https://soundcloud.com/davewesleyrecordings/defenders-of-totem
 
Energetic, brassy, yet somewhat light and fun.
Looking for any sort of critique or comments!!! What do you think of this track?
 

Very nice arrangement, Dave.  It's well paced and leaves me wanting more.  Was that a flugelhorn sample in places?
This could be good background materiel for a film or video.  Nice one.

Superbly arranged. Very nice performances and sounds happening. Agree with Lynn, this composition could be well suited for music placement in film/movies and such.
 
At time: 47-48 the guitar lead seemed to fumble a little, and overall sounded somewhat detached from the mix (needed more presence) to bring into perspective / balance with the other instruments. This is just a minor criticism, therefore its your call.
 
 
 

Fun - I could see this in an anime movie. It felt like a hero theme. Mix wise it sounded pretty darn together. I appreciated your horn section harmony part. 
 
cheers,
-Tom

It sounds OK here for me the kick sounds a little lifeless, but if that is what you wanted, I can see the inspiration behind it.  Thanks for sharing.

Lynn, thank you for listening! but I'm curious- where did you hear the flugel? Maybe it was a high trombone?
 
SongCraft, as you can see, I'm no guitarist  I sort of do just fumble around on the strings and I felt a solo would fit well there. I probably should've edited it to perfection. Glad you like it though!
 
Thanks for listening, Tom, that's just what I was going for. The 'brass soli' was actually my attempt to draw from my strong big band/swing influences, and it came off pretty decent, I think.
 
Glad you checked it out, Wookiee, and strangely I think the kick became a "set and forget" parameter that was packaged in the drumkit I chose  It served its purpose for me though- not boomy or heavy, but light to give the accents. Thanks to you.
 
Thanks all you guys! I come here to improve my recording/producing skills as well as to share my stuff with a community of guys who know good music (edit: that is, those who will be able to help me get to making good music)! I hope I can give back to the community a lot more in the future.

Composition and arrangement-wise, I think you pretty much nailed the style.