Hello, from a new Taxi Passenger

[RobertM]

Hello, Taxi Forum, new passenger here!

My name's Robert, but I see some folks here are also active on the F.A.W.M. website, and they might recognize me as Postcard Helicopters over there.

I first learned about Taxi in '09 but I couldn't afford the membership fees back then. Now, I think I can make it work. What got me in at this time was finding the Taxi TV channel on YouTube. I stumbled across a video on Instrumental Cues from a few years back and while watching said to myself, "that's *exactly* the kinda stuff I do most often!" And so it feels like it could be a natural fit. I signed up on 04 May of this year so that, yes, on my Taxi anniversary I can recite, "May the Forth be with you in this pursuit."

In that first week of May, I went digging thru old songs to look for things to post by way of introduction. Nothing really felt like it fit the parameters of what a good instrumental cue should be and so for the past two months I've been creating all new tracks to try out the things I've been learning from the video archive and from the Taxi-related books I've bought (Dean's and Robin's). I think they've helped me to focus on structure more than I've been able to in the past -- which means my songs meander a lot less, and that alone has been worthwhile.

My musical sensibilities developed mostly in the years between '64 to '84, and I'm really fond of the sound of synthesizers. My two main influences in that area would be Jean Michel Jarre and Larry Fast (aka "Synergy") but also includes Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream (via movie soundtracks) and good ol' eighties synth-pop. I also count Brian Eno as a strong influence.

In response to Michael's email on Friday asking for instrumental cues, I thought it was about time to dive in and put some of these songs online. Unfortunately, FaceBook thinks my post was spam and it may not go thru. Regardless, it's time to start posting songs and taking those first steps on the Five Year plan (tonight I sent TAXI a separate email with a link to the song, and I hope they don't mind).

I built a playlist of this first group of songs to act as a "starting point" of my Taxi journey. If you'd like a listen you can find that playlist here:

https://soundcloud.com/robert_m/sets/ta ... rting-gate

And as for the song I tried to submit for Monday's TAXI TV episode, that's the last song on the list, "Blown out of Proportion" and it can be found here:

https://soundcloud.com/robert_m/blown-out-of-proportion

The most interesting thing I noticed during these past few months is that signing up for TAXI seems to have legitimized spending time writing music, and I'm very pleased to see that happen.

Hello, TAXI Folks, I'm really pleased to be here!

[annayarbrough]

Hey Robert! Welcome! About to go check out your music.

[hummingbird]

Robert (PostcardH)!!!! GTSY!!! Welcome!!!!

[RobertM]

Vikki! Hello, to my neighbor across the Strait It was a treat to see you in chat on tonight's TAXI TV episode.

Anna - Thanks for the welcome! I've got your SoundCloud page open and am enjoying the tracks. I really like that little back and forth tone (processed piano?) that lies just slightly below the surface of "Bermuda Sky". It's the kind of mixing/arranging technique I'm often chasing after.

P.S. Anna - The string synth in that song is a Mellotron sample pack I got from Leisureland Mellotron:

http://www.leisureland.us/audio/Mellotr ... amples.htm

[RobertM]

Telefunkin - Hi! Thanks for the welcome and well-wishes. I look forward to many fruitful years with Taxi.

[markhimley]

Welcome from another relatively new member! I'm about half way through my second year with TAXI.

[RobertM]

Hi, Mark!

Thanks for the welcome

I'm listening to your "Ambient & Drones" playlist while I hang out online and get a few things taken care of. It makes a pleasant backdrop for late-evening work.