Need Advice on Instrument Arrangement (Acoustic-Pop) "Whenever, However"

KatieHullMusic

New member
Hey guys, I've been struggling on how to spice up the arrangement to my song. This is a very rough demo so there are mistakes and all of that. This is mainly so I can get an idea of what the song as a whole sounds like... since I'm just one person doing all of this. But I'm having trouble coming up with ways to drive the verses more (as far as instrumentation goes) and making the choruses sound fuller. Any thoughts? By the way, I'm 17, so be nice :p
 

Attachments

  • Whenever, Howver (Demo 1).mp3
    3.5 MB · Views: 38
Lot's of potential here. Good stuff!

I have quite a few ideas though I have just started a session. I am sure others will be around shortly with good advice.

I'll be back. :)
 
Sounds quite good,

Just keep at it, experiment with writing drum and bass parts. What you have is a good start because it isn't overdone, in fact its kinda nice being sparse.

I like the song, has some good pop melodies. Welcome to HR.
 
Just a touch of Cyndi Lauper (she does sings really well - often underestimated).
Lower & move the shaker to a side a bit, the guitar is getting lost in the chorus, put the snare slightly off centre on the opp side to the shaker.
I don't think it needs anything added - just tweaked.
'tis good!
 
I can agree with PDP that the sparseness of the song is a virtue, but I kind of think a little bit of a lead instrument might make a good pop song into a great pop song.

The mix isn't too bad but maybe could use the tweaking rayc suggests. And sometimes just trying a bunch of different things can take you where you didn't know you wanted to go. (or not!)

And you might try switching instrumentation more for verse vs chorus dynamics if that's what you want to change--make guitar have more emphasis in the verses and the keys on the chorus, or vice versa, or other instruments you might be able to pull off.
 
Hey, I've done a bit more work on the track and would like thoughts on it. I took the percussion advice and it cleared up room in the chorus. I also added a shaker on the chanting parts and added a piano melody over the 2nd verse. I'm not sure if I like the piano part or if I should add it to other parts of the song.
 

Attachments

  • Whenever, However 2 (Demo).mp3
    3.4 MB · Views: 12
Sounds like next time, you might move back from the mic a little. Did you use a pop filter for this? Just a little nit-picking, but the track is cool.
 
Sounds like next time, you might move back from the mic a little. Did you use a pop filter for this? Just a little nit-picking, but the track is cool.

Yes, I used a pop filter for this. To be honest, this is the farthest I've ever recorded vocals from. I usually and very close to the mic and it captures more of a bassy tone. To experiment, I moved further back to knock out some of the bass.
 
If you have a good voice the rest is all experience. You have a great voice and at 17 your mix is pretty good. When I was 17 I was taking two boom boxes and recording a guitar track on one then playing it back and recording my second part on the other. It sounded like shit haha.

You're off to a great start so keep at it and follow the advice given.
 
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