DallasSteve Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 I've created a new album that I'm going to publish with CD Baby. I wrote about 20 albums when I was younger but I never published any. Now I'm retired and we have these great software programs where I can do everything in my laptop. 40 years ago I had a 4-track Fostex Cassette recorder that I used to make a few demos. What a mess, but it was fun and it helped me to learn the principles of music production. I like the way my new songs turned out, but I know the vocals are weak. I used Melodyne to pitch correct them and did everything else I know, but they are still weak. I could hire someone to replace my vocals, but it may not be worth spending more money on this. If they are only for my enjoyment, they are good enough. If you think it would be worth it to hire a singer, let me know. My main question is: Does this sound like I have infringed anything? I used an old Beatles/Zeppelin trick and based my new songs on old rock classics and then re-wrote them. Do you recognize the song or maybe you recognize some other melody that I copied unintentionally? I was careful to change the melody completely to something different than the base song. As for the lyrics, maybe you saw a news story on the Internet a few years ago about a young woman who was partying with an American couple and fell to her death from their hotel balcony - naked. I give you "Don't Kill The Unicorn". 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegaltieribrothers Posted October 26, 2021 Share Posted October 26, 2021 Hi DallasSteve, I'm with you on this one, 'Don't Kill The Unicorn', infectious tune and clear vocal mix. Thanks for sharing. Good Job! regards paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark skinner Posted October 26, 2021 Share Posted October 26, 2021 Cool song , I'm not hearing an infringement but if you did , someone will probably let you know "one way or the other". If you're looking for any mix suggestions , mine would be to not duck the main mix with the vocal track. It's pulling a lot of the energy out of it . Really enjoyed it .. mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DallasSteve Posted October 26, 2021 Author Share Posted October 26, 2021 37 minutes ago, mark skinner said: Cool song , I'm not hearing an infringement but if you did , someone will probably let you know "one way or the other". If you're looking for any mix suggestions , mine would be to not duck the main mix with the vocal track. It's pulling a lot of the energy out of it . Really enjoyed it .. mark Mark Thanks for the input. Can you please clarify what it means to "not duck the main mix with the vocal track"? I don't understand what "duck" means in particular. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark skinner Posted October 27, 2021 Share Posted October 27, 2021 Dallas , it sounded like the vocal channel was side chained to a compressor affecting the rest of the mix. When you sang , the main mix would decrease in volume , ducking under it , and as soon as your singing paused like between phrases , the main mix would jump back up. It sounded intentional like is often done on bass and kick drum ( if you want to bring either one to the forefront). It seemed to me to be happening whether intended or not. It didn't sound like the vocals were covering up the mix , but like the rest of the mix volume is actually dropping when you sing . ?? mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DallasSteve Posted October 27, 2021 Author Share Posted October 27, 2021 (edited) Mark I think I understand now. You are probably correct. I put the compressor on the final Master bus that has all of the tracks in it. Would that cause what you describe? How could I set it up differently to give it a try the other way? Edited October 27, 2021 by DallasSteve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjornpdx Posted October 27, 2021 Share Posted October 27, 2021 Well, it didn't sound familiar to me so there's that. The vocal seemed disconnected from the rest of the song. Might need volume lowered or less reverb, not sure. Catchy tune though. I like it. -Bjorn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bush Posted October 28, 2021 Share Posted October 28, 2021 From the off , this one suprised me kept me going all the way to the end cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack c. Posted October 28, 2021 Share Posted October 28, 2021 your voice is fine.more bottomon bass guitar.song sound original.jack c. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DallasSteve Posted October 28, 2021 Author Share Posted October 28, 2021 4 hours ago, jack c. said: your voice is fine.more bottomon bass guitar.song sound original.jack c. I went back an listened again. I agree. The bass is lost in the mix. On most of my songs the bass is more prominent, without being too strong, I think. I'll try to watch for that in the future and I will probably remix this at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhonoBrainer Posted October 30, 2021 Share Posted October 30, 2021 yes to more bass, maybe the vocals down a bit? Did you mix this in headphones? It's tough to get the bass right in cans. Wait, I really don't think this is about unicorns. As far as musical plagiarism, I think your song only borrows from every other song ever written using only one chord. Sounds good! cheers, - Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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