Come Back - worth recording professionally?

[Angelasheik]

Hi guys,
My name is Angela and I'm a musician out of the Philly area. I am new, so thanks for your patience!

I am looking for some help in knowing whether this song is worth investing in before I decide to record it professionally (you know, a single will probably cost me $1000-2500 easy). All of the pre-production has been done by myself at this point, so I realize there is more work to be done.

Your honest comments would be most welcome. Is this song a good fit for radio/tv placement? If not, what elements do you think it's lacking? Thanks so much for your insight. You could potentially be saving me a lot of time, money, effort, and disappointment. THANKS!

Title - Come Back

Link: http://www.facebook.com/angelasheikmusicpage or
http://www.angelasheik.com/music.html

(first song on the music page/band profile)

[nick.moxsom]

Hi, Angela, and welcome.

I really like what you're doing here. Your vocal capacity is top notch, the song is good, and your production skills are great too. Seems like you're already making what Michael would call 'broadcast quality' recordings, so I'm not sure why you would pay big bucks to have somebody else re-record this.

I might be tempted to put a little sparkle in the vocals, maybe a little delay and the tiniest hint of reverb, perhaps, but I am NO mix expert. The only problem I have with it is that indefinable trill in the chorus (is it a snare or a tambourine?). Other people may love it, but for me it's a slight distraction and it may be worth looking at that.

All of which said, it's different (I'm trying to avoid the dreaded word 'quirky') and well put together. Where you'd place it, I'm not qualified to say, but my gut reaction is, save your money, you're already on the right track.

Best of luck,

Nick

[Angelasheik]

Ha, thanks Nick. I don't mind the word quirky. I think what you are referring to is in the drum track. Maybe I can bring the treble down in that? Don't songs need to be of a super high quality to be accepted for tv?

[nick.moxsom]

I'm pretty new around here myself, but my understanding is that 'super high quality' doesn't mean the same for TV as it means for an album (think about the quality of your TV speakers, even if you have a halfway decent surround sound, and think about the signal that's delivered to your front room). Others might have more to say from a technical perspective, but what I'm hearing sounds good enough quality to me.

HTH

Nick

[thokus]

Hey new Girl, Welcome.. Great tune .. Love your voice .. backup singers great too.. I agree with nick .. The production seems pretty dang nice on this .. .. Are you pushing it to TV? Its way good enough for that . For an album you'l need to master all the songs to match volume wise and all the other parameters so its all works as one song .. Know what I mean?? Maybe save your money fro that .. But Tv I think your good for that .. Good luck on it ..
Tom

[eeoo]

This is def broadcast quality, don't spend your money on a pro recording for film/tv stuff. Plus for this type of indie sound your self produced stuff is going to be hard to beat, you'll never re-capture the vibe. If you got money to spend buy some new studio toys, invest in your own gear.

Sounds great and i think it's very pitchable for film/tv, just learn how to de-cypher the listings and you'll be on your way!

eo

[AlpacaRoom]

If you got money to spend buy some new studio toys, invest in your own gear.

Agreed with eo here. This song is good, and the recording is definitely "good enough," I'd say. I'd probably remix (or re-track, if necessary) the lead vocal, though--to my ears, some combination of the mic, the room, the narrow-band EQ, and the reverb is causing a distracting resonance every so often (I'd probably lose a lot of the reverb, too, but that's just my preference).

Personally, I hear this as more of an indie-pop sort of thing: tiny 808 snare, "Popcorn"-esque synth, jangly guitar where the bowed strings are ... but that's a whole different thing, and maybe it wouldn't even work.

Either way, I agree that this is just about good enough--it's got an "indie" vibe, and (I think) compares favorably with what you hear on TV--although I would address the lead vocal, and if that means a new mic or some room treatment, spend your money there instead of on studio time.


-Nick

[kenmassey]

Hi Angela, Welcome to the Taxi forum. I hope that, as I have, you'll find the folks here to be quite helpful. I agree with the others that your recording is already broadcast quality and you should stash your cash for later on down the road. Are you a taxi member? If not some of the questions about pitches, etc. may be foreign to you, as us taxi folks kinda have our own vocabulary and it takes a little getting used to! I loved the song and agree with the quirky description and Nick's observation about the drum track, that tamborine (or whatever) is distracting, but that's just my opinion for what it's worth. I've seen more listings (taxi lingo) lately from NY ad agencies and they are usually looking for a "quirky indie vibe" and you have that going on for sure. Keep up the great work, you time is coming soon. Ken

[fret17]

Hi Angela....Great track....nice clean vocals....neat song and arranged well...I think the drum rolls are a bit machiney but works ok for this piece...."Come back" sort of suggests that the song is going to be a tear jerker for a lost love but you surprised me....however "It's my Turn" stands out more 'cause it's in the chorus and also carries the point of the song....minor things but I don't think they will hinder the song's success for placement...very catchy and good luck with it....oh yeah..I agree with the others...buy new toys...I'm sure if someone is interested in it they'll tell you they want to place or pitch it but need a pro studio cut...then you spend the money or they might help with the cost too..depends...If you're not a member yet, and you've got money to burn..a thousand bucks can go a long way here at Taxi....Keep writing ...you're very good!

[howlindog]

Angela,

Welcome to the forum. Nice tune; nice job; I agree with everyone else - save your money on the studio. (You should know that it is pretty rare when we all agree.) I think you can pitch this to film and TV right now.

I, too, am not a big fan of the drum track, but maybe that's because I'm outside of the target market for this tune (too old). And to me, this is the kind of tune where you want the vocals way up front and personal - like you are singing in the ear of the audience - and the vocals seem to sit towards the back of the stage instead of the front row of the audience. A better vocal mic and using almost no reverb may make this vocal track more intimate, but someone who knows more about mxing and engineering would know better than I. Mastering the mix to - among other things - bring up the volume would help as well.

Great tune - good writing, good performance. Good luck with it and again, welcome to the forum.

Don