Looking for a little feedback

[sevenmusic]

Hey folks, i'm pretty new here and was just looking for some feedback on a tune i'm currently working on. It's kind of slow paced but has some cool vibes. I generally play some pretty heavy stuff, but have decided to pull it all in and start the fine tuning process. This song is called Just let go, and is primarily about getting rid of all the junk inside I carry around. Thanks for your time.Marchttp://www.taxi.com/Seven

[ideascapes]

Hi Marc. New guy here, eh? Welcome.Your tune is cleanly recorded and does have some cool vibes, as you said in your introduction. You didn't mention your intended usage for the song...Waiting for lyrics? Film/TV scene background? Just fun to record and listen to? It'd help to know your goal so we can make our comments more pointed.That you playing the guitar? Pretty good chops there. It's quite a long build to get to that point and the solo meanders some, but I enjoyed listening. Sounds like a song I would have played in my basement as a teen in order to get some slow dancing action going.Good luck and hope you hang around and listen/comment on others' stuff.Vince

[wta]

Marc, thanks for putting your work up to share and for review. First thing I wanted to say as I was listening to the track was the intro was just to darn long. Then by the three minute mark I had the revelation that words were just not coming and decided to withdraw my first nit. Cool instrumental man. I agree with Vince on the tasty gutar licks and mellow vibe. Good instrumentation for sure. As a demo this will work well. If your going for broadcast quality I my suggestions would be working on a cleaner acoustic track and capture those steel strings a ringing. I felt the drums were likely a drum machine so I'd encourage upgrading the sonic quality there as well. I use Steinburg's Groove Agent 3 and it has broadcast quality samples and does a flawless, seemless job and frankly sounds better then the high majority of studio tracks I've heard. Keep up the great work man, no question you've got what it takes! wta

[sevenmusic]

Thanks guys, the comments are much appreciated and taken to heart. Vince, No lyrics, it is an instrumental and i'm not sure where I would put it, maybe tv/film background music. I'm still trying to find a home for it. I do play the guitar parts and bass parts, and the compliments are confidence builders for sure, Thank you very much. wta, it is an alesis drum machine, and I have been looking for an alternative, so maybe the groove agent will be my answer, i've never been much of an acoustic player lol! It certainly needs cleaning up and i'll get on that asap. Your input is truly appreciated and i'm grateful to be here. Thanks again.Marc

[cjdenecia]

Nov 28, 2008, 2:26pm, sevenmusic wrote:Hey folks, i'm pretty new here and was just looking for some feedback on a tune i'm currently working on. It's kind of slow paced but has some cool vibes. I generally play some pretty heavy stuff, but have decided to pull it all in and start the fine tuning process. This song is called Just let go, and is primarily about getting rid of all the junk inside I carry around. Thanks for your time.Marchttp://www.taxi.com/Sevenwell marc, I definitely get a "hair band ballad" vibe from this ....tho it moves in a slightly different circle, with some minor changes, this could have been a poison bed track back in the day.but it moves easy and has a bit of room for melody vocally if that's what you intend at some stage. you kinda wear out the riff a bit quickly on the lead guitar but I do like the way you try to spread out the part with the long sustain ... and overall, tho it wants to bleed a little southern rock in it's vibe, it doesn't get stuck in it.much.not an incredible recording but nothing to be ashamed of to be sure. lacks brightness and it seems a bit flat in sonics but if it's early days, that's fine. bass could have gotten a bit more of a spirit of adventure instead of just following the leader .... there's lots of walks available there man. as well, I think the predictable arrangement of instrument entry is a little off ... let the drums and bass go slow dancing as a couple. (drums are very very digital and off putting in these days of addictive drums and EZ drummer and so on )some talent here. a decent song as it is - or should I say music to a decent song ... so - where do you go from here with it? what's next? there's not quite enough there as an instrumental to say it's a done deal so maybe there's some vocals coming up? cus that may or may not change it's standing in the big picture but I'm guessing it would surely change it's mood.and give it more focus.

[sevenmusic]

Nah, not really thinking the vocal direction cj. I'm not sure why but the more I listen to it, I hear strings filling the back maybe with a harmonizing guitar softly. I think your description of the hairband vibe is pretty accurate, it is my music of choice and no matter how hard I try to get away from it musically, there's always a little piece of it in my stuff somewhere lol! I'm going to fool with it for a while and see where the journey ends up. Thanks man, much appreciatedMarc

[matthoggard]

Welcome seven.I got the same feel. But with a little less hairspray. Acoustic just needs some eq to really bring it out.Cj is right about it being flat sonically. I have the same problem in my mixes but Im learning new techniques every day.I also the thought the guitar sustain was too long but you recovered pretty nicely and it ended up with a decent turnaround. I kept wanting you to take it on up another third or so and make that thing cry.Its a good start. Nice feeling. Not sad but not too happy either. Too bad about the vocals, I actually hear a really nice vocal melody. Maybe a Vedder thing with some Layne Staley pain thrown in for good measure. Glad to see you post. M~

[sevenmusic]

When you say the mix is flat what do you mean? Does it need more high, mid, bottom? Is there any one particular thing I could do to liven it up? On the vocal front, I cant sing, that's probably why I dont hear the melody line. I was working with a vocalist who lives in Fla, but Ifelt his vocals were a little on the high side for me. Maybe I should post something we did and maybe you could give me some thoughts on it. On the sustaining guitar notes, i'm going to try a few different things and see what happens.This is great info you guys have given me, and I will apply what I understand. Time to change strings and get to work.Marc

[stephen1977]

Not a bad start Marc.I instantly hear the 80's influence there for sure.AND like others have mentioned the mix is lacking that overall spit and polish.But to be honest, before I would waste anymore time on the mastering, I would cut this baby up some.The intro is a bit long, especially without vocals, but I'm betting you have a bed of vocals laid out as in where they should go and the intro probably isn't THAT long. The song is boring without vocals and more instrumentation my man. In those "verse" sections, some lead guitar fills or maybe even some light percussion may do the trick. Digital drums. Yeah. There they are. Not sure what to tell you there my friend. Process them the best you can I suppose. Get the best out of them or go with the fact they are digital if you know what I mean. Oh my god Marc. That lead guitar note just skinned my cat! I like the idea, but how about some wah on the down beats? Try that.God listening to this makes me think of growing up back home. If you tell me you are from Cumberland, MD I'm gonna just... ..well.. Nothing, but that would be crazy.This song is hard to judge in its current state and although I've said some negative things, there certainly is a ton of potential here to grow this one into a healthy tree. Production isn't bad. Not great either. But you are far from done with this one.A lot of room and many paths you could take on this one Marc. Thanks for sharing and keep us posted on its development!Take care!