Man from the Box - Dreams of the Moment After

Hi all!

Here is my latest production. I had a really hard time arranging and mixing this one (for some reason).

Destroy it!!! And I hope you like it :slight_smile:

I think that the kick and the bass are getting in each other’s way. It feels like there is a build up of bass at times, and I have a hard time picking them apart in my mind. (I have just started my EQ ear training though, so I’d take this with a grain of salt.)

The track feels rather strong and aggressive, and I don’t feel that the vocal always matches that energy. My favorite part of the song is the powerful ending. (“Who can say what’s worst in this whole world?” to … “No more fighting this I’m coming home.” That part. I may have gotten the lyrics wrong; I’m awful at hearing lyrics lol.) The vocal really matches the track there, for me. In the earlier areas of the song, it feels weak to me, which matches the track in the first section, but not as much in the second. I think it’s the performance. In the second verse, I expect more anger or something, to match the track.

I generally like how the song builds, but now that I’ve listened to it a few times, I wonder if the intro would fit better if it had more of the energy of the first verse. Right now it sort of has the energy of the second verse. And then the end is the high point. I could see this song working well as more of a linear build. That way, when the drums kick in it’s genuinely exciting instead of something we’ve heard before.

Oh one other thing I noticed is that the vocal seems to sit somewhat far back. It kind of works, but I do remember being surprised the first time it came in and thinking, “that is too quiet.” I also notice a bit of excess sibilance.

I like the movement of the track, with the various guitars and pads and stuff. I think it’s a really cool song. Like I said, I especially like that end section. It’s got such great energy and sound. The vocals sound great there as well. Reminds me of Pink Floyd.

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Thank you for your feedback!

I agree with the kick/bass part. I’ll do some adjustments there. The sibilance… I managed to tame it a bit, but it needs more fixing.

As for the vocals being far back sometimes, it is the intention. One of the things that made this track difficult to mix and arrange is that it has to give the feeling of moving between two “worlds”. Calm and angry. Dream and real. But I would definitely do some changes if it something that destroys the track.

As for the lack of aggression in the second verse, I kind of agree. I am not certain yet on that part. Maybe I could try with some shouting there also :slight_smile:

I’ll let you know when I have a new version. Thank you again very much!

/Lukas

Hi I like it. I hear a little Pink Floyd. The vox sounds like it has a little defined accent in there?? Is that vocal down the middle?? Sounds spread out to me. the vocal also is not real clear. gotta nice vibe. congrats

Sincerely

Paul

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Just my opinion, but I like how the shouting is saved for the end; it makes it more special. Maybe just some additional attitude in the vocal though, and some strength. A bit more of a snarling anger rather than a shouting anger–like you are getting fed up, but not to the point where you’ve bursted yet–I think that could work.

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Definitely a quite Floyd-ish groove here…

One of the things that I’m hearing is that quite a few of the guitar sounds are very similar in tone and ambience. One of the cool things about Dave Gilmour was how he used contrasting guitar tones to really create light, shade and contrast in his arrangements. I really think your song would benefit from a similar approach.

There is a similar issue with the ambience on all the elements of the track. It sounds like there is a characteristic high-mid buildup in the tonality of the reverb, so when it is multiplied by quite a few elements, it tends to be somewhat wearing on the ear. I’d suggest with playing with different types of ambience, and even soloing the reverb and maybe try to eq it.

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The different ambiance settings are a very good tip. Gonna play with it to see what I get out!

Thanks.

/Lukas

Hi @feaker,

The vocal is down the middle, and has some delays that spread them out.

Do you think the accent is a problem?.

I’ll try to get more clarity out of the vocals. They are clear to me but I have been listnening to this for a month now.

Thank you for your comments!

/Lukas

Hi I just type as I listen and though I heard an accent that was unusual/different. Not a bad thing, just an observation. cool song for sure

Sincerely

Paul

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