Your Expertise Needed, Please!

[TalentMatters]

Hi, family! Okay - here's a link to a song I'm going to submit to listing S201110PB - piano-based New Age. I wanted to submit at least two others, but this one took me three thousand years to play without messing it up. Plus, the Road Rally. Plus working full-time. So, one it is. I'm not sure how to submit a bio or even if that's necessary, since I'm not trying to audition to be an artist.

https://soundcloud.com/kristen-knight-m ... qWD5Q3GmLN

Now, please be honest (I know you will), but also, please be kind about it. I cannot read music and have never taken music lessons - ever. That will probably be pretty evident to you professional musicians! I have only had my piano since Sept. of last year, so clearly, I'm not proficient and, I think, really too heavy on the pedal sometimes. BUT - I think this piece is really beautiful, and I'm taking a shot! No mixing required, since it's just a piano track, played straight through on a Roland FP30 (extremely basic, limited) digital piano.

I really appreciate your time and any input you wish to share. Thank you again!

~Kristen

[superkons]

It is a beautiful piano piece for certain (I am a pianist myself, so I am biased ), but to me it feels more like an accompaniment for a song, rather than new age. In its current form, I would get a singer to sing on top of it, and it will totally sound like something played in a bar, whilst people are having a conversation, or just watching and enjoying the performance.
For more of a new age vibe, I would have some pads, and a much less busy piano playing chords and sparse melodic bits. Again, this is just what I think

[Zaychi]

Hey Kristen, welcome to the family!

Some remarks about this one:
- I also feel it isn't really new age, it seems too upbeat for that. I agree that it would be a good backing track for a vocalist, though you'd probably have to remove some of those right-hand melody elements for that.
- the track feels a bit rushed, especially in the second half. The tempo increases significantly over the course of the song indeed. Try tapping your finger to the tempo of the song, and jump between the beginning and ending while tapping, you'll find that your "tap" doesn't fit anymore.
- the final chord is redundant and attracts attention in a bad way; I'd say let the previous one die down for an ending.

As for mixing, I thought that as well (no real "mixing" needed), but I just got a piano track returned this week with a comment about "bad mixing" or smth like that. This is my weak spot and I don't really know what was meant either, but apparently it is not as easy as we think!

[hummingbird]

I agree with the above comments, to me the chording sounds jazzy and it sounds like it is the accompliament to a classic jazz song from those great old musicals, and it has a touch of drama.

Listening to the a la's and comparing them with yours there is a certain sweetness or lightness to the flow or movement... like a babbling brook on a sunny day. If you listen to 'A Sense of Hope' for example, the chords are more minimal and it is the legato flow of the moving upper notes that pull the ear. When I listen to 'Reach for You' my ear is pulled to the sonic quality of the lower notes of the chord, with that interesting discordancy, which leads me to think jazz.

The best way I can describe it for myself is say, a listing asked for inspirational, uplifting piano.. the a la's would fit that. Your piece is, imho, more emotional, yearning, slightly dramatic.

That doesn't mean it's not a lovely, evocative piece. It's just off target for this particular listing, and perhaps needs a little work on even tempo. Mix wise I think it's clean but maybe it's a little too focussed on the mids.

No doubt you are very talented. Never give up. Figure out what you want to keep from the feedback you've received from screeners or P2P, decide whether you want to leave your track as is and bring these ideas into a new one or whether you will rework your track. Listen to the a la's several times and pick the one that most resonates with you and ask yourself what sonic qualities it has, and compare with yours. Try to 'see' what we're saying. Needing to rework something... paint the canvas white and start again, or boil everything down to the simple through line of a melody and building back up around it... or picking up the crumbled paper from the floor and resolving to start the chapter again... these are the life of an artist.

HTH

===========================
PIANO-Based NEW AGE INSTRUMENTAL ARTISTS or COMPOSERS are needed by an eclectic Independent Record Label for their next series of New Age Piano compilations. If the material is really strong, the Label might want to sign you as an Artist as well!

This Record Label is on the hunt for Instrumentals in the general stylistic ballpark of the following references:

"If I Could Tell You" (Solo Piano Version) by Yanni

"Winds of Magic" by Laura Sullivan

"A Sense Of Hope" by Jim Brickman

Although one of the references is on the longer side, please limit your running time to roughly 3 or 4 minutes in length (give or take).

Please submit well-composed Piano-Based New Age Instrumentals with intriguing melodies and fantastic musicianship. Your submissions can range from solo piano performances to more filled-out arrangements with additional instruments – just be sure that piano is the main focus of your pieces. Please be sure that any sampled or virtual pianos you use sound like the real thing! Anything that sounds synthetic or obviously MIDI-driven won’t work for this request.

TAXI TIP: Please do NOT include any sound effects in your music such as animal sounds, waterfalls, wind chimes, raindrops, etc.

[funsongs]

Lots of agreement in the previous comments.

Adding 2 cents: an Old Guy's ears' opinion:
the composition is good & workable... so,
1) if it were mine - I'd slow it down to a walking tempo - say somewhere around 86bpm;
and, as others suggested -
2) topline a vocal & melody over it; AND: place it more-befitting in a Jazzy/Bluesy thing; female vocal.
Could be very cool.

PS: per Fett's teaching at the VRR: "stop apologizing" (aka - making disclaimers and excuses):
just put the tracks out there and say: "Hit me with your best shot!"
Most already know to be kind... because meanness can boomerang.
HTH... carry on!

[gitanosoy]

Hi Kristen,

I also agree with the above comments, however it is a nice piece but not for this listing.

Although I read music I just want you to know that it is an asset and definitely not required to play music or write for libraries...or just compose ..lots of great musicians don't read.

Good luck

[AlanHall]

Hi Kristen, nice meeting you at the road rally, in Robbie's 'hang' I think.

Not much more to add about your piano piece. I like it, sounds jazzy like something that might be in a fancy restaurant (and Michael Laskow says that kind of music can be placed in about ... everywhere!) so I think you're off to a good start if you like making that kind of solo piano. Dig deeper into the Taxi TV archive, these forums, and the forwards blog.

Three thousand years? That's some dedication! Look into getting a MIDI interface and some DAW software to allow technology to help you with the workflow. If you have that, view more youtube videos on how to make it work for you.

[cosmicdolphin]

Three thousand years? That's some dedication! Look into getting a MIDI interface and some DAW software to allow technology to help you with the workflow. If you have that, view more youtube videos on how to make it work for you.

What Alan said

Your post sounds like you are recording it over and over to get a good take ? If you are then kudos to you but what you need to be doing is recording your performance to midi , comping it or cleaning it up in some DAW software and then adding a little polish to the mix. Otherwise you'll be there forever like you said

This is will probably be much easier if you get decent virtual piano VSTi as well and just use your FP30 as a controller and not for the actual sound.

Mark

[TalentMatters]

Hi, family!

I really cannot thank you enough for the feedback, and I absolutley agree with you! One of my "known issues" is that I tend to speed up; it's crazy, and I do it when I play my drum kit, too! NUTS! Also, YES - I am playing it over and over again trying to get it right. (In fact, I played this one so many times that literally sprained my right pinkie, and my other fingers aren't very happy this morning, either! HA!) My piano does have MIDI but I have heard to many bad things about that I chose to record audio instead of MIDI. And, I don't know the hell to use my DAW! Otherwise, I would have tried to piece together a perfect recording without spending literally days trying to play it perfectly. Ugh! Such a novice, but I am learning and I will get better! (Gonna change DAWs, too - right now I'm on Audacity, but several people have recommended Reaper, so I want to give that a try...)

Really - thank you all so much for taking the time to listen and to give thoughtful and constructive input. (My mentioning that I don't read music was so that hopefully the feedback wouldn't include technical musical terms that I don't understand. I'm still learning and will get there eventually, but right now? Nope! The TAXI reviewer included "less constant arpeggio motion" in one review and I have no idea what that means in relation to my piece! Even googling "arpeggio," I don't know how/where that applies in my song. Oh, well - I'll figure it out OR I'll post it before my next submission (of that song) and ask you all!

Anyway, I didn't mean to write an epic novel here, but I really do appreciate each of you. I feel encouraged and I will certainly take everything you have written to heart and use it to make this piece stronger. THANK YOU!

[AlanHall]

If I were to get "less constant arpeggio motion" as a critique, my first guess would be the screener means to stop playing an unending pattern of notes; give the music some phrasing, space for the music to 'breathe', a little pause here and there. Honestly, I didn't get that listening to your piece, so I could be off a bit.

No jokes about me being "off" a bit, please!