This is a fine tune, and very fine vocal performance. Good instrumental performances.
The first verse vocal is mixed just at a level where if I concentrate really, really hard, I can get almost every word.
It's taken a third listening for me to clearly understand your chorus hook, that's very bad. The chorus hook must be easily understandable. Record executives WILL NOT listen a second time, they simply don't have the time.
Your fans and listeners must be able to clearly grasp your chorus hook with NO CHALLENGES, the first time.
The singer is the star of the song.
It's not a song without a singer.
Why let the instruments compete with the singer ? ESPECIALLY a very good vocalist like this ? You can roll the high end off this tenor singer and get a lot more volume or 'presence' in this mix.
The middle of this singer's range appears to 'our human ears' as the frequency we are most sensitive to. Remove some of the middle range, and upper range from the singer with EQ, just a bit, and you will be amazed at how much more overall volume and clarity you can get in his vocal. Right now, the high end in his voice is slamming your compressor.
At 1:21, as the second verse starts, there is no change in the instrument volume levels, the instruments must come down as the verse starts. Even though the instruments are playing a part which may seem to give the vocal breath space ... it does not. Compress the instruments more in the verses and lower the volume of the instruments.
The vocalist should be the undisputed center
stage star in the second verse.
The Chorus at 1:45, the instruments are really, really thick and loud.
You have some really nice backup harmony vocals there, and they are barely audible. The human instrument is ALWAYS more important than an electric instrument, IMHO, in this genre and style. The chicks want to hear the vocals, period, you cannot argue with that.
They want to hear the 'cute young dude'. If he isn't treated as the star in the mix, it sucks, it's 'just another band'.
The only way to present these excellent harmony and backup vocals, and then present them with seperation from the instrument bed around and beneath them, and the lead vocal on top of them ... is to have 'HEADROOM' for the vocal. And that means LOWERING the instruments.
And a lot of this needs to be done with EQ. And I think you are ready to jump into that stage of 'the mix'. Tailoring tracks with custom EQ is very time consuming, frusterating, and very advanced mixing.
But it could make this mix fantastic.
Don't abandon the right stereo field at 2:03, clone that track and present it about 15%Right at a very low volume with lots of verb and delay ... a 'ghost'. Listeners on the right side of the car ... stop listening to your song when that happens. Listeners on the right side of the club ... stop listening. It may sound cool on phones or a mixing station, but it's amateur.
The third verse at 2:13, too much reverb on the vox, dry and whining, this is what the chicks want. Use a tiny amount of reverb and use some 20 milisecond delay to fill that out. I can hear the plate inbetween the vox phrases here, back-off on this fine vocalist's reverb, he can stand on his own without that much verb. The vocal level here is much, much better.
At 3:00, the vocal needs to come up at least 2db, preferably 4db, and that means you need headroom in the mix to do that. Guitars are cool, but when they compete with a fine vocal and lyric ... especially in a lyrically driven pop vocal like this ... they suck.
If the vocalist were screaming and groaning and making macabre sounds, the guitar levels would be justifiable, as that type of vocal is more like a 'human instrument' rather than a 'lyric and melody'.
This last chorus, instruments need to come down 2db, a bit more compression on this last chorus vocal.
Now, understand I LIKE, I LIKE, I LIKE ... but I want it to be FANTASTIC ...
Man, this is a great song, and please remember ... distorted guitars DO NOT have to be LOUD to sound ballsy and aggressive, that is their very nature. A distorted and tube-driven guitar sounds ballsy and aggressive at any volume.
I think overall, this high tom is to loud, or maybe that's a snapperless snare ?
Great song, I enjoyed this, thanks for posting.
