Too Repetitive Too Often

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solidairmusic
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Too Repetitive Too Often

Post by solidairmusic » Thu Oct 07, 2021 9:39 am

Hello everyone,

I would be interested in anyone's feedback for this recent return. The queue was screened by #416 and returned the reasons quoted below. Since joining taxi over a year and a half ago I have composed and submitted over 50 instrumental cues in that time. 16 of those instrumental cues (which range from tension cues, hip-hop cues, urban dramedy cues, stomp and clap cues, acoustic Pop cues and indie/pop/rock cues) have all been returned by screener 416 for the same reasons which is that my cues appear to be too repetitive and could have a better developmental "arc". I very much appreciate the feedback from all of the screeners at taxi and look to improve on my submissions by using their comments, but with this recent return I am struggling to comprehend the screeners comments as I feel that the same comments could be directed to the supplied reference track (links to both the reference track and my submission are posted below). I would certainly be interested in anyone's opinion and to hear if indeed my cue is too repetitive. Maybe the screener is 100% correct but I would very much appreciate the thoughts of fellow members regarding this.

Thanks folks!



The Reference track
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UASfXSQ ... edia-Topic

My Submission
https://soundcloud.com/solid-air-music/ ... ife-master

TAXI # S211004HC

"HAPPY, CLAPPY" ACOUSTIC POP INSTRUMENTAL CUES are needed by an extremely busy Music Library with a tremendously long list of killer placements in Hit TV Shows!
Please send well-produced Acoustic Pop Instrumentals with a happy-go-lucky vibe and sound. Your submissions should have bouncy rhythms, polished production, and top-notch Acoustic-based instrumentation – think ukulele, acoustic guitar, snaps, glockenspiel, etc. – and don't forget those claps! Craft your Cues around a singular, feel-good motif, and create a sense of forward momentum and dynamics by layering instrumentation in and out as they progress. If you plan on using any virtual instruments or samples, they need to sound like the real thing and can't be stiff or low-quality.

What I like most about this song
This has a nice melody, nice sounds and a nice rhythmic presence. This was a fun listen and it was close.

I think you could improve this song by
This is good, but too repetitive. It spends too much time in the same place with the same sounds, at the same intensity.

I returned or forwarded this song because
This needs a wider variety of sounds, more variation in the instrumentation/intensity and some more build throughout.

Additional things I noticed...

Style
Mood is off target with the listing request

Composition
Could have a better developmental "arc"
Too Repetitive
Pete Mason
Solid Air Music LLC

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AlanHall
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Re: Too Repetitive Too Often

Post by AlanHall » Thu Oct 07, 2021 10:09 am

"Track not found"
Sorry I could not audition your submission. I see "Dream Big" and "New Horizons V2" in your playlist, but not "This Wonderful Life".

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Re: Too Repetitive Too Often

Post by solidairmusic » Thu Oct 07, 2021 10:39 am

My bad Allen I realized that the track was previously set to private on my SoundCloud. Thanks for noticing this. Hopefully it should work now!

Thanks Pete
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Re: Too Repetitive Too Often

Post by irthlingz » Thu Oct 07, 2021 11:15 am

Hmmm. After listening through both the ref and yours, I tried clicking half a dozen random spots in yours and the ref. To my ear, yours had more noticeable changes in energy and instrumentation than the ref did. Overall, I might have said you captured the feeling of the ref quite well while adding a bit more variety! Really curious to see if someone else can hear what the screener was hearing.

===
Michael

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Re: Too Repetitive Too Often

Post by AlanHall » Thu Oct 07, 2021 11:45 am

So I don't get the 'too repetitive' comment, either. I could say that I didn't hear any variation between the 2nd and 3rd sets of 4 bars (where the whistling comes in at the beginning), and that may trigger a repetitive reaction comment :lol:

I'd say rather than too repetitive, you've tried hard to avoid that and the developmental arc suffers from "4 bars of this", "4 bars of that" as if the group is trading 4s for the length of the cue rather than having the composition build with the intent to go somewhere. Case in point: the whistling in the beginning, then nothing, then it comes in again at the end. Those two sections may be different in regards to instrumentation, etc., but I can't tell if they are, so I assume that they're exact copies. The arc of a cue comes from each entrance - or instrument becoming silent - providing a logical and audibly necessary service to the form. The listener should be able to make sense of the arrangement, and the composition must be satisfying to the listener.

I liked what I heard, and I appreciate thing like the intentional out-of-tuneness of some of the parts (makes it sound real), but I wasn't really satisfied at the end of it. It didn't give me the sense of going somewhere. Hope this helps,
Alan

edit: so I agree with the screener's 'build' comment. And I can see that a big drop in the middle would offer more variety and avoid the too similar comments.

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Re: Too Repetitive Too Often

Post by solidairmusic » Thu Oct 07, 2021 6:24 pm

Thanks, Alan and Michael for taking the time to listen and offer your welcome comments and thoughts regarding my post, I am most grateful for your input.

Kind regards,

Pete
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Re: Too Repetitive Too Often

Post by Casey H » Thu Oct 07, 2021 7:03 pm

Really nice cue! It would definitely find a home in a good library. Could be really good for advertising.

What I think the issue might have been for THIS listing was the need for building of dynamics. You definitely do a good job at varying, changing up the instrumentation, etc. But the overall energy and intensity level stays about the same. Not really giving a build. But I agree that the reference tracks doesn't do that at all and yours may be even better in that aspect. And that is confusing. Reading the screener's comments again, I'll have to assume that this client really wanted a build. It does say in the listing: "...create a sense of forward momentum and dynamics by layering instrumentation..."

But heck, you've got a cool cue to pitch elsewhere. Good luck!
:D Casey

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Re: Too Repetitive Too Often

Post by DennisPMusic » Fri Oct 08, 2021 1:02 am

Hi

Nice song you have made with a lot more arc than the reference track:-).

I just had the same issue with screener 416. He forwarded one of my songs and rejected another and his reason for this was lack of arc and too repetitive. My two tracks had the same build-up and a lot more arc than the reference track. The one he rejected, he forwarded the last time, to the same type of listing, without any comments on arc, and that it was too repetitive.
Screener 416 has also reviewed the last 8 of my submissions and I don't feel that he/she listens to the reference tracks before reviewing.
I will make an official complaint this weekend because there have been too many times, that I have disagreed with the screener.

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Re: Too Repetitive Too Often

Post by Telefunkin » Fri Oct 08, 2021 2:43 am

IMHO the ref track doesn't have the variation in layering that you included in your submission, so I agree that you've put more effort in to work all the possibilities from your chord sequence. By comparison, the ref track doesn't really do that, but what it does do is vary chord sequence and timing occasionally, so it breaks up the sense of hearing the same simple 1-chord-per-bar chords going round and round from start to finish. Perhaps that's the source of the 'too repetitive' comment. I reckon that neither track fully meets the brief, but if I had to chose one to go with it'd be the ref track because I find chord variations more appealing than layering variations. Nevertheless, as Casey says, you've got a decent track that'll fit somewhere.
Graham (UK). Still composing a little faster than decomposing, and 100% HI.

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Re: Too Repetitive Too Often

Post by solidairmusic » Fri Oct 08, 2021 6:11 am

Casey H wrote:
Thu Oct 07, 2021 7:03 pm
Really nice cue! It would definitely find a home in a good library. Could be really good for advertising.

What I think the issue might have been for THIS listing was the need for building of dynamics. You definitely do a good job at varying, changing up the instrumentation, etc. But the overall energy and intensity level stays about the same. Not really giving a build. But I agree that the reference tracks doesn't do that at all and yours may be even better in that aspect. And that is confusing. Reading the screener's comments again, I'll have to assume that this client really wanted a build. It does say in the listing: "...create a sense of forward momentum and dynamics by layering instrumentation..."

But heck, you've got a cool cue to pitch elsewhere. Good luck!
:D Casey
Thanks for contributing Casey, I really appreciate your comments about building more momentum, good point. It can be a little confusing when the listing suggests something that the reference track doesn't appear to reveal also.

Thanks again,

Pete
Pete Mason
Solid Air Music LLC

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