P&W song - comments please

  • Thread starter Thread starter cptnhook
  • Start date Start date
Listening as I type....

The first thing that hits me is the snare sound. It's a bit loud, and bordering on harsh. You might want to bring it down a hair.

The vocals are buried a bit. I can't really make out what you are singing. Some compression and a little eq and they would sit without being overpowering.

The culprit that is burying the vocals seems to be the funk lick playing on the right side...

Uh.... it ended abruptly. What happened?
 
- the vocals could use some volume or maybe some eq to bring them up in the mix
- the drums seem (to me) a little loud but have good tone
- that quick little synth patch that sounds like horns is not my favorite...sounds too synthy if that's a word...
- the rhythm guitar sounds good - I like the tone and strumming.
- the song itself is good, has a cool groove and only needs minor mixing changes IMHO...:):D:):D
 
thanks for the comments guys - very helpful. now listening again I can hear the issues you're talking about.

the synthy patch is indeed supposed to be horns - it's a shareware virtual instrument - i guess it kinda sounds like it too. :o

anyone else?
 
I'd suggest compressing the kick drum and snare just a little more. By themselves they sit alright, but a little more control would certainly help.

Vocals do need to come up just a little. Might be a performance issue, though- I don't feel a lot of passion in the voice. It's hard to summon a lot of OOMPH when you're in a room alone. The voice also has a little too much processing (chorus?) for my taste.

Keys and guitar sound really great. Bass seems a little buried, but I'm also just listening on my laptop speakers...

It's those great sounds that make the horn synth sound so... fake. I like it as a pad during the pre-chorus and chorus, very Beatle-like, but as a melodic instrument (between chorus and verse 2 and also in the chorus at the end), it doesn't cut the mustard. Also, I don't know if the mix changes for the second pre-chorus, but for some reason I feel like the synth pad is too loud there.

Great tune, though! Very nicely done, and pro-level performance.
 
I can see some improvement, however, the vocal should still stand out a bit more. Are you using compression on them? What is your make up gain set at?
 
Rokket said:
I can see some improvement, however, the vocal should still stand out a bit more. Are you using compression on them? What is your make up gain set at?
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I'll check tonight - I'm using rvox, I think at more that subtle levels.

I bumped the vocal eq at around 200-250 a couple db's, cut a little at 2k to dial out some harshness, and shelved at around 8k for air. Maybe the 2k cut is the culprit.

Perhaps there's too much reverb putting the vocal far back in the mix?
 
i retracked the lead vocal and added some bgv's for good measure, and made some other tweaks. opinions please!
 
i've only heard the newest version, and it sounds pretty smooth to me.

there's something about the snare that i can't put my finger on--but my best instinctual guess is to give it a touch of reverb. i think wetting it down a bit would really make it even smoother and more fitting to the style. that's just me being picky though. whatever harshness existed before is no longer present.

this style of music isn't my bag, but the message is. let me say that despite my usual dislike of this style, i really enjoyed the chorus. great melody and overall song structure there. nice job. :)
 
drossfile said:
i've only heard the newest version, and it sounds pretty smooth to me.

there's something about the snare that i can't put my finger on--but my best instinctual guess is to give it a touch of reverb. i think wetting it down a bit would really make it even smoother and more fitting to the style. that's just me being picky though. whatever harshness existed before is no longer present.

this style of music isn't my bag, but the message is. let me say that despite my usual dislike of this style, i really enjoyed the chorus. great melody and overall song structure there. nice job. :)
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good idea adding a little more 'verb, the snare does sound a little dry.

thanks for the comments, bro. i hear you about different styles of music. it's wierd - i feel more comfortable playing groove/funk-based stuff on bass, and rock stuff on guitar - so this song was me just trying to stretch myself with the guitar rhythms a bit i guess.
 
cptnhook said:
good idea adding a little more 'verb, the snare does sound a little dry.

thanks for the comments, bro. i hear you about different styles of music. it's wierd - i feel more comfortable playing groove/funk-based stuff on bass, and rock stuff on guitar - so this song was me just trying to stretch myself with the guitar rhythms a bit i guess.
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i'm not at all criticizing your playing or even your style for that matter--it's simply a matter of taste. take my comments on style with a grain of salt--i'm a metalhead who actually enjoys listening to "cookie monster" vocals, so... :o:D
 
drossfile said:
i'm not at all criticizing your playing or even your style for that matter--it's simply a matter of taste. take my comments on style with a grain of salt--i'm a metalhead who actually enjoys listening to "cookie monster" vocals, so... :o:D
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i wish i had a voice to pull off some of that harder stuff :o - i dig a lot of hard rock stuff, esp. older classic rock, and some shredder/glam stuff, but wow, those guys have some serious vocal range. maybe it's time for a pitch shifter unit - ha!
 
cptnhook said:
i wish i had a voice to pull off some of that harder stuff :o - i dig a lot of hard rock stuff, esp. older classic rock, and some shredder/glam stuff, but wow, those guys have some serious vocal range. maybe it's time for a pitch shifter unit - ha!
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lol check out my tune here in the clinic (still towards the top) if you want a feel for what i'm doing--it's probably way out in left field from your perspective! :D
 
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