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On target?



A Wide Range of HIP-HOP HYBRID INSTRUMENTALS is needed by a very active and fast-growing Music Library that specializes in pitching to Advertising Agencies for big TV Commercials.

They're looking for Mid-To-Up-Tempo Instrumentals that could fit on a playlist with the reference they provided us:

“All Night” by Big Boi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j3tJIXCCjc

The client would like to hear unique, out-of-the-box Instrumentals that combine Hip-Hop beats with other music genres. Your tracks should use innovative, trendsetting production techniques and stylized sounds to push the creative envelope. The moods of your Instrumentals can vary, as they're willing to consider cool vibes that motivate, empathize, and uplift – as well as swagger-filled tracks that make you want to strut or celebrate. Whichever you decide, just be sure your tracks drip style and energy!

Here are some approaches you could consider when composing your Instrumentals:

Orchestral textures with Hip-Hop beats.
String quartet intros that quickly transition into Hip-Hop grooves.
Classic Pop hit styles of the '60s with Hip-Hop grooves.
Unusual styles combined with Hip-Hop beats (i.e. Bluegrass, Ragtime, Country, Reggae, etc.)
'70 & '80s Rock hit sounds that blend with Hip-Hop grooves.

But don’t limit yourself to just those ideas – those are just some suggestions that we got directly from the client.

All submissions should be about 2 to 3 minutes long, give or take. Non-Faded, Button/Stinger endings will work best. Do NOT copy the reference in any way, shape, or form, use only as a guide for texture, tone, and overall vibe. Do NOT submit any material with unauthorized samples of any other artists’ music, sounds, or any other form of media. Broadcast Quality is needed.

Hmm... I guess not. Back to the drawing board...

hey Dean I didnt see this post in time, we've sent in a few tracks for this listing, hope one of them will stick! to answer your question Yes I think your track is in the general ballpark of what they are asking for, kind of hard to tell from the listing what they are really after. Anyways I hope you did send in the track! ttyl Jay

jaywilliams wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 24, 2019 4:45 pm

hey Dean I didnt see this post in time, we've sent in a few tracks for this listing, hope one of them will stick! to answer your question Yes I think your track is in the general ballpark of what they are asking for, kind of hard to tell from the listing what they are really after. Anyways I hope you did send in the track! ttyl Jay

Hey Jay,

Thanks for responding. I did send this in, even though I put minimal effort into it and didn't feel like the result was anything special. I had intended to see if it was on the right track and then step it up after getting some feedback, but that never really happened.

On a side note, I'm not sure I can get behind all of the people who keep pushing the Peer To Peer section as a great place to get good feedback and make your music better. Can you get good feedback on Peer To Peer? Absolutely! I just don't think that you can rely on anything in a timely fashion or with any consistency. If you have a great track everyone comes out of the woodwork to comment and wish you luck. If you have work to do on your track -- as I did (intentionally), its really difficult to get a response because people are busy with their own thing and don't want to put in all the time necessary to provide quality feedback. There are some very helpful people here who will respond with thorough, high-quality advice, but they don't have the time to do this for every post. Many people just simply get ignored and I see it all too often. I, myself, tend to only comment if I think I know enough about something to provide some sort of help, but it can be tough when people want more information and you're not prepared to give it -- being only moderately informed about a subject. It makes a person hesitate to post a reply in the first place. I'm sure I'm not the only one that feels this way. Just my thoughts... sorry to be a downer.

Hey Dean,

I get what you're saying about the consistency thing. To me, the real majority of the learning comes from writing/submitting/getting screener feedback. The peer to peer section is simply a bonus if there is someone around that 1)feels confident enough to chime in, and 2)has the time.

To me, the best advice I can give is to just write like crazy and submit like crazy, and if the track is returned, find ways to up your game in the specific area the screener mentioned. I was getting down a little bit for a while when I started simply because of how much I was submitting to listings and not seeing anything come from it, but the growth I saw in myself looking back at that time was exponential.

I know I'm late to the party here, but I just listened to your track. Here's some quick thoughts on things I would work on:

- It could use some more development. The main lead line feels pretty repetitive.
- The bass could use some work. Doesn't quite fit with the track imo.
- Dynamically, the track could use some work. The drums feel pretty static throughout. You could try integrating in some changes with the beat itself (ie. dropping the snare, goin to just the hats, dropping to just the kick, etc)
- Overall, it sounds like the track could use some more compression to tame the transients a bit

Hope that helps some! Good luck with it!

Andrew

jdkotaska wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 24, 2019 7:36 pm

On a side note, I'm not sure I can get behind all of the people who keep pushing the Peer To Peer section as a great place to get good feedback and make your music better. Can you get good feedback on Peer To Peer? Absolutely! I just don't think that you can rely on anything in a timely fashion or with any consistency. If you have a great track everyone comes out of the woodwork to comment and wish you luck. If you have work to do on your track -- as I did (intentionally), its really difficult to get a response because people are busy with their own thing and don't want to put in all the time necessary to provide quality feedback. There are some very helpful people here who will respond with thorough, high-quality advice, but they don't have the time to do this for every post. Many people just simply get ignored and I see it all too often. I, myself, tend to only comment if I think I know enough about something to provide some sort of help, but it can be tough when people want more information and you're not prepared to give it -- being only moderately informed about a subject. It makes a person hesitate to post a reply in the first place. I'm sure I'm not the only one that feels this way. Just my thoughts... sorry to be a downer.

On the one hand I kind of agree because it can be hard to get feedback in Peer to Peer for the exact reasons you mention - people are busy writing their own stuff, sometimes you don't get feedback in a timely manner, it can be conflicting or not quite detailed enough to be actionable. I find that I struggle sometimes with what to say, and balancing identifying the good parts with the parts that need more work - sometimes it's hard to find much to be positive about, and I hate to rain on anyone's parade.

On the other hand, having anyone else's ears on something can really help even if they just have one small thing, and the price is right! (One might also say it's worth the price charged, but that's another matter. ) I've found it to be very valuable, if not always for the submission itself, for the learning that happens after the fact. I can't respond to everything as you said even though I try to give back for all the help I've gotten here (and I'm probably the wrong person to comment on some stuff, as we all have our areas of strength).

I think P2P is valuable, though imperfect, and hopefully we're all doing our best to help each other out as we can.

ResonantTone wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 24, 2019 8:35 pm

I know I'm late to the party here, but I just listened to your track. Here's some quick thoughts on things I would work on:

- It could use some more development. The main lead line feels pretty repetitive.
- The bass could use some work. Doesn't quite fit with the track imo.
- Dynamically, the track could use some work. The drums feel pretty static throughout. You could try integrating in some changes with the beat itself (ie. dropping the snare, goin to just the hats, dropping to just the kick, etc)
- Overall, it sounds like the track could use some more compression to tame the transients a bit

Thanks for the feedback, Andrew!

I agree with you on all accounts. I tried to keep it repetitive because the reference track was extremely repetitive, but, in retrospect, that was a terrible idea. For the 808, I tried a couple of different rhythms, but I honestly didn't put much effort into it. On the drums, I did switch from hi-hats to a ride to differentiate the sections, but that wasn't enough, either. As far as compression, I didn't master this track at all and that would have been included then. I had intended to, but I kind of threw in the towel on this track and never got back to it.

jessecarrigan wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 25, 2019 3:19 pm

On the one hand I kind of agree because it can be hard to get feedback in Peer to Peer for the exact reasons you mention - people are busy writing their own stuff, sometimes you don't get feedback in a timely manner, it can be conflicting or not quite detailed enough to be actionable. I find that I struggle sometimes with what to say, and balancing identifying the good parts with the parts that need more work - sometimes it's hard to find much to be positive about, and I hate to rain on anyone's parade.

On the other hand, having anyone else's ears on something can really help even if they just have one small thing, and the price is right! (One might also say it's worth the price charged, but that's another matter. ) I've found it to be very valuable, if not always for the submission itself, for the learning that happens after the fact. I can't respond to everything as you said even though I try to give back for all the help I've gotten here (and I'm probably the wrong person to comment on some stuff, as we all have our areas of strength).

I think P2P is valuable, though imperfect, and hopefully we're all doing our best to help each other out as we can.

Thanks, Jesse. Eloquently put. That's pretty much what I meant to say, but worded much better! If anything comes of my little rant, I hope it can serve as a call to action to some of the lurkers out there who might have valuable input, but who don't respond out of fear of being wrong or from just plain apathy.