Several excellent instrumentals posted here lately so I’m hoping to get some good advice and bashing. This one is chill-out but maybe too much? All criticism and suggestions are welcome.
Edit: A mild remix using suggestions from members here, thanks to all!
Some interesting ideas here musically, could possibly do with a bit more refinement instrumentation-wise. e.g when the guitar enters part way through (great sounding tone btw) because it’s so sparse in it’s phrasing, it would be nice to maybe hear another instrument echo the licks in the opposite channel and help fill up a bit of that empty space.
Not digging that breathy sounding flute on the right in the first half of the track. It’s an interesting sound but gets a little grating as things progress. A natural sounding flute would be a lot more pleasing to the ear in my humble opinion.
I liked the vibe overall and the guitar tone was really nice. I would have liked a bit more drums or percussion to drive things. I appreciate the sparseness though. I also don’t care for the breathy flute at the start. I like the mallet sounds, they sound cool and give it a different vibe from what you usually hear. Nice work.
Thanks @terryhesticles for your insights here. I hear what you are saying about the flute and I’m working on some changes there. I had hoped to post a different version by now but life got in the way. The guitar solo is harder to deal with, I’ve been trying some options there but it’s not as obvious a fix as the flute change so we’ll see what happens there.
I’m sorry to hear of your injury; I know that would be huge issue for me. I did break a finger once back in the day and it was a long struggle back. It’s important to push hard once the docs give you the go-ahead because the recovery window only stays open so long and unfortunately rehab can be painful but you have to do it.
The good news is that your tune with the lyricist shows lots of promise and I look forward to hearing more.
Thanks for encouragement @Chandler , I enjoy your work. I’ve spent a lot of time in my life working on playing a lot of notes and I wanted to go a different direction with my tune here. I wanted to get away from the usual heavy back-beat style so I went with percussion and honestly I think about editing it down even more which I know can be hard to get used to.
The mallet sound is a marimba if you ever want to mess with it. You are totally right about the flute sound and I’m going to change it, soon I hope. Thanks again for your help!
love it! my daughter loves it too!
havent had a chance to check it out in the studio, but is the mix leaning towards the right? unless my earbuds are lying to me (trying out some new bluetooth buds)
Thanks for the support @FluteCafe ! And yes you are right the mix is a bit unbalanced. I’ll definitely pay some attention to that If I can just get away from all of the distractions. Buds sound cool!
I understand completely, and if your situation’s anything like mine it becomes quite tricky to juggle your love of music creation with the day to day commitments of life. It’ll work out in the end, and a bit of time to mull things over in the writing phase is never a bad thing.
Thanks man, just another hurdle in the road to conquer, nothing time and physio won’t fix.
I finally did some remixing on this instrumental using some of the suggestions that made here. Thank you all for that! The guitar solo remains unchanged as of yet, I’ll keep thinking about it.
Wow, all those woodwinds sound fricken amazing now! Not sure which ones you redid but I know the flute for sure is a new addition.
The whole thing’s mind blowing, like you get swept onto a chill island resort or something, it’s a trip…ahh and then that guitar comes in.
Sorry man, it’s not working for me, the sporadic nature and coming in on the up bet in places, it’s just too jarring, and kinda kills the chill, lush atmosphere set up in the opening 2 minutes.
I’d say either, kick it to the curb and concentrate on the wood and brass, redo with something a bit more concise, or chop the shit out of the existing performance and cut it into something a bit more interesting.
it’s a HUGE upgrade, but need to address the elephant in the room.
Very helpful comments @terryhesticles , thank you for the specific details. I’ll post some alternatives when I get them worked out, I’m moving slow lately! 
I can’t really add anything that hasn’t been said already but I’m listening with wired earbuds on my iPad and I dig this. Really relaxing to my ears (and my mind). What is your ultimate goal for this song?
Thank you @BigAlRocks for the encouragement. I’m working on an alternate guitar solo for this so we’ll see how that goes. I have a collection of instrumentals featuring jazz influenced guitar and I hope to publish that on perhaps Bandcamp eventually but I’m pretty slow about it.
Nice! My brain went straight to “this could be hold music on a phone system” upon first listen, and that’s a good thing. I’ve heard some hold music that was infuriating. This is just the opposite.
Thanks again @BigAlRocks. This tune tends toward ‘smooth jazz’ but some of my other stuff is edgier, might not be good for customer relations? 
I’m hoping to have an album collection that somehow makes sense if I can drag it all together.
Thanks for the kind words @holster . Moving at a snails pace I’m hoping to have an album collection of instrumentals to release at some point. Some are pretty different than this one though. Might not make it into the dentist’s office. 
Hey @terryhesticles I don’t know if you ever hang out in ghost towns like this place but I did finally take your suggestion and come up with an alternative solo for this piece so maybe you can see if this fits any better than the original?
I’d put this up in the original post but IRD won’t let me edit that for some reason. 
Haha, yeah there’s not too much incentive to come here and hang out with the tumbleweeds that’s for sure 
I think this version of the solo is far more engaging from the listeners perspective. It’s got way more melody, and forward momentum now. Good job @ingolee
Yup, I’ve had the same problem a few times myself. Not ideal when you want to highlight the evolution of a track within the OP.
Ha Ha, well thanks for the encouragement and your bravery in facing a possibly haunted locale @terryhesticles !
So what’s up with your pop tune “This (ain’t) Love” ? I think your collab with the lyricist on that song has potential, I’d like to hear more, maybe something heavier?
