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Hi,I've had trouble in the past interpreting New Age music opportunities. I have a strong interest in abstract meditative music, but I have found that the listing parties don't want music in that sub-genre. I had a song returned by the following opportunity rather recently but I'm shooting for it again! CorinthiansThis time I'm providing a song with stronger melodic content. It's a brand new song completed today! <WooHoo!!> I've never before written a song with a full orchestral arrangement so I'm nervous. Wish me luck, friends! NEW AGE INSTRUMENTALS that are relaxing, melodic and not too dark are needed by an Austrian Production Company with Major Distribution. Once again, this company needs a fresh batch of fantastic New Age Instrumentals for a comp CD that will be marketed and distributed to European Wellness Hotels. While the tone needs to be very relaxing and soothing, the company would also like to hear some interesting and unique melodic/production approaches. These arrangements should be simple but not stark - full instrumentation, not solo, will be preferable. Instrumentals only for this one, please. Great performances are needed as always and these tracks must be broadcast quality. Their deal is a non-exclusive license along with mechanical royalties paid per unit sold. Please submit one to three songs online or per CD. All submissions will be screened on a YES/NO BASIS - NO CRITIQUES FROM TAXI - and must be received no later than December 26, 2008. TAXI #Y081226NANamaste,Allen

Allen, I know ZIP about the genre but I'm listing to your song now & it seems to fit the description to me. Very relaxing, very soothing . . . GOOD LUCK!

Allen - Very nice, piece. A nice relaxing song!The only negative was that it was very soft, volume wise, though. I had to turn up my speakers all the way on the laptop to hear it.

Dec 20, 2008, 3:37pm, anne wrote:Allen - Very nice, piece. A nice relaxing song!The only negative was that it was very soft, volume wise, though. I had to turn up my speakers all the way on the laptop to hear it.Good tip Ann! I can hear that now. I was so relieved to get this far I forgot to check. I'll fix it right away.Thanks,Allen

Allen,Very beautiful and relaxing. I think the melodic section works well. The pillowy piano melody is very "spa friendly", IMO!!A couple of things stood out for me right off the bat:1. I think the intro is too long and starts out too dark and might hurt your chances because the listing says "not too dark". That low string note is really beautiful but does have an ominous feeling to it without the context of the rest of the piece. Since it starts the piece, I think it gives a false impression of what the piece is.2. I'd go ahead and just start the intro with the voices at around 28 seconds and then skip the V-I resolution at around 45 seconds and just get straight to the melody. Since you start the melody on the IV chord anyway, it's kind of nice to leave it floating harmonically and leaving out the resolution would support that. Also, by resolving before the melody comes in like you do right now at 45 seconds, it makes it feel like 2 distinct pieces of music rather than an intro.Very nice work, Allen. I think that all those Europeans with cucumbers on their eyes and seaweed wrapped around their bodies will appreciate this very much! Mazz

Dec 20, 2008, 10:30pm, mazz wrote:A couple of things stood out for me right off the bat:....Great tips Mazz! I just noticed a couple of obnoxious glitches in the MP3 file so I need to redo a couple sections anyway. Because of wonderful people like you, this is the place to be! Gratefully,Allen

Hi Allen - lovely piece. I agree with the comment that the beginning instrument sounds dark. Other than that, I think it is soothing and relaxing, which is what the listing calls for. Nice melodic construct and modulation. I think Mazz is right about not waiting too long to get into the melody too.-V

Dec 21, 2008, 1:04pm, hummingbird wrote:Hi Allen - lovely piece. I agree with the comment that the beginning instrument sounds dark. Other than that, I think it is soothing and relaxing, which is what the listing calls for. Nice melodic construct and modulation. I think Mazz is right about not waiting too long to get into the melody too.-VThanks V (and Mazz ),I took your advice and changed the beginning using Mazz's idea of a cliff hanger before the melody. I did not pull it off as effectively as my heart wanted to, but I was down to the wire on the deadline. Maybe I'll revisit this song after I give my ears a rest. Corinthians (revised)Tech Note: My PC is under-powered for this type of work. I stayed up until the weeee hours last night bouncing separate MIDI tracks to audio to eradicate several anomalies that kept popping up in the full MIDI production. It worked <yay!> so I finally have a clean recording <whew!!>Warmest Regards,Allen

Hi Allen,Never done a song w/full orch arrangment? Wow! This is really nice! Nice touch with the piano as well. Good luck with this one!Rich

Jan 2, 2009, 6:29pm, rfrey wrote:Hi Allen,Never done a song w/full orch arrangment? Wow! This is really nice! Nice touch with the piano as well. Good luck with this one!RichThanks Rich,I need your good luck wishes. The piano part was compromised a bit because I couldn't figure out how to activate velocity sensitivity for the patch (If anyone else has run into this problem, please let me know the solution). It was my tweaked version of an Omnisphere piano sample. The song started out to be 100% Omnisphere until I realized that it needed more realistic samples layered in. In the end, Omnisphere's orchestra sound patch is still there but subdued, giving the project ambiance. Or is that mud? I'll revisit after I get good at this genre. One of these days I'll learn that less is more. Allen