Return for Piano Based Instrumentals

[kclements]

I thought I had one here, but I got a return.

Screener said "This is very interesting but the piano is not quite as organic sounding as I would like for this listing." Hmm. Do you think they mean the quality of the recording, or perhaps the voicing? I wait and listen to some of the forwards and see if I can tell what they were lookiing for.

original listing: Y130603IN

NEW AGE, PIANO-BASED SOLO INSTRUMENTALS that would be heard on the same playlist as artists like Michele McLaughlin, Jennifer Thomas, and Elijah BossenBroek are needed by a Production Music Library for various Film/TV placements. ... Quoting the source: "I'm looking for emotionally moving tracks where the piano really shines." Minimal orchestration is OK, but it's important that you let the piano have the spotlight! Moods may vary. Anything from romantic pieces to more down-tempo, somber pieces are all acceptable. All tempos are welcome. If you're using virtual instruments and/or samples, please make sure they sound like the real thing! ...


Anyone have any thoughts? The track is called Bittersweet. You can hear it here.

Onwards and upwards.

Cheers
kc

[andygabrys]

what's the name of your tune?

[kclements]

Doh! Sorry about that. I edited the OP with the name and link.

Thanks Andy.

cheers -
kc

[Piol]

My "Piano on the hills" was also returned, too much hiss ...however, do you think it sounds bad, apart from the hiss? Thanks!

[mikeymike2000]

Hi KC,

This is a tough one. All in all I think this is just a really tough and discerning critic.

I listened many times and I'll tell you straight away it was very difficult for me to tell if this was a real piano or a sampled one.

My guess is that this is a sample and my assumption of the comment is that they wanted it to have a little more dynamic range.
By that I mean specifically when there are the repeated lines it sounds like the notes are all at the same velocity. When the melody goes: da-daa-da-da-daa and repeats, they are all, or sound like they are all almost identical in velocity.

That is the main reason I think it is a sampled piano. Another hint is the performance is too perfect and sounds over-quantized.

I am proceeding with caution here cause I still think there is a possibility this could have been a real piano but after many listens and then when I put on headphones to really get inside this one I noticed some inconsistencies that jumped out in the headphones.

Things that were prevalent in the headphones that were not really noticeable in the monitors (and remember screeners use then to listen)

There is hammer noise and general action noise that sounded too perfect and very much the same on each note. It also sounded like the microphone was really close to the strings on the mid to high notes but not on the lower and bass notes. That would be fine if there was only one mic but the lower notes sounded like the mic was several feet away.

I also heard what sounded like pedal or damper noise but it too sounded non-organic.

So, taking all this into consideration I think it is the sample used. However, it took a lot for me to find all these things, so I don't think it is a matter of using a different sample but just tweaking the additional noises of the hammers, pedal, dampers and such to be more consistent with the intimacy of the piece.

Having said all this I still acknowledge that this could be a real piano but these little details adding up make me think it is not simply cause they are too perfect too often. I think freeing up the playing would fool anyone in terms of authenticity.

If by chance I am totally wrong on all this, please feel free to put the proverbial egg on my face. The part that really threw me was your use of words asking about the 'recording' as opposed to the 'production'.

[CrimsnSyrn]

Hi Kayle,

Your piece is gorgeous!! Just beautiful, and I listened to some other things on your TAXI page (the other day), really, really lovely, poignant and moving.

[Kolstad]

The piece sounds really great, imo.
I'm not a piano player, but I don't think it's the actual sound of the composition.

The melody is very repetitive throughout, so it sounds a bit like a production piece, and not really as a song where you would have several intertwining melodies in different sections.

So could it be they were looking for a more through composed song, than a thematic production piece like this?