Confused by these returns, Please Help!

[briandavidwatson]

Long Post TL;DR

The screener thought my stuff was stylistically of target and I beg to differ, am I insane, yes or no?

So let me preface this by saying, I am loathe to be the guy that complains about the screeners, I have said time and again you can't predict them because everything is subjective, but the critiques on these returns are baffling to me. Here's the 4 pieces I submitted...

http://soundcloud.com/mr-watson/the-big-game
http://soundcloud.com/mr-watson/falcons-of-fire
http://soundcloud.com/mr-watson/random-parts
http://soundcloud.com/mr-watson/101-ways-to-disappear

With the exception of 101 ways to disappear I wrote these for this listing. Philip Glass was one of the first dudes that made me think about getting into composing. With the exception of his early stuff that is a little mind numbing (IMHO), I'm a fan of his entire catalog, so I'm well versed with him. I didn't think these would be a slam dunk, I thought that I might get dinged for the recording quality, for not featuring the piano enough, or even for ripping him off too much (Falcons on Fire lifts a rhythmic device he employs often), instead I got the exact opposite. Stylistically Off Target! Ha. Here's the critiques.

For 101 Ways
"not really sure what genre you are trying to capture. sounds a little new agey, but with urgent piano...so that is a hard sell"

Philips Glass' middle name is urgent piano, and you could definitely categorize some of his stuff as new agey. Again 101 wasn't written for this so whatever.

Falcons of Fire
"a lot of repetition, but it doesn't quite come together. A lot going on here, military snares, 4-on-the-floor drum beats....it is just too much and lacks focus"

Again, he uses military snares a lot in his symphonic work, and the 4 on the floor drum beat was supposed to be part of the slight electronic elements they requested.

This could have been avoided if they would've linked specific pieces of music since Glass' can be all over the place. I'm still curious as to the screener's knowledge of his music.

Anyway, sorry for the novella, if you guys are familiar with Philip Glass and can take a few moments to listen to these and let me know if I'm losing my mind or not, thank you!

-Brian

PIANO-BASED ORCHESTRAL INSTRUMENTALS with SLIGHT ELECTRONIC ELEMENTS are needed by a TOP TIER Film and TV Music Licensing Company that's secured tons of amazing placements for many TAXI members. Quoting the source: "I need Philip Glass type Instrumentals but with a slight electronic edge to them. Moods can range from uplifting, serene, heroic, tension, etc. The main theme/motif of the piece must be played on a piano." Be sure your piece is current and fresh, with tasteful, modern electronic embellishments. They're NOT looking for a strait forward electronic based track. No sampling other artists' work/sounds for this pitch. You must own or control 100% of your master and composition rights. Mid-to-Up tempo Instrumentals only! This company offers a Non-exclusive, 50/50 deal. You keep your original copyrights. Please submit one to three songs online or per CD. All submissions will be screened on a Yes/No basis - No full critiques. Submissions must be received no later than Thursday, October 24, 2013. TAXI #Y131024OI

[CHuckmott]

Just taking a minute to say I reaal enjoyed the listen. Not familiar enough with his music to critique but enjoyed 'em all, WIsh I played piano that well.

[briandavidwatson]

Hey thanks Chuck!

[andygabrys]

all real nice tracks. maybe ranging a bit at times, like you say "would the real phillip glass please stand up!"

like what were they wanting to hear. there's a lot of music there.

thought they were all cool. I can sort of see what the screener was on about Falcons, it does switch between a few different things. Might have been as successful or even more so if you restricted the number of sounds you introduced. But for me the only thing was a pretty insistent 2:3 thing going on in the first half, which is a kind of a "sound", a little cloudy, a little buzzing of activity, ultimately not the sound the screen thought should be there.

it seems like every time Phillip Glass is used as a ref, the resulting screening is kind of all over the map. remember the listing where Pruit Igoe was a ref? kind of confusing as it has horns / brass in it. and it was like "so do we do brass or not?". If I remember correctly one of the the forwards was a sort of repetitive acoustic guitar arpeggiation piece, which seemed pretty far off from the ref, but if you read the listing with a really open mind, it fit.

anyways, just blowing smoke over here. They are all solid pieces and I think they will all find a home eventually.

[briandavidwatson]

Thanks for the feedback Andy!

As with most listings, whenever they get returned I just have to remind myself that I have a few people I can send these to and that they'll hopefully still get used. One of my guys was stoked on these and said they'd be great for ads so who knows! Silver lining is this listing got me to write 3 pieces I might not have written on my own.

-Bw

[Piewackit1]

Solid stuff Brian. I agree with Andy these will eventually find a home.

[daveydad]

Love your tunes, Brian... and feel your pain. Surprised they all got returned. I had several I was considering submitting but just went with "Glassy Sea" which was returned. This was a tough listing to decipher... oh well, onward we go!

[briandavidwatson]

Pie and Dave, thanks!

Dave, yeah this was a weird listing to crack. I think I will probably avoid such listings in the future, too vague!

[CHuckmott]

My opinion, that's a tough call. I'd consider trying it but running through Peer To Peer if you have the time to do it. These guys predict things pretty well. And if the tracks don't fly here, submit to the others. Then you'll have a thirty day lag to think about it. I think treat Taxi like another high end library, if it doesn't work here for what ever reason, or for say one other library, would you just stop submitting it? Keeps the resentment factor down until the next forward knowing you have other homes for them. Or maybe concentrate on listings where you know the stuff is in demand elsewhere so if it doesn't work here......

[briandavidwatson]

No you're right Chuck, I've got these pieces in 2 other libraries already. I jumped at the chance to do this because I like Philip Glass. I might just be butt hurt right now. But it's still very confusing. There's a forward for this listing posted in the Forwards board and to me it doesn't sound very Philip Glass like, the piece is good on it's own but doesn't really strike me as Glass-esque, so that's another confusing layer to this onion.

I thought I followed most if not all of these rules!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNiOqa1nWgI