“Stylistically off target” - What should I do differently?

[jessecarrigan]

I'm not sure exactly how to ask this question, and I'm struggling with all the emotions around this, so bear with me as I attempt to work this out.

I've been a Taxi member for a little while, much of it not doing much. In 2016, I got a forward on my first submission. In early 2017, I had my first tracks signed to a library. I also went to my first Road Rally and met some of you. It was inspiring.

Since then, a lot of change has happened - I got a new job, moved my family from the Seattle area to Texas. I've gotten back into the rhythm of submitting (specifically focusing on instrumentals) and so far I've struck out on all my submissions. The good (?) news is that in all cases, the problem is the same - "Stylistically off target".

I'm trying to figure out how to remedy this. The style will obviously be specific to the listing. However, the feedback indicates that I'm not hearing what I need to hear when I listen to the references. How do you listen? What do you focus on? How do you zero in on the right things? What do you ignore?

Naturally, as an artistically inclined person with some mental health challenges, my brain is inclined to believe that the previous forwards were just dumb luck and I'm really a fraud. That's a separate issue, but one I'm trying to work through in tandem.

[SteveBaruah]

Hi Jesse,

Hard to say,...but if you get this feedback in multiple genres, my guess would be your instrumentation is a little dated...(?)
Just a guess.

[jessecarrigan]

Hi Jesse,

Hard to say,...but if you get this feedback in multiple genres, my guess would be your instrumentation is a little dated...(?)
Just a guess.

That’s been the feedback in one case. More often it’s something like “nice work but not right for this listing”. One thing that makes it hard is that there have been very few listings with full critiques lately, so the critiques are short. I didn’t want to let that stop me from submitting but, well, now I do. Obviously that’s not a good solution, so I’m trying to find a better one.

[chrismugs]

Hey Jesse,

i run into this issue from time to time. 3 things that helped me, which might help you are:

1) create a playlist with the reference songs and the tracks that i am planning to submit.
- listening to the instrumental in context with the references helps to see how on/off target it is

2) have someone that you trust listen to it the track to see it the instrumentals sound similar
- my wife has heard my music so much that she usually let's me know what she likes and doesn't like. so, someone who is somewhat unbiased or at least not in awe of your musical ability helps.

3) post the instrumental, along with the listing to the peer-to-peer section on the forum
- a lot of good people. and a lot of good feedback

hope this helps

-Chris

[jessecarrigan]

Those are some good thoughts, Chris. Thanks. That’s probably the best way to get more feedback on the Y/U listings. It’s hard to do that sometimes on the shorter timeframes, but that probably just means I have to pick and choose listings more strategically.

[jessecarrigan]

On further reflection, I often will get locked on to one or another of the reference tracks and get too specific to it, rather than generalizing the common features of them as a whole. I think that also may be part of the problem because it’s then missing those things that make it...forwardable? Probably not a word.

[Len911]

The word musicology literally means "the study of music," encompassing all aspects of music in all cultures and all historical periods. In practice, musicology includes a wide variety of methods of studying music as a scholarly endeavor; although the study of music performance is an important facet of musicology, music performance itself is a different area of study.

www.ams-net.org/what-is-musicology.

Maybe it's your approach? Do you approach the listings as a musicologist or as a performer ( someone who is really into the style of music enough that they wish to recreate it)? A composer or performer of a particular style is going to go well beyond only the few examples a listing gives, so it gives them more of an understanding of what the style is about. The "ideal" taxi candidate I would suppose, would be someone who likes the challenge of recreating the musicology aspect of music into a performance?

[cosmicdolphin]

Things I do / have done .....

Research the genre..go on to Wikipedia and find out what scene the music grew out of and how it's evolved..this can inform your production choices

Make notes on all the reference tracks and write a track list / timeline for each one ..what part comes in where ..how does it play ? Legato , staccato ? syncopated ?

Go into detail on the sounds used for each element..i.e. drums ..is it a drum machine or a real sounding drummer...which drum machine, can you identify it ..do they have common kick or snares..is it a snare or a clap+snare ? Or if it's a real drummer what kit do they play ? Can you see it performed live on Youtube...see what instruments they have ? Which guitar or signature sound from amps & pedals ?

Music theory stuff...what types of chords are they using..do they tend to be played in a certain way ? i.e. Future Bass uses lots of 7th & 9th chords..You can find this stuff in discussion forums or Youtube tutorials

Production style , can you figure out how they are getting their mix to sound that way ? i.e. is it using side-chaining, what types of reverbs are on the sounds ? Are there delays ?

Also it's worth going outside of the reference tracks to listen to others in the same genre. Pull up a Spotify playlist and put it on whilst you drive around...if you immerse yourself then stuff rubs off.

Hope that helps

[DavidSJH]

I often get the same comment. I go back and read the listing again and I’ve usually left out or put too much in of a crucial element.
Lately I submitted a bunch of drones and it came back stylistically off target. I read the listing wrong. I though it said to leave out percussive instruments or feels.
I put none in when the listing said put some in. Lol. Returned.

Cosmic dolphin those are great tips. Thanks.

[jessecarrigan]

I often get the same comment. I go back and read the listing again and I’ve usually left out or put too much in of a crucial element.
Lately I submitted a bunch of drones and it came back stylistically off target. I read the listing wrong. I though it said to leave out percussive instruments or feels.
I put none in when the listing said put some in. Lol. Returned.

Cosmic dolphin those are great tips. Thanks.

You know, that was one that I got as well. One of the things that threw me off was that there was very little of that at all in the reference tracks - I originally had percussive elements, but then listened to the reference tracks, didn't hear it, and took it out. Go figure! But that demonstrates that it's the combination of everything including the reference tracks, the listing description, and the elements it mentions that you have to pay attention to.