I got so much useful feedback on my last song that I wanted to post another one that I’ve been working on this week. I took some of the advice and applied it to this song. Since there are layered vocals again, I used the tip to remove some of the sibilant noises from all the tracks but one, and it works great! (You can hear it on the word “once,” at the end of the vocal phrases.) I also paid more attention to the muddy areas, making deeper EQ cuts in certain tracks, and I think I got it sounding rather pleasant.
This song is a bit different… It’s for a contest. The idea behind the contest is that for the first month, everyone writes some musical themes (on just a piano or something,) and submits them. Then, for April, we each have to pick someone else’s theme and create a composition from it. So this is what I came up with. The theme I chose was called, “It Only Happens Once,” so I used the idea of, “true, though it only happens once,” and tried to build on that. I used a lot more virtual instruments than I normally do, and a lot of layering. I was going for a cinematic vibe, like something that could be used in a soundtrack. I like a lot of parts of this song, though I’m not sure how well it all works together.
I’m planning to spend a lot of time learning music theory and that sort of thing. I’d love to be a skillful composer. This is like a first attempt at a track like this. I find it useful to try things before I know how to actually do them, and then use both the frustration and the questions to power my studies moving forward.
Anyway, I’d love to hear any tips/feedback you might have! Thanks!
Hi Christina,
Lovely melody!
I see what you mean by “cinematic”. This could be a great background for an Irish rural drama or maybe a medieval “lady of the lake” type of film. I like the instrumentation. I’ve been experimenting with orchestral parts in the past few months and I know it’s not easy to make it all work together with believable delay and reverbs. I like the finger drum (a bodran?). It occupies a real space. Is it a live recording or sampled? The other big drums ( kettle drums?) sounded a lot less real in comparison. Maybe you could try running them both trough the same reverb?
It’s all perfectly pitched to my ears, except for this one bit of second vocal (an “ah”) at 2:51: slight slip.
As far as the song goes: it really is more of a soundtrack than a song to my ears. But then I might be wrong there, Ennia made hits out of similar music.
Anyway, nice recording! Good luck in the competition!
Sounds good. Personally i would like the drums to be a little drier. That could be a taste thing but i think it would move them forward a bit which would be useful. Oh i just read Aef’s comment and sure enough he already mentioned it. It is just that the rest of the instruments and vocals are quite dry in comparison. Thanks for sharing.
@Aef Thanks for the tip about the pitch around 2:51! I totally forgot to run that vocal bit through Melodyne.
The main drum throughout the song is actually the “Soprano Jug Drum” from Embertone. It’s free! The boomy drum is a Timpani from the Kontakt factory library. That’s interesting about them not sounding real in comparison. It didn’t really occur to me and I will take a look at that.
Wow, this is pretty special! The composition and arrangement are excellent. I love the very distinct musical themes and parts you’ve used, and how you gave each its own space in the arrangement. The dynamic transitions are pretty spectacular too - very effective and deftly handled. Very film-esque. If you had not mentioned this was your first attempt at this sort of thing, I would have assumed you’ve been doing this for years.
I’ve heard other home recordists attempt this sort of thing and the result is often very generic, but you definitely have set yourself apart here. The layered vocals are perfect in this setting. The lilting melodies and guitar parts remind me a bit of Mark Knopfler’s work on “Local Hero” (an excellent quirky little character film from the '80s). The huge crescendos & use of orchestral percussion bring a more modern “blockbuster” vibe, which is a really interesting melange.
Ok, enough raving… Aef has nailed down that little pitch slip, and Red has mentioned the reverb on the orchestral drums. One thing I would mention using ambience on percussion is - a general guideline could be: The more busy a percussion part is, the less ambience it can take without getting “messy”. The inverse is true too - so a big hit every so often can stand a LOT of verb. Here the orchestral percussion is quite busy in some parts, so drying it up a bit might just give a little more clarity and definition. It’s a balance, though - the big verb helps to define the “size” of the instrument, so drying it up too much may make it seem too “small”.
The only other thing I noticed is the guitar part that comes in @ 1:50 just “jumps out” a little too much. There is a build up in the high mids there that makes me squint just a little. Perhaps evening out the dynamics of the clean electric with a bit more compression, or maybe even some automation there might help to “seat” it better in the track and control it a little better.
Top job on this - I’m sure you’ll do well in the competition. All the best!
@ColdRoomStudio good call on the electric guitar popping out around 1:50! I agree and have fixed it with automation. And that sounds like a good rule of thumb for percussion and reverb. I have already bounced the various MIDI parts to audio, but in the Jug Drum I mentioned there’s just a “reverb on or off” choice. I turned it on because I thought it sounded really cool, but I guess if I had wanted more control come mixing time I should have left it dry. I’ll know for next time! And thanks for the kind words! I’m actually really happy with how it turned out and it gives me confidence to continue studying.
Wow, this is awesome. And I am supposed to comment on this? Ha ha This is so far over my head for professional sounding it is scary:) The vocal almost sounds churchlike?? Love the volume changes form very powerful right down to that beautiful guitar. Your voice has got it:) Congrats on this
Gorgeous moody music making… no further bashings to add from me, I just found it quite inspiring to listen to… something to motivate me to make some music maybe? Thanks!!!
