Don't be shy, it says! *gulp*

msnickybee

msnickybee

Member
Well, I joined this forum 3 1/2 years ago it says! And been holding down a boring mgmt job in IT (think Chandler in Friends), and home recording, but then I went quiet...intimidated.
Then I saw this section that says "Get feedback - don't be shy!"

Well, I want to improve. My crappy vocals and key choices aside (still hoping someone will volunteer), I really need to get better, you guys really know this stuff, so feedback is incredibly welcome!
The video, well, there's humour in it, it's cheesy, I don't take myself too seriously, as it's just a hobby (until I win the lottery).



thanks so so much!
 
I like it. The mix sounds great. Each element occupies its own space, is heard clearly, nothing is stepping on anything else. I like the wide panning of the guitars, the big open center leaving plenty of room for the vocal. Interesting choices in side panning the background vocals. Great ambiance. Clean, clear. This is an excellent mix. Drums are very low but for me it works in this particular mix. Nice guitar tones and playing.

I like the song and arrangement as well. I'm hearing your lack of confidence in your vocals. The opening lines especially waver. It sounds like you are at the bottom of your vocal range where there isn't much power in the voice. Why this key? Can you transpose up, if not on this song then on future ones? Even if your vocal range is quite limited, you might be better off stretching for the occasional high note rather than trying to sing the majority of the vocal in a key that it too low for you.

Then there is the autotune issue... I use it too, so do many of us. But I don't want to hear it. Yours is very audible, to point of sounding robotic. What are you using? If you haven't tried something like Melodyne, I'd suggest it. Record the vocal without, then do whatever tuning you want after. You can tune a little or a lot. Used subtly, it is inaudible--at least to me. Unless you are going for that robotic effect.

Hope this helps. Welcome to the forum. Post more songs and comment on mixes that others have posted.
 
I have to agree with Robus. I think the mix sounds very good overall. The bass guitar drops out too soon right before the chorus (or pre-chorus, whatever that part is). It sounds like it wants to be present for another few beats before dropping out.

And yes, the autotune. The way I see it, you go one of two ways with autotune: either you embrace it and go full-on Cher, or you have to be much more sneaky about using it. There are autotune artifacts all over the vocals here, and it's distracting. If you're gonna use it, you've gotta be more subtle with it. Unless you're going for the vocoder effect, in which case you'd need to crank it up to even more extreme levels.
 
Congratulations on posting! Terrifying, isn't it?
I think the melody is great. Good songwriting and arranging. Especially the vocal arrangement and mixing. I love it.
As far as things I hear that could be improved...
The bass guitar is out of time.
There are some weird jumpy things in the vocal from auto tune. In the future maybe do more takes and more slice and dice of your vocal takes. Then hit it with the auto tuning. (I use the one that comes with Logic and I like it.)
I think the overall sound is great. It's very retro pop-sounding to me, which I like.
Also, I think it's so cool you did a whole video and everything. Please post if you make changes, and also the next one you make!
 
Thank you all so so much for listening and replying! that means a lot!

I'm glad the mix itself was ok, I guess I'm on the right track with that kind of thing.
Auto-tune.... ah ok, I see what you mean, I guess I got too used to hearing it like that, whereas for you folks it's new, and too overdone. Ok. And the artefacts it's created.... you've all got good critical hearing, which I should've expected! (and I guess you know what to listen for)

As for Melodyne, well, I kinda set myself a promise to do all of this with Mixcraft and then only Freeware, and the only exception has been the fairly inexpensive iZotope Nectar Essentials for vocals.
I read about Melodyne in the magazines... would love... seems more expensive.... and seems like it would suck up a lot of my time too :-(

As for the video and the sound, yeah, my stuff is quite retro sounding, I kinda like that.

You've given me some good tips, and for that thanks so so much again, it's great to be posting! (courage was required)
 
Yep. +1 on the autotune comments.

Instruments sound good. Nice guitar tones. Maybe the bongo (or djembe or whatever the hand drum is) could come up.
 
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