Refs question

[jbucklin]

Trying to find that balance between not getting too far away from the listing/ref or being too close to it. First off I’ve taken a break from this for the past four or so years and I’ve noticed a change in the response from some of the screeners. They seem a lot tougher now and harder to please. I was just told that my latest track sounded too quantized and the only thing that was quantized was the drums, which is toontracks EZ Drummer 3 which I’ve been using for years, always quantizing them, and never got a complaint. Other than that, everything else was Guitar, Bass, and a synth pad.

Anyway, my biggest struggle in writing tracks for Taxi is trying to get it to sound close enough to the original, but not too close. I was basically told that my track sounded to “karaoke.” And it was an instrumental with the ref being a vocal tune. Which is another problem I’m constantly trying to work out. Anyway, I just needed to vent a little bit. I really just need to talk to somebody about this stuff.

[douglasricketts]

Hey there, can you post the listing, the feedback you received, and a link to your track? Will help make more clear what you're dealing with.

[telefunkin]

Yes, the best way to get some guidance is to post the full listing (include ref track links, not just text), a link to your track, and copy/paste the feedback. You'll get some comments that might be helpful in identifying specific issues or perhaps explaining the screener comments.
(Please test your links though to make sure they work )

[BradleyHagen]

Trying to find that balance between not getting too far away from the listing/ref or being too close to it. First off I’ve taken a break from this for the past four or so years and I’ve noticed a change in the response from some of the screeners. They seem a lot tougher now and harder to please. I was just told that my latest track sounded too quantized and the only thing that was quantized was the drums, which is toontracks EZ Drummer 3 which I’ve been using for years, always quantizing them, and never got a complaint. Other than that, everything else was Guitar, Bass, and a synth pad.

Anyway, my biggest struggle in writing tracks for Taxi is trying to get it to sound close enough to the original, but not too close. I was basically told that my track sounded to “karaoke.” And it was an instrumental with the ref being a vocal tune. Which is another problem I’m constantly trying to work out. Anyway, I just needed to vent a little bit. I really just need to talk to somebody about this stuff.

I would love to hear your track and see the listing and feedback....... But when they say "too karaoke", it usually means that everything sounds stiff, and too "on the grid." I also use EZ most of the time, but try to edit the MIDI to give it a more human swing type of feel..... not a ton, not like super crazy jazz swing, but just enough to make it sound a little more human. I also play around quite a bit with the velocities, and lastly, like to bus all of EZ Drummer's individual channels to a a couple of busses for further processing (saturation, tape, RC-20...that kind of thing...). I am of the opinion that every little detail matters to make this stuff sound more human and live...Nothing beats a live drummer of course, but getting it as close as possible is where my head is at....

[BradleyHagen]

Anyway, my biggest struggle in writing tracks for Taxi is trying to get it to sound close enough to the original, but not too close. I was basically told that my track sounded to “karaoke.” And it was an instrumental with the ref being a vocal tune. Which is another problem I’m constantly trying to work out. Anyway, I just needed to vent a little bit. I really just need to talk to somebody about this stuff.

I feel ya Dude! I just got a return over being too close to a reference..... Yes, it is pretty subjective on the part of the screener, BUT they are ALWAYS going to err on the side of caution and return it if it is even a little bit close from my experience. The good news is that if that is the only issue with it, easy fix!!! It has happened to me now twice......