Which track are you most proud of that got returned?

[RiffKitten]

Not sure if I'm posting this in the right place, but hopefully I am.

I thought this track was a home run for hybrid orchestral trailer music:

https://www.taxi.com/members/Y5pvjOVZR2 ... tice-maker

Unfortunately, I should have listened to the references more carefully, as I used TOO many electronics. But at least I'll know for next time.

I'm curious to know if you guys / girls ever felt you had home-runs that ended up returned.

In contrast, some tracks that I had zero faith in were stronger than I thought and forwarded.

Hard to predict!

Andrew

[BradleyHagen]

A Yacht Rock track that seemingly I am the only one who likes at all! lol - It was returned TWICE
It is like Atlanta Rhythm Section meets Yacht Rock meets "I can tell you Why" by the Eagles (Or so I think...lol)

I WILL turn this into a full fledged song one day, and bring YACHT ROCK BACK TO THE MASSES! lolol

https://www.taxi.com/members/DVGQpc37Tk ... ool-fights

[BradleyHagen]

Not sure if I'm posting this in the right place, but hopefully I am.

I thought this track was a home run for hybrid orchestral trailer music:

https://www.taxi.com/members/Y5pvjOVZR2 ... tice-maker

Unfortunately, I should have listened to the references more carefully, as I used TOO many electronics. But at least I'll know for next time.

I'm curious to know if you guys / girls ever felt you had home-runs that ended up returned.

In contrast, some tracks that I had zero faith in were stronger than I thought and forwarded.

Hard to predict!

Andrew

"Justice Maker" is pretty dope though....head scratcher for sure....
I am guessing that the bar is high, and the competition fierce for epic orchestral stuff??

[RiffKitten]

I'm not super familiar with Yacht Rock, but this sounds great! Your description of it is spot on! I really dig it - It has a 'cool' vibe - I would definitely think that it has a home somewhere. I'm curious what the reason for the return was?

Yeah, I think you're right about epic orchestral - it seems that everyone makes it, and it probably is super competitive. There's one screener that seems to do a lot of the orchestral stuff and he/she is super tough and obviously knows their stuff. To the point that I feel like I should reread some orchestration books that I haven't touched in years!

[Casey H]

Not sure about ones that got returned but I have one (maybe more) that got rejected by the first 3 solid libraries I tried (all Taxi friendly ones who I already worked with) and ended up getting signed by another and placed on The Young and the Restless around 15 times. One of my biggest money makers ever.

All listings have different requirements. Yes, screeners are human as well and sometimes borderline cases could go either way. Different libraries have different needs and clients. One person's trash is another one's gold sometimes.

[Casey H]

I had a 60s track forward twice recently that none of my go-to libraries wanted.

[eandersonmusic]

Fun topic, thanks for posting Andrew!
I've definitely had a few, can't think of them all right now, but here's my most recent "let down"-

https://www.taxi.com/members/KIU8KmYxSi ... y-steppin-

It was for a "fun kids show" listing from about 2 weeks ago.
I agree with the feedback that I should have changed up the drums a bit, like make a break down section. I guess I'll make that change for next time.

[RiffKitten]

That's awesome, Casey. It's cool to hear that a track that nobody initially wanted ended up doing so well. Sometimes the screener feedback can come across strong, making me second guess certain tracks that I felt great about prior to review! (even though the screeners are almost always constructive and helpful).

Was it a song placement on Young and the Restless, or more of an instrumental underscore? I've been working with a few libraries since I joined TAXI a year ago, but am still waiting on my first placement, so it's interesting to hear about these successes. When you first started getting your music into libraries, how long did it take for them to find placements? (although I imagine there are a million variables that would affect how quickly it happens).

Good luck on your 60's track forward! I hope you find a home for it.

Thats a nice track Erik! I like the groove right off the get-go - cool bass. Also some really unique sounds. I feel for you, because sometimes I add a breakdown and the feedback is: 'this changes too much.' Other times, I don't add a breakdown and the feedback is: 'this is repetitive.' I've learned that there is no formula that works every time But I'm think I'm slowly getting better at feeling it out.

[BradleyHagen]

I'm not super familiar with Yacht Rock, but this sounds great! Your description of it is spot on! I really dig it - It has a 'cool' vibe - I would definitely think that it has a home somewhere. I'm curious what the reason for the return was?

It was mainly because the screener thought it too close to the reference track, but I could not disagree more....

What I like most about this song
Hi Bradley,

I like the use of the period instrumentation.

I think you could improve this song by
This is a good "masking" of Paul Davis's "Cool Nights", yet it is too close and this falls under the "Do NOT copy the referenced material in any way, shape, or form. Use it only as a general guide for tempo, tone, and overall vibe." Only submit "sound a-likes" if it is directly part of the request.

I returned or forwarded this song because
The track has a good approach, although, it veers from the desired request for an original 1980's Yacht Rock instrumental.

I then sent it in again for a similar request and received this feedback:

What I like most about this song
The production and sound presentation are strong. Rhythmically, the track is engaging and has a nice hook appeal.

I think you could improve this song by
The energy doesn't come close enough to the energy of the references. Adding more warmth and a heartfelt mood would make it more appealing to these scenes.

I returned or forwarded this song because
Your instrumental doesn't have a tone or vibe that's close enough to any of the references.

But hey, I have been bitching about some of these returns for far too long in these forums - Moving onwards and upwards!!!

[benalder]

Fun idea for a thread, Andrew.

I've only been around maybe 4 or 5 months in the Taxi community, so got a long way to go yet. But of my returns so far, I think I'm most proud of the second one that got returned for a modern noir listing, 'Dark Corners':

https://www.taxi.com/members/2aaNhPU3TW ... rk-corners

At the time, I was mostly just trying to learn how to write to a brief, and setting off into a genre that was new for me creatively speaking. The references were full of muted trumpets and sax, so very much a tense, gumshoe, Private Eye vibe, with a modern dark twist was what I was getting from the references. I don't play trumpet or sax, so I knew this was gonna be a long shot for me on a bunch of levels. (New to writing to a brief, new to taxi, new to trumpet etc), but while this was a out of my normal realm of creativity, (dystopian scifi alt. rock), the wider tools and instrumentation together with the dark vibe that was required felt really familiar. So I took a punt and gave it a shot (to completely mix up my sporting metaphors).

The feedback was REALLY good. The only thing that let me down was the quality of the trumpet/sax samples I was using, in that they didn't sound realistic enough. Completely fair feedback, and to be expected, all things considered. But essentially everything that was composed and placed in this piece was spot on and what was being looked for. If I just had some higher quality samples, or was able to make them sound more realistic, I might have been forwarded. Everything else was there: compositional quality, fitting the brief, broadcast quality in the mix/master etc. So, even though it didn't get through, I'm really proud of it. That rejection/return felt like a solid encouragement that given enough time and the right tools, I can, in fact, do this making music for a living thing.

Plus, it feels like a piece that I could potentially resubmit to another listing, once I take care of the issues raised in the feedback, so it might come good yet!