Song- Mold Me

Guitarhacker


perhaps my comments were taken the wrong way. If so... I apologize. It is my intent when I comment on a song to offer advice from my perspective with my limited experience and writing skills, to possibly help people improve their recording as well as their writing. 

I can see your point, and it's well taken, and I've seen and probably been guilty of contributing to more than one post like that in my 4 years here. ( "ditto what they said" ) Music is always a "from MY POV" sort of thing. I might love a song and the next person hears all sorts of technical issues in it.... that's life and yeah some people can hear things that others overlook. 

All I can say is I've heard some good things from you in the past. Don't quit the songs forum. That has been, of all the things that has helped me the most here, the one thing that really got me focused and learning this music thing. When people comment and say the bass is too loud, to weak, or the cymbals or vocals are causing sibilance.... it is a learning opportunity. Ask questions and find out what exactly they hear and find out how to fix it after you determine they might be right. 

There are a few people here who I trust when they tell me I should look at this or that particular issue in my project. You should have a feel for who they are as well now as long as you have been here. I generally listen to what they say, then listen more closely to the song to see if what they say is valid. Try not to fall in love with your song to the point that you are offended when someone says something that you take as "bad" about it. Music is the wrong business to be in if one is easily offended by criticism.

If a song is really bad I usually just refrain from commenting on it in a detailed manner. Or tend to make general comments on how to improve one aspect of it.... like "sing closer to the mic" or something like that. 

Your tune: 

The piano and guitar in the intro sounded really nice... and held promise of a cool tune to follow. At 51 it changed gears so to speak and the guitar was not playing the same chords as the others in a few places. 

At 1:24 it changed again and the various instruments seemed to loose direction and were not playing the same chords in a few places. 

Around 1:56 the instruments sounded again like they were playing the same song again, all playing the same chords and supporting melody. 
The Piano outtro sounded good.

You asked about flow. Flow is more of the feel of the song going naturally where it wants to go. As a writer, I want to lead the listener to where they really want the song to take them. It's not a fixed in concrete kind of concept. Flow is interrupted when a part changes drastically in one of several ways, and it's also interrupted when instruments like bass, or guitar are playing different chords than the other instruments like a piano & strings. They all need to flow together like a river. All headed in the same direction and all remaining similar in nature.

Pink Floyd is a good example of flowing but changing at the same time. Another one that comes to mind is the musicians from Cirque du Solei.... have a listen to them (find it on Youtube) and you will hear changes and flow all in one. CdS has performers moving and doing things while the music plays, so it has to flow smoothly.

I tend to be long winded at times, but I hope you understand that the crits I give, and many others here are not intended to hurt your feelings, or to tear you down, but are offered as well intentioned advice to help build you up, improve your skills, and keep you moving and growing as a recording enthusiast and a musician. 

edit to add: On a given song posted... I might get 25 people who comment on it over the life of the song on the forum (several days at best)

of those 20 are likely general comments... cool tune, like the song, yadda yadda.... the others might be.. the bass is a few db to loud, the cymbals could use some EQ in the 2.5k range.... the vocal is not as clear as it needs to be, try some low roll off below 100hz, stuff that is actually useful for improving.... and at times you have to pick through the comments to find that one thing that is the gem of advice that helps you. Sometimes I get nothing that helps, and sometimes I get a lot that helps. 

jamesyoyo


Well, with that attitude, good luck.  It was pompous. You said you needed to hear some of the things said, and then go on, saying everything is subjective. So which is it? You liked/needed some of the subjective advice, but not some of the other subjective advice? How are we to know which comments will be hurtful or confusing to you, and which will be helpful? And then you have the balls to suggest that other people, who have tried to help you when you asked, need to work on their stuff? Mind boggling.

And for the record, what I said about yer stuff is really quite objective: I have a pretty good handle on what is good, and I know what needs work, and I usually know how to fix it. And there are very few hit songs I would say are absolute junk, because I am not a music snob, unlike many mixers!