Piano Pop - Big Harmonies - 100% Sugar Coated

[Chili]

I mix through my Sennheiser HD 280 Pros

I find when I mix through my HD280's, I'm turning the lead vox up. When I mix through my monitors, I'm turning the lead vox back down. I see it with your tune also, that the lead vox sits on top of everything. I advocate for vocals to be the strong point of the song, but I think yours is a little too out front. I think you can lower it and still have it comfortable. Do you ever get a chance to listen to a mix with monitors in a treated room?

Everything else is really good and enjoyable. I can tell you put a lot of work into this.
I'm okay with the low end.

 

[Rod Norman]

Great song. I know how it feels to work on something for that long. I'm not going to nitpick. I'll give it to you straight. Compared to the quality of the song, the whole drum track is wrong. the bass drum, snare sound (sandpaper) and the drum machine sound is not up to the song at all. I think you should bring in a drummer who can do a good solid track to the song. Use stereo overheads and a bass drum mic. Ask them to stay off the hi-hat and work the drums and crashes like you did with the drum track you have. I do agree about the word "say" at the beginning but the real culprit is the over-done midrange. (to get a telephone sound, pull out everything but 1k. always keep your eq at normal and cut instead of add.) Try pulling back a little at about 1.5K Work to reduce that spitting sound at that area of the vocal frequency. If there is a bass guitar in there, I didn't hear it enough. I would pump it up or re-track it if it is not working. I imagine a nice solid whole note approach with a few long pulls down during the chord changes between the lyric lines. You have a great song. What it needs now is better drums and a more orchestral bass guitar. Good Luck.
Rod Norman
Engineer/Producer

Out-damn-standing song. Reminds me of the best 60's/70's power pop - Badfinger, Beatles. And XTC. The harmonies are really well done - very precise in both timing and pitch. I like the radio effect well enough in the beginning, but there's some harshness right at the start that I'd EQ out. The first "...say to you" sort of hurt my ears. I'd also ditch the scratchy noise at the end of the song. Otherwise sounds great.

 

[DarkFriend]

I find when I mix through my HD280's, I'm turning the lead vox up. When I mix through my monitors, I'm turning the lead vox back down. I see it with your tune also, that the lead vox sits on top of everything. I advocate for vocals to be the strong point of the song, but I think yours is a little too out front. I think you can lower it and still have it comfortable. Do you ever get a chance to listen to a mix with monitors in a treated room?

No - I haven't been able to monitor in a decent room. I too use the HD280s, but feel like the vocals are sitting in a good place. I wanted them to be up front and with the piano and drums really carry the song. Thanks a bunch for the comments and feedback!

 

[DarkFriend]

Reminds me of the Beatles or Paul McCartney right off the bat. Awesome.

That was most definitely the idea! I personally don't think it is easy to get the Beatles/McCartney vibe solely through mixing. The arrangement, harmonies, and melody have to harken that genre as well.