Please Review Powerpop Song

DUDE!
DUDE!!!!!!!!!!!
DUDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


THAT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everything sounded awesome, and it was well written. :D:D:D:D:D

I envy you.

It'd be cool if you told me how you recorded everything down to the specifics. You don't have to, it would just be neat to hear how other people record.
 
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Your guitar tone is magnificent, but I am not sold on the song for some reason. I really like the mix, I like the arrangement a LOT! but something is missing for me. I think the vocals just dont sit right on top of the mix the entire time. There doubled which I am a big fan of, but the second vocal doesn't give enough to the mix for me. At 2:30 the vocals and the mix and the music all seem to finally mesh perfectly and then it ends. But this is a bashing forum and that is a bash, I would have to say although, that this is a great song and the mix is pretty good too.
 
I am listening without reading anyone else's comments, so if I repeat what is already said, you know...

The song is well recorded. The mastering limiter is set low enough to not squash things too far...

But the song itself isn't much. There is no real hook that grabs me. Everything is well performed, sung well. But there isn't much to the song. I don't know how else to say it. It reminds me of one of those songs you hear on a classic rock station at 2AM.

Sorry.
 
Production-wise, this sounded really good. No real nits there.

As to the songwriting, I enjoyed the intro and the pre-chorus. When the vocals first kicked in though, my initial reaction was "holy carp! This is too saccarine!" All of the good tension the intro was building was suddenly gone.

On a second listen, it's not as bad I suppose.

I also would have liked a little more of the stacatto piano, I think.

Overall though, it's a very well-done song. I wish I could my stuff sounding this nice.
 
WOW, everything sounds great to my ears. Awesome song! But you have to listen to M.I.A. by the Foo Fighters. There's a little ressemblance in the verses. But it's no big deal. The song is really cool, and really "radio friendly" like your artwork says. Good job!

Voice sounds like The Barenaked Ladies, the overall mix sounds like Beatles/Badfinger thing.

Really cool
 
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Being a drummer for the last 20 years, that's gonna be the first thing I listen to.. - and they sound great!

I think the snare needs to come up just a tad bit.. The rest sounds great. The kick is nice and punchy. The reason I say the snare needs to come up a bit, is when the snare is being played in sync with the piano, the snare totally disappears. Just a tad bit higher in the mix.

The vocals also have a bit more brightness than the mix calls for. They pop great, but they pop a bit too much, maybe? I'd EQ somewhere between 800-2500HZ down just a bit.

But, man, I'm really nit-picking here. The mix as a whole sounds very well-done. Great tones all around on the instruments. great mix of electric and acoustic guitars... great texture. Nice sounding piano, and great musicianship on all instruments.

Production-wise, hats off to ya, bud.
 
Thanks for the helpful comments, guys!

Yes, the vocals are indeed supposed to sound saccarine. This is an intentional pop song, no doubt. The references to the Beatles and Badfinger are right on target as well.

The only thing I'm not happy with is the bass guitar level. Anyone think it is not present enough in the mix?
 
DarkFriend said:
PoeticIntensity - My question to you: Were the drums played by a human or by MIDI?
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My guess would be MIDI, but only because of two things. 1. The snare sound which is used seems to be out of touch with the rest of the set (the snare sound seems highly compressed, and a bit like it's being hit extremely hard, consistently, while the rest of the set is very natural sounding)... and 2. The timing is spot-on perfect throughout the whole song.

That being said, this is one of the best sounding MIDI kits I've heard in a long time (me being no expert in this area, at all. Yeah, I've played for a long time, but I haven't been mixing for long at all)

What's the verdict?
 
PoeticIntensity said:
My guess would be MIDI. That being said, this is one of the best sounding MIDI kits I've heard in a long time. What's the verdict?
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Toontrack's Superior Drummer 2.0.. But that said, I programmed every note in the drum part individually. I don't copy parts, so there are subtle differences in hi-hat/ride patterns, kick intensity and pattern, etc. I also program like a drummer would play, in that I don't have parts that would be physically impossible (unless you had two drummers). The snares aren't 100% perfect, but pretty close. I nudge them around before or after the beat a bit to make them slightly more "human."
 
DarkFriend said:
Toontrack's Superior Drummer 2.0.. But that said, I programmed every note in the drum part individually. I don't copy parts, so there are subtle differences in hi-hat/ride patterns, kick intensity and pattern, etc. I also program like a drummer would play, in that I don't have parts that would be physically impossible (unless you had two drummers). The snares aren't 100% perfect, but pretty close. I nudge them around before or after the beat a bit to make them slightly more "human."
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Yup... You did a great job, for sure. One of the best MIDI sets I've ever heard.
 
Good production, but I think the vocals at the start sound distinctively thinnier than the vocals later on in the song. Seems to lack a certain ooomph that you'd want when the vocals start.

Well done! Not really my kind of music, but I still enjoyed it :-)
 
As a big power pop fan (from Badfinger through Big Star to the Shoes, Plimsouls etc then the Romantics & then a band I played with in the mid 80's The Naked Igwanaz{sic}) I can say, happily, this hits the spot. The bass needs a little definition (a narrow 4 dB peak at 3khz) but sounds good - the right hand of the piano buries it a bit.
The vocals are right, sweet! The melody has some familiar snippets in it - but that goes for all melodies these days I suppose.
Well done - I'll be listening to more!
 
Guys, thanks for the additional comments. RayC - I'm a Jason Falkner, Posies, FoW, and Brendan Benson fan, so we are in the same rock n roll boat. Agree that the bass guitar needs some additional definition. On to the next track..
 
your singing is definitely the number one problem with this song. With the voice of a trained group like Fountains of Wayne or Weezer or something, this song would be a super winner.

Also, add some vocal harmonies to the entire song, not just the last 4 seconds. Powerpop songs ALWAYS have vocal harmonies and you should be fined for not trying harder on the vocals. It's just a missed opportunity worth crying over.
 
pistachio said:
Also, add some vocal harmonies to the entire song, not just the last 4 seconds.
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Pistachio: There are clear harmony vocals throughout 90% of the song. A bit of advice for newbies to the HomeRecording MP3 Mixing Clinic - listen to the whole song a few times before making comments. Thanks
 
Sounds great! Awesome job. The only thing that struk me a bit was maybe a bit to much 1.5k or so when all the vocal tracks were kicked up. If it was me I'd fiddle around a bit with that to try and eliviate any sharp spots. I'd mess with the backing tracks first and try and leave the main alone. It's just an occasional stacking effect but, totally not a big deal.

Again awesome job!

F.S.
 
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