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O.K.everyone,I am absolutely stumped here! While this tune may have started out in the traditional sense, I did jazz the thing up according to the listing. I don't get it! What do you guys think?COMMERCIAL VERSIONS OF CHRISTMAS SONGS in ALL STYLES (except Rock or traditional/classical versions) needed by an Independent Label with major distribution to license for an upcoming multi-CD compilation project. They aren't looking for any traditional-sounding arrangements, just imaginative and diverse versions of well-known Christmas songs. Stylistically, they would like to focus on Jazz, Swing, Latin, Salsa and Pop. They are open to both originals and covers, and pay all mechanicals. While they would definitely prefer for the songs to have vocals, instrumentals could also be considered. Great performances are essential. Broadcast/Master quality needed. Please submit one to three songs online or per CD. All submissions will be screened and critiqued by TAXI and must be received no later than Mar. 12, 2008. TAXI # S080312CSHere are the comments:The main reason(s) you were or were not forwarded for this listing is:Specifically, this company asked for alt versionsof holiday songs, Hip Hop, Latin, R&B etc.but be sure your performances are your most compelling, no matter what the genre of thesebroadcast listingsDon't see Hip-Hop or R&B mentioned in the listing. It does say ALL STYLES though. And it also says: Stylistically, they would like to focus on Jazz, Swing, Latin, and Pop. I don't see Hip-hop or R&B. So I focused on Jazz.Overall CommentsTender version of this melody.. your arrangementideas, textures, overdubs create an 'atmosphere', here.. Of course, the more sense of invention youcan bring to these trad songs, the better.. try to relax the melodic phrasing.. if you quantize, don'tquantize to 100 %,but closer to 90%,, if playingfreely, than be sure the melodic ideas are fluid..I'm sure that Mel Torme would be glad toknow that his legendary tune is still gettingrecorded all the time..No quantizing being done. I thought they were fluid.N/A 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (10=best) 10 Music 10 Lyrics 4 Marketability 5 Arrangement 6 Production 6 Engineering 5 Musicianship N/A Lead Vocal A 10 for lyrics?? I didn't include any lyrics. It's an instrumental.StyleNot close enough to what listing asked for."Stylistically, they would like to focus on Jazz, Swing, Latin, Salsa and Pop." Am I playing any of these?http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... 1ibanez468

Ibanez468:Nice work.I especially like the sections that swing! You do have a point there!You might consider sending Taxi's Sebastian an e-mail for some clarification on your questions.

I dont get it either. I would call Taxi. Mine was returned because even tho is a different arrangement still sounds traditional and they wanted something more "Jazzy". I dont get it! Istn yours Jazzy enough? Do they have another subgenre now called hop-jazz?

I do agree with the screener that the phrasing feels a little slilted at the beginning. I think it gets better as the piece goes along, and the other instruments come in. I hear more imagination towards the end, I think if you'd started it with the kind of thing you are doing about 2 minutes in, you would have nailed it. What I'm saying is that the first minute doesn't show the imagination of the later part. In film/tv I've learned... don't grow into it, show them in the first 15 to 30 seconds the spirit of what you intend to do in the piece.However, there a couple of things in this review that seem inconsistent, so I would definitely call Taxi and ask for clarification. This is definitely Jazz!Hummin'bird

I think you waited too long to get to the style you needed to present. I echo Hummingbird's comments. I think there's a slight latency issue for the first minute of the song, and after that, it's stylistically jazzed correctly.So I would agree with the screener that the beginning of the song needs tweaking. As to "not close" enough, I disagree. I would say this was a critique done 4PM on a Friday after listening to 200 other songs submitted to this listing.

Quote:I would say this was a critique done 4PM on a Friday after listening to 200 other songs submitted to this listing.Just to clarify - no screener would listen to 200 songs in one shift. The point we both agree on is that the first minute of the piece doesn't have the spirit of the later part & doesn't reflect the style as well as the later part of the song does, so the return is justified in this respect. However, the critique is not clear. And therefore I think Taxi needs to look at it again.(NB - this should not be posted in Forwards. It should be posted in Screener Shoutouts or Peer to Peer.)

hey there....a '4'...that's really pushing it.... I suggest contacting Robin, she is very thoughtful and will follow up...I had a similar return, and found out the numbers were an accident....screeners are people too... It seems the beginning didn't work the way you wanted it to...even if something gets returned...we love to know our critiques are going to help us....vtbp

Quote:Specifically, this company asked for alt versionsof holiday songs, Hip Hop, Latin, R&B etc.but be sure your performances are your most compelling, no matter what the genre of thesebroadcast listings[/color]Don't see Hip-Hop or R&B mentioned in the listing. It does say ALL STYLES though. And it also says: Stylistically, they would like to focus on Jazz, Swing, Latin, and Pop. I don't see Hip-hop or R&B. So I focused on Jazz.Whether it says ALL styles or not, HIP HOP is certainly not mentioned & your take on the song is definitely jazz. I know this because I had a hard time counting. 1-2-3-31/2...Uh 1-2-3-1-6-...Uh. Vicky TBP, help! Quote:Overall CommentsTender version of this melody.. your arrangementideas, textures, overdubs create an 'atmosphere', here.. Of course, the more sense of invention youcan bring to these trad songs, the better.. try to relax the melodic phrasing.. if you quantize, don'tquantize to 100 %,but closer to 90%,, if playingfreely, than be sure the melodic ideas are fluid..I'm sure that Mel Torme would be glad toknow that his legendary tune is still gettingrecorded all the time..No quantizing being done. I thought they were fluid.I think the screener may be referring to the piano sound. It has that M1 sound, like the sound that I'm stuck with. It's a bit stiff maybe, & sounds a bit on top of the beat as well. The rest of the instruments are nicely done, but the piano makes the whole track sound a bit rushed.It's nice that the screener has fond memories of Mel Torme. That should help you to better understand the critique.Quote:N/A 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (10=best) 10 Music 10 Lyrics 4 Marketability 5 Arrangement 6 Production 6 Engineering 5 Musicianship N/A Lead Vocal A 10 for lyrics?? I didn't include any lyrics. It's an instrumental.StyleNot close enough to what listing asked for."Stylistically, they would like to focus on Jazz, Swing, Latin, Salsa and Pop." Am I playing any of these?ibanez468It's quite possible the screener was reading some of my lyrics at the time & became disoriented with my awesomeness. Or maybe he/she was hearing the ghost of Mel Torme. Maybe even Mel Brooks. The 4 on marketability doesn't make any sense whatsoever, as Vicky mentioned. The low scores in general are just wrong. A 5 on musicianship? C'mon, that's just a slap in the face. I'm almost wondering if the screener was critiquing the wrong song. But, then again, to question the work ethic of TAXI screeners is the one big deadly sin around here. I've learned that the hard way. Not that I Give a F.So what I meant to say is; the screeners are awesome & we must be all wrong for even agreeing with you Ibanez. Now I shall repent & pray that my next submission gets the kind of respect that has been given you.Peace...Wade

HAHAHAHA!Wade, you're a trip man. I like your style, but that mask has got ta' go buddy! You're givin' me the creeps. Yeah, I'm pretty sure s/he was talking about the piano, but so was I. No quantizing done on the piano. That's probably the reason it may sound rushed to ya'.Quote:It's quite possible the screener was reading some of my lyrics at the time & became disoriented with my awesomeness. Or maybe he/she was hearing the ghost of Mel Torme. Maybe even Mel Brooks.Honestly, I think somethin' happened there. Your awesomeness is usually the cause of some kind of disruption. Quote:A 5 on musicianship? C'mon, that's just a slap in the face.Dang! Double Dang! DANG DANG! That's why my face is hurting on one side. Quote:I'm almost wondering if the screener was critiquing the wrong song. But, then again, to question the work ethic of TAXI screeners is the one big deadly sin around here. I've learned that the hard way.That's what I thought too. I checked the listings a couple of times to see if perhaps s/he had been looking at something else. Quote:Not that I Give a F. I was fumin' last night, but I'm pretty much over it now. Thanks for the input Wadester.I-468

Wade's got a new avitar... the flash reflection in your eyes is gone but now I think you have something in your teeth in this shot. Quote:But, then again, to question the work ethic of TAXI screeners is the one big deadly sin around here. Oh good grief... it's not that bad. There's been several good instances where the critique didn't make sense, the member contacted Taxi with their concern, Taxi re-screened and the track got forwarded. Where the long-term forum members get a little ruffled is where (for the 16,863rd time in the same year) where a member makes a post about what morons the screeners are, etc because their hit track got returned even though all their friends and family really like the track and they sing along with it when they drink, etc. It's the broad brush that sometimes paints all Taxi screeners as "worked at Wal-Mart yesterday... screening for Taxi today". Of course, and this is ALWAYS true... Taxi screeners are only inept when returning our music... NEVER inept when forwarding our music Nobody LIKES getting returned and I've have some where I really don't know why I was returned. BUT, and I speak for myself, 99.99% of the "why was I returned" tracks are "fence-sitters"... decisions that could have gone either way. None that I've experienced were slam dunks that just knocked everyone's socks off but got returned anyway. In every case, there were legitimate comments about things that could have been better or things that weren't quite right.Each track is evaluated on it's own as it's being screened, but as kind of a "bar" to judge against, check out this excellent track in this thread from 10WestMusic here on the forum...http://taxi.proboards27.com/index.cgi?a ... &page=1Now, even though that track got forwarded, pick three things that are wrong with this track and really don't work very well. I'm guessing that no one could fine one thing that doesn't work. It's not a "maybe" that could have gone either way, it's a solid forward from beginning to end. The Ibanez track, to me, doesn't fit in the same "solid forward, no questions asked" category... it's very good, has a lot of appealing qualities but it also has some things that other forum members mentioned that maybe held it back (For instance, I'm with Wade on the piano sample... ).So, if I were Ibanez... I'd ask for a re-screen to clarify some things to get a better idea of what this track needed to become a no questions asked slam dunk forward as opposed to a track that was very good but could have gone either way.Hopefully that all makes a little sense without ruffling anyone's feathers. Dave