Opinion on a FORWARD and a RETURNED track for SOLO PIANO INSTRUMENTAL CUES

[LNicotra]

Hi guys,
I'm Luca Nicotra, musician and composer from Sicily (Italy). I'm a member since this march but I already got 3 FORWARDS wich is a pretty good result for me.
I sent 2 songs for this list and I got 1 forwarded and 1 returned.
The one that is been returned was judged a bit too repetitive and the development could be better. The other was great as it is.
I'm not upset at all about the return but I must say that I didn't expected that. I crafted the 2 songs with the same ideas in mind and the development is kinda the same.
I still think that both songs could have a future in the Sinc industry. I'd like to know your thoughts about it!

FORWARDED SONG:
https://www.taxi.com/members/j2sLvuKuQ6 ... -fade-away

RETURNED SONG:
https://www.taxi.com/members/j2sLvuKuQ6 ... ining-star

Let me know what you think! Below there is the description of the list.

Keep it up guys!

-----------------------

SOLO PIANO INSTRUMENTAL CUES are needed by a very successful boutique Music Library that's distributed by Universal for placements in Promotions, Advertising, and other TV Programming.

This is a catalog you want to be in! Please listen to the following references to get yourself in the general wheelhouse of what they need:

Believe In We Campaign

MasterChef (from 0:40 - 1:14)

WeCanWeWill Campaign

Although one of the references has some additional instrumentation, please submit Solo Piano Instrumentals only for this request.

Please submit well-composed Instrumental Cues that feature Solo Piano as their only instrumentation. Your submissions should have one, central, captivating motif; top-notch arrangements with plenty of dynamics, interest, and forward motion; and excellent musicianship. Your pieces can range mood-wise from uplifting to sentimental to somber to just about anywhere in between – just be sure to stick with one mood so that your pieces remain cohesive. Your production should be polished and any and all virtual sounds or instruments you use need to be of the highest quality and current-sounding.

All submissions should be about 2 minutes long, give or take. Good edit points and non-faded, buttoned/stinger endings are required. Do NOT copy the references in any way, shape, or form. Use them only as a general guide for tempo, tone, texture, 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 FROM THE LIBRARY: "Many composers throw in way too many ideas and are not focused on ONE CENTRAL MOTIF: they try to keep things interesting by adding new harmonic lines and elements (melodies, even improvisations, etc) instead of focusing on the production and textures." Put simply, keep it SIMPLE! We know that other Libraries like to receive music with complementary A and B sections, but this Library is NOT one of them – stick with ONE CENTRAL MOTIF per submission, please!

NOTE: This company has a strong preference for composers who understand music licensing companies and how typical music library deals are structured. Go ahead and submit to this opportunity if that's you! Also, if you're an experienced producer that can deliver the goods in this genre, they're especially interested in hearing what you can do!

[Paulie]

Maybe the "too repetitive" common was referring to the heavy 8th note delay?

I can see where the screener is coming from. The chord progression never changes, it is a simple I-vi-IV-V progression. Might have been nice to insert a deceptive cadence (use a vi instead of a I), or maybe a short B section that moves to the IV to give the listener a little break from the main progression.

Nice music, but I agree with the screener on this one.

[Telefunkin]

Both are nicely executed tracks. I do prefer the forwarded one though. In both cases the chord progression is very common, and although there's familiarity in that it also risks the listener (or perhaps screener) feeling jaded by it. I-vi-IV-V crops up on TV ads every day, and I've even heard of libraries in saying 'please, no more I-vi-IV-V' in their listings . Anyway, well done for getting the forward, and you never know, if the library reach out to you they might be happy to accept your second track too. Best of luck to you.

[superblonde]

I sent 2 songs for this list and I got 1 forwarded and 1 returned.
The one that is been returned was judged a bit too repetitive and the development could be better.

I agree with the screener that the returned track is a return, although it is hard to quickly describe why other than "it is boring"; I kind of dozed off during the middle of it. So, "needs more development" could be a good phrase to describe that. If really going into time-consuming detail on why it is boring, it seems to have this form,
intro
verse
break
chorus (fatter verse)
verse <- but this verse is unchanged other than thicker chords
break
outro


also, there is no single ostinato motif which drives it, to make up for this generic-ness; it is simple melody, just the melody continues to repeat over & over.

since it is 2:15 long, there is probably a chunk which could be deleted (probably from the chorus/final verse) to trim down to 1:45 and it wouldnt be so boring.

How to fix it? Probably write a different chorus which is more of a harmonic/melodic contrast to the verse... But... this is not what the listing seems to hint at anyway (they want an ostinato; ONE motif; NOT a melody).

And here is additional irony: such a cue might only have 15sec of it used, so what's the big deal about part of it being boring? Well, the References seem to hint that this target is for a commercial-ad spot, so the cue will run in entirety, not a tv-sync spot where only 10-15sec are used.


Overall this goes back to one of my overarching queries regarding SOLO PIANO, which is: how to develop the texture of a track, when there is only the 1 instrument and the listing calls for a very boring composing style, like this one did? For example, if this was PIANO & STRINGS, then you could likely leave your piano track as-is, and simply add string ensemble starting at the chorus through to the end, and it would most likely be successful; but with SOLO PIANO, you became stuck with only using thicker chords for the final verse as your "development". The main musical answer to this seems to be to increase the harmonic rate (not the tempo) by using diminution: i.e. take your quarter-note melody and turn it into 16th-note-melody or at least 8th note melody (via adding significant ornamentation). Another very good (and musically easy) option would be to change registers, for example dropping your Chorus an octave, and raising your final verse an octave; this would create spectral contrast & development. So the real criticism of the screener is this: Why didn't the screener explain/suggest this? (Goes for all screeners as well.) Rejecting with "it needs more development" is a trivial sentence of feedback and hardly worthy of paying the submit fee. An example of using register as a means of development is what I did with my cue here: https://youtu.be/revAbjyhXIA which does not do much musical development other than register change and slight melodic change (which furthers the intended mood). So again: the screener feedback could/should include ideas like this, not simply "meh, it isn't interesting and needs something more" .

[LNicotra]

Maybe the "too repetitive" common was referring to the heavy 8th note delay?

I can see where the screener is coming from. The chord progression never changes, it is a simple I-vi-IV-V progression. Might have been nice to insert a deceptive cadence (use a vi instead of a I), or maybe a short B section that moves to the IV to give the listener a little break from the main progression.

Nice music, but I agree with the screener on this one.

Thank you for listening!!! Yes I agree with your feedback

[LNicotra]

Both are nicely executed tracks. I do prefer the forwarded one though. In both cases the chord progression is very common, and although there's familiarity in that it also risks the listener (or perhaps screener) feeling jaded by it. I-vi-IV-V crops up on TV ads every day, and I've even heard of libraries in saying 'please, no more I-vi-IV-V' in their listings . Anyway, well done for getting the forward, and you never know, if the library reach out to you they might be happy to accept your second track too. Best of luck to you.

loool, BTW thank you for listening and to share this insights!!!

[LNicotra]

I sent 2 songs for this list and I got 1 forwarded and 1 returned.
The one that is been returned was judged a bit too repetitive and the development could be better.

I agree with the screener that the returned track is a return, although it is hard to quickly describe why other than "it is boring"; I kind of dozed off during the middle of it. So, "needs more development" could be a good phrase to describe that. If really going into time-consuming detail on why it is boring, it seems to have this form,
intro
verse
break
chorus (fatter verse)
verse <- but this verse is unchanged other than thicker chords
break
outro


also, there is no single ostinato motif which drives it, to make up for this generic-ness; it is simple melody, just the melody continues to repeat over & over.

since it is 2:15 long, there is probably a chunk which could be deleted (probably from the chorus/final verse) to trim down to 1:45 and it wouldnt be so boring.

How to fix it? Probably write a different chorus which is more of a harmonic/melodic contrast to the verse... But... this is not what the listing seems to hint at anyway (they want an ostinato; ONE motif; NOT a melody).

And here is additional irony: such a cue might only have 15sec of it used, so what's the big deal about part of it being boring? Well, the References seem to hint that this target is for a commercial-ad spot, so the cue will run in entirety, not a tv-sync spot where only 10-15sec are used.


Overall this goes back to one of my overarching queries regarding SOLO PIANO, which is: how to develop the texture of a track, when there is only the 1 instrument and the listing calls for a very boring composing style, like this one did? For example, if this was PIANO & STRINGS, then you could likely leave your piano track as-is, and simply add string ensemble starting at the chorus through to the end, and it would most likely be successful; but with SOLO PIANO, you became stuck with only using thicker chords for the final verse as your "development". The main musical answer to this seems to be to increase the harmonic rate (not the tempo) by using diminution: i.e. take your quarter-note melody and turn it into 16th-note-melody or at least 8th note melody (via adding significant ornamentation). Another very good (and musically easy) option would be to change registers, for example dropping your Chorus an octave, and raising your final verse an octave; this would create spectral contrast & development. So the real criticism of the screener is this: Why didn't the screener explain/suggest this? (Goes for all screeners as well.) Rejecting with "it needs more development" is a trivial sentence of feedback and hardly worthy of paying the submit fee. An example of using register as a means of development is what I did with my cue here: https://youtu.be/revAbjyhXIA which does not do much musical development other than register change and slight melodic change (which furthers the intended mood). So again: the screener feedback could/should include ideas like this, not simply "meh, it isn't interesting and needs something more" .

Yes, Thank you for listening and for the long and accurate feedback! I think the main thing would be to have more of a motive and less a theme (like in the other one) so it would sound less boring and would have more space for development.
I tried my best to develop the theme, it appears in 3 different shapes trhought the piece (simple, in 8th notes and with variation), the list as for semplicity but maybe this formula was just not the best...