Pop tune called "The Little Things"

Greetings, good forum folk.  I've been working hard for the last year or so on this song called "The Little Things" (and another one called "Unconditionally"), using it as my "guinea pig" song to learn 8.5.3.   I'll be upgrading to X1 soon, but I was hoping to solicit some constructive comments, suggestions, criticisms about this 8.5.3 creation before I move on to X1.  On this tune I did all of the writing, mixing/engineering, producing, playing and singing (except for the lead vocal, which is sung by a fantastic singer named Scott Seabock).  I'd love to hear any comments about the song in general, but I'm particularly concerned about the sound of the mix since I've still got a whole lot to learn there.  Thanks very much in advance!  You can hear the "The Little Things" at www.tributerry.com
 
 

I would reduce the reverb on the voice, it sounds kind of boomy.  Can you make the backing vocals wide in both channels?  The kick drum can come up a bit to add more rhythym punch.

Great vocal performance.  Nice instrumentation and arrangement.  Nice pop song with lovely backing vocal harmony.

notnat


This is a way cool tune Terry...  cool website too...
Very solid arrangement, performances and production... if it were mine I'd change the mechanical sounding hi-hat from 16's to 8's and go for more of an "in-the-pocket" groove... and back off on the vocal effect a bit... I love the singing and harmony...
Well done...
 

Thanks Frank!  That's very helpful input.  By more of an "in the pocket" groove I take it you mean less busy and more straight up and down, without the tricky bass drum accents.  Who knows?  That might be just the thing to really get the song across.  Backing off on the vocal effect is good advice too.  Thanks a million, man!
    Terry

Wookiee


Agree with all of what Frank had to say except for one very small aspect and it could just be me.  There is something about the vocal, what I can not pin point, something about the reverb and overall way it sits in the mix.  There are better peeps than me here to advise you.

Thanks for sharing and

Hi Wookiee -- thank you too for sharing.  Everyone seems to be in agreement that the vocal mix needs addressing in some way.  With all of this constructive input I hope to improve the song.  I'd love to wait until I'm up and running on X1, but I'm hearing too many horror stories from people who transferred old projects to X1, so I don't know.... 
 
Mucho obligato, bro!
     Terry

Janet


He sure can sing.  :)  Great tune and it sounds like you know what you're doing. :)  Welcome to the forum!

Thank you, Janet.  That's very encouraging.  I'm looking forward to hearing others as well as presenting some of my stuff.  Hopefully I'll get a chance to listen to your music (and Vicente's too) later tonight.  I've already done reviews on Frank and Wookie.  Cheers!
     Terry

twisted6s

vechung


I would reduce the reverb on the voice, it sounds kind of boomy.  Can you make the backing vocals wide in both channels?  The kick drum can come up a bit to add more rhythym punch.

Great vocal performance.  Nice instrumentation and arrangement.  Nice pop song with lovely backing vocal harmony.

+1...wonderful vocal arrangement.....reminds me a bit of Seal

Thanks, man.  The vocal arrangement was originally more sparse, but input I received in the form of a songwriting contest critique led me to "do it up" a bit more, as we used to say back in the day.  Looking forward to hearing some of your stuff when I get a chance a little later.
   Terry

evadianepug


You have some good comments here.  I thought bass is a little thin and agree with the vocal and BVG vocals.  Good stuff, though.  Nice song.

Thanks, Warren.  It looks pretty unanimous -- the vocal mix/effects is the weak link.  The bass was played through Dimension Pro using a keyboard MIDI controller and I used one of those "Rice Krispies" patches (you know -- snap, crackle, pop) that is all snap, crackle & pop ... lol.  I tried to use the tool in Dimension Pro (Matrix tool, maybe, or some other tool) that is supposed to let you ease off on the "thumber thumbs" aspect of the sound so that it doesn't sound like the bass is "popping" every note in the part, but I couldn't get it to sound the way I wanted, and I really liked that bass patch and didn't want to use a different one (I listened to all the DimPro bass patches).  So I took a chance and used it like that for now.  I don't know if that is why the bass might sound kind of thin, but I suspect it is.  Thanks for bringing it to my attention.  I'd love to hear what others think about the bass sound.  I'm still grappling with some aspects of DimPro -- I haven't even quite learned how to use the "elements" feature properly, but I'll get there eventually.
 
All the best!
 
   Terry