1st time at bat … Swing and a Miss!

[misterphoneman]

Hello all, I’m a brand new Taxi member. I have periodically stopped by Taxi’s site over the years just to poke my head in and see how things are coming along although I never took the actual leap to join. But unfortunately I happen to be between jobs at the moment which is a curse but also a potential blessing. The curse being of course my lack of income however the blessing being that I have “some” free time to mess around a bit more with my music which has traditionally been nothing more really than a therapeutic hobby to date. Then I came across a listing for a “Tension Building Underscore Cue”. I listened to the examples they posted and with each of them being somewhat dissimilar from each other, I wasn’t exactly sure but I had a piece of a track in my repertoire around that I thought with some minor adjustments might have a chance to squeeze within those parameters so I thought, what the hay and gave it a shot! But since I had just passed through Taxi, I wasn’t previously aware of the listing and only had like a good 30 hours to polish it up and mix it so I gave it a good ole college try and turned it in.

Well as you can imagine, it got rejected! I wasn’t totally surprised but with that said whoever reviewed my submission gave it some fairly decent marks and offered small tweaks that would have better served what this particular listing was calling for and it might have made the cut! Well of course, it’s all hind site now because the listing is over but I felt had I known what I knew now that I could have made the tweaks they thought was needed to fit it in the parameters they were looking for.

But anyways, that’s not why I’m here. I wanted to post Taxi’s response to in essence “Review the Review”. I hope that’s ok, I didn’t see it banned in “The Rules”. I just want to get a feel for perhaps a comparison to other’s experiences with critiques. Is what Taxi told me kind of inline with what everyone gets in their rejection letter? In other words, does Taxi give brutally honest critiques when necessary or do they lean towards positive reinforcement so as not to crush egos? Or is it that I truly did come close to hitting the mark and I have a better shot at forwards than I give myself credit for?

The reason that I ask is because being jobless at the moment, time is of the essence for me. I can’t spend a whole lot of effort at this music thing right now if it’s not gonna pan out because I’ve got real job searching to do. However if I do have some worthwhile material, I would love to turn my personal therapy into a money making endeavor! With that said, I realize that forwards do not equate to instant monetary success but if I thought I had the proper seeds to bear fruit that I could reap down the line, I would consider that to be worthwhile as well. Any insight would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

Taxi’s Critique…

Melody = 8 out of 10
Marketability = 8 out of 10
Song Structure = 8 out of 10
Production = 8 out of 10
Engineering = 9 out of 10
Musicianship = 9 out of 10
Style = On target for this listing
Sound Quality = Well-recorded

Hi [misterphoneman], I feel you have a cool idea here, but would suggest some tweaks for it to fall in line with the needs of this pitch. Overall vibe here leans linear over something that slowly develops from front to back in a subtle manner.  I would suggest more gradual development in the percussive element to help convey a more dramatic tension build. Also, bringing a more layered approach to the mix would help to counteract the repetitive aesthetic currently in place. Finally, I like the introduction of the top line melody at :50, but could hear the undercurrent ramping up more to close with a bit more intensity. That aside, the writing is strong and I could hear this working in a situation that calls for a more linear/investigative aesthetic. I enjoyed checking out your work.

[davekropf]

Welcome to the club! We have jackets.

In all seriousness, to answer your question...

If you're in a financial pinch right now, then production music is not the answer. Even solid placements have a 6-9 month turnaround before royalties would start arriving. This industry is a long game, and needs steadfast determination and a double dose of patience. I would recommend grabbing that day job and writing in the margins as you work towards music full time.

Just my $.02.

[misterphoneman]

Hey thanks for the welcome and the insight! Yeah I might need one of those jackets (of the straight variety lol). So quick question though, for TV queues that offer license fees (sometimes I see upwards of $5, $7 even $10,000) how long does it typically take for those type of payments to kick in (just the license fee payment specifically)? Let's say from the date that the listing closes on Taxi, (fast-forwarding through all the red tape for this discussion) to now you've got a check in your mailbox?

[davekropf]

I'd say even still you're looking at 2-3 months to get a check for sync fees.

[misterphoneman]

Good deal. Thanks for the info!

[ttully]

Hi Misterphoneman,

Yes...this definitely is not a get rich quick proposition.
You can typically expect at least a year to receive any royalties from a track.
That is, after it is accepted by a library.

Recently I had a fairly big money sync fee from a commercial...it took 16 months from the time the company received my track til I got paid.
The Taxi listing probably closed a good 6 months before that.


Tim

[misterphoneman]

Good deal, thanks. Yeah I wasn't expecting checks to come flowing in. Just trying to plant some seeds wherever I can. I hesitated to mention my employment situation because it was really just an aside to explain why I posted this question, so as not to come off as a self aggrandizing plea for validation lol. Sooo with that said, you guys seem to be veterans at this, do you happen to have any thoughts on the critique I received itself? Is it a typical (standard) review for folks who don't make the cut? Or possibly better than some returned reviews, most returned reviews (or any?? lol) LoL Just trying to gauge where the bar is on myself.

Thanks!

[ttully]

Hi Misterphoneman,

One rejection does not mean you do not make the cut !!!
It just means that track was not what the client was looking for (in the reviewers opinion).

Even the highly experienced veterans have many tracks returned.
In fact, it took me 278 tried to get my first track accepted by a music library.

You just have to keep writing tracks and submitting and learning from the reviewers comments.


Below I have included 10 randomly picked reviews of some of my tracks....forwarded and rejected.......


1 Hi Tim, this is a solid cue, however, stylistically this would work better in a Reality TV setting rather than a TV Series on HBO. I would suggest re-listening to the references to have a better understanding of what was needed. Thanks!

2 Honestly, these cues are more interesting than a lot of the overly repetitive 'real' ensembles. But this is perfect in my estimation, especially for today's TV audiences.

3 Really good tension writing, but this cue comes off more as tension underscore rather than game show anticipation. This cue is closer to super hero type tension than the lighter game show vibe.

4 Nice work here. Good feel for this genre. Good choice of sounds. That Zils thing around :45 came in a little hot, maybe consider dialing that back a touch..?


5 For this listing, your cue is a bit simplistic. Think of creating some layered textures that really interests the ear. Think less of a copy and paste block format, and focus on more organic growth of the sonic and melodic elements.

6 Nice job developing this groove. Each transition came at a great time making this an easy track to work with - always smart when we're trying to get these tracks placed.

7 This is a bit too "big" for this listing.

8 Aside from the fact that the client is interested more in having the pizzicato strings be front and center, Tim, with all other instruments taking a back seat, this cue is a little too cartoony for this i pitch, I think. I'm thinking they're going for a little more subtlety.

8 Hi Tim, nice piece and great mix!

9 Very cool and exciting piece. I think you nailed the feeling they were after. The production is fantastic and the drums are killer. I think for the purposes of a theme it starts off perfectly. The second half becomes more tension building whereas I believe they were going for a tangible melody or hook there. It's certainly a tough balance to uphold.

10 Great instrumental track but where's the Beef!? This piece lacked a well developed melody. It felt too much like a backing track. They are looking for standalone instrumentals.

Tim

[misterphoneman]

278?? Wow, I'm not sure if I even have 278 ideas, unfinished or not! lol I think once I've gotten to 100 submissions, I might run out of steam I applaud you on your tenacity, that acceptance message must've been extremely gratifying! Thanks for posting your feedback, I see that they can vary as much as necessary. I will definitely step back up to the plate! I've got 8 more innings of at-bats to take!

[ttully]

I didn't have 278 ideas either !
But somehow they came into existence.

Here is also some advice......don't just write stuff and try to find a listing that they will fit into....
Read the listings and write for the listing...that is so much easier.


Tim