Thursday, August 21, 2014

Summer Goal checked off

Good news...I now officially have 176 items up for sale on Audio Jungle. The goal for the summer was getting to 175, and I started somewhere around the neighborhood of 148.

Looking back over this summer compared to last, the reviewers seemed much tougher this time around. Last summer I got 24 accepted, but I only had to submit 29 songs to do it. About an 83% acceptance rate. This summer I have in 26/40 so far, which is only 65%. I honestly don't think it's because last summer's music was better than my newest offerings - I think it's because they are being more choosy about what they accept.

One reason why I believe that is because I had only been working with Logic Pro (the recording software I use) for 6 months at the beginning of last summer. I was still learning how to use it. I'm much more confident with it now. I certainly don't think I am a worse musician than last year. I just think the competition is more fierce and the standards are higher all around. I'm gonna have to keep the axe sharp if I'm going to keep up.

Week 9 Scorecard

My submissions have made it through the queue this week, and I got 4/5 accepted. Pizzi Intro, Simple Winds Loops 1, 2, & 3 all made it in, the Blue Jazz Loop didn't. The summer total is now 26/40. A much better showing than last week.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Upbeat Piano Intro

This 20 second lead-in features piano, bass, percussion and light synth to create an up-beat, grandiose introduction. It's my 1st submission of week 10. I should have results from last weeks submissions soon.

Monday, August 18, 2014

Blue Jazz Loop

This is the last submission (#5) of week number 9, The Blue Jazz Loop. A pretty simple, standard blues progression loop featuring upright bass, drums and jazz guitar.

Simple Winds Loop 3

This loop is the third in a series featuring piccolo, clarinet, and bassoon in a simple, playful and cheerful little melody. The last one, I think - I could do these forever, but no point.

This one is my 4th submission for week 9.

Simple Winds Loop 2

I've gotten a little behind on posts. I've been a busy guy helping some old friends with recording a new album.

Simple Winds Loop 2 is the second in a series. It features the same simple instruments I used in tool 1 (piccolo, clarinet and bassoon), is the same tempo and length, and keeps the same happy-go-lucky, playful mood of loop one. I figure I'll do a series of three of these. Submission number 3 for week 9.

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Pizzi Intro

This is a short & sweet introduction for podcast, broadcast, production, or branding purposes. Clean, simple, warm, and cheerful. It features pizzicato strings, piano, warm pad, and a glockenspiel stinger.

This is song #2 submitted during week #9. I'm trying to transition into more short submissions. During the school year, 30 second audio clips is all I have time for, and that's often a stretch.

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Simple Winds Loop

This simple, child-like loop features bassoon, clarinet, and piccolo only for a clean, relaxing, happy loop.

This is submission 1 for week 9.

Week 8 Scorecard - Painful post

I've never had to make a post like this. I only managed to submit three songs last week because I was busy with other projects, and all three were rejected. Ouch.

So I am not a single item closer to my goal of 175 by the end of summer. That brings my summer total up to an abysmal 22/35.

With this many rejects racking up, it may be time to create a "reject page". Honest truth? Some of them deserved it. Not all of them deserved it. I'm actually pretty happy with some of the stuff they are rejecting. It may be time to shop around for other alternatives for some of the tracks Audio Jungle turned up it's nose at. If I can find an alternative sales platform, and those tracks start selling on that platform, I'll feel a little better about myself, and will face Australia and blow a raspberry at whatever overly-picky reviewers are canning some of those tracks. Research time.

I'm still going to make that goal. Just you watch.

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Amazon Loop

This rhythmic loop uses mallet and mixed percussion to provide a musical background for the amazon, rain forests, or jungles in general. It has a real tribal feel. No sound effects, just a musical backdrop for you to add your own.

This is submission #3 for week #8.

Hammered Electronic Loop

This gritty loop features a dirty, distorted electric piano backed by a processed hammered dulcimer, synth bass and acoustic percussion. It has a nice drive to it, but feels mid-tempo in spite of the quick metronome marking of 160.

I was looking for a nice combination of distorted and clean to give this loop a dirty sort of drive without being overly muddy. This song is submission #2 of week 8.

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Scattered Electronic Loop

This is an electronic loop that uses a gated, scattered electronic sequence background with a interesting, quacky sort of synth lead. The background percussion is acoustic and uses a latin rhythm pattern, although it doesn't feel very latin in the context of the arrangement.

The overall mood is tense and precise. I envision it as background music for a game that requires intense concentration. At 96 BPM, the tempo isn't rushed, but it feels strained and stressed anyway.

The song makes a perfect loop at 30 seconds. This is song #1 for week #8.

Monday, August 4, 2014

Week 7 Scorecard

Got 3/5 approved this week, bringing the summer total up to 22/32.

The ones making it in were the Jazz Combo Loop, the Light Broadcast Intro, and the Rough Edge Loop - that's right, the one I was pretty sure wasn't going to make the cut because it didn't seem very "commercial". The ones that made the cut were the two that I actually thought were the most promising of the lot, the Happy Pop loop and my Mellow Jazz song. The mellow jazz one kind of hurt. I liked that one. I guess the reviewer didn't.

No matter, I'm working on a fresh batch for week #7, and I'm on track to have 175 by September. I already have 170 in, so let's hope I can keep getting 3/5 approved a week.

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Caving

Just for the record, I'm making my "Rough Edge Loop" my 5th submission for week 7. It's been rainy and miserable for several days and I'm afraid my arthritis is really letting me know it. My joints are screaming, and I the usual half-dozen ideas I usually have started by now just aren't there this time around. I will be starting monday morning with nothing in the works.

I'm not sure they'll see commercial value in it, but I'm tossing it in anyway to make my quota. Sometimes they reject things I think would do very well, so maybe this week they'll take one that I'm uncertain of. Either way, it prevents me from hustling and rushing something in order to make my self-imposed quota. I'd rather get a clean start tomorrow morning with a new set of 5 for week #8.

Every "back-to-school" flier that shows up on our doorstep is reminding me that I'm fast running out of weeks. The good news is that I'm up to 170 items up for sale on Audio Jungle, and only five from my summer goal. It's looking more and more like I'm gonna get there.

Mellow Jazz

This relaxing mellow jazz tune features electric piano, upright bass, acoustic guitar and drums. It's down tempo, smooth, and soothing. I was looking for something to gently slow people down and relieve them of stress. Song number 4 of week 7.

Friday, August 1, 2014

Happy Pop Loop

The name says it all. This one is a 30 second loop featuring acoustic guitar and pizzicato strings. It's bright, cheerful, upbeat, and just the sort of background music someone out there needs to provide a little frame for a discussion of the next product we all desperately need, without even knowing it yet.

This one is my 3rd submission for week #7.

Light Broadcast Intro

This is a short theme song (15 seconds) that I wrote for podcast/broadcast audio projects. Light, cheerful and positive, I had sincere, but less weighty projects in mind when I did this one. This one is my second submission for week #7.