Listing S230404DY-Emotional, heartfelt instrumentals-solo piano

[MJLeeman]

I would be grateful to receive comments, tips, advice etc. to (hopefully) help me get the following submission up to Taxi standard:-

https://www.taxi.com/members/nwRU7pygQr ... ive-moment

for the listing which follows below.

I have tried to include the felt, pedal and overtone noises as per the first two references, thought I'm not sure if I should dispense with these, noting that they are not obvious with references three and four.

Cheers
Michael

EMOTIONAL, HEARTFELT PIANO INSTRUMENTALS are needed by a top-notch Production Music Library that's landed tons of placements in TV Shows, Films, and Commercials.

NOTE: This Library is BRAND NEW to requesting music from TAXI, so this is a great opportunity to create a new relationship for you and your music with an award-winning Company!

This Library is looking for emotionally moving Instrumentals that could be found on a playlist with the following references:

"Blazing" by Korey Banks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlABHrl0gFU

"Laetitia" by Ron Adelaar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOMDLcANU-k

"Nuvole Bianche" by Ludovico Einaudi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR2W2scFS4Y

"Comptine d'un autre été, l'après-midi" by Yann Tiersen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znfYwABeSZ0


Send them top-notch, original Instrumentals that feature piano as their ONLY instrumentation. Captivating melodies, excellent performances, and engaging arrangements that evoke a strong emotional vibe and sound and take listeners on a dynamic and heartfelt journey are all needed for this request. Please be sure your production is polished and any virtual instruments or samples you may choose to use are of the highest quality and indistinguishable from the real thing. If you have tracks that could tug at listener's heartstrings, send them in.

All submissions should be about 90 seconds to 3 minutes long, give or take. Clean beginnings and Non-Faded, buttoned endings are required so that no extra editing work is needed on the client’s side to make the piece work in a project. Please do NOT copy the referenced artists or songs in any way, shape, or form. Use them as a general guide for tempo, 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.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This client will need alternative mixes, shortened versions (60, 30, and 15 seconds), and STEMs, but not yet! ALL YOU NEED TO SEND RIGHT NOW ARE FULL VERSIONS. Please have the alternative versions on-hand and ready to send at a moment's notice if the client contacts you. If the company DOES contact you, they will ask that your alternative mixes, shortened versions, and STEMs are delivered to them as 24 bit, 48 000 Hz, 2-channel stereo WAV files. But again, for your initial submission to TAXI, all you need to submit are full-versions, like every other submission.

CRITICAL FYI: The 60, 30, and 15-second versions need to be very precise! When creating music for commercials, the 60, 30, and 15-second versions actually need to end at :59.5, :29.5, and :14.5 seconds – including reverb tails and instrument ring outs. TV and radio stations use computers to switch from one commercial to another on VERY precise schedules, so if your reverb tails or instrument ring outs exceed :59.5, :29.5, and :14.5 seconds, your music will not work, and cannot be used.

This company offers an EXCLUSIVE deal, so the material you submit for this request CANNOT be signed with other publishers or catalogs. This Music Library gets 100% of the Publisher’s share, and you’ll keep 100% of the Writer’s share. The sync fees are split with 50% going to a sub-publisher and the other 50% will be split between you and the Library. You must own or control your Master and Copyright. Please submit as many Instrumentals as you’d like, online or per CD. All submissions will be screened and critiqued by TAXI. Submissions must be received no later than 11:59 PM (PDT) on Tuesday, April 4th, 2023. TAXI # S230404DY

[RMarshall]

Hi Michael

The melody and feel of this is lovely - I really like the overtone too which makes the piece sound really intimate like the last 2 reference tracks. It's got that French vibe from the last track, too.

A couple of thoughts (not that I am an expert, but just as ideas)

- There is a little bit of stiffness in it overall, it does sound a little MIDI in places (could you add some rubato?)
- I think it could possibly do with the tempo being ever so slightly faster... it feels a tad static and this would stop it from being as evocative as it could be. Just my opinion though. As it's in 3/4 I feel increasing the tempo ever so slightly might make this more engaging/dance/dream-like and therefore more emotional.

I hope this helps. As I say, no expert but I do love this genre. I'm also working towards this listing - check it out on P2P if you get a chance!

listing-nes230404dy-another-piano-instr ... 50547.html

Best
Rachel

[MJLeeman]

Hi Michael

The melody and feel of this is lovely - I really like the overtone too which makes the piece sound really intimate like the last 2 reference tracks. It's got that French vibe from the last track, too.

A couple of thoughts (not that I am an expert, but just as ideas)

- There is a little bit of stiffness in it overall, it does sound a little MIDI in places (could you add some rubato?)
- I think it could possibly do with the tempo being ever so slightly faster... it feels a tad static and this would stop it from being as evocative as it could be. Just my opinion though. As it's in 3/4 I feel increasing the tempo ever so slightly might make this more engaging/dance/dream-like and therefore more emotional.

I hope this helps. As I say, no expert but I do love this genre. I'm also working towards this listing - check it out on P2P if you get a chance!

listing-nes230404dy-another-piano-instr ... 50547.html

Best
Rachel

Thanks , Rachel
I have set out to incorporate your suggestions into an update. In paricular, I have increased the tempo. - thank you for his suggeston, which I believe is appropriate. Regarding the issue of rubato, my view is that this is often overdone by performers - for me, this is okay maybe in a live concert setting, with showmanship issues, including exaggerated bending of tempo , which is generally what happens with rubato interpretation.
Anyway, I have included some rubato in the music, but only subtly, as that is my take on this issue, though I admit that I may need t review this approach.

I believe that your ideas in your critique are relevant issues and your points are well made. I thank you for taking the time to review the track and make your observations.

Cheers
Michael

[MJLeeman]

Here's the updated track. Thanks again, Rachel for your insightful comments in your post, which I feel have helped me improve the music, and which for me is an illustration of the benefits of this forum.

I'm not sure whether I should tone down the extraneous pedal, felt and key noises.

https://www.taxi.com/members/nwRU7pygQr ... nt-revised

Cheers
Michael

[superblonde]

I am listening to this as I am also presently writing piano. My opinion means nothing but here is what I notice. I listened to it at least a dozen times.

I also notice the stiffness. Compositionally this is also because it is downbeat-heavy, not just because of MIDI tempo. Move some of those chord tones off of the "1" to arpeggiate to remove some of this clunky feel.

I hear tempo automation but it is not well done, so it comes off as fake sounding. The right-hand tempo at 00:25 sounds like a ten year old is playing; which could be a specific comedic-type stylization effect but it isn't consistent so that is a no go.

The final chord/Stinger feels too trite. The ending cadence has a lack of foreshadowing. A better ending would be a melodic run-up of 16ths to the PAC (i.e. use an elision).

The song title "Reflective Moment". This is not the mood I get. From the current rhythm, I get more of a curious/comic vibe from an early 1950's black and white film. Umpa-pa-Um-pa-pa. The progression does not really sound Reflective. There is not enough suspensions or space (rests) to make a Moment (as in, suspenseful/tension moment). I would label the track "Old Saloon's Broken-Down Piano Roller".

The piano tone sounds limited. Like a 1990's keyboard set to 'electric wind-up piano'; not a modern, authentic-sounding VST. The reverb sounds ok.

I would save $5 and not submit this track unless specifically looking for the nonacceptance feedback.

[MJLeeman]

Here is my final effort. Thanks Rachel and Superblond for your comments and suggestions.

https://www.taxi.com/members/nwRU7pygQr ... ive-moment

Cheers
Michael

[superblonde]

Wow, significant improvement. Sounds much more natural.
However there seems to be some velocity thresholds in your piano tone where it starts to sound very artificial. This occurs right when it gets louder. There are pedal clicks starting at 00:30-00:40 which are not good; they are too loud for sure and would probably be better turned off if they can't be controlled.
What happens at 00:45? The tone changes from being soft, to being shrill. Perhaps you have some effects-mix problems or compressor problems which are creating artifacts. Maybe this VST you are using just isn't a good choice for pro quality. If you want you can compare to the tone I am using (for a different listing) in my draft here: youtube id v8OMf3TTsik Most notably the difference in the sustaining ring of each note.

Your new version is a much better track but I don't believe it will pass broadcast quality. (Edit 04/25/2023: this track was not in the resultant forwards list.)