Brand new here - Should I be here?

[wallypeterson]

I've put off joining for a couple years, because of my recording ability and equipment mostly. If anyone is willing, I'd very much appreciate opinions on the quality of a few songs (pick one, listen to all of them, anything is helpful). Would any of these ever pass muster (quality-wise) for a listing? Or am I not ready for prime time yet?

I write in multiple genres and play, sing, and record everything myself at home on a Tascam 24 track (no DAW because I use a Chromebook).

Never Would - Power pop, pop/rock - https://drooble.com/l/2otf3

Moonlight - Sort of R&B/Soul pop - https://drooble.com/l/2lp75

Stay - Softer pop/rock - https://drooble.com/l/2av8z

Learn To Fly - Moody rock (my favorite song) - https://drooble.com/l/213tf

Shakedown - Upbeat Texas Blues - https://drooble.com/l/2byqw

Any and all help, advice, or input is welcome and appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[jdkotaska]

The quality is fine. You're ready... good luck!

[ThomasB]

I'd say you're in the right place! Sounds like you're certainly talented enough, and a great many of us are here to learn how to write/produce better tracks. Get in there and submit some tunes to some listings ... worst that can happen is you'll get some great feedback

[wallypeterson]

Thanks so much to both of you for responding, I appreciate the feedback!

[RPaul]

I listened to a little bit of each of the songs, and what I heard seemed solid to me on both the songs and production fronts. I'd guess the key will be either finding listings that fit what you have or writing and recording new stuff to match opportunities that are in the areas where you are comfortable (or can stretch a bit). Good luck.

Rick

[wallypeterson]

Thanks Rick. I've just been watching the Taxi TV from yesterday and that's my biggest takeaway so far - I need to learn to write to the listings. I appreciate your feedback, it lets me know that I at least have good foundation to work from. Thanks again!

[cosmicdolphin]

Biggest issue for me was pitchy vocals, they were quite bad in the first track. Don't think that one would get past the screeners. Mix/Production was also some way below where it needs to be IMHO

The last track Shakedown was better in both respects, sounded like it was more like the asked for "broadcast quality" and the other 2 somewhere inbetween.

The other thing is they all sounded kinda throwback / retro. There are less opportunities for non-contemporary music vs chart kinda stuff.

But like you say, write to the listings and you'll start learning.

Mark

[wallypeterson]

Thanks for the honesty Mark, very much appreciated!

[RPaul]

Biggest issue for me was pitchy vocals, they were quite bad in the first track. Don't think that one would get past the screeners.

I also did notice the somewhat pitchy vocals, especially in the first song. I didn't mention that for two reasons. First, I'm not sure they were "offensively pitchy" -- i.e. they didn't take me out of the performance. Second, I thought they might actually be within reason for the era of the songs, which would likely have been before all the Autotuning became standard. I know that when I've listened to some CDs of extremely well-known, and well-respected singers from the 70s and earlier, I've heard some significant pitchiness that would never fly today, or even in the last decade or two.

That said, I wouldn't begin to offer an opinion on what would and would not get by screeners in that context, so it may be safer to do some tuning, even on recordings meant to fit eras prior to Autotune.

Rick

[wallypeterson]

Thanks Rick. Yeah, my two biggest obstacles to overcome initially will be A) I'm old-school in recording. I don't have a DAW because I don't have a "computer", just a Chromebook, which mean I don't have the digital tools to do things like auto-correction, automated levels, etc. Just a 24 track with manual faders, and I have to get the recording right from the jump to make it sound decent. and B) I'm old-school, period. Meaning I don't listen to very much modern music at all, at least what's in the "mainstream". So everything I write ends up sounding 70s, 80s, 90s, or 'timeless', but not really modern/contemporary. From an artistic point of view that's not a bad thing imho, but I do understand that if I want to make money doing music commercially I'll have to adapt. Let's hope I can