Penitent Man (power pop)

The GOOD: Good song. The vocals and harmonies (IMO) are excellent. The music is good.

The BAD: The overall mix. The tracks trip over each other. I have my own problems mixing. So, I can't honestly tell you with certainty whether it's level or EQ that's the problem. It's probably both.

The lead vocals do not stand out. At points the BG vocals overpower the lead.

From what I can hear there's two rhythm guitar parts, and they're good. But, they're very basic throughout. You beautifully build the vocals while not really adding any instrumentation, which diminishes the final product. Even with a poor mix, I hear that.

The Inbetween: The actual song is the last thing I'm going to mention. But, don't take this personally, my own songs, and many others I've listened to fall into this category. What are you aiming for? Because this song has a strong 70s power pop vibe. Which would be perfect if it were the 70s, but it's 2017. That doesn't make it bad. But, if you're aiming to use it as a vehicle to something higher, it's going to be a negative not a plus.

There aren't many new artists I truly listen to. Everything on the radio sucks. So, I know I don't have a modern sound.

My own personal goal is to create songs for people that love all forms of music, and might enjoy them. Which means I'll never make a dime from music. But, I'm way past anything remotely in my prime, so I'm good with armchair playing.
 
Thanks for reviewing the mix snowman! I'll see if I can bring down the backgrounds so they don't overpower the lead vocal. Does that happen in a specific point, like in a chorus or verse?
 
Easlern, turn down the panned guitars a bit. That's why the vocal isn't audible enough. When you do that things will change, and at that point it will be easier to assess the rest of the mix. Right now they are overpowering so it's hard to assess the rest.
 
Thanks nola, is that in chorus or verse you're hearing, or both?

It's most noticeable during the verses. Those L/R panned guitars (they sound doubled, yeah?). Take a break from the mix for an hour or so, come back and play it in headphones at a loud volume. I think you'll hear what I mean. When the song changes around the 50 second mark it doesn't sound as obvious because you're strumming longer duration chords and playing them with less attack. The verse guitars sound like a hard strum/attack (so, maybe a little compression could help, too).
 
It's throughout the song. There's no point where I don't have to strain to hear the lead vocals. I'm not a great mixer, but at points your guitars overpowers the vocal, then the drums will overpower the guitar, the BG vocals are prominent at points. It's not a clear mix. Everything just kind of bleeds into each other.
 
Even sounds EQ'd ok, to me. I just think the levels need to be sorted out better. I'd just start there when you get back to it; that might be all it needs, Nick.
 
Great song and performances.

I'm with boldersoundguy. The guitars and bass are pretty near perfect. I like the way the guitars are panned, and they are at a great level relative to the bass. The result is a nice full sound that drives the song.

The main problem is your lead vocal isn't forward enough. I also think the drums could come up, but that's secondary. So how to get your vocal to cut? I would just boost the level for starters. See how that sounds. You can experiment with the compression but not too much. An alternative would be to lower the guitars, but that seems a shame unless you've tried other solutions.

This is good work.
 
Thanks for your insight guys, I changed up the intro to build things up a bit, brought the guitars way down and adjusted levels in general. Also did a little side-chain eq to help the vocal cut through.

View attachment 99230
 
Easlern, did you change the snare? It sounds like an 80s snare now, which I didn't hear in the first version.

The guitars sound at a good level now, but the vocal is a bit loud.
 
Much better. Vocal is clear. Bring up the drums now, especially kick and snare. Focus on getting the right level balance between the kick and bass. I try to get them where the kick feels like part of the attack of the bass notes.

The mix does sound bassy in the beginning. However I think getting the drums up to a competitive level will help.
 
I think things are sounding pretty tight now, feeling much better about it than when I started. I think I'll go with this one if there aren't any glaring issues.

Thanks guys!

View attachment 99232

Edit: ugh, the drums got really loud on this one, I do want to fix that.
 
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Hey Easlern, nice tune, really like your voice.

The snare does have an 80's type sound, but I don't mind it. I didn't think the drums were too loud on my end, all I listened to was the most updated version you just posted. The toms actually seemed a little quiet. The rhythm guitars seem a tad loud in the verses, or maybe the lead vocal could come up a tad as others have said. The left rhythm guitar seems a tad stronger than the right, but literally just a hair, so no problems there really.

These are all just nitpicks, overall it sounds pretty good to me. From an arrangement perspective, it did seem to end rather abruptly though.
 
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