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Hey all I am hoping for some help. I just got the listing results from my track "Don't Let Go" and I am a bit confused. The reviewer knocked the song for not being in the pocket and there being pitch issues between the horns and piano "There are many pitchy sections with the horns and the piano sounds flat". The only thing that jumps out to me as "pitchy" is perhaps the diminished chord at the end of the chorus leading back into the verse. Did I do too much with the harmonies? Is diminished harmony something that should be avoided in a sync placement in this style?

Any feed back would be very much appreciated. Thank you.

The track is "Don't Let Go"
https://www.taxi.com/members/AndrewWilke

The rhythm of the song seems to lurch around too much for me, it's not particularly pleasing on the ear. I feel like I'm in a boat on a stormy sea.

There are times when these lurches don't seem to match up with each other, like the guitar and piano aren't quite on the same page. I feel like this would be a lot better without the guitar part as it doesn't sound very nice , I like the horns though .... I'll leave the pitchy feeling to those more well informed on their music theory but yes the chord at the end of the chorus flat sort of feel. I wouldn't say pitchy necessarily.

The whole things needs tightening up though as at the moment it feels like 4 people all with slightly different senses of timing

Mark

I like it, Andrew. It has a vibe reminiscent of the soft jazz/rock crossovers that made us all feel good in the late 70s.

To address the issues mentioned, I think that maybe:
1. The listeners might be better prepared for the diminished chord in the turnaround if it were exposed prominently in the intro, as the melodic/harmonic 'hook' that it is.
2. With all the parts so rhythmically "aggressive", there is a lot of subtle fighting for the listener's attention. Mark says drop the guitar, I'd think that allowing it to play straight through may help moderate the effect of the various syncopation. Something to glue all the various rhythms to the beat.
3. I hear a note or two in the instrumental break that might be under pitch, but then again I was listening to try to hear the 'pitchy-ness'. I don't hear anything like what the screener described. It sounds like it is - REAL - and I appreciate that.

That's all I got

The bass is way too busy and not anchoring the timing. I'd start there first. ...or the piano notes at 0;09.

Think of the bass as the kick drum and the acoustic guitar as the snare. The acoustic would be the next candidate on the list. The horns could play longer notes. The first six notes of the motif are fine but after that more sustained notes would be less distracting.

Its a good sound but the playing/timing needs tightening.

Hi Andrew.... I like the track.... good news no pitch problems but definitely not in the pocket... If I were a betting man I would say you are not a guitar player the song comes together best when it is just Piano Vocal... I would simplify the bass line and put a few runs in for accent not non-stop.... scrap that guitar track and start over completely wrong rhythm for that track. I guess if I had to describe it.... it sounds like every instrument thinks he is leading the rhythm no one is playing together.... The piano, vocals and horns sound on point I would get the other instruments to lock into that....
I do like the track.....great vibe something I would listen to for sure

Hope that helps
Best of Luck
John

Very cool tune, kinda Hall and Oates vibe, nice! I agree the groove is a bit all over the place which has been addressed above. I also feel like it's a bit fatiguing to listen to like maybe it's overall too compressed, not dynamic enough and seems like a lot of instruments competing in that high mid area.

This is great feedback! Thank you all so much.

Like the others have said, the production needs work-- for me, I feel it's mostly a rhythmic synchronization issue (sometimes latency causes this for me when I get past a certain number of software instruments/effects) rather than "pitchiness. I like the track a lot though and think it's definitely one to keep working on til you get it right, productionwise. Maybe the vocals could be a bit more close-mic'd/have more presence and sit more in the front of the mix-- and leave some space for them too. Also, I didn't read the listing but generally it's best to avoid fade-outs in songs submitted to Taxi, so unless it says fades are fine, I'd come up with a firm ending.

Very cool song.

Hi Andrew..first of all cool tune..into the first minute some instruments don't line up with the others...I can't really pin point which instruments...so I won't say no more as others have already mentioned other factors.


good luck

It might not be the actual harmonies themselves but the way they're voiced sometimes, esp between the horns and piano, clashes a lot (to my ear), for this style at least. I didn't listen super closely to what led up to it but maybe also check for cross relations between the parts as they lead into that diminished chord.