TAXI.com

Hi Listener #310 -

I am always thankful that on Listings where critiques are to be "Yes" or "No" that the Listener takes the time to write even a short sentence or two to let you know their thoughts. In this case, I was surprised that the criticism was the Vocal Performance with the note that one of the lines was not sung in tune. Both the engineer and I have gone over this song quite a few times - we did so again after the critique comment. We don't hear the problem. Maybe we're deaf. That would be a problem for us. I just think that perhaps the Listener didn't like the tune and that's fair enough. But the criticism seems misplaced.

This was a pitch for a sad depressed singer-songwriter piece ...

Have a listen for yourself ... http://threechordrope.com/country-singe ... riter.html

I would appreciate some feedback from some others. The particular line is "Should I go down there on my own?"

Just to be clear I'm really thankful for the TAXI service and the time the Listeners take to go through each song. But I had a problem with this observation.

Terry

Terry,
I just took a listen for you and I hear three things.
1. The vocal IS pitchy and scoops enough to not be pro I listened for 1 minute and got hit by two scoops and three off-pitch notes/wavers
2. The sound quality is a bit harsh on the high end(Listening through my mixer/monitors)
3. A fair amount of digital pop/clicks through that minute of listening(not broadcast in my opinion)
Doesn't mean that this song can't work, just that it needs to come up in quality.
Check out what people are posting and critiquing in the peer-to-peer postings
I'm in there all day long posting tunes I'm working on so that somebody will tell me what they hear
There are plenty of others doing the same thing, but be ready for honesty(with a thin coat of sugar!)
I've found many very respectable people in there who do high quality productions
If you feel any angst from the fact that I agree with the screener, check out this song I just finished and critique it
The singer does scoop and is pitchy but I've done everything in my power to hide it!

"Here I Go Again"
http://snd.sc/1cv7Zh6

Hope this note finds you well
Sincerely,
Robert "Cass" McEntee

this was the listing right?

CONTEMPORARY, MOODY SINGER SONGWRITER SONGS in the stylistic range of ―Crosses‖ by Jose Gonzalez, ―The Wolves‖ by Ben Howard, ―Almost
Lover‖ by A Fine Frenzy, etc., are needed by the Music Supervisor of an upcoming Indie Film. They‘re looking for melancholy or somber songs that are sung
with a heavy heart. Songs must be emotionally moving and have a similar tempo, texture, and vibe to the referenced songs, while remaining completely original.
Lyric themes may vary, but should revolve around heartbreak, sadness, lost love, etc. Lyrics need to be universal and general enough to work for various
melancholy scenes. Down-to-Mid-Tempo songs will work best for this pitch. Male or Female vocals are both okay. You must own or control 100% of the Master
and Composition rights to submit for this listing. The estimated upfront fee for this project will be $500. Broadcast Quality is needed (excellent home recordings
are fine). Please submit one to three songs online. All submissions will be screened on a Yes/No basis - No full critiques. Submissions must be received no later
than Friday, July 12, 2013. TAXI #Y130712SS

you could be right, the screener might have not liked the song, but I agree the singers pitch is an issue. I think there are several other things about that - the the 12 string guitars (or doubled 6 string and Nashville tuned guitars) are really loud compared to the vocal IMO, and so the vocal sounds tentative by comparison. The octave doubles take up a lot of space that the vocal could occupy if the guitars were a little lower pitched, or instead of the penetrating 12 string sound, go with a nylon 6 string like in the first of the refs.

I know what its like to go over something like this when mixing and sometimes you stop hearing things that are there, or maybe you start liking what you hear - and a fresh set of ears would listen to it and wonder why you thought that was good enough.

I think this one is worthwhile using Melodyne or Autotune 7 in graphic mode and looking to see how far out the vocal is from "perfectly tuned". I am not advocating tuning the vocal to death, but it might help to correlate what you hear to what you see.

HTH.

I don't hear the pitch issues.
"anything any more", accents 'any' and the pitch drops on 'more'. If 'any' wasn't accented, and 'more' was accented, the pitch could go up.

"should I go down there on my own", it seems that "should I go there on my own" might work better.

"more questions than answers" seems awkward to phrase. The rhythm is odd.

Overall, I really liked the song, the mood, the vocals, it worked for me.

I think the comments (and returns) should be taken with a huge grain of salt.

Screener #310 probably was hoping to get the placement themselves.

Gus wrote:I think the comments (and returns) should be taken with a huge grain of salt.

Screener #310 probably was hoping to get the placement themselves.

That was pretty rude, don't you think?

I sometimes get returns I don't agree with just like anyone else. Some from #310, some from others. But implying that the screener returned tracks to increase opportunity for themselves, is pretty far out of line, IMO.

If Terry feels strongly that the vocals are not pitchy and that this should have been a forward, he should discuss it with Taxi.

Best,
Casey

Wasn't meant to be rude. Should have put one of these .

As far as #310's intentions or reasons, all anyone can do is guess, which was the point of my little joke.

Gus wrote:Wasn't meant to be rude. Should have put one of these .

As far as #310's intentions or reasons, all anyone can do is guess, which was the point of my little joke.

Yea, that's what those emoticons are for.

Casey

I heard only the word "there" with the pitch issue in that line. Maybe a couple of other notes in the tune, otherwise the singer seems to have a very good sense of pitch.
Best wishes -Rob

I'm embarrassed that I've been preoccupied and not responded to all of these GREAT suggestions and ideas. I REALLY appreciate the time you guys took to review the track and give me your thoughts ... there are a lot of good ones. One of my issues is I'm more a creator than a finisher (producer). My head is already onto the next song by the time we're finishing vocals and mixing. This is to a fault ... I'm trying to be more critical and exact but I basically suck at it ... haha!!!

Thanks again for all you had to say ... Terry