Make that 6!

[lboogie77]

Hey Dan, Thanks for the shout out!I have to take a listen to your tunes and get back to you.I can give you my 2cents, hope it helps.Don't get discouraged by returns. Add them to your catalog, revisit and revise and pitch them to something else that comes along. Something will land if you keep at it.Wish you a ton of forwards and never ending phone-calls from publishers!!! 77

[daniel481]

Thanks man! I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts. And I know I can't get discouraged...I've had about 5 forwards so far in the first month, but seeing the 25 returns I've gotten can seem a little discouraging if I'm not careful! But I'm learning from them and just trying to figure out how to get my forwarding ratio up a bit higher.Thanks again!

[daniel481]

Oh and BTW, I changed the title of Hangtime to "In It to Win It" if you were wondering why you couldn't find it...

[lboogie77]

Hey Dan,Chek'd out "In it to Win It" and The Broadway thing,Here are my thoughtsThe sports piece (imho) didn't sound "Sportsy" To me it sounded like something for say a children's cartoon or something ala pokemon or hugio/jugio (whatever it is...) The bass drum seemed to be used a bit too much at certain parts and started to sound mechanical. I thought it was a cool piece, just not for sports.The Broadway tune stylistically (imho) was on target. I did something similar in style. My thinking is that the screener probably wanted more realistic sounds. What sound libs are you using? I think the ideas are there, you may not have the "sound" they were looking for. The rock stuff sounds good to me. (Btw I have your DVD on my desk! If you did some work for that company, I think they should give you a huge discount on stuff or maybe just give it to you )... Thats my 2cents.Any Taxi Members want to chime in and help get Dan some forwards??? You out there Dave???77

[daniel481]

Thanks for checking out my stuff! I've pretty much been coming to the same conclusion in that I'm realizing I have to make sure I'm stylistically right on the mark, not just sending in tracks that I think are good and "might" work for what they're looking for. And I figured that the sounds probably were the issue with the broadway tune, too. It seems to me that the horns are the biggest issue, especially in a sparse piece like that. Honestly, right now I'm just using the Symphony Orchestra Jam Pack within Logic. I'm looking forward to getting some high end East West stuff as soon as I can afford it though! Btw, which DVD of mine do you have? Is it the Punk and Indie Rock one? Whatever it is, that's awesome and I hope you like it!Thanks again,Dan

[matto]

Hey Dan,just checked out your "a la NFL Films" piece. Two things stuck out to me.1- I didn't think the mix qualified as "broadcast quality". The timpani were too loud and boomy and overpowered the entire track. They were also too mechanical due to not having enough dynamic variations in them. There were some other balance problems as well, it just sounded a bit poorly mixed and not too realistic sound wise (some of this could be improved with better sounds, but I think you could've achieved a better result with the sounds you have by just paying a bit more attention to balance and dynamics).2- NFL Films music has a very distinctive sound...it's not just generic sports music, they've carved out a bit of a niche for themselves...one of the main points is that they have really big muscular melodic themes...by contrast your piece is almost devoid of melody and more of a generic "action" background piece. Since this company was (and still is) running a lot of listings, they probably wanted stuff that fit with each listing's description quite closely.It's always a good idea to do some research when writing for a specific listing and to target your stuff as closely as possible.matto

[horacejesse]

Matt and Boogie,That is some great stuff. The amazement never ceases around here. Congratulations on the forwards too.

[daniel481]

Thanks for checking it out matto! The more I listen to it the more I realize that the mix isn't great, too. I have tons of experience professionally mixing pop/rock/acoustic, etc, etc...but I'm still figuring out how to get great mixes out of orchestral stuff! That was actually one of the first orchestral pieces I ever wrote (which was about two months ago), so I think I have a much better idea now of how to complete songs like that for upcoming listings. Actually, if you have a chance and you wouldn't mind, I'd really like to hear what you think of my arrangement of "Deck the Halls" that I have on my site. It's orchestral as well and I think it's much better...And I definitely agree, and am learning, that I need to do more careful research before submitting pieces for listings.