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I think there's been alot of discussion around this listing (or a similar one):The Owner of a Music Production Library needs a wide variety of ROMANTIC INSTRUMENTALS (no vocals) for use in film/TV/commercials, etc. He is open to a large range of genres, everything from Jazz to Pop-Rock to Orchestral (just so it's emotional/romantic), and strong performances and clear musical motifs are essential. This production music veteran signed dozens of TAXI writers to his previous company, and wants to repeat that same type of success with this venture as well. He needs tracks with button endings - no fade-outs. This company offers a standard exclusive deal. Great performances are essential. Broadcast quality needed [excellent home recordings are OK]. Please submit one to three songs online or per CD. For ground submissions, please enclose a S.A.S.E. if you would like a response. Submissions must be received no later than Jan. 7, 2008. TAXI # S080107ROPlanning to submit this:http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... eam=1Would love to hear some feedback. Is this on target?

It's a nice composition but you may get feedback about it being "too synthy". At least I've gotten that on a few returns. There's one way to find out what one reviewer thinks and that's to submit it. Best of luck. I liked the ending too.Steve

ephlat66,Here's my take on the situation. I think you have a good tune here. Whether it's a fit for a romantic piece, I can't say for sure. Haven't worked with that genre yet. It does sound like it could be, but I'm only guessing. What I will say though is this. As good as the piece sounds (and it does sound good), you're probably gonna' get critiqued on your actual sounds. The piano sounds MIDIish as well as the acoustic guitar. They're gonna' hear right thru it. Although the listing doesn't say anything about "authenticity", I'm beginning to think that that's one area they listen to closely. The authenticity of your sounds. So you gotta' make 'em sound more realistic in order for the song to have a better chance at being forwarded. The more real they sound, the better your chances. I just got a forward the other day, but here's what s/he said about it: "the more you can add analog, or more realistic sounds to your pallet, the more competitive your tracks will be for these pro listings." I got a return on my very first submission (back in October I think) that said my piano playing was "too stiff" and that it could be because of the patch/program I chose. My point is, that person knew right away that it wasn't a real piano, but instead, some synth module. So I've been slowly trying to build up my samples to be more realistic, or better my playing of the piano so's it can't be detected. And that's probably what you're gonna' have to do as well. On the other hand, if you don't have the time to tweak that thing, then the only other thing you can do is submit it and see what happens. It could get forwarded for all I know. I see the deadline is... tomorrow? I'm on central time, so tomorrow for me is 10 minutes away from being today. Hope this helps ya' out!ibanez468

For the most part, it sounds to me like you've made a good piece that captures a romantic vibe.I think you have a really good idea at around 2:00 with the electronic drum sounds and the synth, particularly if you made the piano more echo-y, you'd be heading into Moby territory which would make the piece work much better than it does before or after this point in the song.If you are going to emulate a band, which sounds like one of your goals here, you need to really work hard on your drum programming, for one thing. You've got to go the extra mile and a half and listen to real drummers and understand how they put a part together and really try to capture that and/or get some great loops and learn how to put them together in a song structure so they drive the song the way a real drummer does.The piano sound you're using sounds pretty synthy when isolated but would probably work well with creative use of effects to give the impression of piano but with a more atmospheric quality which might give it an even more "romantic" aura.It's probably a bit dated production-wise now but the vibe of that piano piece off of Moby's "Play" album, (the one that was in a billion car commercials a few years ago) would be a better direction to head in for this piece, IMO. I hope you don't think I'm being too harsh on my first review of your music, this is my opinion only. I think your composing is good, your piece has romantic potential but I think the production will hold it back ultimately. Start to think about vibe and how you can create that with the gear you have. Add atmosphere and sound design to your musical palette.Keep up the good work!Mazz

Hi....I like it...I'm not sure about "romantic," it also seems "emotional" (recently there was a listing)....I am struggling to cut back on midi, so I can relate to that.....also emulatling other artists is tricky when you're not used to it....good luck,Vicky

I agree with all the above comments about the samples. If you are pitching to "film/TV/Commercials" they want to use your recording, they will not be re-recording the song, so the production needs to be better for a forward (and a deal!)I like the song, it's a good composition, one thing you may want to try, put in a dvd of a romantic scene (guy and girl at fancy restaurant, walking hand in hand etc) turn off the sound and play your song. Does it enhance the mood? My guess is this particular recording may not. One of the hardest things to get used to with TAXI is correctly targeting the listings. Keep posting on the forums, the veterans of these boards can really help you make quantum leaps!Rob

Thanks all for your invaluable input! The comments about the piano sound are a little disappointing. It was done with a yamaha motif, and I thought the piano was pretty good. Does anyone have experience with this instrument? There are some plug-ins available for it that have a variety of analog instrument samples. Maybe I should invest in them.I will tweak this sucker and work on a more dynamic percussion track and post again!Thanks!Don

Hi Don,Don't despair over the piano sound too much. For me it sounded too dry and the raw sound of the piano dry like that makes it sound synthy, probably because of the amount of samples used to make the patch (many sampled pianos these days that run on computers can be 30GB or more, many times larger than the entire sample RAM in the Motif). That's why I mentioned effects in my previous post. If you realize the limitations of your gear, you can learn how to maximize the strengths (of which the Motif has many) and avoid the weak spots (all gear and libraries have them). The Motif piano might work better if it was in some effects rather than dry and exposed. It would give the impression of piano without having to sound exactly like one. I hope that makes sense.In any case, your piece is good, the production needs work and it sounds like you're on the case!!Mazz

Thanks for the suggestions mazz.The deadline for this is today, so i've probably got very little time to tweak it and re-upload, so in the interest of time, what type of effects would you suggest? I've got a variety of plug-in effects available like wet plate, various types of delay, compression etc. I also have effect send, of course - reverb, chorus et al, and eq.I'm guessing less is more here, but if you could point me in the right direction that would be awesome. The more I listen to the percussion track, the more sort of "off" it sounds timing-wise. Maybe something more understated and straight-forward but more dynamic if that makes sense?Thanks for your help!!!

Quote:Thanks all for your invaluable input! The comments about the piano sound are a little disappointing. It was done with a yamaha motif, and I thought the piano was pretty good. Just do an A/B between this track and maybe some of the recent piano tracks done by Stick, Matto or any of Mazz's piano stuff. You'll notice a big difference in the quality of the piano samples. Like another forum member recently... your music and your target market has outgrown your current set of sounds. That's a compliment. The competition is other composers with killer, ultra-realistic piano samples (and guitars, etc). Fortunately, really good piano samples (and other instruments as well) can be had for a few hundred dollars if you're using or able to use virtual instruments. If you're a solo composer writing for film/tv, VI's are probably the only way to go. HTH,Dave