Mindset after 3 years of being committed

[RickElliott]

No, no, no... I haven't BEEN committed yet!
This might be too long for some of you, and it's all about me, Taxi, those people here who still try to help me when I'm being stubborn.
I can say that Taxi has never done me wrong or, has been wrong. For some reason, it seems like we (I mean ME) misread the briefs AND misread the critiques. I am so glad Michael hasn't kicked me off of here or Taxi because I am so stubborn and blind sometimes. I am totally committed to this and by golly., I am going to be successful at it.
Everyone in Taxi, I really appreciate all of the help, instruction, kicks in the butt, direction, understanding, etc. I am not going anywhere. You're stuck with me.
As Zenchiefengineer (ME again) said in the chat to Michael L., "I want to leave a legacy for my grandkids." I don't care about the money. I don't want them to just point to my military achievements and then try to follow me. I want them to know that my music is somewhere in the media and THEN they try and follow me there.

[douglasricketts]

Hey Rick! Hang in there, we've all misread a listing or ten or fifty.

In addition to reading the listing at least twice before composing and between nearly every individual instrument I record I've taken to using A.I. to do basic stem separation of the demo tracks provided then listening to the isolated cuts on repeat for at least a half hour (or more) before even starting to compose my own stuff. It helps me break down the elements and not get trapped in the tunnel of what I would choose to do with a track if left to my own devices. Not that I'm saying that's what's happening to your stuff! I certainly don't know what feedback the screeners are giving you.

[RickElliott]

I use the forwards blog a lot. I usually check to see what the forwards did to see what I need to do to improve.
What really grinds my gears is when I'll get a "too repetitive" but one or two of the forwards repeated their motif without any change 2 or 3 TIMES more than I did. I will never understand that. Then, someone will send me a PDF on how not to repeat too many times, and I'll have done all that. Yet, the forwarded cues did not do any of that. It's maddening. So, what I've decided to do is make an excuse for screener since I can't directly ask, such as, "Well, maybe theirs was just so damn good that the repetitiveness was forgiven." But it's hard to learn when someone else was not held to the same standard. Do we do what the forwards did and risk another return? Things like that keep me up at night. Then, I'm constantly second-guessing myself when composing. Then, my wife is telling me that it's a scam and/or there's some kind of favoritism going on here to NOT renew next time around. I mean, I can't say that she's wrong because it sure does look that way to someone who doesn't just keep the faith that things like that wouldn't happen at Taxi.


BUT... why would a cue get forwarded doing something even more so for which another cue got returned? That will be a burning question for me until I can ask it at next year's road rally. I could understand if there were more than one screener doing the same brief. Otherwise, there's a serious problem.

[JimOfferman]

BUT... why would a cue get forwarded doing something even more so for which another cue got returned? That will be a burning question for me until I can ask it at next year's road rally. I could understand if there were more than one screener doing the same brief. Otherwise, there's a serious problem.

I don’t know your cue or the one that did get forwarded, but here’s a thought: maybe the reviewer ticked the “too repetitive” box on that forward too! A forward doesn’t mean the track was perfect nor does it guatantee that the track will be signed or placed.

You appear to be very focused on “too repetitive”. Maybe there wete other factors that led to the return and “too repetitive” was only ticked as a possible area for improval (in addition to the reasons for the return).

Ultimately, all of it is subjective. Why does four chord song A become a world wide hit while equally repetitive song B whithers on the vine? No one knows! Don’t let that keep you up at night.

[RickElliott]

Your points are most probable. I agree with you and think the same. Definitely other things it was returned for, and I didn't mean to suggest otherwise.
I would not be here if I actually thought any of the negative things.
I am just used to a different way of doing things as a retired military officer from platoon-level to brigade-level, if there's a problem, we get to the meat of it and find out how to fix it, then, execute. That's what I want to do!
Every return and critique, a step closer.
Thanks for your input!
My wife does agree that I'm being obsessed about it. Ok, ok I'll shut up about it. Lol

[JimOfferman]

I come from the world of software development, where there are logical explanations and solutions for (almost) every problem. Music ain’t like that…

Your wife sounds like a wise person.

Happy new year! May it bring you many forwards!

[RickElliott]

I come from the world of software development, where there are logical explanations and solutions for (almost) every problem. Music ain’t like that…

Your wife sounds like a wise person.

Happy new year! May it bring you many forwards!

Thank you! Same to you my friend!

[DesireInspires]

I use the forwards blog a lot. I usually check to see what the forwards did to see what I need to do to improve.
What really grinds my gears is when I'll get a "too repetitive" but one or two of the forwards repeated their motif without any change 2 or 3 TIMES more than I did. I will never understand that. Then, someone will send me a PDF on how not to repeat too many times, and I'll have done all that. Yet, the forwarded cues did not do any of that. It's maddening. So, what I've decided to do is make an excuse for screener since I can't directly ask, such as, "Well, maybe theirs was just so damn good that the repetitiveness was forgiven." But it's hard to learn when someone else was not held to the same standard. Do we do what the forwards did and risk another return? Things like that keep me up at night. Then, I'm constantly second-guessing myself when composing. Then, my wife is telling me that it's a scam and/or there's some kind of favoritism going on here to NOT renew next time around. I mean, I can't say that she's wrong because it sure does look that way to someone who doesn't just keep the faith that things like that wouldn't happen at Taxi.


BUT... why would a cue get forwarded doing something even more so for which another cue got returned? That will be a burning question for me until I can ask it at next year's road rally. I could understand if there were more than one screener doing the same brief. Otherwise, there's a serious problem.

Repitition is a tricky thing.

What I have noticed is that if a sound is new, it will not be a negative thing if it repeats. It is something that catches the listener’s ear and will sound good for a while. What happens is that the new sound gets “old” and then the listener starts to hear all of the things that are not so good about the song.

For your music, focus on catching the listener’s attention with something new. This will keep the listener drawn to the sound and will improvise the chances of getting a forward.

[RickElliott]

I follow the rule of three. I actually only repeated the motif twice. Once in the low ace section and again with variation in the last act (high ace).
I should have not said anything as it sounds so much like whining. I don't know why I got butt hurt over this. It's stupid lol. I'm going to stop whining! I promise!

[Casey H]

No, no, no... I haven't BEEN committed yet!

Well... It's still very early in 2025, only Jan 4th! Plenty of time this year for that!