WHY ?!

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PhilRey
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WHY ?!

Post by PhilRey » Tue May 29, 2018 12:23 pm

I'm always happy to learn something so I guess you guys are going to enlight me ! I really need more information about the reasons of this return because I clearly do not understand. :(
Y180520FH
FUN, 1990’s-Style HIP-HOP INSTRUMENTALS are U-R-G-E-N-T-L-Y needed for an (up-to) $10,000, Direct-to-Music Supervisor placement as the Opening Theme Song for a TV Series on a Major Cable Network! They need Mid-to-Up-Tempo Instrumentals that are in the general stylistic range of the following references we got from the client. The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air Theme Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nCqRmx3Dnw “It Takes Two” by Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phOW-CZJWT0 “I Wish” by Skee-Lo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryDOy3AosBw Although the references have vocals, this request is for Instrumentals only. Please submit original, well-crafted Hip-Hop Instrumentals that authentically capture the Hip-Hop sound of that glorious ‘90’s era. Your Instrumentals should be melodically and rhythmically engaging, with a tone, feel, and vibe that would fit right in with the examples above. Your submissions can be actual old school Instrumentals recorded in the late 1980s or early 1990s, or they can be Instrumentals recently recorded and just inspired by that era. TAXI TIP: You’d be wise to avoid submitting any Instrumentals that are dark or gloomy. Keep them fun and emotionally upbeat! All Instrumentals should be at least Three-Minutes long (because a vocalist will be singing or rapping over the music) and have a non-faded ending. Do NOT copy the referenced artists or songs in any way, shape, or form. Use them as a general guide for tempo, tone, and overall vibe. Do not submit any material with unauthorized samples of other artists’ songs, sounds, or any other form of media. Broadcast Quality is needed. Scratching and mixing are OK to submit for this request, but absolutely NO SAMPLES of other people’s songs or any other media. The estimated license fee for this use is (up to) $10,000, depending on the ultimate placement. This is an EXCLUSIVE deal that would likely be with the publishing division of the company. They would likely get 100% of the publisher’s share, and you would get 100% of the writer’s share. You will likely have to split the writer’s share with the person who writes the lyrics. So what??? If you land a theme song on this network, you’ll be doing fine ;-) The music you submit for this pitch CANNOT be signed with any other publishers or catalogs. Please submit as many Instrumentals as you’d like online or per CD. All submissions will be screened on a Yes/No basis – Short critiques only. Submissions must be received no later than 11:59PM (PDT), on Sunday, May 20th, 2018. TAXI #Y180520FH

My track: https://soundcloud.com/melodeicon/kool- ... strumental

The screener's review:
Hi Phil,
I like where this is headed and the funky bass. However, it feels a bit more mellow than their references overall. I would suggest removing the piano or switching out the tone for it - perhaps try a more brass synth style of hit a la their Skee-Lo reference to up the fun energy here.
1- "Mellow" ? What about the Prince of Bel Air ? What about Skee-Lo ! Not sure to understand this Mellow thing regarding the brief ?
2- I always appreciate to have suggestions from the screener, but regarding the suggestion about the piano I must say that I do not feel where it's going... switching the tone ? really ? a brass synth to replace this funky piano ? really ?

+ the checkbox for bad "recording" was checked... Well... it was ok to sound like in the early 90s right ? It's an artistic choice based on the brief... So ?

Hard to swallow I must say... Any advice ? ;) - Phil

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Re: WHY ?!

Post by ttully » Tue May 29, 2018 4:01 pm

HI Phil,

It sounds promising for the first 19 seconds ...then the energy just goes way down when the piano comes in.

After that it just becomes repetitious...the same 2 parts over and over.
I know, I know.... there may be a person singing over this track so it is hard to compare to the al la's that have vox. They may sound boring without the vox also!
But we have to make our instrumental tracks interesting to the ear without the lead vox and still leave room for a lead vox, not easy!

But since the screener did not cover any of this.....I will just say he probably lost interest when the piano came in and the energy dropped.


My 2 1/2 cents.
Tim


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Re: WHY ?!

Post by Casey H » Tue May 29, 2018 5:50 pm

Hi Phil
First, keep in mind that a listing like this is ultra high bar-- "for an (up-to) $10,000, Direct-to-Music Supervisor placement as the Opening Theme Song for a TV Series on a Major Cable Network". That means only the very cream of the crop have a chance.

That being said, I found the piano on this track completely out of place, killing the hip-hop vibe. It's a square peg in a round hole here. That alone is a deal breaker. And as someone else mentioned, the track doesn't really "go anywhere", it gets way too repetitious.

Yes, I think the screener could have done a better job of pointing out why this didn't fit but the bottom line is the same.

Best,
JMHO
:D Casey

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Re: WHY ?!

Post by PhilRey » Tue May 29, 2018 10:31 pm

Hey casey,

Thanks for answering ! ;)

It's a track that is mean to be sang.. so yes there are repetitions...chorus-verse-... (I've listened to forwarded tracks for this listing and they are repetitive too)...
(Listen to the Prince of Belair and tell me it's not repetitive ! :D )

The piano.. ok the piano !! :D For me it's not so different than the one you can hear in one of the temp track... But I get it.. it's maybe too central in my track...

As always, walking a fine line here...

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Re: WHY ?!

Post by Casey H » Wed May 30, 2018 11:38 am

PhilRey wrote:Hey casey,

Thanks for answering ! ;)

It's a track that is mean to be sang.. so yes there are repetitions...chorus-verse-... (I've listened to forwarded tracks for this listing and they are repetitive too)...
(Listen to the Prince of Belair and tell me it's not repetitive ! :D )

The piano.. ok the piano !! :D For me it's not so different than the one you can hear in one of the temp track... But I get it.. it's maybe too central in my track...

As always, walking a fine line here...
Most often, backing tracks to vocal tracks without the vocal don't work so well as stand alone instrumental. That is, unless they have enough "something" to themselves. The still need variety, build, sectional contrast, etc. I have some that stood out well on their own but most not. I *DO* get generally lower paying reality TV cue placements from backing tracks. But the bar is much lower there. For high paying instrumental placements as in this listing, you need more.

In fairness, I didn't listen to the reference tracks here so I may have missed something. When I listened to your track and heard that electric piano type sound, I immediately had a "What was that?" reaction. Also, this is DEFINITELY not my genre at all.

Again, keep in mind the "bar" for listings. If there is a sync fee, especially in the thousands, you know it's ultra high bar. If it's a library looking for more cues, it might be more medium bar.

Best,
:D Casey

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Re: WHY ?!

Post by PhilRey » Wed May 30, 2018 1:13 pm

Yes you're right of course...

The piano killed it I get it now.. The claps too (not the right era..). I really need to pay much more attention to all these details.
The global mood does not seem to be aligned either with what they were searching for... It should have been a tiny bit more agressive / happy...

I think my mistake was to take the Prince of Belaire as a temp track for this one... Finaly they wanted something less linear, with a more agressive energy, more happy...

Thanks for stopping by however ;) Really appreciated.

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Re: WHY ?!

Post by coxnvox » Wed May 30, 2018 4:26 pm

Hey, Phil.

I like the track. I think the other comments on here are pretty accurate. Other than the piano thing already mentioned, I wonder if a few more breaks in the beat would provide interest and keep our attention. You're definitely right about the repetitiveness of the Bel Aire track! But I do think maybe every 8 bars at least giving us a little something new might be nice.

Great piece, though, and sounds like you have some great stuff going on. I'm having to shake off a couple tough rejections right now...it's so easy to forget how much we've improved when we get a return we disagree with, but you've got great chops so keep cranking 'em out! Peace!

kerry c
James Cox
coxnvox music, evergreen, co
Founder and CEO - Missional Score
MissionalScore.com

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Re: WHY ?!

Post by PhilRey » Wed May 30, 2018 8:41 pm

Thank you for your kind words Kerry ;) Yes I'm definitely experiencing some turbulences too right now.. Dozens of returned tracks (most of them because of the sound, often dated. Or because I missed the target like here...) . I was used to a more successful ratio. But nothing is getting through since 2 weeks... Harsh...

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Re: WHY ?!

Post by DesireInspires » Fri Sep 14, 2018 8:40 am

To me, I think the reference cues and the listing clashed.

The listing stated that samples of other songs should NOT be used. But as a fan of a lot of 90’s hip hop, many songs contained samples and interpolations from other songs.

Here is info on the track “I Wish” by Skee-Lo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Wish_(Skee-Lo_song)

Here is info on the track “It Takes Two” by Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Takes_ ... Rock_song)

Furthermore, the Theme Song from “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Ait” was produced by Quincy Jones. The music from the theme song was also used in between scenes. So it is likely that there were a group of session musicians who did all of the music for that show. It was all original music that was done by a group of composers under the direction of a legendary producer. It isn’t likely that one composer would be able to create a suitable theme song for the upcoming show in the listing. Overall, I feel that this listing was set up to fail. Other opinions may vary.

The accuracy of the listing causes problems for composers, and probably the end user as well. It would probably have been best to either let composers submit songs with samples or to just license a 90’s song. Many of these older artists will not be expecting the same money as a Beatles song.

It sucks to be rejected. But being more selective about the listings helps a lot. I always listen to the reference cues and compare the wording in the listings to see if things make sense. If they don’t, I do not submit to those listings.

Nothing to feel bad about. Learn and improve.

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Re: WHY ?!

Post by sermusicusa » Sat Sep 15, 2018 8:41 am

DesireInspires wrote:To me, I think the reference cues and the listing clashed.

The listing stated that samples of other songs should NOT be used. But as a fan of a lot of 90’s hip hop, many songs contained samples and interpolations from other songs.

Here is info on the track “I Wish” by Skee-Lo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Wish_(Skee-Lo_song)

Here is info on the track “It Takes Two” by Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Takes_ ... Rock_song)

Furthermore, the Theme Song from “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Ait” was produced by Quincy Jones. The music from the theme song was also used in between scenes. So it is likely that there were a group of session musicians who did all of the music for that show. It was all original music that was done by a group of composers under the direction of a legendary producer. It isn’t likely that one composer would be able to create a suitable theme song for the upcoming show in the listing. Overall, I feel that this listing was set up to fail. Other opinions may vary.

The accuracy of the listing causes problems for composers, and probably the end user as well. It would probably have been best to either let composers submit songs with samples or to just license a 90’s song. Many of these older artists will not be expecting the same money as a Beatles song.

It sucks to be rejected. But being more selective about the listings helps a lot. I always listen to the reference cues and compare the wording in the listings to see if things make sense. If they don’t, I do not submit to those listings.

Nothing to feel bad about. Learn and improve.

This is spot on

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