TAXI.com

they wrote:
This track sounded like it was over processed. There was too much echo on the tracks that washed out the sound. The piece itself never opened up. The track could have used a big dynamic chorus to add excitement and energy overall. Too contained for this channel.

returned for : recording? , music ?

i would REALLY love to hear what got forwarded ..

who ever this screener is they have no idea who is afro jack, shm, zedd.. or electro house is...
even if it doesn't get used it should have been forwarded .. feel free to to tell me what i'm missing.

https://soundcloud.com/jimmycarvalhomus ... la/s-MR2vH


HIGH-OCTANE ELECTRONIC DANCE SONGS with Male or Female Vocals and/or Instrumentals are needed by the Music Supervisor of a new AAA Console Video Game Franchise. Give him original, Mid-to-Up-Tempo Songs and/or Instrumentals that could be found on the same playlist as acts like Afrojack, Sander Van Doom, Swedish House Mafia, Zedd, etc., etc., etc. Please review the following songs to get your ears in the general ballpark of the sound he needs: “Turn Up The Speakers” by Afrojack “Gold Skies” by Sander Van Doom “Save The World” by Swedish House Mafia “Spectrum” by Zedd Quoting the source: “Songs or tracks need to be driving friendly (as in what you’d hear playing in automobiles), with a solid energetic sound that’s really contemporary. The game has several radio and source music channels that are user selectable. Five original songs or tracks are needed for each channel, so we need a lot of material for this listing.” Give him infectious Songs and/or Instrumental Tracks that sound like an authentic Electronic Dance artist, with a polished sound full of great builds and engaging hooks. Submissions that are rhythmically compelling, with a solid EDM song structure will hit the target best for this pitch. If you submit songs with vocals, be sure your vocal performance is hook-driven and well-performed, with universal lyric themes that could work well for scenes when the characters are behind the wheel. Avoid references to specific names, dates, times, and brands. Driving related themes could work well for this, but they’re not absolutely necessary if the energy works. Do NOT copy or rip off the referenced artists or songs in any way, shape, or form. Use them as a general guide for tempo, tone, and overall vibe. Broadcast Quality is needed (great sounding home recordings are fine). There will be a buyout license fee of $4,500 inclusive of sync and master for each piece included in the final release version of the game. All submissions should be at least 2 minutes long. You must own or control 100% of the Master and Copyright. All submissions will be screened on a Yes/No basis. No full critiques. Please submit 1-3 Songs or Instrumental Tracks online or by CD no later than 11am (PST), on Tuesday, November 18th, 2014. TAXI #U141118ED

hey Jim,
Yea I got an odd review from #325 as well. The comment was my mix was unbalanced and the Bass and Drums were buried. Well that just isn't true (on my system anyway). The comments made me wonder how it was being heard.

But to me it wasn't a reason to leave Taxi.

I do agree though #325 is a tough NUT to crack.

Good Luck Bro.

EJB

PS also my submission was for a Hard Rock listing. Meaning a listener screens EDM to Hard Rock?
I also think that is Odd.

One more thing, I am no expert in EDM but I don't get the comments about your tune At All.
I thought the sound was pretty cool.

i took a look back at my other submissions.. and it appears 325 also screens rock as i was returned for those too... although, my rock production is not at all on the pro level like many other amazing people on here ..

edm is one of largest, if not thee biggest most popular style music in the world.. if taxi runs listings for it they should be very clear, and definitely know how to screen it..(throwing around ala's like afrojack,and zedd) i'm not clear that the same person screening my rock would be the right person to screen my edm. and really how do water down afrojack into a cue format anyway?.. edm is black or white, either its slammin or it sounds like MIDI.. live djs know what i mean if the crowd doesn't dance than your music isn't moving them.

couple of my old rock buddies visit the club for the chics when i play live sometimes.. they say stuff like, "your music sounds so repetitive and wheres the chorus" lol, the dance floor is packed and people pay me to do that .. huh

I've been a pro edm dj for over two decades producing remixes for the likes of ulitimix ,funkymix, x-mix to name few.. not to toot my horn, but if i didn't have that, my comments would be irrelevant and it would be easy to be cast away as being a novice in the genre.. but i do have interest in my current collection of edm outside of taxi to the point i have had to remove some from my soundcloud..

i really think as mentioned from others we SHOULD see what gets forwarded from all the listings. clearly this would allow members to see what their up against and hold the screeners to a higher professional standard, as its now only really just implied. if your good your good lets screen the screeners .. its really for the greater good of the music getting to deal makers.. the gate keepers should have nothing to hide.

how would the rock or country artists like it if MOST of the screeners were accomplished touring PRO EDM DJ/ producers with massive creds.. and they screened all the music here at taxi.. i read the bio's of almost all the screeners they are all very talented and qualified for different thing.. and i truly believe most of them have a positive goal.. but, i know for sure there are a couple dark ones just from talking to them at the rally.

taxi has alot of good things to offer and i met some really amazing people ( i owe that to taxi so much).... I DO understand the screening process is not perfect.. but, i must comment and i'm SURE this will be held against me some way but this stuff must be said, i got nothing to lose really i live very comfortable.. and have the freedom to do music full time. and well i was networking monster back then as dj and i'm getting it going again with moderately good success and even pay...

my current view is not to submit " edm " to taxi anymore, its just not what they do.. i am desperately looking for passionate edm members but have only found 3 maybe 4... in the years time, and the two rally's I've attended .. this is a silly rant, but i must break my silence .. i'm sure #325 will hate me for saying all this.. hope it wasn't someone i was really fond of from the rally.. because 98% percent of the screeners i am VERY fond of.. i'm normally happy go lucky but i am disappointed with this taxi listing a forward is not even a guarantee.. but a return

perhaps there's a reason why there's not many edm members.. maybe taxi doesn't really want it.. in 1991 when taxi started... edm was crap thats for sure ( it was called techno back then) the taxi biz model was perfect for rock singer/songwriters back then.. and, i see that they grew a tight loving family.. but its gonna be 2015 and EDM isn't going anywhere... as i am much older now its time to reinvent myself.. i was a full time dj for many years but the lifestyle has kicked my butt and .. so now i'm happy learning about modern rock and songwriting and that what i'll do for my days .. but it is very hard to put edm away it such apart of me.

i hope this was the right place to post this.. my comments are meant to be insightful and helpful because i truly believe taxi is a wonderful creation.. .

This is not at all my genre, but just reading your post prompted this question:
might the "culture of location" (best way I can describe it) be partly to blame?
Could it be as simple as a west coast production of edm is very different than one from the east, or anywhere else?
Or any other location where the local culture has a large influence on what works...?

May seem overly obvious... like there's a noticeable difference in Bluegrass music from different regions.
To some ears, a west coast produced record might NOT appeal to someone from Virginia or North Carolina.
https://soundcloud.com/funsongs-1/bluegrass-blashemy

Kinda like ice cream... it's all ice cream, but lotsa different flavors.

With your resume... maybe you should be a screener.
Pardon my rambing... caffeine hasn't kicked in yet.

Cheers,
Peter

hmmm….not my genre.

respectfully Jim (as I know you do this genre a lot) I can hear what the screener is talking about.

listen to the synth at 0:38 in your tune vs. Afrojack's "Turn Up the Speakers" at 0:55.

devils in the details but IMO based on what you wrote above, this is part of what he's talking about. The visceral impact. Part of it is eq, part of it is how much and where the ambience sits (in center, panned wide etc.), and whether the ambiance if left to decay naturally or is gated for rhythmic impact. And where the resulting element sits in the mix - closer than the kick, equal than the kick, or behind the kick?

but the ambience is only part of it. this "The piece itself never opened up. The track could have used a big dynamic chorus to add excitement and energy overall. Too contained for this channel." is the other half.

I didn't listen to enough of the refs to A/B about this point, but obviously the screener found that to be an important difference.

regarding the other comment about how you can "water down" music and put it in a cue format - that's the main reason why people get returns at first.

cause this music (other than suggesting the genre that its fashioned after) has not that much to do with the "artist" music. Its specifically made in certain formats (i.e. edit points, length, small number of different sections, repetitive build with extra orchestrations) so that it fits into a narrow box, where an editor can take it and put it under a scene and it works.

I would say that a tune fashioned for a commercial placement also has a different life than one fashioned for TV, or as in this case, fashioned for a video game.

A 2 min piece for a commercial will be edited down to 0:30 or 0:60 and the editor will use the sections to give the dynamic curve they want for the spot.

If its a typical TV use, it likely will either be used as is, or left in the bin.

an opinion.

andy and pete your always welcome to comment.

this song was edited to not have to much big things or a distracting chorus .. but just to sound as if its a modern edm song.. as i read the listing says its for a video game.. of course i'm still learning the film tv, games stuff .

maybe the song is just crap ... the vibe to me was close as dj but that doent mean i know anything for this pitch.

andy your mix points are very good points.. and your critique was very insightful..

to any one who thought i was brash.. i humbly apologize .. from here on out i'll keep it to my self

i normally don't type so much .. it was the coffee i suppose.

I don't think this return was warranted. Your production and feel is right on target in my opinion. I wonder if something got screwed up in the screening process and all the screenings were offset by one and the listing party got crap and the good stuff got returned.

good point peter,

different areas of the US for edm DO have there own styles.. based on the pioneer DJ's or Musicians who performed those areas for decades and some think Chicago house (i mean edm lol) is the best, while florida has the breakbeat edm style only in florida, and then theres those trance styles, which is mainly is huge in germany.. and out side the US.

everywhere you go there's definitely a scene.. and everyone one thinks there scene is the best..

but over the years with technology, people are exposed to choose what the best is to them .. mainly what fills arenas "like rock stars usta do"... thats what i think is the sound we should pay attention to.. not whats hot in your home town like florida or chicago..

but whats hot and filling areas? THATS what the people want right now.. same goes true for any other type of music i would suppose.. rock or country might be really different in Seattle than Nashville

but what kind of rock would fill arena's thats what i think i want to know..

Hey Jim
I'm not qualified to venture an opinion on the music in the genre. But I have a suggestion. When you feel this strongly about a return not being warranted, it's better to contact Taxi directly. You can email to headscreener AT taxi dot com or call and ask to speak to someone about it. They usually (as long as you don't do this all the time and make a pain of yourself) will have someone else from their screening dept. look into it and give a fresh opinion. That doesn't mean your return will necessarily become a forward but they WILL look into it.

Best of luck!! Cya 'round Facebook!

Casey

hey thanks russ means alot coming from you..

and thank for the good info casey i didn't know you call them about this stuff..

i may just leave it .. gotta move on .. i dont think it was good call.. thats all

its crazy how hard i'm trin to get it right .. its good to have the support group

thanks