Ok what's the dealeo

[guitarfreak12]

ok, I entered my song in a local christian radio talent contest. And it didn't make the top ten. In fact I found out that it made the top 11, but was beat out by this song, scoll down to the bottom of the page and click listen on the guy named samual adams.

http://www.wafj.com/common/Content.asp?PAGE=351&CONTENT=3718

now here is my song love to love you.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/0/markwaters_music.htm

I am only upset because his song has only a dozen lyrics and a guitar solo, so could someone tell me what I'm doing wrong. I just don't understand the music buisiness I guess. I'm happy for the guy that made it, but I don't understand. Thanks, and be a harsh if I needs it.

 

[Tifstorey]

You have to remember that it depends on the judges personal taste. I can remember going through this same ordeal when i played in piano festivals. on an 'open piano' where i could play anything, i used to feel mine were more complicated and better, but then someone else won. Dont think about it too much, just forget about it and go for another one.

I listened to your track, and i liked it. Good production, and a decent track. I kept expecting some drums to kick in, but they never came

bottome line, forget about the competition, keep your head up and keep composing

 

[DonF]

FWIW, I think yours is much better.

I don't think you're doing anything wrong, except maybe getting upset over an inherently unfair process. Maybe they had the other guy confused with their favorite beer. Maybe they were tired of listening to all the crap by the time they got around to listening to yours. Maybe they didn't listen to yours at all -- unless you have evidence to the contrary, there's just no way to know.

Second listen now. I'll try to be a little more critical this time.

Vocal starts at :35. You violated the "8-second rule". (The other guy's intro was about :15, much closer to the ideal for a demo.)

The words are a little hard to understand. That could have been a factor.

Overall your recording is good, although in general it lacks clarity.

The lyrical content may have been a little too "deep" for the judges. They may have been looking for standard "Praise & Worship" fare.

I'd be inclined to listen to more of your music. I'm afraid the other fellow's song gives me no such inclination. Keep going, and don't let this get you down!

Hope this helps,
Don

 

[The First Don]

what the hell is the 8 second rule? most things on the radio or mtv dont follow the "8 second rule."

 

[Tifstorey]

when you send your music off to a label, they listen to it for 8 seconds, nothing has happened within the magic 8 seconds, then its taken out and thrown in the bin.. Theyre very nice people

The 8 second rule only needs to apply to a demo.

 

[guitarfreak12]

hmmh....ineresting....

 

[guitarfreak12]

stuff they obviously don't tell you

 

[DonF]

what the hell is the 8 second rule? most things on the radio or mtv dont follow the "8 second rule."

As Tifstorey said, that "rule" applies to demos. I kind of glossed over that.

I guess what I was really trying to say is, I don't think it would have hurt if he had gotten to the "meat" of the song more quickly.

 

[guitarfreak12]

Vocal starts at :35. You violated the "8-second rule".

Heck, i left out a verse in the song cause I was trygin too hard to pretty it up at the beginning and end. Thanks for the critiques

 

[XLR]

The song's very good, as is the sonority of the recording. Vocals are the best part by far – way outshining the instrumental quality of the accomp. What I think detracts is a lack of tightness in the rhythm of the backing tracks. If you sang this just with a REALLY good ac gtr player I’d buy the CD.

Tim

 

[guitarfreak12]

thanks tim, was the guitar playing bad? I don't consider myself a great guitar player but I'm pretty good. Just wondering.

 

[kraley]

thanks tim, was the guitar playing bad? I don't consider myself a great guitar player but I'm pretty good. Just wondering.

I don't think your guitar playing was bad - but I do think you could have made a better decision on how to place it in your mix. The way it is right now, it walks all over the vocal. Try doubling the acoustic and hard panning the tracks left and right - this will let your voice stand alone more in the mix, as well give you a chance to add some other rhythm elements.

I can't give you any advice on why you lost the contest except to point out that contests aren't why you make music in the first place, hopefully.


Good song.

 

[famous beagle]

The guitar playing wasn't BAD, but it was fairly loose rhythmically, like Tim said. This was most noticable to me during the chorus when you would do the bass walk down and the little hammer-on fill to get back to the beginning of the phrase. Also, the shaker in the beginning was a little "shaky" at parts. (pun intended)

I think the other guy's song was ok, but it sounded like a rip-off of the polyphonic spree to me (except fot the guitar solo bit obviously). I thought his solo wasn't very good and was a detractor from his song. The song in general had a pseudo-sixties peace, love, and hapiness thing going, and the solo was way out of place IMO.


I agree with the earlier post about your lyrics being a bit hard to understand at times, esp. the first verse.

Overall, though, your song was nice and you have a nice voice. Good job.

 

[XLR]

thanks tim, was the guitar playing bad? I don't consider myself a great guitar player but I'm pretty good. Just wondering

Sorry, that was an insensitive way for me to say it. The guitar track is good. But the vocal track is a notch above it IMO and I was trying to compliment your voice more than criticize the guitar playing.

The rhythm issue I mentioned isn't a matter of bad playing on any of the tracks, it just doesn't come across to me as super tight and consistent. The way the strings mesh with the maracas in the intro, for example, sounds rhythmically indistinct to me, and the entrance of the guitar with its opening arpeggiated strum feels like it's taking off from the downbeat rather than dropping into the downbeat which is what that type of rhythmic figure usually does.

In listening again what I'm hearing through the majority of the guitar part is not actually a rhythm problem but an inconsistency in volume within each measure. There's a dropping out of the bass notes, and the strumming has, to my ear, too big of a peak every other measure on the 2nd beat though much of the song. The tone of the guitar track makes the strumming sound just a little harsh when the accents occur on those stronger strums.

All in all, to me the backing just feels a little inconsistent - not bad by any means, just not as good as the quality of the vocal. If the vocal wasn't so good I wouldn’t even mention the inconsistency.

Tim

 

[jdavidb]

a 10 place difference between these two songs really doesn't seem anywhere near accurate or fair. That is a "what's the dealeo?" outcome. I guarantee, I listened to both objectively. I'm in the "yours is better" camp, so that's why I think 10 whole notches down is unreal.

Maybe it's because he's got the whole long hair & beard Jesus look while all you have is the sandals?

 

[famous beagle]

a 10 place difference between these two songs really doesn't seem anywhere near accurate or fair. That is a "what's the dealeo?" outcome. I guarantee, I listened to both objectively. I'm in the "yours is better" camp, so that's why I think 10 whole notches down is unreal.

Maybe it's because he's got the whole long hair & beard Jesus look while all you have is the sandals?

ten places? I thought it was just one place. The brewing patriot was number 10 and you were 11, right?

 

[guitarfreak12]

right I was 11, and thanks for the good advice. As far as producing, I'm not as far along as I am in tracking. I really thought the same things about the solo's with the other guy, but I didn't want to cut into him. After all he made it and I didn't. But I initially was just confused, and I really don't have a low self esteem, I was just , wll, confused. Thanks again guys.