"Update your beats..."

[coxnvox]

"Updating the beats and some of the keyboards would help this track become way more marketable regardless of how it is pitched."
I'm pretty sure Listener 19 was talking about the (older) loop I used a couple times in the track, but the main beat was from Superior Drummer 3, which has been out for less than a month, I think!

[cassmcentee]

Without a link to the tune I can't offer any advice...
Need to hear it...

[coxnvox]

Thanks, Robert...I guess I just thought it was funny that it sounds like my 3-week-old software needed to be updated, but I'm 100% sure that the screener was referring to the opening loop, which is definitely on the "older" side.
Here's the song if you wanna take a listen: https://soundcloud.com/kerry-cox-9/ukelele-mekelele

It got forwarded for the "singer-songwriter instrumental" version of (almost?) the same listing so it was certainly a little easier to take this rejection.

Peace!

[funsongs]

NO - I WILL NOT eat beets, no matter how you spell, or slice 'em!!
EEEEUUUU!!

[LOCK88]

Hi Kerry, nice track here, and dig the track title! My thought after listening would be that screener #19 was referring to the intro beat in particular, and then it comes back in at 1:10. Is this the older loop that you are referring to?

[funsongs]

Pardon my weird humor - it is a fun track.

[andygabrys]

hi Kerry,

This is an interpretation and an opinion on your song vs. the screeners comments:

"Updating the beats and some of the keyboards would help this track become way more marketable regardless of how it is pitched."

SD3 isn't the problem - the sounds are fantastic in the raw package. Any VI drum package these days sounds amazing.

What SD3 is playing is the problem. The style of the beat. If you can find it on TV - then you are in a good zone. If that style of beat doesn't feature then its likely a "dated" sound. I think its the latter. I have a track with a very similar beat that has been in a certain library since 2009 or so. It was used somewhat frequently in the first few years, but not lately. Comparing the sound of music in most shows these days, its not current sounding. An editor would look for something else.

The flute - and then the keys (or is there a steel drum in there too?) - sounds a little stiff (i.e. mechanical and not a live player) and the sound is distant behind some verb. Its sounds like a tired flute patch that has been used a lot and we have heard on a lot of tunes. Its not contemporary used in this way.

A live flute that is drier might not be contemporary either, but at least it would be classic, with some personality.

You mentioned that this track was forwarded before, and returned this time.

So the key is to compare the listings. If you want people to speculate on how to get a better pitch, post the entire listing with a la tracks for the forward, AND the return listing with a la tracks.

The only way to tell what's really happening is comparing your pitch against the listing.

Even amazing music will get returned if its not in the zone the listing called for.

[coxnvox]

Robb, yeah that's the older loop to which I was referring.

Andy, thanks for your thoughts.

Peace.

[Len911]

The composition is superb and catchy. I think maybe the mix had a lot to do with it, the drums were a little too prominent imo, the cymbals sounded phasey to me, maybe it's the mp3 or the streaming, but I wouldn't have noticed as much if they were farther back in the mix. Was that a flute or a steel drum? I'm going to say it's the mix/arrangement. Rhythms and drums don't really go out of style, however, in the context of the song, maybe bongos or a different drum set (Cuban-Afro, salsa) might have worked better?? You have ukulele, xylophone or marimba, steel drums, a tropical island style of arrangement, and then a rock drum kit with a lot of cymbals.

[coxnvox]

Thanks, Len! Good thoughts... just an old, blind squirrel here, stumbling around trying to find a musical acorn once in a while!
Peace,

kerry