recorded originally by a signed successful songwriter was appalling but melodically perfect! The label have now re-recorded the song with my friend to an even higher quality and it's still a DEMO!This is the reality that all artists pro and amateur are up against but nothing is impossible and many of us can be successful you just have to find out what your bag is and where your strengths lie.Stoney