Douglas Kirby Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 (edited) Hi Everybody, This is a song I wrote back in 2009 which I never posted, and it's off my "Wishful Thinking" album. Please let me know if you have any critiques of the mix, and thanks for listening. Here it is: https://www.soundclick.com/html5/v4/player.cfm?songID=13529046 Edited July 25, 2019 by Douglas Kirby 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjornpdx Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 Douglas Outstanding guitar intro. Professional arrangement and production as usual. Not sure if I like that cymbal phrase but probably just me. Ending seemed abrupt? I listened to a few of your other songs. Good stuff! They're rock songs with kind of a dreamy quality to them which is really engaging. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynn Wilson Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 Wow! This song is top shelf. I love this, and I've been listening to it all morning. My only suggestion would be to listen to the bass guitar; I'd think about boosting it a little while giving it a slight cut in the 200-300hz region to better define the sound and make it pop out of the mix. Otherwise, this is ready for the world. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synkrotron Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 Hiya Douglas, Good song here. Can't be over critical of the mix and I thing it sounds okay. Having said that, as the song progresses I think I can hear quite a bit of compression, but not with the vocals. Not sure what I am saying here... It's as though the vocals are in a "different space," so to speak. Not that it is bad, of course, it is just something that I haven't been used to lately. I don't use compression at all with my stuff (generally) so I find that when I do hear its effects it kinda stands out to me. Anyway, take my words with a pinch of salt cos I don't know what I'm talking about haha Now I'm listening to The Gentle Hours of Evening... Another nice song this and I let it run rather than closing the browser. Like your singing Douglas cheers andy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhonoBrainer Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 I like the songwriting - the melody over the dark-feeling guitars, and your voice is exceptional. Sometimes you can judge a song by its mood or tone alone, and this is top shelf songwriting and production. If you have the ability to go back in and lower those cymbals, and make them ring out instead of choke off, that might be worth a try. I think the mix in the hands of a pro would get this into the actual charts. Killer voice, killer songwriting. Did you ever shop your demos around? It's a mind-blowingly deceitful and narcissistic industry, but your material is very strong and I wonder how far you could take it. cheers, -Tom 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Kirby Posted June 30, 2019 Author Share Posted June 30, 2019 bjornpdx - Thank you very much for your comments and for listening. Lynn - Your comments are very kind - thanks for listening. I'll see if I can make the bass it bit more prominent in the mix - thanks for your suggestion. synkrotron - Thank you very much for your comments and for listening. I know what you mean about the vocals sounding like they are in a different space - I'll have to take a look again regarding compression on the guitars - I used TH3. emeraldsoul - Thank you very much for your comments. I should try shopping some demos around (thanks for saying that) - I know the big companies don't take unsolicited material. Regarding the cymbals, I'll see what I can do there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnbee58 Posted June 30, 2019 Share Posted June 30, 2019 I agree with bringing up the bass. In some spots the cymbals are a bit too over powering. Other than those two issues, it's a killer song and recording! ?John B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Joad Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 (edited) I like the song, your vocal is very cool but there is way too much saturtion on the the mix, but that being said this is a killer idea. the next song The Gentle Hours Of Evening is really good.. Edited July 1, 2019 by Joad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Oister Posted July 4, 2019 Share Posted July 4, 2019 Hey, Douglas, how are you, buddy? Hope you're gearing up for a great holiday!? This is a really cool song with great songwriting and playing and excellent vocals and harmonies! I always love your song posts. This one sort of reminds me of early Smashing Pumpkins stuff, I listened to it five or six times.? If you're still in the process of remixing this, the guys above all had good suggestions, and I just wanted to add that I think the "different space" situation might be from too much EQ disparity between the rhythm guitars and the vocals. It sounds to me like the main rhythm guitar panned to the left side lacks some mids and hi-mids, and is a bit muddy. I'm not sure how your EQing the rhythm guitar tracks, but I would try lowering your hi-pass filter, (or raising your low-pass filter) to try to add a little bit of mids back in, and maybe even a slight touch of sparkle to those dark guitars. This would also probably help with the bass possibly being masked by the similar low frequencies. I think Tom's suggestion on the cymbals is a great idea. If you notice, they're fine during the intro and verse, and then at around 1:02 during the bridge the compressor seems to be clamping down and smashing them. If the drums and cymbals are all recorded to one track, a multi-band compressor may be able to fix it pretty easily. Anyway, as always, just my own subjective two cents, the song and performances are really fantastic, and I think with a couple tweaks, it'll be radio-ready!? Have a great Fourth of July, Douglas!? Bob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy j Posted July 4, 2019 Share Posted July 4, 2019 Ya, I really like this song. The over all arrangement and sound just had something that really appealed to me. Good suggestions above but to my tired old ears everything sounded good. Excellent stuff!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antler Posted July 4, 2019 Share Posted July 4, 2019 This is a good song Douglas. I think this has previously been mentioned, but it sounds to me like the cymbal crashes (open high hats?) when played successively are a tad loud, causing the compressor to pump the sound a little. Other than that minor point, it's a good mix. Thanks for sharing! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Kirby Posted July 7, 2019 Author Share Posted July 7, 2019 joad - Thank you very much for your comments and for listening. Bob Oister - Hey Bob, I hope you had a good 4th of July. I'm going to try your suggestions in my next mix - to be honest I struggled with this mix - it fights me for some reason, so maybe your ideas will work. Thanks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABull Posted July 8, 2019 Share Posted July 8, 2019 Terrific demo of your song -- I enjoyed listening! ~Allan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Kirby Posted July 16, 2019 Author Share Posted July 16, 2019 freddy j - Thank you very much for your comments and for listening. antler - I'll see what I can do about those cymbals - thanks for your comment and for listening. ABull - I'm glad you enjoyed the listen - thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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