• Songs
  • Newbie....need some crtical ears and help (p.3)
2014/03/09 22:53:25
Freddy J
Welcome to the forum! 
For a first posting on this forum, I think that you have made a great start on the mix.  You have good separation and all instruments are balanced, and all sounds are very clean. A some of the comments above are suggesting that the song is a bit flat and I would agree; however, I believe that just a few tweaks would bring up the level of this song.  I noticed that essentially the percussion track varied very little throughout the song.  A few fills or maybe variations would help keep the song moving along.  I am also a real sucker for rhythm in songs.  Perhaps a more pronounced or varied rhythm with a bit more bass would add to the song as well.
Anyway, I think that you have done a great job!  I look forward to your future posts. 
2014/03/20 09:54:31
peterjung
Hi Freddy J
 
Thanks for your input.  Inspired by your and others comments I will look to get a bit more adventurous with drums and the like.  To be honest the rhythm track on this is the original one I started with just to get some timing down and I just kind of stuck with it.  It is just a stock loop out of Sonar X2 that I stumbled upon, slowed it down and went with it.  I watched great tutorial on the Sonar YouTube channel about mixing drums that made think I may try to create a rhythm rack from scratch next time.
 
The bass again is kind of the first scratch that is really simple but felt ok and that stayed there
 
So much to learn and so little time J…..enjoying the ride though….
 
Thanks again for taking the time to comment - again I really appreciate everyone's input
2014/03/20 11:04:45
Starise
I think you received a lot of good relevant comments on this mix. I did take more notice of the horns than anything else in the mix. Here are a couple of arrangement ideas that you could either take or leave. I don't know if you've ever heard Herb Albert on trumpet. He always used a kind of airy sound and delays to give his horn a spacial effect. That's kind of tough to do on a mix like this but not impossible. You could use automation on a delay or reverb, drop some of the other mix out in places and let the reverb tails keep going. This would add some interest to it. Taking the horn part up into higher ranges and using more velocity on your controller will also add some more interest by adding more emphasis to the horn part.Maybe add some more fancy fingering in there. IOW start out the same as you already have it...with the horn in the mid ranges...then at times in the music where you want to build tension or interest take the horn up an octave. JMO. Varying the elements of the rhythm will also help. Not necessarily the tempo but the elements playing the parts. 
2014/03/21 04:08:31
RussjWhite
Hi, Also enjoyed the groove when the guitar kicks in. :)
Learning about real instruments helped me in writing and arranging. I read Essential dictionary of orchestration on the kindle, very cheap but informs you of what can be done on real instruments. 

2014/04/16 08:34:01
olemon
Welcome.  I like the song.  It could use some more 'energy' imho, but you've been given plenty of advice and feedback from folks who are in the know.  You're on your way:)
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