The big one - Y111122EL - any results?

[88keys]

The drum groove should be fairly consistent, but keep it interesting on a melodic and production level. Don't get stuck on repeating the same melodic motif over and over.

What I’m not hearing is the melodic component and that might be the deciding factor for the return.

Again, not an EL guy but reading the listing while listening did make this jump out at me right away.

Best,
Casey

Thanks for the critique Casey. I really do appreciate the fresh perspective on it.
That part of the listing did stick out at me as well and I paid particular attention to add new elements with each repeat of the melody. With "Block Rockin' Beats" or "Firestarter" or "The Boxer"/"Out of Control" or any Electronica or any music for that matter, main hooks repeat. I don't see how you would want to get away from that.
Also, I thought that my A-B-A-C-A form and my really broad palette of electronica sounds added quite a bit of variety.

[Casey H]

I think to survive and maintain sanity in this business you have to get used to the fact that the people describing the music they want may not always to the best job of it. This happens both with Taxi clients and on the outside all the time.

I saw a lead the other day on the outside asking for 60's, 70's, and 80's style music which included Lady Gaga in the "a la" list. (She was born in 1986, so other than maybe singing "ga ga" in her crib, I don't think she was performing yet)...

It could very well be there is a bit of conflict between "a la Chemical Brothers" and melodic. I see things like that a lot all over the industry.

I agree strongly with Michael that, although clients sometimes really don't know what they want untill they hear it, from a TAXI business POV, that's not relevant. Sending them tracks that don't match what was described to them would be the kiss of death. Again, that doesn't mean screeners are perfect. They are not bots and the human element will always be a factor.

Casey

[88keys]

I agree strongly with Michael that, although clients sometimes really don't know what they want untill they hear it, from a TAXI business POV, that's not relevant. Sending them tracks that don't match what was described to them would be the kiss of death. Again, that doesn't mean screeners are perfect. They are not bots and the human element will always be a factor.
Casey

Yes, agreed. However, I think a slightly wider net would be a plus for ad agency listings from two perspectives : 1) it gives the creative director more options 2) it also could benefit Taxi composers for future reference....they may hear something that goes in the mental filing cabinet for another spot down the road.

[Mark Crozer]

I submitted three tracks for this one - Swarm, Peyote and Ultraviral. The first two were returned, the latter was forwarded. Now, I would be hard-pushed to say why that one got through when the others didn't. The screener did make a note on the two returns that the melodic element on both tracks was "a little too predictable" but there was no comment on the forwarded one. The crazy thing is that I thought the two returned tracks were in with more of a chance than the one that was forwarded - in fact, I very nearly didn't submit the third one as I thought it was weaker. Just goes to show that you never can tell what's going to grab someone...

Mark

[Mark Crozer]

Hey Zircon, just checking out your tunes on Youtube now. Totally amazing! Mindbender in particular is fantastic. I don't understand why that track wasn't forwarded for this. It's totally 100% on the money I think. Some very cool sounds and a cool progression. Wow... you've had a load of hits too. Very good stuff.

Mark

[zircon]

Thanks for the kind words. Listening to Ultraviral I can actually see how it got forwarded. It has a somewhat lo-fi feel and I think they really liked the 16th note pulse. Definitely reminds me of older TCB (<97), but not any of their smash hit songs, so maybe they meant the more old-school four-on-the-floor stuff as opposed to the more popular breakbeat/big beat tracks.

[sedge]

Zircon, buzzin tunes man!!!!!!!!!!!!

[admin]

Hi Zircon,

I know you know what you're doing, so your post piqued my interest. We DO check up on the screeners... even the boss checks up on them.

I went back and read the listing, listened to your three tracks posted here, and then listened to all of the forwards. Here's my take on it:

1) This was for a TV spot. Not a record, not a club, not a video game, and not a TV show or film. Your three tracks are all very credible, and yes, they are in the Chem Bros. ballpark, but they didn't feel right with the picture, and in this case, that's what determined what got forwarded. In cases like these we're/they're not NECESSARILY looking for the BEST music period, they're looking for the RIGHT music.


2) We can't show the video because in this case, it was SUPER TOP SECRET (ad agency words, not mine). I was told to delete it from my computer when I was done (good thing I haven't yet ). There WAS that little incident more than a year ago when a few members posted an unreleased/unfinished commercial on public youtube channels and lost us a MAJOR agency relationship. We truly WISH we could give out video on the ad stuff, but it only took one bad apple to spoil it for everybody. We're looking at ways to deal with that issue, but that will come after the 2.0 launch.

3) The listing had one key phrase that many, many people overlooked:
HUGE Global Ad Agency Needs an UPTEMPO INSTRUMENTAL ELECTRONICA TRACK a la The Chemical Brothers for a "Big, super secret project." Yes, that was a quote from them. And here's another: "We need INSTRUMENTAL TRACKS that are at least 2 minutes long and not just a repetitive groove. It needs to have some interesting [musical] events that come and go." Our advice: The drum groove should be fairly consistent, but keep it interesting on a melodic and production level. Don't get stuck on repeating the same melodic motif over and over. Add some salt and pepper to give it interest. Bring some elements/instruments/sounds in and out. Keep your intro short! Give them the "red meat" pretty quickly.
It's after midnight and I don't want to call the screener at this hour to confirm this, but while listening to your three tracks, it's easy to see that they don't give the red meat up until 42 seconds, 30 seconds, and 30 seconds into the track... those are approx. times.

4) This was for a :30 TV spot in which the TAXI members will be going up against the Chem. Bros. and others of that stature. When the VP of music asks us for music that has short intros and gives up the red meat quickly, we can't give him stuff that doesn't deliver that until 30 to 40 seconds in. The forwards that I checked ALL had practically no intros. The attention span of the people involved in the ad are highly unlikely to listen to hundreds of songs that don't instantly engage the commercial's viewer, waiting for each one to deliver in 30, 40, 60, 120 seconds into the track. It might not be right, but it's reality in ad land. They're advertising people, not club people, not fans, not DJs... music is sadly not their priority, nor their area of expertise. We HAVE to give them something like the temp track when they ask us for it. My guess is that if you had edited your tracks to start on the "and 1" and gone directly to the more interesting stuff immediately, it could have been forwarded. In advertising timelines, we don't have the luxury of calling members and saying, "Dude, if you do this edit, or that remix, we can forward it." If we do it for one person, we could easily being doing it for dozens... goodbye timeline. BTW, we've been known to work LOTS of weekends and really late nights to meet those intense deadlines. We do that to give our members every possible shot at landing those big $ gigs.

I hope that helps you understand why you probably didn't get forwarded. I've always respected your talent, but please don't assume that we don't know a good track when we hear one because music that you thought was in the ballpark should have been forwarded, and it wasn't. Please give us more credit than that.

Actually, as a VERY strong rule of thumb ALL music for advertising needs to get to the point immediately. It's SO obvious when you hear the music against picture. I know because I've mixed more than 500 Madison Ave. commercials, and the music I often found the most desirable was the stuff that instantly told me what it was about, and didn't go off on a tangent in less than 30 seconds. Less editing makes guys in cold dark rooms with lots of LEDs happy.

HTH,
Michael

[admin]

BTW, Mark Crozer, I heard Ultraviral, and it's remarkably close to the temp track and very much in the feel, texture and mood of the temp track as well. My guess is THAT's why it got forwarded.

BTW, for all who are reading this thread, note that Mark's music was really good AND on target for what they asked for, so it was easy for us to forward it. Believe me, it pains ALL of us when we can't forward great music, but it often HAS to work in the context of what the end user wants, likes, needs, or at least THINK they need.

Michael

[Mark Crozer]

Hi Michael

Thanks!

Your reply here has been very useful. Nice to know my homework has been paying off.

Mark