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I have 4 finished dramedy tracks which I intend to use to submit for listing S221105UR. They were originally designed as regular dramedy but this brief requires a more hip-hop style. Here's the brief:

"Send them well-composed Hip-Hop Dramedy Instrumentals (or Cues) that could be heard in the background of quirky and lightly dramatic scenes in shows like The Kardashians or The Real Housewives. Your submissions should have playful pizzicato motifs paired with slick Hip-Hop-style beats and sounds. Additional instrumentation will work, as well. Craft your pieces around a central motif and layer instrumentation in and out to create a sense of dynamics, interest, and forward motion. Your production and any virtual instruments or samples you use need to be high-quality and state-of-the-art.
TAXI TIP: There is room to get creative with this pitch since this Library is looking for a fresh, new take on Dramedy. Think of changing up the cadences, beats, instrumentation, etc., to help give your pieces an added edge."

In order to give my tracks a full-on hip hop feel I have replaced my original rather orchestral percussion with a few 3rd party drum samples (all from the same family so sound connected).
Question 1 - How do you think the reviewers will view this? Are they likely to say "this sounds like a sample - use your own drums"? or do they think they'll be more concerned about the overall feel and the mix?
Question 2 - is there a danger that if the track gets forwarded and then accepted by whoever, that a supe might come back and say "love the track, but could you just drop the kick at this part or remove everything apart from the kick and hi-hats" which of course would be a problem as I don't have the stems from the sample, just the finished sample.

Here's a private Soundcloud link to the track as it stands now with the samples included: https://soundcloud.com/user-170815179/d ... al_sharing

Of course, any other feedback on the composition would be welcome too. (It's not fully mixed or mastered yet so no comments needed on that thanks!)

Appreciate your advice!
David

It's too repetitive , why not recreate the drum loop yourself now and make a more varied and interesting part.

cosmicdolphin wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 16, 2022 7:48 am

It's too repetitive , why not recreate the drum loop yourself now and make a more varied and interesting part.

Because I’m not very good at creating drum loops! I’ma classical composer primarily. That’s why I looked for a sample.
Just out of interest, how would you create a more varied loop? Drum Designer? Or just build it as a midi track?

DavidBeardmoreMusic wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 16, 2022 9:12 am

cosmicdolphin wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 16, 2022 7:48 am

It's too repetitive , why not recreate the drum loop yourself now and make a more varied and interesting part.

Because I’m not very good at creating drum loops! I’ma classical composer primarily. That’s why I looked for a sample.
Just out of interest, how would you create a more varied loop? Drum Designer? Or just build it as a midi track?

There's numerous ways depending on your preferences

For the kick & snare I tend just use one shot samples from Splice or similar and make them into a pattern using the track lanes in my DAW

For hats I'd be more likely to use a drum machine type plugin

Usually it ends up a hybrid of multiple methods but you often need more flexibility than loop can provide so you need to be able to have those 3 elements separated at least. You might be able to chop the kick & snare out of that loop and make your own pattern with a bit more variation. The hats might be a bit more tricky so best to roll your own ( pun intended ) .

Mark

cosmicdolphin wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 16, 2022 2:16 pm

DavidBeardmoreMusic wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 16, 2022 9:12 am

cosmicdolphin wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 16, 2022 7:48 am

It's too repetitive , why not recreate the drum loop yourself now and make a more varied and interesting part.

Because I’m not very good at creating drum loops! I’ma classical composer primarily. That’s why I looked for a sample.
Just out of interest, how would you create a more varied loop? Drum Designer? Or just build it as a midi track?

There's numerous ways depending on your preferences

For the kick & snare I tend just use one shot samples from Splice or similar and make them into a pattern using the track lanes in my DAW

For hats I'd be more likely to use a drum machine type plugin

Usually it ends up a hybrid of multiple methods but you often need more flexibility than loop can provide so you need to be able to have those 3 elements separated at least. You might be able to chop the kick & snare out of that loop and make your own pattern with a bit more variation. The hats might be a bit more tricky so best to roll your own ( pun intended ) .

Mark

Thanks for the advice Mark. I've downloaded a ton of one shots and am experimenting with just dropping then into tracks like you said. I'm also playing around with the grid thing in Drum Machine Designer. I guess it's then just about getting inside the hip hop groove to know how to build the tracks. Once I've got the 'full on' 8 bar, I'm quite happy editing to provide the variety through the whole trac

Thanks again!
David

I don't think the drum loop is the issue for your track. The orchestral/strings stuff going on sounds like it is being played in another room... it is far away, muddy and unclear. Less is more.

From the listing: ""Send them well-composed Hip-Hop Dramedy Instrumentals (or Cues) that could be heard in the background of quirky and lightly dramatic scenes in shows like The Kardashians or The Real Housewives. Your submissions should have playful pizzicato motifs paired with slick Hip-Hop-style beats and sounds. Additional instrumentation will work, as well. Craft your pieces around a central motif and layer instrumentation in and out to create a sense of dynamics, interest, and forward motion. Your production and any virtual instruments or samples you use need to be high-quality and state-of-the-art."

I've had multiple Dramedy placements on both of the shows mentioned above. I'm also submitting to this listing, here is one of the tracks I am submitting:
https://www.taxi.com/members/EVBsBi_mTq2cTcogtfVyTQ-paul-croteau/songs/Pqx4AjMmQFWy4dve7-zk1g-quirky-time

A few things to notice: I start out with a single pizzicato string motif, then I add some hip hop hi hats. Drums and bass come in for the second phrase, along with some percussion. A second them comes in along with the snare/clap. After that it's just a matter of adding/removing various elements and some slight variation. everything is clear, plenty of space for edit points.

I created a simple dramedy tutorial earlier this year, perhaps it can offer some more clarity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlGRHvuGdW0

Hope this helps!

Paulie

Paulie wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 17, 2022 1:44 pm

I don't think the drum loop is the issue for your track. The orchestral/strings stuff going on sounds like it is being played in another room... it is far away, muddy and unclear. Less is more.

From the listing: ""Send them well-composed Hip-Hop Dramedy Instrumentals (or Cues) that could be heard in the background of quirky and lightly dramatic scenes in shows like The Kardashians or The Real Housewives. Your submissions should have playful pizzicato motifs paired with slick Hip-Hop-style beats and sounds. Additional instrumentation will work, as well. Craft your pieces around a central motif and layer instrumentation in and out to create a sense of dynamics, interest, and forward motion. Your production and any virtual instruments or samples you use need to be high-quality and state-of-the-art."

I've had multiple Dramedy placements on both of the shows mentioned above. I'm also submitting to this listing, here is one of the tracks I am submitting:
https://www.taxi.com/members/EVBsBi_mTq2cTcogtfVyTQ-paul-croteau/songs/Pqx4AjMmQFWy4dve7-zk1g-quirky-time

A few things to notice: I start out with a single pizzicato string motif, then I add some hip hop hi hats. Drums and bass come in for the second phrase, along with some percussion. A second them comes in along with the snare/clap. After that it's just a matter of adding/removing various elements and some slight variation. everything is clear, plenty of space for edit points.

I created a simple dramedy tutorial earlier this year, perhaps it can offer some more clarity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlGRHvuGdW0

Hope this helps!

Paulie

Oh yeah, this is tremendous help - thank you!
I've contacted you directly to discuss further
David