XLSX Music

Thanks for listening and the feedback. 👍🏻

I've just released my new track all produced in Cakewalk (still the Bandlab version) This one is for anyone that's lost someone close to them. It's about losing s loved one to illness and dreaming about how life could've been. The video is done in Canva using stock footage. I'm currently trying to build a small following on YouTube and aiming for 100 subscribers by the end of the year, so I would greatly appreciate any support, and a subscribe if you like what you hear. ❤️

It's an absolutely beautiful Library. So much expression in the sounds. Spitfire Labs in general is fantastic. I've used a lot of their packs.

Thanks so much for listening 🙂

Thanks so much Keith. I was very happy with the mix in the end. I struggled a lot to get the piano to fit in nicely at some points which is why the melody increases an octave from the second chorus. Most of the strings are the free BBC Symphony Orchestra by spitfire, and then the strings on the quiet middle section are the chello moods pack from Spitfire labs. It's incredible what you can get for free! 🙂

Thanks so much Nigel. I'm not very confident with my vocals so it's nice to hear you enjoyed them. 🙂

This is my latest track produced in Cakewalk. The song is about dealing with stress and anxiety always having something in the back of your head pulling you down. https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/xlsx/haunting-me

Thanks so much Nigel, I'm glad you enjoyed it ?

Thanks so much for the compliments Freddy! Interesting point on the lyrics, the chorus just popped into my head one day and I wrote it down and when I sat down to write the full song they all just came to me straight away. It normally takes me ages to fill out the whole song. Thanks for listening.

Haha, thanks for checking it out. I was super happy with the cover art. It's actually AI generated using Microsoft Bing Image generator. I'm glad you liked the song, the ending works really well doesn't it

Thanks for listening, i'm glad it sounds well recorded. It's getting a bit easier with every song I do. ?

Thanks for listening Nick. In regards to the vocals, getting the balance right is something I'm still struggling with and it feels like it's the final piece of the puzzle I've got to solve. I'll get there eventually ?

Thanks for listening. I definitely wanted something short and catchy so glad it got you tapping ?

Thanks so much Daniel. I really appreciate your comments and you taking the time to listen. I'm actually 36 now but it's definitely a throwback to when I was younger and the album that mainly influenced it was by a bunch of 18 year old at the time.

Here is my latest track, https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/xlsx/call-me-back All mixed and mastered in Cakewalk but with all third party plugins. My workflow is so much quicker in Cakewalk now as I have a really good track template set up with everything I need, and have created a lot of FX chains for things I commonly use. For this song I wanted to create a nice fun short one, that is heavily influenced by the bitter tongue in cheek breakup songs on Brand New's debut album 'Your favourite weapon' which was one of my favourites back when I was a teenager. I would welcome any feedback and would be really grateful for a follow if you enjoy it.

Thanks so much! I'm a bit self conscious about my vocals as I don't think I'm the best singer, so that's really nice to hear. Backing vocals are all me as well. ? Thanks for listening ?

Thank you Kevin. I'm glad you enjoyed the song. My previous releases have received feedback that the vocals weren't forward enough so I've probably over compensated on this mix. It's all practice and I feel I'm getting a little bit better each time I release a track. Thanks again for listening and you comments. ?

Thanks for listening and the feedback. It's worth mentioning that I'm still very much in the learning stage but I feel like my mixes are steadily getting better. I did focus a lot on the vocals on this one following feedback from previous efforts, but maybe at the expense of other bits. I did EQ the synths but maybe could've done something different. Thanks again for the feedback, it all helps. ?

Thanks for listening Mark and.im glad you enjoyed it. It was an interesting subject to write about and a bit of a departure from my normal themes.

Yeah the VSX are a total game changer for me. I'm working out of a small spare room at home and it would never be ideal for speakers. Thanks for listening and the feedback on the mix. Glad you like the vocals as I did focus on mixing those a bit more following some common feedback on earlier projects. I'll have a review of the drums and take any learnings forward to the next song, which is definitely going to need punchy drums. I suspect that maybe I went a bit too hard on the limited on this occasion which may have impacted the punch. Thanks again for listening and providing feedback. ?

Here is my latest release. Some notes about the song: It's the first time ever that I've completed a song at 'Final Mix 1', mainly thanks to the clarity I can now get with Slate VSX headphones. These days I'm completing mixes so much quicker and slowly getting better quality with each song. It's also the first time I've used a cowbell in a song ? The song is about the impact that us humans have on the planet and how we don't always learn from past mistakes, and sometimes bury our heads in the sand to avoid hard truths. The reference to the pyramids in the video is because the song was partly inspired by some of Graham Hancocks work and theories regarding ancient civilizations. I hope you enjoy it and any feedback is much appreciated. It's also on all the streaming services. https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/xlsx/this-can-only-end-one-way

Thanks for the kind words Ross and thanks for taking the time to listen ?

Thanks Nigel, glad you enjoyed it. I was really pleased with how the middle section that you referenced turned out in this song. As mentioned in my previous comment to KS, I'm currently just trying to find a balance between being a perfectionist and going round in circles on mixes, and just letting little things go an release them. This one was definitely way at the latter end of that scale and in hindsight I wish I'd done a couple of more revisions but it's all a learning experience. ?

Thanks for the feedback and listening to the track. I can see what you mean about the bass now. Definitely something for me to check on future tracks. I'm trying to be less of a perfectionist these days and just get songs out there but stuff like that should be a quick fix. ?

https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/xlsx/ill-always-wait Hi everyone, my new single is out today. This is the quickest I've ever completed a song and my workflow is getting so much better now as I can experience and learn how to mix. Any feedback would be much appreciated ?