My track was Over-Quantized?

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Tonebonemarone
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My track was Over-Quantized?

Post by Tonebonemarone » Wed Nov 16, 2022 5:44 pm

Just got my feedback for listing S221017PN and unsurprisingly it was returned. Frankly I don't think I have the right virtual instruments to be able to pull of a realistic sparce and emotional piano/string piece (I mostly produce rock stuff and the instruments I do have sit nicely in a dense mix), not to mention the fact that I only started playing the piano about a year ago, but what really irk'd me about the feedback was that the screener said the performance felt over-quantized. I find that odd because not only did I not do any quantizing, I didn't even use a metronome when recording this track!

Here is the track, what do you think?
https://www.taxi.com/members/lo1QHePPSS ... nt-in-time

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AlanHall
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Re: My track was Over-Quantized?

Post by AlanHall » Wed Nov 16, 2022 6:04 pm

Let me be the first to say that your internal metronome is impeccable! :D

Maybe the screener was looking for some rubato, something to break up the steady pulse?

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Re: My track was Over-Quantized?

Post by Tonebonemarone » Wed Nov 16, 2022 6:41 pm

Thanks! That's likely the case but I find it both hilarious and infuriating when screeners make a comment that ends up being so wrong like that. I once had a screener tell me that the real piano that I used in a song was poorly recorded and I should consider using a virtual instrument in the future. The piano I used was The Gentleman by Native Instruments through Kontakt! :lol:

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Re: My track was Over-Quantized?

Post by AlanHall » Thu Nov 17, 2022 8:11 am

As long as you (we) continue to find the hilarity in life's situations, things won't get us down. ;)

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Casey H
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Re: My track was Over-Quantized?

Post by Casey H » Thu Nov 17, 2022 1:48 pm

I think what the screener meant was the piano playing was a bit stiff feeling, more like just hitting notes but lacking a certain more natural emotional flow. Caveat: Not my best area of expertise and had I not read what the screener said, can't swear I would have picked that up.

This piece has lots of potential. :D :D Maybe you can find a co-writer to help take what you have and help bring it across the finish line as far as virtual sounds, realism, final production. Well written! 8-)

Best,
:D Casey

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Paulie
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Re: My track was Over-Quantized?

Post by Paulie » Thu Nov 17, 2022 8:36 pm

This is nice music, very placeable. But I understand where the screener is coming from. It needs to sound a little more human. The piano sounds a little bright to me, as in a lot of higher velocity notes. A lighter touch can help, as could some more dynamics. But still, very good work for someone that just started playing piano a year ago.
Tonebonemarone wrote:
Wed Nov 16, 2022 5:44 pm
(I mostly produce rock stuff and the instruments I do have sit nicely in a dense mix), not to mention the fact that I only started playing the piano about a year ago...
Let me offer some advice based on my early Taxi experience. When it comes to listings, do not waste your time trying to expand into new genres or trying new things (initially). Focus on your strengths. You learn by repetition, your recording skills and engineering skills will get better. Work on the music that comes naturally to you, the genres that you listen to most. We are what we listen to. Then, once you hone your engineering skills, your music business knowledge, etc. then perhaps branch off to a new genre. But focus on that genre extensively. Immerse yourself in that genre before you start writing. I wasted at least the first two years of my Taxi membership by submitting to far too many briefs and genres. Once I started focusing on what I was good at, I started having success.

Hope this helps... stick with your strengths! :)
Paul "yo paulie!" Croteau
"Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy." Beethoven
http://www.yopauliemusic.com | https://www.taxi.com/members/paulcroteau | https://youtube.com/@yopauliemusic

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Re: My track was Over-Quantized?

Post by Tonebonemarone » Fri Nov 18, 2022 12:24 pm

Thanks Paulie, I appreciate that. I do usually stick to making/submitting rock stuff but I've been trying to improve on A. piano writing/performing and B. getting realistic sounding MIDI string tracks which is why I chose to submit to this one. $5 for a review that could potentially open up an opportunity for the track isn't bad in my opinion! This is the second time I've submitted this track (it was re-recorded and re-mixed for this listing). The first review I got focused heavily on how un-human the string performance sounded where this one was more critique on my piano playing and production choices, so I take that as a good thing for my string programming chops!

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Paulie
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Re: My track was Over-Quantized?

Post by Paulie » Fri Nov 18, 2022 7:40 pm

Keep learning. The bar for strings today is very high, there are no excuses not to have realistic sounding strings. There are plenty of YouTube videos specifically about how to make strings sound real.. .it's all about the dynamic swells. :)
Paul "yo paulie!" Croteau
"Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy." Beethoven
http://www.yopauliemusic.com | https://www.taxi.com/members/paulcroteau | https://youtube.com/@yopauliemusic

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