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[Zaychi]

What I meant is, the instrument you pick in your DAW. When you pick one, it actually points to a sample set; so in it's simplest form, when you say "Trumpet", your DAW loads a bunch of samples (one for each note and articulation), to make the MIDI notes sound like a trumpet. Many VST plug-ins are much more advanced than that, of course.

There are thousands of plug-ins out there that you can download and use in your DAW; you should look for contemporary ones and use them instead of the "standard" stuff that came in the box with your DAW. What exactly is "contemporary" is a matter for endless debate; but the ones in your song are not for sure.

[cosmicdolphin]

You can generally find out what folks are using for different genres by reading forums or articles in magazines like Sound On Sound

Owning the same instruments is no guarantee of contemporary sounds though as it also depends on (a) - How they are played and ( b ) How they are processed

Take the genre ''Future Bass ' as an example, a lot of producers use Serum and Massive but if you just used the presets out of the box that won't get you all the way. You also need to understand how to sidechain instruments , use LFOs as well as the types of chords used in the genre. Each genre has it's own methodology.

Mark

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[hummingbird]

You can get no better education on songwriting than to listen to Robin Frederick. She's been on TAXI TV quite a few times, there are helpful insights on her website (for free), you can take her self-directed lyric writing course or her mentoring course and/or read her books.

One big thing I learned coming into TAXI was that what I thought was commercial, and had potential, often did not. As mentioned above, many of us have experienced that learning curve.

I think you could simplify your approach. If you play the guitar or piano, just do well-recorded acoustic versions of your songs, maybe add a little harmony vox in the 2nd and 3rd chorus. A well-written song done in a singer/songwriter style has loads of potential providing it features:
- universal lyrics that tell one story
- contrast between sections (change key, change rhythms, change vocal line in the chorus and/or bridge)
- an interesting melody

A good sample might be:

Home - Michael Bublé (Gustavo Trebien cover) - this is just guitar and voice, the song sings beautifully - shows you what's possible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF6tpByVwGY


and also:

Rod Stewart - For the First Time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKZwzQ6MkD4

Sting - Fragile
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx6aAnd0ywI

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[hummingbird]

Micheal is the songwriter. Gustavo sings it in the video I provided. It's a good example of what a simple guitar / vocal can do with a good song and easy enough for most of us to produce in the home studio.