Hey Paul, beautiful song, beautiful performances. The arrangement builds really so well, and the construction of the song chords-wise has some nice ear-catching surprises surprises.
Mixwise, it is all working well, although the vocal feels a little “small” compared to the instrumentation. It holds its level, and is audible in the mix at all times, but it just doesn’t feel like it is “important” as it deserves to be. It is a killer-sounding vocal, so I don’t think there can be such a thing as “too loud”.
Maybe some stereo widening, and a little more high end polish and level on the vocal would really give it the attention it deserves.
EQ-wise, the mix feels a little too thick in the low mids - there are a lot of things fighting for space down there, so maybe work on clearing a little space on the individual tracks and things should clear up nicely. Maybe just a tad too much sub as well.
Probably the single most noticeable thing is that the mix is lack a little brightness and air in the top end overall. A simple shelf lift high up on the master buss would probably do wonders to give some nice polish to the mix. It might help bring the vocals forward too.
Really enjoyed the track! Top-shelf stuff! 
Thanks so much for the review. All good suggestions
The new guy posted a creation. ha ha Cool. Yeah, I like the sounds and the vibe. I’m sorta like a cheerleader here on the forum. Don’t have the experience or smarts to say too much. I like your voice and wish I could hear it better. I can hear “I just wanna” and then I think it is run? You are very talented and I think the crew here is going to help you make this sound even better.
My first impression was I love the stereo guitar parts and the tones you’ve got going on in the beginning. The vocal is really really well done. And you’ve got some good dynamics throughout with all the builds and your production is really good too, i.e. the different guitar parts from Vrs1-Vrs2. The mix sounds pretty decent to me, but Andrew above and some others are the ones to give to pointers there.
One suggestion might be to automatic the width of the L/R guitar parts. Oddly, in this nice and dynamic arrangement, those parts sort of felt “static”. For example, you could reduce the width on those parts (and/or others) for the verses, then pull them out big and wide for the chorus/build parts, so your mix gets bigger in every direction, not just in volume - if that makes sense. Anyway, really nice song and well done. Thanks for posting it!
Wow, very nice, Paul. I do agree that the vocals could be a tad more prominent, but this is close.
I love where it kicks in at 1:30. Very powerful. Nice energy there. Love your swells, such as at 2:55.
Might not be a big deal, but the beginning of the song felt a bit slow and long to me. Almost lost me. The power of this song is when you picked it up at 1:30. Very, very cool. Just took too long to get there, IMHO.
I didn’t care for the swell right at the end. It felt like it should’ve ended at 3:57, after “I just wanna run.”
So, did you do all of the instruments? Nicely done. What’s your DAW?
Nice tune. Nice vocals and decent mix. Very nicely done, man!
Thanks for sharing.
Pchad902,
Thank you for the review! Curious what state or country you are from. Now your song: would it be accurate to say this is a mellow rock song with a slight country flavor? Though certain elements remind me of Coldplay. Sounds very good! Nice audio quality. I like the backwards reverb/delay ending (I’ve done that trick a time or two myself). The very first vocal phrase sounded very slightly pitchy on the harmony vocal for me; otherwise, I don’t have any complaints at all; I could picture hearing this on the radio. 
First thanks for taking the time to check out the song. This is actually my sons band. He sings, plays guitar and records and mixes the band. They basically record the basic rhythm tracks live and over dub as necessary. He sends the mixes to me for input. I thought this forum would be a great place to get another perspective and constructive criticism. You guys did not disappoint. The comments are really appreciated and helpful.
Thanks for the listen. great suggestions. This is my sons band. I will pass on the help.
Thank you for your help. This is my sons band . He asks me for input, and I thought having this forums input would be helpful. I appreciate all the suggestions from the forum. They basically record the basic tracks live as a band and overdub. It’s all live instruments. He cuts the vocals later.
Thank you for checking out the song. This is my son’s band. I agree with your take on the vocals. I love having a lot of different ears on the recording. The suggestions are great.
Wow this is great… good song and the mix as it is sounds really good.
A couple of things:
- love the guitars and how they sit in the stereo field, especially when the organ comes up and fills things in around 1:18
- Vocals sound excellent, but I think some balancing between sections would help. I felt they sat well in the bare intro, but then (as everyone has mentioned) felt like it could be a bit more prominent throughout the rest of the track. Definitely the chorus.
- I really dig the bare-ish vocals in the intro, there’s times during the rest of the track I thought it could use some more sauce. Totally subjective opinion though.
- I don’t mind the low mids but it does get busy and can probably do with some separation EQ… I find when there’s a lot of ambient stuff with glorious delay washing over everything things can build up pretty quickly.
All this is pretty minor and personal opinion-driven stuff. This stands as a really enjoyable track… Kudos to you and your son!
Great song! The biggest thing that’s sticking out to me is that the mix sounds a bit muddy. I’m hearing some buildup (maybe around 600hz? Just a guess) in the vocal as well, which I think is what’s keeping it from sparkling. Yeah what I would do is take a pass at mixing this in mono, trying to unmask individual parts a bit better.
Great idea thanks.
Thanks for the listen
We are in the Chicago area
Hi Paul,
Welcome to the forum!
Good song! And good mix too. I thought the vocal was quite clear, but only just a bit too low in the chorus. Just a tiny bit of gain riding there would do the trick. Or maybe it isn’t a level thing but the effect of the reverb placing it too far back in the mix compared to for instance the bass guitar. Are you using pre-delay on the reverb? If you’re not: maybe something to try. I thought the bass was a bit prominent in the middle of the song (around 2:30). Taking it back a little may help the chorus come out stronger. I like Mike’s idea of bringing in the guitars closer to the center in the verse and spreading them out in the chorus (I’ll have to try that trick myself too 
There’s one guitar in the chorus (on the left) which is maybe a bit too loud and/or too harsh. It’s just demanding a bit too much attention.
Mind you, all of this only minor stuff. Great track! And good to be able to do this together with your son.
Thanks for taking the time to listen. All great input. It really is fun to be able to have something in common with your kids.
Sounding good. I look forward to hearing more from your sons band. I think the others said what i would have.
Thanks for the listen