My First "Pop" Attempt...

[Auralaxiom]

Ok, so I pretty much do orchestral scores exclusively (I write for film and advertisements). I had a bit of free time this week and had a theme that I decided to turn into something more of a modern "pop" piece. I'll admit I don't have an ear for this stuff...curious to know what others think of the mix.

https://soundcloud.com/auralaxiom/eastern-gate

 

[TripleM]

I like your singing voice. Distinctive and nice sounding.

The "piano" is a little cheap sounding.

The vocal seems a little distant - further back in the mix than the piano. Ditto for the shaker.

Sounds like some autotune in a couple of spots.

The song needs to build over time. It sounds like you made an attempt at that by adding harmonies, drums, strings, etc. But none of that adds "umph" to the song. The level remains the same throughout the song. Nothing ever hits the listener with any power.

 

[jm67]

I like this. Actually, for the first two minutes I was a bit "meh" about the song - pleasant but not distinctive. Then the strings kicked in at 2:30 and it went to a whole other level. By the end I was really digging it.

The bass and snare (?) seemed a bit buried in the mix. But the vocals were excellent; I didn't think they were buried.

 

[Auralaxiom]

I like this. Actually, for the first two minutes I was a bit "meh" about the song - pleasant but not distinctive. Then the strings kicked in at 2:30 and it went to a whole other level. By the end I was really digging it.

The bass and snare (?) seemed a bit buried in the mix. But the vocals were excellent; I didn't think they were buried.

Sweet, thanks! Glad you liked it. I tried to bury the snare in the mix because, no matter how much I tuned it, I just couldn't get it to sound "real." Remember that every instrument in this piece is fake (except for the shakers). I have good plugins--some of the best--but they're still plugins (I used Session Drummer from NI for drums, Rickenbacker bass from NI, and the Galaxy Vintage D for piano). The bass is also fake, and I think due to my mostly orchestral background I may have made it a bit too wimpy. I can certainly beef that up a bit. Thanks for the input.

 

[Btyre2013]

The piano just gets in the way and is too distracting at times, I would automate it so that it gradually gets turned down. The processing on the master buss is in my opinion very aggressive for this style of music, and I can hear the limiting punching holes in the mix and it's turning down the loudest elements whilst also punching holes in the the low level elements at the same time. I really like the vocal though and the vocal performance, it's just a shame that the mix distracts you from the emotion and message in the lyrics because it could be really good with a few tweaks.

Ben.

 

[Auralaxiom]

The piano just gets in the way and is too distracting at times, I would automate it so that it gradually gets turned down. The processing on the master buss is in my opinion very aggressive for this style of music, and I can hear the limiting punching holes in the mix and it's turning down the loudest elements whilst also punching holes in the the low level elements at the same time. I really like the vocal though and the vocal performance, it's just a shame that the mix distracts you from the emotion and message in the lyrics because it could be really good with a few tweaks.

Ben.

Ha! You make it sound so bleak! Those are some pretty easy problems to address I think.

Yeah, alot of it was that silly "V-Comp" from Waves that I just bought (as part of one of their bundles). I think I insisted on using it despite the fact that it just squashed everything (and I knew it) because it's toted as one of THE mastering compressors. I think I'll just go back to the Solid Bus Comp from NI which I used in my previous mastering sessions.