You've entered a Land of Country and of Urban

[LamarPecorino]

Submitted for your consideration . . . another attempt to combine Country and Urban music into something useful. The intended listing is included. Am I close?



COUNTRY-FLAVORED URBAN INSTRUMENTALS are needed by a European Music Licensing Company with an impressive list of placements in Film, TV, and Commercials!

NOTE: They’ve JUST started running requests for music from TAXI's members, so chances are you don’t have any material in their catalog yet!

They’re looking for Mid-to-Up-Tempo Instrumentals that that would fall within the general stylistic wheelhouse of the following references:

“Rodeo” by Lil Nas X, Cardi B

“The Git Up” by Blanco Brown

“Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus

Although the references have vocals in them, this company needs Instrumentals only at this time.

Please send them well-composed Instrumentals with authentic-sounding Country instrumentation/elements that are built around Urban/Hip-Hop beats. Your Instrumentals should be well-structured, with banging drums, and attention-grabbing melodies that stylishly fuse Country and Urban music together.

All submissions should be at least 90 seconds long (give or take), with non-faded, button endings. Do NOT copy the referenced music in any way, shape, or form. Use it only as a guide for tempo, texture, tone, and overall vibe. Do NOT submit any material with unauthorized samples of any other artists’ music, sounds, or any other form of media. Broadcast Quality is needed.

This company offers an EXCLUSIVE deal, so please be sure the Instrumentals you pitch for this opportunity are NOT already signed with any other Companies or Catalogs. Any sync fees will be split 50/50 with the Company. You'll get 100% of the Writer's share, and the Publisher will get 100% of the Publisher's share. You must own or control your Master and Copyright to submit. Please submit as many Instrumentals as you'd like, online or per CD. All submissions will be screened on a Yes/No basis – No full critiques. Submissions must be received no later than 11:59 PM (PST) on Monday, November 18th, 2019. TAXI #Y191118CH

[jdkotaska]

Nice job! I think you nailed the vibe. My only suggestion would be to let it breathe a little in parts -- overall it seems kind of busy. Might even want to break it down at some point. Good luck, it sounds great!

[LamarPecorino]

Thanks, Dean. It probably needs room to breathe.

[cassmcentee]

First off, Great instrumentation Gents!
I'm finding Hic Hop harder to mix than I ever thought Lamar...
My first clue to you having the same struggles as I, you have my meters peaked yet I'm not hearing the urban beat as prominent as I think it should be.
I've been getting the Kick/Snare levels set first and then SLOWLY bringing everything else up, with heavy subtractive EQ especially in the low end so that nothing is on the kick.
Next, subtract as much of the instrumentation out as you can yet still get the idea across.
The Cliffnote version!!!
Listen to Old Town Road and see how silly some of it is...

P.S. just gave a second listen and I actually can't hear the kick

[LamarPecorino]

First off, Great instrumentation Gents!
I'm finding Hic Hop harder to mix than I ever thought Lamar...
My first clue to you having the same struggles as I, you have my meters peaked yet I'm not hearing the urban beat as prominent as I think it should be.
I've been getting the Kick/Snare levels set first and then SLOWLY bringing everything else up, with heavy subtractive EQ especially in the low end so that nothing is on the kick.
Next, subtract as much of the instrumentation out as you can yet still get the idea across.
The Cliffnote version!!!
Listen to Old Town Road and see how silly some of it is...

P.S. just gave a second listen and I actually can't hear the kick

I hear you, Cass. Time for some extensive editing. I may add another kick drum track to underpin the groove.

[johnlewitt]

I'm not an expert at this, but I think you need to change the drum kit. Right now it's too full (maybe more R&B than Urban?). If you listen to Old Town Road (and there's so many different mixes), you've programmed the drums properly, but just picked the wrong kit, IMO.

[LamarPecorino]

I'm not an expert at this, but I think you need to change the drum kit. Right now it's too full (maybe more R&B than Urban?). If you listen to Old Town Road (and there's so many different mixes), you've programmed the drums properly, but just picked the wrong kit, IMO.

Thanks for listening and writing, John. You're probably right. I tend lean toward fuller sounding drums. I'm going to go back and study the reference drum tracks more carefully. Maybe, this old dog can still learn a new trick or two.

[LamarPecorino]

Am I making any progress?

[funsongs]

Hey, Lamar -
FWIW, really glad you resisted any temptation there might have been to use the overused finger-snaps percussion found in way too many New Country songs.
This sounds like a palatable and interesting blend of Old School Country & modern/urban. IMHO - well done. (I just listened to Mix 2 - didn't scroll down to see you've done more!)

Listening to #6 just a few seconds in... I was already liking the percussion track of #2... so this one was NOT as 'clean' to these Old-Guy ears.
But if you're aiming at modern, doing the OPPOSITE of what I like - is probably SPOT ON!

[nicotina]

Lamar,

I like mix 2 much better. Not crazy about the buzzy synth motif at :48, where the twangy baritone guitar comes in. I would rather just hear the twangy guitar, and I found the synth distracting. But that may just be me, if others didn't mind it. Other than that, I really like the vibe.

Vince