Mixed Emotions

  • Thread starter Thread starter JMe-Can
  • Start date Start date
If the rest of your songs are very similar to this, it sounds like you have commercially appealing pop-country material on your hands here. Quite hooky in terms of melody and content.

I have to ask though, why does she have to let him go? He needs to grow a pair and walk away regardless of what she wants. She's just a chick.

Anyway, on the song.

It doesn't quite sound ready for mastering to me, but that could just be me. The vocals have a LOT of body to them, which, in my limited experience, makes them tend to sit on top of the mix rather than dropping in and gelling. I am hearing that happening here. These vocals are heavy all the way from around 120 or 130Hz all the way up to close to 300Hz. Some attenuation in that area will likely help them drop in a bit better, and remove a little of the muddiness that they have. There is some sibilance and some plosives that should be taken care of as well.

I think that with this type of music, vocals are EVERYTHING, so they have to be absolutely perfect.

The mix in general sounds kind of muddy, so I think evaluating tracks in the context of the mix for removing choice low end content would help a lot. There's extra stuff that can be examined in the typical areas. Not too much because the song could end up with smaller cahones than the protagonist, but just the right cuts will open it up but allow it to remain rich.

There is also some objectionable harshness, probably around the 3000 - 3500Hz mark with the guitars in the verses.

The above stuff is actually pretty minor. I would take a look at this stuff, but I wouldn't do too many drastic changes at this point because it really does sound close. A little will go a long way.
 
The first thing I noticed was the background noise and hiss when the track started and ended. Trying to keep a clean input signal at all times is important if you want it to sound/be professional, especially once you start messing with compression and mastering as those subtle flaws can be amplified as much as a good engineer can also try to mask them. Masking them though typically steals from the overall fidelity of the final version. For sake of a rough take there's nothing here to be too concerned about but figure it was worth bringing to your attention.

Is there a bass guitar? A little life there, even if it's just playing quarter root notes would help that chorus a lot.

Agree with the above regarding the vocals, they're thick and could fit better with very modest trimming of those lower frequencies.

The drums sound flat, especially the snare. No 'snap' but lots of pop, if that makes sense. What are you using for compression and reverb on the drums?

The lead guitar is very simplistic, uninspired, and not particularly well played IMO. I would retrack that again (and again) until it comes to life, or find a lead player to bring it home.

The rhythm guitars sound fine.

I hate country, but didn't mind this. Kind of a crossover piece.
 
I would like to hear more bass to drive the song. Maybe a little more reverb on the snare. Your vocals sound good intimate, but I think there may be a little too much presence in them. Cool song...sounds like Matchbox meets country
 
Thanks for the feedback. The singer kept wanting more body to the vocals, and I guess I took it a bit far. The bass was overly loud on the previous song I posted, and I guess I over corrected that as well. I personally like the solo(which I did not play). I'll give it some weeks tomorrow.
 
The bass is anonymous is tone & lines.
Give it some grit & a bit more interest.
The sustained chords on the L sound pretty fizz.
Good song for what it is.
The playing is uninspired though.
 
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