Very worthwhile read, Robin Frederick

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Casey H
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Very worthwhile read, Robin Frederick

Post by Casey H » Wed Oct 05, 2022 5:12 am

As always, Robin Frederick provides great insight and info. :D
https://robinfrederick.com/how-to-write ... temporary/

One of the things you see a lot here is people who are older (like me!) with good songs but they are not contemporary enough for today's listings and library needs. In addition to teaching how to write more contemporary to begin with, the section, "But my songs are already recorded!" is fantastic advice. I particularly love the suggestion to record new stripped down covers of your own older songs, possibly with lyric updates. Very common in Film/TV today are acoustic covers of well known, older songs. As with most other Film/TV opportunities, music sups often "temp in" recordings by known artists or covers of their songs but since the licensing is expensive, they go to production music libraries for songs that have similar style and feel but can be licensed on their budget. That concept is pretty much why we exist in this business. So your acoustic cover of one of your own, older songs could possibly fit the bill. 8-)

Best,
:D Casey

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OwenGrech
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Re: Very worthwhile read, Robin Frederick

Post by OwenGrech » Wed Oct 05, 2022 8:35 am

Very interesting article Casey, thanks for sharing.

I might not be as "old" but I still struggled (and occasionally still catch myself doing so) to write in a contemporary fashion.
What she says about the radio is so true! Actually one of the ways that kick started my appreciation for contemporary stuff was the Taxi forwards blog. I personally don't like the overdose of auto-tuned vocals on the radio etc but when I started hearing great sounding instrumentals in the same genre (say for ex hip hop) that got forwarded I really started to appreciate the production value that goes on in those well produced tracks, to the point that I now find it somewhat hard to hear some of my "old" favorite songs from a production stand point. So yeah Robin Frederick rocks and so does the Taxi forwards blog :)

Owen

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cosmicdolphin
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Re: Very worthwhile read, Robin Frederick

Post by cosmicdolphin » Wed Oct 05, 2022 8:46 am

The problem is when we're young we try all these musical endevours, learn our instruments , form bands, write songs, have fun..most of us never really get anywhere that serious before life takes over, marriage , career , raising families etc.

Then one day the kids are all grown up , you have more disposal income for gear , there's a spare bedroom now they've gone off to college etc. ...full of enthusiasm you join Taxi only to find you get return after return as your listening habits are stuck in your younger days and your tastes are 30yrs out of date. Things have moved on and it's really hard to re-wire that part of your brain.

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