Traditional Singer Songwriter Mix Ears needed

[Susanstunes]

Hi Taxi Peers,

My track: https://m.soundcloud.com/susanhillman/stream-of-life

I know my track could use some TLC. My time is crunched to get it ready because I'm on an overseas trip right now and wont have my DAW for about a week. Need help with how to smooth out the guitar- and vocal-you'll probably recommend I re-record.

Nonetheless does this sound enough like the ala (Mitchell) here in emotion, craft and style?

Below is the listing.

TRADITIONAL SINGER/SONGWRITER SONGS with Male or Female Vocals are needed by a very active British Music Library that’s been using TAXI to find a lot of new music for catalogs they are currently building!

They want Songs in All Tempos in the stylistic ballpark of the references below:

“Fire And Rain” by James Taylor

“A Case of You” by Joni Mitchell

NOTE: Your submissions can be actual Vintage masters recorded back in the day, or they can be new songs that have been recently recorded and just inspired by that era.

Please submit Songs with great melodies, captivating lyrics, and a compelling chorus. You can go with a relatively simple Stripped-Down Guitar/Vocal or Piano/Vocal performance, as well as versions with a small ensemble. A great vocal performance with a heartfelt delivery could really help you stand out for this request.

They didn’t specify any lyric themes; but if you can imagine hearing your lyrics fitting in with the references above, then you’re probably in the ballpark. Please avoid references to specific names, dates, times, places, brands, and profanity. Do NOT copy the referenced artists or songs in any way, shape, or form. Use them as a general guide for tempo, tone, and overall vibe. Broadcast Quality is needed.

Appreciate any comments!
Susan
www.susanhillmanmusic.com
www.soundcloud.com/susanhillman

[Kolstad]

I think your song is pretty spot on the references. Your vocals sound very natural and expressive for this this style, imo.
The only thing is the recording. Hopefully you have guitar and vocals on separate tracks, so you can dial the big deep acoustic a little back, and bring your vocals to the fore, as it is the vocals that delivers the emotion of the track.

On the referenced songs, the band is supporting and backing off the singer, but in your recording here, the guitar also want attention and fights the vocals at times. That balance may be what they need, or it may not matter much. That is hard to tell.

If not you could try shelving the bottom end out of the mix, and put an eq on to enhance the vocal range, maybe work with a multiband compressor to see if you can bring out a different volume balance between the guitar and the vocal as well. But unfortunately from experience, you need luck for that to work out well.

Its pretty unfortunate when you get a keeper recording, but dont have engineered the setup beforehand. But you have a great song for the listing, imho, hopefully the production turns out well. Best of luck with it!

[Susanstunes]

I think your song is pretty spot on the references. Your vocals sound very natural and expressive for this this style, imo.
The only thing is the recording. Hopefully you have guitar and vocals on separate tracks, so you can dial the big deep acoustic a little back, and bring your vocals to the fore, as it is the vocals that delivers the emotion of the track.

On the referenced songs, the band is supporting and backing off the singer, but in your recording here, the guitar also want attention and fights the vocals at times. That balance may be what they need, or it may not matter much. That is hard to tell.

If not you could try shelving the bottom end out of the mix, and put an eq on to enhance the vocal range, maybe work with a multiband compressor to see if you can bring out a different volume balance between the guitar and the vocal as well. But unfortunately from experience, you need luck for that to work out well.

Its pretty unfortunate when you get a keeper recording, but dont have engineered the setup beforehand. But you have a great song for the listing, imho, hopefully the production turns out well. Best of luck with it!

Great, Kolstad. Thank you for those tips. I'll be trying them out and hoping for my luck to land along with it!

Susan

[johnlewitt]

Hi Susan,

You do have the Joni Mitchell vibe, so you're on target for the listing. However, you do need to clean up the recording some.

There are some pitchy spots in your vocals that you might want to correct (not too much, but a few lines jumped out at me).

Right now the mix kind of sounds like a demo. I'd work on matching the vocal and the guitar parts better to each other.

I'd put a low cut EQ on the guitar and then some light compression. I'm not sure what DAW you are using, but if it's Logic, they have preset EQ patches that you could try out (I assume other DAW's have those too).

Have you touched up the vocal at all? To me, it sounds like it's a live recording with nothing done to it. Some compression, light EQ and reverb might make it sound more professional.

Good luck with it.

[Susanstunes]

Hi Susan,

You do have the Joni Mitchell vibe, so you're on target for the listing. However, you do need to clean up the recording some.

There are some pitchy spots in your vocals that you might want to correct (not too much, but a few lines jumped out at me).

Right now the mix kind of sounds like a demo. I'd work on matching the vocal and the guitar parts better to each other.

I'd put a low cut EQ on the guitar and then some light compression. I'm not sure what DAW you are using, but if it's Logic, they have preset EQ patches that you could try out (I assume other DAW's have those too).

Have you touched up the vocal at all? To me, it sounds like it's a live recording with nothing done to it. Some compression, light EQ and reverb might make it sound more professional.

Good luck with it.

John that all makes sense. I recorded it very raw and did not have the tools I now have and I know there are a few pitchy spots to fix. I plan to work on all of the issues you pointed out.

Thanks very much!
Susan

[cosmicdolphin]

There is some noise at the start of the track before the music starts and then when it does guitar sounds overblown, too much low end..I'm not sure if there's any distortion in there or just nasty resonances that need taking out.

Some of the guitar edits sound a bit iffy, and you have a nice voice but there are places where it gets pitchy. There's little in the way of production to hold our interest..the reference tracks have a bit more going on..either double tracked guitars or a piano as well so this sounds rather demo-like.

[eeoo]

Nice Joni vibe. Tough nut to crack, I know her phrasing is very unique and I hear what you're going for but some of the phrasing sounds a bit too choppy, like you're not confident with it. That's what stood out to me. So to my ear it does still sound like a demo but its's a solid start to build from.

[Susanstunes]

There is some noise at the start of the track before the music starts and then when it does guitar sounds overblown, too much low end..I'm not sure if there's any distortion in there or just nasty resonances that need taking out.

Some of the guitar edits sound a bit iffy, and you have a nice voice but there are places where it gets pitchy. There's little in the way of production to hold our interest..the reference tracks have a bit more going on..either double tracked guitars or a piano as well so this sounds rather demo-like.

[Susanstunes]

Thanks Cosmic Dolphin, eeoo and Tom!
I hear you and really appreciate all your smart comments. I may need to wait to record it over.
Susan
www.susanhillmanmusic.com
www.soundcloud.com/susanhillman