New Song--Would Appreciate Your Comments and Suggestions

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IsmaelTapiaII

New member
So, this is a new song I'm working on. I haven't added the vocals yet, so it's a little boring, but I hope you can see past that and tell me what you think. Specifically, I would love suggestions about what you guys think I should do to make the mix better. I think I'm ok at writing songs, but I'm pretty bad at putting together good, dynamic mixes, so anything you guys can suggest in that area would be great.

Just so you know, I haven't done any EQing or compression at all. Everything is pretty much straight from the amp to the mix. The reason for that is that I'd really love to hear your suggestions on what it needs in terms of EQ and compression. This is another area where I just don't have the experience or expertise to even know where to start.

I'd really appreciate anything you guys have for me. Thanks a bunch!

Here it is:
Untitled song.
 
The song starts promisingly . . . there's a gradual, tension-building progression to it.

You are right . . . without vocals, it soon gets boring . . . so I await the addition of those.

About the mix itself:

1 There is a central guitar that's playing the basic pattern, and the strumming becomes more emphatic as the track moves along. As it does, though, it seems to get scratchier, more brittle in tone. Myabe this is what you wanted, but for me it is an irritating sound.

2 When the lead guitars burst in upon the scene towards the end, it's all a bit too much. Where they start, there are different things playing. The level is so loud in comparison to what went on before (and again I guess this was a dramatic effect you were after), that they overwhelm everything else. I had the levels fairly high to start with, and I had to reach for the volume knob quick smart to prevent frying my ears. This may be a good "shock and awe" tactic, but it won't endear yourself to listeners.

3 Towards the end of the song though, the leads settled into a more disciplined routine, which is the bit that I would work on and keep

4 I expect that what you are aiming for here is a 'Bolero' type of track: a relentless and increasingly complex soundscape as the the song progresses. In which case you will need to make sure that there is a lot of complexity (which includes taking things out as well as adding them), rather than simply getting louder.

I hope these initial observations are useful
 
Thanks for the reply!

I'm posting a new mix which I think addresses some of your concerns. Not all, though.

First, yeah, I see what you're saying about the central guitar. I went back and listened to it several times and I like the sound. Do you think this is a personal preference thing or is there something objectively offensive about the tone? Like I said, I like it, but if everyone thinks it's just really irritating, then I'll give more thought to redoing that part.

You were completely correct about the levels, and specifically the sudden increase in volume when the lead guitars came in. This was due primarily to the lack of compression. I think I've fixed that in this mix--the beginning is much louder, there's still a perceptible increase in volume, and then the end is louder but not shockingly so. It definitely wasn't my goal to trick people into letting me blow out their ear drums.

I kept all the parts the same, though, which means that the leads at the end might still seem like too much. Again, I think this is a personal taste thing because I like it. I was going for a sort of guitar duel thing which I think works well with the loudening nature of the song. I tried to make the parts work together, although I largely improvised them. I like the way it sounds, you might disagree. Let me know.

You're right about what I was going for. I think that the effect will be more pronounced once I add the singing and some harmony vocals and stuff.

But, yeah, please let me know what you guys think of this:
 
I agree with the comments posted by gecko zzed.. but i think its a good start for a song...with some work it could turn out to be a good song... I like the guitar riff... I think you need a differnt drum sound also...there just not powerfull enough for this.. Cheers!
 
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