Why is this dated? Need help.

[NealF]

Hey guys.

I got a track returned. The reviewer said he LOVED the track but it sounded too dated. Not contemporary.

I'm an older guy. So he might be right. But you can't ask a follow up question to the reviewers so I'm left in a mystery as to what was dated sounding about it. What makes it more confusing to me is that many of the older sounds (el. pianos, etc.) are used in contemporary songs.

Here's what he said: "I love this track, super fun. But, we're missing on a couple fronts with this listing. FIrst, it's in an 'older style' (that hurt me to say that,I LOVE this) - but they're looking for a more contemporary sound."

One of the references was "Happy" by Pherrell. That's kinda what I was going for.

Any help is appreciated. Just trying to hone in on what they want. Thanks.

Here's the track: https://soundcloud.com/nealfox1/up-town-inst

[WeWillWriteUaSong]

Cool track. For me it's definitely the horns that are dating it too much. Look into some new horn samples. I love using Session Horns Pro. Nice work though, for sure. I definitely get the Happy vibe, which is a little dated in its production anyway. They may have wanted something closer to Shake It Off by Taylor Swift, as that was the first reference.

[mojobone]

The bari sax (or was it tuba?) and the horn stabs sound like a Korg M1, which was a great gigging axe circa 1990. They'd be fine today for certain kinds of acid house, but are maybe just not contemporary in the context of that particular listing. Very cool tune.

[NealF]

Funny. You both picked the horns.

They're the Garritan Big Band. Cheap, but they work for certain things.

Thanks for the feedback. Glad you liked the tune.

[ochaim]

It really is a great piece! It feels like a late 80's dance montage.

I agree with the horns sounding dated but what struck me more was the mid range growl of the guitars and the way they are played. i think guitars in modern production tend to be tighter sounding, either muted or muted shortly after they're strummed, maybe more of a funk approach.

[lesmac]

I noticed the reverb on the claps and the snare sounds bright with a verby ambience.

Something else I've noticed with tracks like 'Happy' is the instruments don't have many mid-highs keeping well out of the way of the vocals.

[NealF]

Thanks.

Interesting.
I hadn't thought much about the EQ yet.

Lesmac, are you saying there's generally a different kind of reverb on current stuff? That's another thing I hadn't thought about.

Ochaim, not sure what you mean about the guitars. I don't hear any growl. And one of the guitars is a muted guitar.

[Len911]

1973-1975?

The clavinet? reminds me of Stevie Wonder, "Superstition"
https://youtu.be/TjihmOB4Bo8

The funk guitar and horns, Ohio Players, "Love Rollercoaster" or "Fire"
https://youtu.be/9VH6yD8zobM

I had to look up the dates, my first thought was OP and Fire, the clavinet or vox organ sound? I was thinking Beatles, but then I remembered a similar sound from Stevie Wonder as the song got more funkier. It was like Stevie Wonder featuring the Ohio Players, pretty cool actually, though definitely early to mid seventies.

[NealF]

Seems, then, that it's a combination of the sounds and the parts. Not one or the other.

I'll have to study some of the other tracks they referenced. I was going by the "Happy" track, not the Taylor Swift reference.

Thanks.

[andygabrys]

Cool track.

I agree dated = some of the sounds and how they are employed.

Lots of music today has some old sounds that are freshened up with a more modern mix treatment (i.e. Brighter, sharper, harder hitting). You have some synth in their very similar to a part in Uptown Funk - but uptown funk is put together to give a very different mix sound. The guitar has got a little more skank - more of a guitar direct through a nerve preamp rather than more of an amp sound that you have.

You have other elements making your tune sound more modern - like the risers. That wouldn't have happened in a 70's tune.

Re: Happy - listening to it on the radio again the other day.

Sure it's kinda dated soundwise but what is the number one thing hat makes it sound modern?

To me it's the auto tuned background vocals singing the chords in the chorus.

That is the thing that makes it sound like today. Lots of stuff gets Autotuned because it's a sound / production esthetic not because the vocals are that far out of tune.

So using happy as a ref is kinda dangerous if it's not going to be a vocal song - how do you give it that contemporary touch that is implied with those tuned vocals? You can cop the feel and the arrangement and the instrumentation - but for a song that is a little dated soundwise (bass drums and Rhodes - what era is that?) what else do you have?