Here is a song of mine i recorded a few months ago.
This is the first song to be mixed of a 10 tracks album.
Was inspired by what happened in the Bataclan…
Sorry for the bad accent.
I’m here to learn so i need some advices. Thank you.
The flat version
Improved version
Overall !
4 Likes
Sounds nice David!
Nothing wrong with the accent IMHO, but then I’m French too, so take that with a grain of salt… 
I think the arrangement could benefit from some variety, I would try to drop something from the second verses for examples. Trying to get some dynamics/tone changes that would renew the interest of the listener (who have short attention spans these days).
The bridge does this nicely (cool passage!), but I would still try to change more things before that.
In terms of mix, I find that there are too much competition between the guitars and the strings/synths.
The vocals on the first verse is perhaps too loud, it gets better during the chorus where there’s harmonies and the instrumentation seems fuller. So perhaps some broad automation could help.
There’s some irritating lingering synth chord that sounds harmonically bad during a chord change, at 1:49 for example, again around 3:13. I would reduce the sustain there and let the guitar/bass lead the way to the chord change before bringing the synth back.
The drums tend to be a bit buried (apart from the snare) in the chorus, I suppose some high-passing of guitars and synths could help there.
During the bridge the sound bytes are perhaps a little but too loud. They distract a little bit too much from the instruments.
All of these are possibly taste related, so feel free to ignore. I like the song, though, so I think it’s worth working out some of these details.
Keep on Keep it up! 
3 Likes
Hey David, this is sounding quite good. I like the arrangement - especially the way the chorus lifts - that’s really appealing!
Pat has covered a lot of good points here, so I won’t repeat…
However, those synth passages @ 1:49 and 3:13 caught my ear too. They sound like they could potentially be some spicey musical moments, but at present they sound off. You could turn those moments into passing chords that use voice leading to emphasise the semitone step-wise movement, but you would need to adjust the guitars (and possibly the bass) to harmonize with them so that it doesn’t sound dissonant.
The thing that stood out to me as needing some adjustment is the lead vocal tone in the verses. When you are singing in the lower register, the midrange “cut through” frequencies in your voice are very subdued, so the music tends to compete with your voice and you have to turn it up quite loud to get it to be heard. With all the low end content in your voice, this tends to put your vocal “out of proportion” to the backing, so that the vocal sound “too big” and somewhat “dwarfs” the musical accompaniment. It’s sounds better when you go to the higher register in the chorus, because those low frequencies are not prominent, and your voice cuts through in the high mids much better there.
I would suggest treating the the low register verse lead vocal different from the chorus lead vocal. In the verses, pull the low end out of your vocal using a high pass filter, and push the 1-3k area harder with eq.
Nice work!
3 Likes
Thanks guy, i must admit that you’re probably right about everything. It is still in progress. I’ll share a revision soon !
Hey David, my name is Andrew, BTW!
Nice to meet you Andrew. Don’t be afraid by my poor english i’m here for that too
2 Likes
I enjoyed the song. I would secound what Andrew and Patrick have mentioned and i look forward to hearing this song progress.
1 Like
Trying to fix the competition within synth and guitar is hard in this case. I hope i’ll find the solution soon. For the moment, leave it for some days.
You can start with EQ: notch some frequencies in the synths that you want featured in the guitars, boost them there, notch the guitars where you want the synths to live. It’s all about finding a space for each.
Panning can help, pan them as wide away one from the other as you can without creating a lopsided mix.
Compression using side chain from one to duck down the other can be used to carve some space.
Typically you would want the transients from the guitars and the sustain from the synths, as a general case of course!
Automation can help bring up some instruments and bring down some others at various points in your mix. Even mute is a powerful tool to bring some variety in a mix, don’t forget that, don’t get so attached to a part. If it serves the song to mute some parts, do it!
Also a very helpful plugin that you might want to try out: https://www.wavesfactory.com/trackspacer/ - the same thing can be achieve with a multiband compressor or a dynamic EQ with some sidechaining, but this plugin does it a lot more easily…
I use to do most of those technics (i’ll try some ducking). Thx guy.
Hi,
I really enjoyed it. I love your voice!
People already mentioned points to look after but I will add something.
I don’t like the snare sound but well who cares.
I think the brickwall, or whatever limiter at the end of the chain, has been push too hard. I pretty sure the mix sound better without it. The mix has this 2-3k thing that push the vocals in front too much. It sounds to me like if you mixed for some hours and when came the time of “mastering” your mix, not enough ear left.
Producer hat on, the song needs more variations. Nothing incredible, juste play with the mute button here and there to create some movement.
The song is good, the mix isn’t bad. I think you should use a reference track to adjust your mix, because you’re not far.
Hope it helps.
Cheers.
2 Likes
Another great track, but my humble and i do mean humble is that i think it would sound great if you came down on the mid eq a little, everything is recorded nicely, but it also could use some more solid sounds ?
Every track sounds washy with similar eq and verb.
1 Like
Hi Like your voice, but the clarity is sketchy until the chorus. Sounds like a strat strumming those chords? To me there is just a little too much clutter hiding your voice in general.
Sincerely
Paul
1 Like
I’m still working on it, may help if i send you a flat version (no processing at all)
I’ll certainly restart from scratch. Thank you everybody for you feedback.
Overall I think it sounds pretty good.
There are places where things are stepping all over each other. Seems like there’s some masking happening between the vocals and the keys. The pads thicken the mix pretty well, but get in the way of some of the vocals and guitar.
I would look at the EQ on all the chording instrument tracks with the vocals, and see if there are some places you can create some space for the vocals to pop out a bit more without getting louder.
Since you have the panning pretty well set for this one, maybe try mixing in mono for a bit, and see how it sounds when you’re done.
1 Like
Thx Kakeux, you’re right about ear left !
1 Like
What do you mean about Solid Sound ?
Thx for the listen.
Hello Moa22,
when i use the term solid, it means less reverb, less washy etc
I would tame the verb on your voice, bring the snare up a little, and try to get it tighter, maybe more compressed, just enough to notice the pop.
Same thing with the synth’s, maybe remove or slope a little of the high frequencies.
Everything sounds very distant, and thats cool, but if a few things are distant, and some more present, you could have this tune sounding more solid 
i did it though!!
1 Like
well there isnt much to be ashamed with in the mix as a whole, its really getting there imo!
watch those pitchy vocal bits and yes eq the low end out of the vocal in the beginning and it sounds real good.
you have a good voice dude.
excellent songwriting and structure
1 Like