Hi Liam, thanks for sharing.

Your mix is ok frequency wise and -6db is fine. The mastering engineer can work with anything that is not overcompressed (volume wise).
One thing I'm not sure about is the nasal sounds in the 'chorus'. Seems like a distorted guitar strait out of a distortion pedal without an amp or amp simulator. (like a rasor). I'd try to warm that up. Also the harmonica lacks defenition.

Talking of defenition. The vocal is not too soft, it's unclear, sounding lo-fi. Maybe that's what you were looking for and if so that's ok.

Artisticly, as it is, the song would be perfect in a movie, when a character has a ruff time or something like that. But by itself your song feels like a chain of copy/paste and would benefit having some strong lyrics and melody.

It depends on your intentions

I really like this. It's got great space and texture.

At first, I thought the lead vocal sounded thin and nasally, but when I listened again, I think that in this case, the EQ actually works and supports the track. I also don't think you really need to re-track the whistle. It works fine for what you are doing here.

At around 3:00 when the vocal comes back in, it actually sounds a bit hot to me. I'd tuck it back a bit and make it more equal with the ethereal backing of the other tracks.

There are two ways I could listen to this... the first is strictly as an engineer, in which case I could find a lot of things that could be improved. But... when I listen to this as a musician, it all works. I could definitely picture this as background music in a movie or setting a theme in a scene in a TV show.

IMHO of course.

d.

ye it doesnt have the verses on it yet, and ye i think im going for the distorted effect for the vocal, so harmonica, mor defined, and what do you mean nasal chorus? like the solo guitar for the chorus?

I think that Marco (PC) is hearing the same thing I did, in that the vocal you have there now is very nasally sounding. It kinda sounds like you sang it while you were pinching your nose... LOL.. , and I'm hearing what I think may also be a phasing or flanging of the vocal as well... which is adding to the upper mid-rangey caharacter of the tone of the vocal.

BUT.... that's not really bad for this song. It's another added texture that - within the confines of this song - seems to work.

Normally, I'm a proponent for lead vocals being up front and discernible. Too many songwriters and singers will mix their vocals too far back into the mix, and most of the time, this is caused by the simple fact that
they already know what the lyrics are, so to them, often the lead vocal sounds too hot, so they tuck them back, and sometimes too far back, to where a new listener can't really make them out.

But in this case, in this song, I think you could get away with tucking them back a bit. This isn't really a commercial T40 kind of song, it's more thematic and ethereal, more soundtrack-ish... so you would be okay with tucking the vox back a bit in this scenario.

IMHO of course.

DonnyThompson, post: 419903, member: 46114 wrote: I really like this. It's got great space and texture.

At first, I thought the lead vocal sounded thin and nasally, but when I listened again, I think that in this case, the EQ actually works and supports the track. I also don't think you really need to re-track the whistle. It works fine for what you are doing here.

At around 3:00 when the vocal comes back in, it actually sounds a bit hot to me. I'd tuck it back a bit and make it more equal with the ethereal backing of the other tracks.

There are two ways I could listen to this... the first is strictly as an engineer, in which case I could find a lot of things that could be improved. But... when I listen to this as a musician, it all works. I could definitely picture this as background music in a movie or setting a theme in a scene in a TV show.

IMHO of course.

d.

just our of curiosity, what exactly would a sound engineer do to this, im unsure what exactly a sound engineer is

ye just as an idea what im going for is sort of around this area of sound (once vocals are added) ALSO thinking of speeding up bpm, its already over 4 minutes and i feel its too slow, thoughts?

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I actually like your song better than those two that you posted. Yours has an ethereal quality to it, kinda dreamy, trippy.

Truth be told, I really don't hear the similarity or influence of those other songs in what you are doing.

As far as tempo, well, that's very subjective. If you feel that upping the BPM would serve the song better, then you should follow your instincts... after all, it is your piece, and you should do whatever you want with it.

IMO, the tempo works fine as is. I feel that upping the tempo would detract from the vibe/feel of the song as you currently have it. I like the pocket, the vibe. Increasing the tempo would likely affect that.

As far as a total time for the piece, I wouldn't worry about it. As I mentioned, this really isn't a commercial T40 kind of song anyway (and even if that was your intention, there have been plenty of hit songs over 4 minutes in length). If someone at a post-production house was to hear this and choose it as backing for a scene in a movie or TV show, they'll very likely end up editing it anyway, to fit the time and purpose as needed. It's rare that you hear complete, full versions of songs in those kind of scenarios. It's not impossible that they would use a full version, but most of the time they use excerpts of songs.

You might consider loading the mix you have now into a DAW or 2 Track editing program, and using tempo adjustment processing, speed it up to see how it sounds before you make any permanent changes.
Even if it comes out a bit glitchy - as some tempo altering processors can be; some are great, others not so much, it depends on what you have - but it will still serve as a general indicator in letting you know how it might sound at an alternate/faster tempo.

Altering this track's total time or tempo is really a call only you can make, Liam. Follow your instincts. ;)

FWIW

d/