Two songs for demo - please help!

H

hemeltz

New member
Hello,
I'm in the process of recording my original songs to put together a demo tape to submit for performance opportunities. So far, I've finished two tracks (almost four!) and I think they came out very well, I would just like the opinions of some more experienced artists.
The first one is called Fly Me Up.
And the second is Saving Sunday


Thank you so much!
-Harry Meltzer
 
Listening to Saving Sunday, for me it seems that the girl is up a bit too loud, and she sometimes hits a few notes flat or sharp. Other than that for that song, it's great.

On the second song, that was very very good. That's all I have to say. :)

Thanks,
Dfraz
 
First song: Guitars sound fine. The vocal levels are all over the place. Too loud in places, too quiet in places. The female voice sounds up front and clear. The male voice sounds like it's coming out of a closet. Don't know how you recorded them, but it sounds like the male vocal was a long way from the mic. Don't know what I'm hearing for sure. I would address that. Also the vocals have some pitch problems. Vocal tuning software is a good investment.

Second song: The whole thing sounds like it was recorded in an untreated bedroom. Sound waves bouncing all over the place. Roxul Rockwool is cheap and worth getting to tame the room reflections. Performance is fine, it just sounds home made. If you haven't treated your room, I would get on that right away. There's lots of threads here on DIY bass traps. It will improve your sound vastly.
 
I listened to Saving Sunday. I agree with guitarzero - bad room reflections. Kind of like you were singing down an empty paper towel roll. I didn't notice it on the guitar though.

Nice harmonies. I think the two voices blend together very well. There were a couple of pitch issues here and there.
 
Yeah, I do agree with the aboves.
It does sound like it's reflecting a bit. Have you put a reverb effect or something on there, or is it just how you recorded it?

I don't find it annoying, but I may would if I listened to it a lot.

Thanks,
Dfraz
 
1st song: Nice acoustic guitar tone, although it does become a little to "plectrumy" (if that's a word!) in the middle 8 when you strum really hard. Sometimes this can be tamed using the attack control on the compression. I won't re-iterate the same stuff as has already been mentioned about the vocals, as its pretty much spot-on. If your room is very reflective, you can try a few things. (You may want to try all of them together) - 1. Record in a different room (check for ringing reflections by clapping & listening to the reverb tail), 2. Sing a little closer to the mic. 3. Create your own "Reflexion Filter" http://www.seelectronics.com/rf.html by rigging up something like pillows, or other thick, absorbant material behind mic stand at head height. 4. Face your back into the corner of a room & hang some thick, sleeping-bag type material behind you. This will dry up the room reflections & hopefully give you a more useable vocal sound.
 
I have some reverb effect on it, but I don't like the reverb that comes with Cubase. If I re-do these vocals, I'll definitely be using different plugins that I use with my Acid software that sound much better now that I look back. I always have problems recording my voice (I'm the guy in there...) but my friend's voice is always fantastic. There's another song I'm working on that I wrote for her voice and it really sounds good with minimal treatment.
You were spot on about it being an untreated bedroom though! That's exactly what it is. I may try the sleeping bag idea, but the room itself is not very reflective, only my unfortunate hard-to-capture voice.
 
From what I hear, there only needs to be a little bit of changes and it'll be great.
Btw, you going to add drums to it? Drums will make it pretty cool too. (I'm a drummer, guitarist, pianist, songwriter, some-wat vocalist) You can hear me on youtube. (https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=302577) Even though I'm probably much younger than you and probably not in the area at all.

Anyways, good luck!
 
Hello again,
I've added a new song to the soundclick page, and it would be great if I could get some feedback on it. This one is just my friend who was singing in Saving Sunday, and she did a really good job with it. She has a beautiful voice.
Thanks!
-Harry
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top