Edit: New, Taxi Version Emo Pop, not exactly my comfort zone

[sedge]

Your voice really fits with this kind of vibe, Ethan, also remember a song you did (damm wish I had bookmard the title) - It was for a listing Jose Piano song ala ?? That was a brill tune and fit your style really well too (imo) .. that felt EMOy and would be one to show him (i feel)

mix wise (imo) I thought your voice was a tad 2 'crispy' and sat on top in this mix ?
I would drop out the highs a smidge, add a tad of stereo verb as suggested and perhaps just nudge the level down a smidge and see what you got

... can you still hear the vocals at a really low level in the mix still ... kinda tests ?

not that you need my suggestions ha !

Enjoying the listen this morning

P2p is better than itunes!

Rob

[NYWest]

Nice tune Ethan...

To my ears...
I hear piano as a bed to this song??
A very lightly played arpeggio (either ascending or descending) driven intro...over your existing chords.
Harmony vocal (preferably counterpoint) makes an appearance in the pre-chorus building to climax *Stop*
and a lower octave then grounds the chorus...

Just my psychic vision...
Good Luck!
All the Best...
Billy

[eeoo]

Good thoughts guys. I've been doing some listening to pro productions in my studio and I find that my mixes tend to sound a bit dark in comparison so i purposely tried to brighten this one up but maybe too far on the vox? And yes, piano would be nice, may be in the works.

Thanks guys!

eo

[crazyhooks]

Hey Eo,

This is good stuff ala Radio head and Aqualung
the vocal emotes that disparity well.
good luck

[bwd]

Hi Ethan.
My first thought was that the backtrack sounded like it had been detuned. I think that guitar playing the 8th is a little too chunky and doesn't allow the vocal enough space. Actually I don't know if you need that guitar following the hi-hat at all - especially in the verses. Maybe piano a la Coldplay would work? Cool song though - and the vocals are sweet. I liked that unexpected chord changes at 0.33 - and again at 1.42.
Cheers,
Doug

[marcblack30]

Hey eo, listening again today, something with the HH is strange, it sounds very stereo as opposed to panned slightly to the left, maybe you were going for that but it catches my ear funny. Check the plosives on "picture" (each one), and would love to hear the harmony parts better/louder on the chorus, maybe even a third lower part might be cool.

Cheers,
Marc

[eeoo]

Thanks guys, good ears! Gonna try out some ideas today and fine tune the vocals.

Cheers!

eo

[eeoo]

New version, thanks everyone!

http://soundcloud.com/ethan-okamura/better-man

[bwd]

Hi Ethan,
The mix sounds much better. The intro reminds me of "Yellow" by Coldplay. I reckon it needs something more distinctive in there. Same story in the instrumental section at 2.05. Watch that little guitar melody. It's quite close to "any time you want to you can turn me on to" (Groovy Kind of Love). It needs something to take the lead there and lead the listener along. The song has echoes of John Lennon as well. Great hook!
Cheers,
Doug

[sedge]

Hi Ethan, I am not getting the 'too crispy' vox as much as before ? Is that me or have you done something ? sounds right now to me

On the arrangement, I felt the break pause (after the riff before you start the song) was a little obvious, could be worth a try without and see if it still works.

On the production, the song inspired me to think about going up another level (3/4 of the way in or so) ( for this style) (imo) - a simple distortish electric guitar 'picking riff through the chords' on the verse, bridge or ( perhaps best) chorus later on over a few bars of instrumental would do that (imo)

Sorry if back seat driving, take or leave as you do

Rob