Finally, after more medical shenanigans than I would want to bore you with here, the first output from my X2 project studio setup. 

I usually write songs for local singers to put into their covers sets as original material nowadays, but this is more in my own vein so to speak. Composition and all instruments by myself, Bvox by my lovely and talented friend and co-performer Dawn T Baker.
Comments and critique welcome. 

Garry Kiosk

https://soundcloud.com/garry-kiosk/breaking-through

Has kind of a Floydish sound to it. Does need some work in spot, while other spots are sounding really good. A bit scratchy sounding. I would shoot for guitar clarity and take out some of the noise to begin with. Nice song though.

Peace be with you. Blessings, John

PS your second song just started and there is a lot of noise in it as well. Needs some cleaning up as well. Just thought I would let you know my thoughts, as you asked above in your post. Keep them going. Work on each track separately refining every note and loose the background noise. John

Hi John, thanks for the comments. Funnily enough, the noise you hear at the beginning and end of the track is quite deliberate, and comes via a z3ta patch that I tweaked. The rest for the track is quite noise free. I did it for a retro / vinylish sound as a contrast to the main body as an intro and outro theme. I had a su****ion it might be picked up as unwanted noise rather than a production choice.... I may reconsider, based on listening to comments, wondering what others think? 

I wanted to produce a track to stretch my limited production skills, as it's the only way to learn. With separate drum tracks, there were 35 tracks in total and I learned a lot trying to prevent too much frequency masking, it was hard to get the vocal to emerge at first but I found a way, by cloning the original twice, leaving off effects and putting them panned 25% l and r, nudging a few samples and bringing in at a lower level than the main treated vocal. I want to go to the next level, and happy to consider any constructive comments such as yours. Thanks.

WRT the other track, it is only a demo, recorded outdoors in a slight breeze simply to capture the song and make it available for the singer and her band to familiarize with it. Thanks for listening to it though! 

Garry 

YAY, Garry is back.  After what you've been through, your just posting this very ambitious piece here is an amazing accomplishment.  The song is very reminiscent of Floyd, and that's a good thing so far as I'm concerned.  Very proud of you, mate!  BTW- Liked how you mixed your bass in... almost like a lead instrument... I thought it was cool sounding.

Need a crit?  Okay: bring the vocal up some 

I thought the noise was a water sound.  Go figure.  I get the Floyd vibe too.  Nice tune.  I don't have any suggestions on the mix.  I agree the voice could come up a bit.

Phil, wow, thanks very much. Only I know what a great support and true friend you have been to me offline from the forum here. I wont embarrass you with saying any more....


I write simpler stuff than this, but wanted to extend myself in order to find my limitations and then start to punch through them...I know I have a long way to go but I am open to all constructive criticism. It was important to get this out, and I can now hear the flaws even more, and will work on those, whilst recording the other material I am writing. I have decided to drop the patch with the 'vinyl' noise on it, or perhaps tweak the patch to learn how to configure the z3ta synth more.

Pug... thank you for the feedback. I am at the stage where it is really hard to push my own vocal up in the mix any more, but I am going to listen to you guys and try it. If it gets the song and lyric over better, then so be it. Perhaps a 1 to 2dB uplift? They are just numbers, I will listen to what sounds better in context of the mix as a whole...

Now I have 'broken through' some barriers of my own, I sense a lot more productivity from me going forward now, and lots more opportunity to improve these elusive engineering skills along with everything else.

Thanks Guys...

Very nice composition. I like the texturing of the sounds. The drums work very well, as do the vocals.  The Synth strings aren't optimal but they work.  I think you did a great job blending the organ in. Guitar playing is very appropriate and lends it's own texture to the song.   Overall a very nice production. The work that you put into this is quite evident. Enjoyed it! 

Tap, thank you very much for the comments, they are very encouraging to me. String sounds are so difficult. These are Kontakt samples and I articulated them as best as I could, however, as they were part of my layer sound, I knew they would never convince as real strings....will think about this....

Also by separating ie panning the strings and B3 organ patch 25% l and r to make room for the vocal, I still got a blend but the strings sound a little less convincing. The pay off I guess.

Thanks for the guitar and song comments too, I am glad you enjoyed it! 

Garry Kiosk

As well as remove the 'noise' on the z3ta patch for a totally clean sound, gonna work the drums and strings a little more this weekend....

Cool! Nice tune and arrangement.. the snare sounds a bit too loud in my opinion.. otherwise I liked the sounds and ambiance