"Breathe" (First Attempt at Recording/One of the First Songs I've Ever Written)

Mr. Snyder,  Most songwriters on this forum use soundclick, it's free and is set up perfectly to help make things easy.  Your fellow cakewalkers will find it more convenient to listen than to download each time. Looking forward to hearing your work and welcome to the forum.........Ron

First of all, cool tune! I think this would have a lot of potential and impact with a full band, especially in the choruses. It has a nice hook and lyrics, and it flows smoothly from beginning to end. I didn't feel that any part was "forced" or didn't belong.

For someone who just asked for help on the basics of recording just a few days ago, this is great!

I'm not sure what you want to do with this ultimately, but if you're going to keep it as acoustic guitar/bass/voice, you should add a bit of compression to your voice to keep it above the guitar. In some places, it was a bit difficult to hear an otherwise excellent vocal. A little chorus on the bass would help fill it out a bit. And a touch of reverb on the overall mix would help "glue" all the parts together by making them all sound like they were recorded in the same room.

As far as instrument balance and levels, a bit of compression on the overall mix would also help tighten everything a bit. At the end, you might want to drop the other two guitars a bit, as they tend to overwhelm the rhythm guitar and bass. They also have a reverb that isn't on the other parts, and that tends to take them "out" of the mix rather than add them to it. It makes them sound like they were not recorded at the same time or in the same "space" as the other instruments. You've done a decent job EQ'ing them so they don't step onto each other. (As far as your concerns about EQ, just remember: less is better. Instead of boosting something, cut everything else. You're better off in the long run.) Warming up the rhythm guitar part a bit might help it sound fuller, but everyone has his or her opinion on how acoustic guitars should sound. Again, it all depends upon what you're going to do with this.

If you were going to work this up as a full band piece, I think there's a lot you could do with the vocals, harmonies and parts (not with the singing, though--that was just fine!). I think the song could have a lot of impact--especially on the chorus after the middle-eight.

There are many good, free reverbs, EQ and compressors available, so you'll have plenty to choose from if you want to add to this.

I did hear a bit of noise in a few places that sounded a bit like a grainy tape hiss. It's more prevalent in the right speaker, and in the quieter parts. I don't think it's an .MP3 artifact--since everything else sounded fine--but I don't know what it is.

Overall, I say this is a very promising beginning considering what you had at your disposal!

Thanks guys! This is all really helpful info! And as for that noise - it's a by-product of a mediocre mic and too much high pass filterage (so whatever noise was there, the high pass made them come out even more).

Thanks!!

Cool! I didn't even know they had lists.

So...your first Top 20 hit, eh? Not bad!

Thanks Scotty!

Nice work... Welcome to the Songs Fourm...

Welcome, Nick!  I think this is a very good tune.  I like the sound of it.  You know, I played with the software and still do, but was fortunate to hook up with Mark (CLEAN) as a songwriting partner.  he is VERY good at the producing thing.  It has helped my (our) music sound better but I would suggest that a young guy like you immerse yourself into the programs and learn it all.  You can get totally awesome expert advice here.  Take advantage of it!!  I'm just old enough to say, "Hey, let Mark do it".   You are on your way, don't be a stranger!

Right off, the guitars are very clear in my blown speakers. Nice guitar line and strumming. Nice tone, too. Those are vocals I'm hearing, right? They're not just you singing very loud? It's not very pronounced from my end. Imaginative lyrics.

Good reflective ending. It matched the song's mood. Good duration, too.