New Song - Windmill

Nola

Nola

Well-known member
Hey guys. This is a song I wrote about a reoccurring dream many years ago. It's imo the worst song I've ever written, but I went with it anyway since the dream kept happening so I figured it must mean something. With regard to this mix, it gets dense at times with keys and 5 guitars (at the end), two vocals, etc and was a challenge. Really I just need some objective ears on it at this point to tell me what I missed. Thank you.

Windmill by Suicide Van | Free Listening on SoundCloud
 
I like where the drums sits in the mix. It does have an open feel and all of them sound pretty clear. Some of your vocals are getting lost..especially when you go down low. Also, I am sure intentional, but that backing distorted guitar really covers up the clean quite a bit...like they are playing the same frequencies. I really dig your style though...different for sure, but intriguing.
 
I like it Nola. Nice backing vocals from the gf too. The doubled (?) distorted rhythm guitars are hogging more than their share of sonic space IMO. If you dropped them slightly, the interplay between the lead and harmony vox would have more space to be heard.

Drums are solid but uninspiring. Maybe work in more variation between the sections? Good song!
 
Bruthish said:
Also, I am sure intentional, but that backing distorted guitar really covers up the clean quite a bit...like they are playing the same frequencies. I really dig your style though...different for sure, but intriguing.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Bruthish. I'll look into that and see if I can clean up some of those frequencies.

Robus said:
I like it Nola. Nice backing vocals from the gf too. The doubled (?) distorted rhythm guitars are hogging more than their share of sonic space IMO. If you dropped them slightly, the interplay between the lead and harmony vox would have more space to be heard.

Drums are solid but uninspiring. Maybe work in more variation between the sections? Good song!
Click to expand...

Thanks, Robus. Yeah the drum work was quick. I definitely should go back and figure out something better -- on a slow day I'll do that.
That's actually me singing both vocal parts not the GF...just sang one low and C and one high and panned it R.

I'll try to thin it out during the vocal, but I'm not even sure I want to since I don't like the song. Haha. I'm glad you like it, though.
 
Actually, I could barely hear the distorted rhythm guitars. Thought they were very quiet. But, with the vocal being in the lower octave, I didn't think you had any room to turn them up much. The vocals would get washed out quickly, I think. I'd probably look at just dropping the heavier guitars out completely. I don't think the song needs them. The groove between the bass and kick is very good. I like the kick you are using here...is it different?
 
andrushkiwt said:
The groove between the bass and kick is very good.
Click to expand...

Thanks, that's my favorite part, too.
I use that kick a lot, but in this instance it has significantly more ambience and compression on it than normal, so I bet that's what you're hearing.
 
Can we get that high vocal either panned more centrally or (preferably imo) doubled on the opposite side? I'm finding it really distracting where it is, but it sounds like it's blending really nicely with the low one.

Those rhythm guitars are basically just a pad the way they're mixed, but I think it works here. A nice wash of fuzz! It's a good vibe.

I think other than the one vocal pan, the mix seems to sit together very nicely.
 
VomitHatSteve said:
Can we get that high vocal either panned more centrally or (preferably imo) doubled on the opposite side? I'm finding it really distracting where it is, but it sounds like it's blending really nicely with the low one.

Those rhythm guitars are basically just a pad the way they're mixed, but I think it works here. A nice wash of fuzz! It's a good vibe.

I think other than the one vocal pan, the mix seems to sit together very nicely.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Steve. Yeah I tried the higher vocal many different ways and placements, but ultimately this sounded best to me. Sorry it's distracting. I'll keep that in mind to tinker with if I do a final mix, thanks.
 
The bass humping the kick drum isn't great.
The bass could use a little more movement.
There's some mid mud to deal with.
A little brightness and tuning of the solo might be good.
The deadpan vocal is very Coney Island Baby but suits the narrative.
 
I like this. The mix may be a little mid rangey but i don't think it interferes with your song coming across. I like the rhythm section sound, can't tell if the drums are real or not which since you say they are a VI is a good thing. There's a volume dip early in the song :45-on my second listen and i noticed it both times. Vocals sound good-the higher vocal could come up a hair imo. As far as the mix i think it sounds fine-there could be more high end in general (snare,guitars) but this is easy to listen to. I like the feedback intro to the guitar solo-good stuff!
 
Last edited:
I always like your tune. They usually have a very cool feel.

I like the over-distorted guitar. As a drone sound it worked well.

The two vocal performances were a little loose. At first it was kind of nice. But I think it got to be a little too loose.

Things sounded kind of crowded. There is lots of energy bunched up in the 400hz - 1600hz octaves. Guitars and vocals mostly squeezing each other for space.

The female vocal sounds clearer than the male vocal. I think that's also hurting their gelling.
 
Finishing a song is such a huge accomplishment. This song gives me a Weezer vibe. I love Weezer. First off I'd duplicate the drum track or send it to a bus and compress the hell out of that duplicated track... like as hard as you can, but then turn that duplicated track down like 20 to 30dB so the drums have more thump. That first guitar that comes in - I want to hear more reverb on it. Maybe even go so far as to boost somewhere around 200 Hz and cut somewhere around 1 to 2k so it's smoother. I'd EQ the guitars with a hi pass at about 120 to 150Hz and maybe do a shelf boost at around 5 or 6k. I'd like to hear some compression on the vocal.

Now this is a stretch even for me and I'm just brainstorming, but try EQing the bass first using a hi pass at 60 to 80Hz, cut around 300 to 350Hz around 3dB, boost at like 850Hz like 6 to 9dB, then do like a 6dB boost with a shelf at 5kHz. I have absolutely no idea how that's gonna sound and I'm totally guessing, but that's what I'm hearing. Then compress the bass and maybe duck the bass using sidechain compression with the kick drum. You could even layer a sample over the kick.

This is me wanting to polish it way too much though and for the genre honestly it's very intimate and endearing. Anyway I'd probably buy it if I saw you at a show.

Edit: Oh yeah, also if you throw an EQ on the master bus I'd just do a hi pass at 80ish Hz. Well until you hear the low end lose it's impact, then take it back slightly and boost around 200 Hz until the impact comes back.
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone. I was gone all weekend and just got to reading the comments. Surprised to see people like the song, b/c I thought it was the worst I ever wrote. Interesting.

I make a backup of this mix and then gol go rework this a little bit with the suggestions and see how it sounds.

GRN, your comment about buying it if we played live is particularly interesting...it just confirms my notion that we all need to be out playing live shows to reach an audience.
3M, there is no female vocal. It's funny two people thought my high singing was a female. I guess I better get my hormone levels checked!
 
Ha, I also thought it was a female vocal until reading the thread. I think it's because I expect it from you as you often make these songs with your girlfriend, so I didn't consciously think about

I think the looseness of the timing between the two vocal parts works ok - it kind of fits the style of the song.

It's definitely not a sucky song - I can't see why you'd think it was so bad. I really enjoyed it. I like all the textures of the various guitars, the drum part works well supporting rather than driving the song.

I A/Bd it with We're An American Band by Yo La Tengo as I thought that was pulling in a similar direction. It sounds bigger and more expansive and I think maybe a little more brightness across the mix and perhaps a little more volume, presence and reverb in the lead guitar might help with the sense of climax in the solo parts?
 
Hey thanks, Rob. I thought it was a bad song b/c it has corny lyrics and a simple melody over simple chords. Usually I like a twist of some kind (I guess it has a modulation at the ending...but it didn't feel enough).

When you say "it sounds bigger" you mean the YLT song? I will check the reverb and EQ on those parts. Since it is a dense mix, it was tricky to get everything to poke out, so maybe I need to use more automation for that. When I tried to thin it out, it seemed weak to me, so I kept it dense. But I'll look into it and thanks for your thoughts!
 
Last edited:
I like the laid back vibe and tempo. I think this would sound superb with the wall of sound treatment with everything big. Not that your version doesn't sound great :) You've definitely got a sound of your own. I like the song, very cool
 
Bulls Hit said:
I like the laid back vibe and tempo. I think this would sound superb with the wall of sound treatment with everything big. Not that your version doesn't sound great :) You've definitely got a sound of your own. I like the song, very cool
Click to expand...

Thanks, Bull! Really appreciate the feedback and your time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top