Re: Working with heavy guitar - Will I Find You?

gitarrero · Post by **gitarrero** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 4:38 am

hi there,..just listening, here's my spontaneous feedback:* the voice is often flat (don't hit exactly the right notes). could be solved easely with a little editing.* the character of the voice is ok in my ears - it reminds me a little bit on nick kershaw (who I like)* the structure of the song seems to work well so far (until end of 1. chorus)* the bridge after the first chorus: I would change the guitar-arrangement there - or mix it diffrent, so the diffrent rhythmparts glue more together.*overall the instruments are played ok to good.* I would suggest to mix the distroted guitars (especially in the 2nd chorus) diffrent, a little wider in the spectrum, also diffrent frequencies.* the interlude is a little shaky in the timing.overall I quite like the song - although I would do a "real" ending and not a fade out.hope that helps!cheers,martin

burninsven · Post by **burninsven** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 6:31 am

This sounds more like a rockband song so I´d go easy on the piano only use it in the quieter parts and play fewer notes more chords and not so static. To me it sounds like you´re focusing to much on the sound of the "ballad" parts trying to adjust the rest of the song to fit in there. I´d go the other way around try to get that fat guitarsound first, ofcourse you´ll have to compromise while mixing but kind of "take of" from there. Sounds a little thin I would want it all to sound more up front so to speak, specially the guitar and drums needs a bit more work. If it´s the Toontrack plugin EZ drummer you´re using they have a forum where one can find usefull tips. About the guitar well if it´s Guitar Rig you´re using I´m sure it should be able to produce the sound your looking for. I have no tips though sorry cause I´ve allmoast only used it for lead and a Bluesy rythmguitar sound but I´d be really surprised if can´t sound like you want. That plugin has so much potential it´s allmoast crazy. It´s a really good song very well worth keep working on. Thanks for sharing it was a good listen for sure. Good luckGöran

mazz · Post by **mazz** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 4:12 pm

Your songs have very nice melodies, lots of pop potential, IMO.This mix was kind of tiring to my ears overall. Remember that the human ear is more sensitive in the 3-6K range already. It's designed that way because that's the frequencies where consonants live and those are the things that give intelligence to speech. There's no need to make every instrument nice and bright, everything will pile up and you'll lose intelligibility in the vocal. Google "Fletcher-Munson Curve"So, your distorted guitars could use more of a cut at those critical frequencies. Also, they were panned too close to the vocal in the center. An old trick is to pan the guitar track to one side and pan a delayed version (very short delay, no feedback) to the other side. Not hard left and right but far enough out to open up space for the vocals. Also, experiment with leaving a little more low end in the guitar sound.Your drummer only knows one beat besides the fills I'm sure that loop has a chorus version with a ride cymbal in it. Also, the bridge section needs a different beat as well. Listen to the drums very closely on songs that have similar forms to this one and try to isolate what the drummer does in relationship to the form of the song. You'll notice, even drummers that play very simply still orchestrate their parts to support the song. This research will pay off in making your drum parts much more convincing, even if you use mostly loops.Just a few thoughts on a very nice song.Mazz

sgs4u · Post by **sgs4u** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 6:30 pm

you're taking quite a hit here, these are all good suggestions. Do you want any more?steve

sgs4u · Post by **sgs4u** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 9:33 am

Quote: Steve, I'm not feeling any hits. This is very helpful and I'm happy to get more ideas. Like you folks, I'm here to place songs, not to get patted on the back. Any ideas you've got are welcomed. It's gotta be a live band, Mazz! It even says so on the soundclick player. It sounds like a great board tape. I like the music a lot, but not the lyrics. The lyrics don't say anything at all to me. I don't feel like the singer is in any kind of pain, from these words. The piano player is playing ahead of the beat, and he's too often too loud in the mix. The singer is pitchy. There are a ton of different drum fills. Some sloppy playing. I might suggest mixing a version with no drums in a couple of key places. Tightening up the arrangement to get to get bigger into the second chorus. It sounds like a 6 pc live band arrangement for a soft seater, in which you can get away with mesmerizing an audience with this kind if groove. So I think hearing it exactly like this LIVE, might sound plenty big, but for a recording... It's just not grabbing me by the throat with this mix.The biggest suggestion I have is to find a new melodic concept for the chorus. Something with higher notes, and more passion than the vibe the guy's singing with in the verses. A bunch of BG's as well would make the chorus bigger. There's just not nearly enough of a lift up in excitement during the choruses. So I think the tune could be remixed WAY bigger and better, and I think it would worth your while to keep polishing it. The other suggestion I'd make is to chop it up and fix every out of tune or time event that you hear. But is that making your music better? That's up to you. yet another humble opinionsteve

mazz · Post by **mazz** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 11:18 am

Quote:Quote: Steve, I'm not feeling any hits. This is very helpful and I'm happy to get more ideas. Like you folks, I'm here to place songs, not to get patted on the back. Any ideas you've got are welcomed. It's gotta be a live band, Mazz! It even says so on the soundclick player. It sounds like a great board tape. Steve,I can't find any indication on the player that mentions live band. It didn't sound like it to me. I don't hear much live music these days and even fewer board tapes so maybe I'm out to lunch on this one.

grandmatarkin · Post by **grandmatarkin** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 6:05 pm

Great melody, but Larry David is right about the singing being pitchy. Only in certain spots though.Dave

sgs4u · Post by **sgs4u** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 6:31 am

Quote:Mazz, you're right, this isn't live or a band. Just me. Soundclick places band adverts at the top of the player, so maybe Steve confused that with my song. Doh, that's exactly what happened. steve