Ideas for TAXI TV Topics

[WeWillWriteUaSong]

I would love to see a mock spotting session with a real music director or supe and three or four different scenes or commercials. Even cooler f they used Taxi members' music.

I really like this idea... so maybe it could be done like this...

Schedule a working supe to come in to taxitv. Get 2 scenes from them. One for an instru and one for vocal song. Put out the email on a Tuesday morning. Describe the 2 scenes in the email and have taxi members submit 1 piece that will work for either scene by Sunday deadline. Michael and taxi crew could use (like last cpl weeks) the first 15 that come in from each scene. Michael and guest would play the scene and try the different pieces briefly and explain why some work and some don't. And at the end between us all on chat and the supe a song is chosen for each scene...

Here's where it could get interesting...... this could be done a cpl ways. 2 scenes that have already aired could be used.... orrrrr..... 2 upcoming scenes for the supe could be used. And at the end of the episode the 2 chosen songs could possibly get a placement/deal if they are good enough. Would be a great way to get new members (cuz they see a process), as well as make it interesting for existing members to see if their song might get played/picked...

Obviously due to broadcast laws the scenes would have to be chosen carefully and okayed legally. But I think this idea could expand more with some careful planning. Thoughts?

[Casey H]

How bout this, if it hasn't been done before?

Invite a Taxi member to be screener for the show. Play actual submissions for a given listing that was already processed and have the Taxi member comment and decide forward or return with no knowledge what the real screening results were. At the end of the show, compare the Taxi member's decisions against the real ones.

There could even be a contest of some kind to pick the "Screener For The Day" right on a prior episode of Taxi TV.

Casey

[admin]

I'm super tired, so expect a lot of typos in this.

After reading all these ideas, I've realized that it's easier to have ideas than to execute them, and it's a freaking miracle that I've done TAXI TV for 7 years. Although I really like the ideas, there are obstacles that make nearly all of them impossible... hence, the miracle that we've done so many shows without obstacles!

Some of the obstacles (and I mean just some):

Doing smart phones are really hard because of jitters, and especially really bad audio. It's bad enough with a webcam at 2.5 feet, let alone in a room, convention, event with ambient noise. We've thrown out lots of footage from the Rally for that reason.

There's not a TV show or film that would let us broadcast anything that's not aired yet. It's been pretty hard getting old scenes for the Rally!

BTW, we've done at least three ballroom sessions where we've had supes pick and slug in music, LIVE. in 2015 we had a about a dozen members' music slugged into two different scenes from Scorpion, if memory serves. And the ballroom was woefully empty, yet the bar was full. Not kidding!

People were so busy making friends and connections to get into new libraries that they missed the best sessions we've ever had on the stage at the Rally. I thought the ballroom would be PACKED, and in all three of the supes picking music sessions over the last two years, we had about 350-500 people in the ballroom. The music library listening panels had 900-1,000. Far less people want to learn than want their music heard.

It takes a crap ton of effort on my part to make stuff like that happen, so I'm not too psyched about asking a supe (who could very well have to cancel last minute), getting permission to "broadcast" already aired scenes, doing a remote (which is highly prone to connectivity failures), and then having a low turnout. And then, after being bummed when the supervisor sees the low numbers on my computer screen during the live show, having Youtube kill the episode because I've got copyrighted material on it. Their bots don't know that I've got permission and it's fair use for educational purposes.

I like Casey's idea of having a member guest as a screener, but comparing the member forwards to the real screener forwards becomes difficult because members take their music down after making subs about 15% of the time, and we also have to go through each and every song/track to make sure they're designated as stuff that can be heard by the public before it can air on the show. These are the types of things that go on behind the scenes at TAXI TV.

I think our viewers get a lot out of the Forward and Return episodes, but those take more effort than you'd imagine. I personally think they are some of the most valuable shows we do because people can be objective about critiquing other people's music, and hopefully, some of what they learn will carry over into their own music.

As for having supes and library owners on the show... it's GREAT for me! Far less work, and I really enjoy having the conversations. The problem is that there are always people who see them on the show, then email and call them after the fact. It can give a bad impression of our members, and sometimes the people doing the "follow up" aren't really members! But they sometimes claim to be to gain access - geesh!

I'd love to show you guys what goes on in a spotting session (they're not that interesting or exciting, frankly) so you could see how in-exacting they are, but I don't think there's a show, show runner, network, or film studio that would let even one scene be seen in advance of release, and even if we did an old scene, we're still up against the youtube copybots blanking the episode.

"Yeah, can we drop something in there? Maybe something fast and gritty? Yeah, start it at 14:32:09 and get out when the door slams shut." There ya go, that's pretty much what a spotting session is like

BTW, if I can be so bold as to lodge a "complaint" from my side of things: More often than not, when I ask for questions to be posted on our facebook page prior to a show, I get very few. I've got music attorney Erin Jacobson coming back for an episode soon, but it sucks when she (or any guests) ask to see the questions prior to the show and we only have three. And two of them are, "Can you shop my music for free," and "How do I get my song in a movie?"

I want my TAXI family to look good when I take them out in public. The better the family looks, the more word gets around the industry, and the better opportunities we get for our members. Good word of mouth about our membership opens doors.

Think of TAXI TV like this: Can you imagine doing Entertainment Tonight or The Voice, live with only one camera, no audio post mixing, and no editing? That's what I have to work with. I'm more like Howard Stern or Rush Limbaugh doing video of their radio broadcasts, but with a live chat and no editing! Even doing vlogs like youtubers takes hours of shooting and hours of post production. I can't do that and serve our members well at the same time.

So, given the type of show I CAN do, please give me some ideas that can be done with one camera, no video switcher, no boom mics, no audio post, no editing, no production staff, no legal staff, no writers, and LIVE with an interactive audience. That's my world, and I appreciate you being part of it.

Michael

P.S. I'm too tired to go back and fix typos.

[hummingbird]

Thanks for the post Michael.

I had the opportunity once to be present as a member of the TAXI TV peanut gallery, live, while Michael talked with Ralph Murphy about songwriting. That was such a cool experience.

There's so many TAXI TV shows that have imparted good information to me it's hard for me to think of something that hasn't been covered... we all talk about the 5 year plan, about the quality & quantity game, and try to encourage and support each other through the ebb and flow of trying to establish ourselves and get our music working for us.

One of the many many valuable shows I have watched was about Failing Faster. I was privileged to be on a RR panel on the subject of ''Fear Factor: Removing the Roadblocks to Your Success'. I appreciate all the shows about music composition and production and targeting listings etc etc. But staying on track, on the path and dealing with rejection and doubt is also a topic of interest to me. So a show now and again on the topic of 'just why haven't you set up your studio the way you've been saying you will' or 'how to be a composer/songwriter and keep your day job to feed the kids' or 'how to keep going when doubt is eating your inspiration and hope' and 'how to feel the doubt and keep composing anyway'. Stuff like that.

The other thing that I find still... eludes me is a true understanding of how to deconstruct the cue. For me to listen to an a la and say 'oh that's a doublebass and that's a fender strat and that's a electronic drum kit and that's a vocoder'... it may seem obvious to those who know how to do this to hear these things, but I struggle with it. I can't tell you what the bass line is playing unless it's really prominent... so when someone says 'figure out what instruments are being used in the a la and use the same sound palette', I might nod my head but my ears may not hear all those elements clearly. Dean's books are a great help tho!

Along with this is understanding, really getting, what 'contemporary' is. What does it sound like instrumentally and composition wise. Are instruments played differently now than they were 20 years ago, if so, how. How has the use of the voice changed in a genre or genres? Stuff like that.

Just some wee middle of the night thoughts from H'bird

[Casey H]

I like Casey's idea of having a member guest as a screener, but comparing the member forwards to the real screener forwards becomes difficult because members take their music down after making subs about 15% of the time, and we also have to go through each and every song/track to make sure they're designated as stuff that can be heard by the public before it can air on the show. These are the types of things that go on behind the scenes at TAXI TV.

Hey Michael
Hope you got some rest by now. Even if you couldn't compare the guest screener's results against real ones, it could be fun. However, you've done shows in the past whereby you had the audience vote as to forward vs. return and compared with the real results. So I thought that part was fairly doable. But either way.

Thanks!
Casey

[Len911]

Sound editor, found something interesting using my Google Noodle

http://filmsound.org/murch/murch.htm

[Len911]

The other thing that I find still... eludes me is a true understanding of how to deconstruct the cue. For me to listen to an a la and say 'oh that's a doublebass and that's a fender strat and that's a electronic drum kit and that's a vocoder'... it may seem obvious to those who know how to do this to hear these things, but I struggle with it. I can't tell you what the bass line is playing unless it's really prominent... so when someone says 'figure out what instruments are being used in the a la and use the same sound palette', I might nod my head but my ears may not hear all those elements clearly

Vikki, me too! My gut says that I'd probably come to a similar conclusion that I did when I inquired about Perfect Pitch, and that is that it's extremely uncommon, although many people claim to have it,lol!

[admin]

I like Casey's idea of having a member guest as a screener, but comparing the member forwards to the real screener forwards becomes difficult because members take their music down after making subs about 15% of the time, and we also have to go through each and every song/track to make sure they're designated as stuff that can be heard by the public before it can air on the show. These are the types of things that go on behind the scenes at TAXI TV.

Hey Michael
Hope you got some rest by now. Even if you couldn't compare the guest screener's results against real ones, it could be fun. However, you've done shows in the past whereby you had the audience vote as to forward vs. return and compared with the real results. So I thought that part was fairly doable. But either way.

Thanks!
Casey

Yep, we have noted whether or not the screener forwarded, but not in totality. In other words, we've only played forwards and returns that were still up and available to the public. If that's okay, sure, we can do it. I thought you wanted a more holistic, apples-to-apples comparison. Now, we just need to find a local member who'd be crazy enough to do it, lol.

[Casey H]

You could try it with or without them apples.

I like Casey's idea of having a member guest as a screener, but comparing the member forwards to the real screener forwards becomes difficult because members take their music down after making subs about 15% of the time, and we also have to go through each and every song/track to make sure they're designated as stuff that can be heard by the public before it can air on the show. These are the types of things that go on behind the scenes at TAXI TV.

Hey Michael
Hope you got some rest by now. Even if you couldn't compare the guest screener's results against real ones, it could be fun. However, you've done shows in the past whereby you had the audience vote as to forward vs. return and compared with the real results. So I thought that part was fairly doable. But either way.

Thanks!
Casey

Yep, we have noted whether or not the screener forwarded, but not in totality. In other words, we've only played forwards and returns that were still up and available to the public. If that's okay, sure, we can do it. I thought you wanted a more holistic, apples-to-apples comparison. Now, we just need to find a local member who'd be crazy enough to do it, lol.

[LamarPecorino]

Hey Michael:

How about a Taxi TV from show from Rob Chiarelli's home studio? It seems that he has a little studio in his garage. It might be interesting to see his setup and how he "works" in a small environment like most of us. If nothing else, you could get home earlier than normal.

Also I don't remember seeing Ralph Murphy in awhile. I always enjoy his appearances.

Have a great Sunday afternoon!