PhonoBrainer

Hi Jack, you'd just add a third party drum program into your project. Addictive Drums 2 is usually a good place to start, but there are loads of other options.. I'm not familiar with the Cakewalk drums but I'd bet they have some more flexibility and different hi hats you could swap in or out. Again this is all just my tonal preference I'm relating to you. You might not want to change anything just because some guy on the internet says ? The hi hat in your song is very much a "techno" hi hat, I think, but I thought your song would benefit from a more organic and natural acoustic drum vibe. Might be a thought, or not. P.s. I listened again and I like the "tong" of the ride cymbal hit. But the open hi hat that follows it is the same sample each time, same waveform same sustain. Any way to mix it up could be a plus.

That was nifty, thanks!

Greatly creative, and if you think about it, has a bit of the Greatful Dead vibe. Amazing vocal performance, and the drum mix is super clear.

You win. Game over.

The answer to your question becomes far more interesting than you might expect. Especially on headphones! I liked it very much. You and Jesse Screed on this forum share some musical DNA. Just great for an adventurous if indulgent listening experience. If I could offer an opinion on the proceedings, it would be to improve your drum sample quality a little, or at least that open hi hat at fixed volume that just demands the listener's attention at the detriment of the other excellent song parts. I appreciated the unexpected all the way along this ride. Thanks!

How did you get Steve Wariner to play 5 times on your song??? This is just great, it kicks ***** without apologies. I'm listening on mid-level quality headphones atm, and the mix sounds a bit top-end focused. I'll give it a spin when I get back to better cans and the Neumanns. It ended too soon.

That stanky soul guitar on the left had me grooving the whole way. Good vocal treatment, fit it all perfectly. Stereo MC worthy. 90's lives on!

Did he have a huge green screen setup? Well done, lookout Maroon 5!

So why are the abdabs screaming? Abdabs by and of themselves are unsettling enough. The world wants to know! Good music has novel and unpredictable changes, this fits the bill, does it not? And I liked that really happy girl in the vid.

I got a Tom Tom Club feeling from this! I like fun music about oddly serious subjects. Nice job here! You might bring the drums up in the mix, as the plinky panned synth/organ things were a fair bit louder than the kick and snare, at least in my headphones. YMMV of course. Your lyrics, and the way you held certain syllables, very good! You could send this tune in to the Weather Channel, in case they get tired of the reporter-getting-blasted-by-the-wind-on-live-tv trope!

I was flipping back and forth, hearing the captions read in the voice of Carl Sagan or Morgan Freeman. Lovely floaty synth with well-crafted visual choices, very good job Bjorn! It got me thinking big thoughts in my small mind. If before there was anything there was nothing, that requires the negation of Lavoisier's law of conservation, which is mighty hard to let go of.

Whatever the next Disney movie is about dogs, this should be in it. Your chord changes with that awesome melody, just terrific old-school pop writing. The modulation was clever, and straight into an instrumental retelling of the hook - great idea there. And the mix was very hi-fido. Great collab, great vocals, great talents that should be more widely appreciated!

Tut tut. Bohemian Cello at $149 was a good deal, for me. Lord help us if the software producers ever hear the word "cartel"

Get that man a coffee farm.

. . . somebody racked up enough Jam Points?

I lusted after this one like 20 years ago, but never got it: Roland Handsonic. Updated version costs a cool $1K. In the same boat as the OP, I bought this a few years ago: Presonus Atom, around a hundred bucks. Guess what? The build quality really really sucks. The pads don't trigger reliably, which I believe was the point of making the darn thing. Looking for better! ATOMpad-large.jpg.auto.webp

In other notable mergers,

You have two vocals saying/singing different things, both panned left. Can't make em out. Then a third vocal with cool panning effects. However if the intent is to let the whole thing just wash over your conscious mind, it's quite fun, as per your usual. Silly humans, always expecting a narrative. ? I don't know that mixing decisions are super critical if the arrangement is a wonderfully psychedelic goulash. But your individual instruments sound very cleanly recorded which is half the mixing battle. The other 90% is being original. Well done.

Yes I agree it's worth more time! Nice tune, I was hearing a Pink Floyd direction as a possibility. Percussion would be welcome as well. I look forward to hearing where this one goes. It has a nice mellow vibe.

Is there a "Paul" vst that comes in later and re-records them?

Trippy! I think it's very strong, with a greeat lead vocal, and did you pitch yourself up to get the bgv's? They totally work! I think the only mix thoughts I would have would be a comparison. In the second 3/4 of the song, compare your lead vocal volume to the organ. The organ serves, the lead vocal shines. Perfect! But go back to the very first intro at the beginning, I think the organ is stepping all over your lead vocal, even though the organ is panned hard right. Too much competition? In the beginning, maybe the hi hat could use a skosh more reverb to sink into the mix. This is all so very super original. Loved it.

Well here's more .02 kroners on your excellently constructed, sung, and vibed song that is super catchy . . . I listened on headphones and was always noticing that open hi hat that splashes up on the "3 and" , you might bring him down a bit. And in my headphones the bass disappears, who I think would or could be a main driver in this groove. Overall, though, very well conceived. Kind of an Emo Burt Bacharach! I dig.

I could hear a little Robin Trower influence in the vocals? Or maybe Fred Frith? I could hear a full stop gospel choir in call-and-response. Very cool groove all the way through. I agree there's more meat to hang on these fine bones somehow. All set for it. Mix wise it sounds like you have added an eq bump for air, to the hi-hats/cymbals, and it might be worth pulling it back a bit. ? Very solid groove, sir.

very catchy and cleanly played, Makke! Great to see you in the vid as well. I like the stops in the piece and excellent dive-bombing vibrato! I'm hearing just a bit of crackle in spots when both guitars are going at it, maybe a tiny overload of the converters? Could be worth a check. very secret agent, man! well done!

This cultural appropriation is . . . . . . dread full.