A question on genre picking

[Troisnyx]

Hey guys. I'm going to explain this as briefly as I can.

Now I've got a piece in the works, which otherwise has the makings of an ambient piece, because of the pads and effects I've used. I am NOT linking it here, by the way, unless it's absolutely necessary.

But there's a bit of a twist: I threw in vocals. Now that would automatically make it sound like a New Age or Ethereal Wave piece.

There's even more of a twist: the words are in some sort of conlang, there's a message about them, and it sounds like it ought to fit in some sort of video game.

So, I've had to narrow it down to five choices:

1) Electronic - Ambient
2) Electronic - Video Game
3) Other - Fusion
4) Other - World
5) Other - Miscellaneous

Needless to say, I'm in a bit of a pickle. If this question ought not to be asked in the forums, I apologise in advance.

[camoshark]

I think in this case what you would need to take into consideration is the demographic you're looking for.

Are you looking for the ambient crowd, a more obscure crowd like Fusion/Misc, or a more populist crowd AKA VG (no hard feelings VG fans, it just is). Obviously the people you target will influence their reaction so I'd say take into consideration who you're trying to reach with your song and you'll have a better clue as to where to send ti to.

Hope that helped! :)

[UserSigon]

you know what? we should demand more genre! >:O

[Troisnyx]

At 2/14/14 04:45 PM, camoshark wrote: I think in this case what you would need to take into consideration is the demographic you're looking for.

Are you looking for the ambient crowd, a more obscure crowd like Fusion/Misc, or a more populist crowd AKA VG (no hard feelings VG fans, it just is). Obviously the people you target will influence their reaction so I'd say take into consideration who you're trying to reach with your song and you'll have a better clue as to where to send ti to.

Hope that helped! :)

Cheers, Camo. I wouldn't want to be too niche -- yes, I have a niche that I fill already, but if you ask me what my heart says, I yearn for it to reach the hearts of as many people as possible. I always fear the reactions either way, so I can't say I know whether my decision, whatever it is, will be the 'right' one.

At 2/14/14 04:45 PM, UserSigon wrote: you know what? we should demand more genre! >:O

I suppose listeners could; it's listeners and reviewers after all, who normally name the genres, not the musicians. It's not my place to say whether we need more genres. In fact, I sometimes think there are enough as is. In this particular case..... oh how I wish there were FEWER to pick from, not more.

[midimachine]

put it in ambient and then tag it as "vocal" and whatever else you can think of to describe it

[vismundtaxt]

At 2/14/14 07:04 PM, midimachine wrote: put it in ambient and then tag it as "vocal" and whatever else you can think of to describe it

I agree, choose a simple base genre-- electronic, ambient, etc... then tag it with some other things that describe it from your point of view.

[Troisnyx]

At 2/14/14 07:04 PM, midimachine wrote: put it in ambient and then tag it as "vocal" and whatever else you can think of to describe it

I don't know if four tags are enough, sometimes... But thanks for the idea!

[deadbea7]

At 2/14/14 04:29 PM, Troisnyx wrote: Hey guys. I'm going to explain this as briefly as I can.

Now I've got a piece in the works, which otherwise has the makings of an ambient piece, because of the pads and effects I've used. I am NOT linking it here, by the way, unless it's absolutely necessary.

But there's a bit of a twist: I threw in vocals. Now that would automatically make it sound like a New Age or Ethereal Wave piece.

There's even more of a twist: the words are in some sort of conlang, there's a message about them, and it sounds like it ought to fit in some sort of video game.

So, I've had to narrow it down to five choices:

1) Electronic - Ambient
2) Electronic - Video Game
3) Other - Fusion
4) Other - World
5) Other - Miscellaneous

Needless to say, I'm in a bit of a pickle. If this question ought not to be asked in the forums, I apologise in advance.

i think if you can't decide what genre it fits in, or if anyone can classify the piece, it has done it's job. but if you absolutely can't make up your mind, miscellaneous would be my pick. either that or ambient. the only time i could see video game working with something like this is if it was inspired by some music or sound effects in a video game. i'm a bit on the fence about fusion, because you can have two or more genres mixed together and have one genre out-weigh others. and then world would be like combining different cultural influences in the piece. since you didn't post the song, i can't really give you my honest opinion on that one. but yea, i would go with ambient or miscellaneous. i hope my 2 cents helps with your decision! you should upload the song when it's finished! i bet it's rad as fuck.

[Troisnyx]

At 2/15/14 11:17 AM, deadbea7 wrote: you should upload the song when it's finished! i bet it's rad as fuck.

It's already up on NG. I was hesitant to post the link -- at the time I started this thread, I had a project file, but didn't want to turn it into another Audio Advert Thread.

Listen to it here.