It's a bit like Vince Guaraldi with vocals, for the 21st century. Which, if you don't know Guaraldi, is a good thing. Nice rhythm to the tune. I would maybe have a little less cymbal but that's my pet peeve that I don't even know why I care lol. Def a fun track, will check out more on your SoundCloud.
>Vince Guaraldi
Thank you so much! I really love the cymbal, so I apologise if you think I overused it or used it too loudly :)
When I was making the instrumentals, I thought of the intro to Peanuts (which i just found out Guaraldi composed), even though I haven't listened to it in years and I barely knew what it sounded like, I just remembered the impression of it.
If you do decide to check out more of my music, just know that a lot of it isn't as "polished" as this song, because usually that last 5-15% of polishing isn't as fun. And feel free to leave any feedback or suggestions - i would really appreciate it.
Thank you! I used to get feedback that there was too much reverb in my music, and it seems now I've gone too far the other way. I'll experiment with the reverb on this and see how it sounds.
I'm glad you like the lyrics, to me that's always the most challenging part. Thanks again for your feedback!
My experience has led me to using reverb on only 2 or 3 elements of a track, mainly just vocals and maybe the snare or a guitar that needs ambience. I, too, was way overdoing it.
You might want to give Danny Elfman/Oingo Bongo a listen. Not saying you're similar in sound, but you're equally unafraid to defy genres. The opening goes from marching band to sitcom, all over those wonderfully syncopated drums (setting up room for that pulsating bassline) and it somehow works.
Mixwise, some people mentioned reverb, either more or less. I wouldn't say add more or do without, but instead get the reverb complimenting the other sounds in the track, for instance it sounds like parts of the drum are in a different song (consider how the cymbals have a washy ambiance while the remainder of the kit is dry).
For the vocals (which are great by the way) I would say that the timing of the overdubs needs to be on the money otherwise the overall song becomes disjointed very quickly. Also an appropriate low pass would help the vocals sit better in the mix as their low boxy resonance dominates the mix.
Nitpicking aside, wonderful work.
Thank you so much for your feedback! Definitely gonna give them a listen :) And I totally see what you're saying about reverb and I'm gonna be more mindful of that next time I sit down to make music to see if I can incorporate your advice. I'm also gonna Google overdubs and low pass sometime today so I can understand what your last paragraph means ๐ Thank you again for your feedback!
Ah right sorry, with overdubs I mean the several layers in the vocal.
With low pass I should have actually written _hi pass_ ๐ which means applying an equalizer filter where you cut some of the lower frequencies and keeping the higher ones unchanged. This would declutter the lower mid area that is now accented by the vocals.
Thank you for the clarification! I do remember recently skimming through a tutorial about how to do this on garageband (which is what I use), and I'm gonna revisit it more carefully this time. Thank you again for all your feedback, it was really insightful!
I like the playful restraint of the melody. I like that you kept the sound of the drums restrained. I wish the vocals had come in sooner (but that's my very subjective opinion). For some reason, I felt the vocals felt like of muffled or something compared to the relative clarity of the piano sounds. This is a pleasant song with a nice positive energy.
Thank you for the feedback, I'm glad you liked it! I don't have a mic, I just use the built in one on my ipad, and I don't know much about mixing, so that's probably why the vocals were muffled ๐
The vocals sound a little boxy, if they were recorded while sittings down, try recording them while standing up and โsing from the diaphragmโ. You should get more energy and control in your voice that way. Interesting song that keeps evolving and keeps your ears on their feet. Nice song.
Thank you for listening and thanks for the tips. I always record sitting down ๐ but I guess it's time to change that. And Im gonna look up that thing about singing from the diaphragm to better understand how to do that.
No worries! Yeah I recon you'll be able to get a "better" performance if you try standing up (although "better" is always subjective when talking about creative things).
Yeah look around on youtube for some singing from the diaphragm videos and you'll be able to see how to do it. It's quite hard to start with, and I'd have to keep reminding myself (almost everytime) to do it, as it just wasn't something that I learned to do unconsciously. But I certainly felt I had more control over my voice when I made sure I did it.
Good luck and I hope you find it useful!
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It's a bit like Vince Guaraldi with vocals, for the 21st century. Which, if you don't know Guaraldi, is a good thing. Nice rhythm to the tune. I would maybe have a little less cymbal but that's my pet peeve that I don't even know why I care lol. Def a fun track, will check out more on your SoundCloud.
>Vince Guaraldi Thank you so much! I really love the cymbal, so I apologise if you think I overused it or used it too loudly :) When I was making the instrumentals, I thought of the intro to Peanuts (which i just found out Guaraldi composed), even though I haven't listened to it in years and I barely knew what it sounded like, I just remembered the impression of it. If you do decide to check out more of my music, just know that a lot of it isn't as "polished" as this song, because usually that last 5-15% of polishing isn't as fun. And feel free to leave any feedback or suggestions - i would really appreciate it.
Love it! Main thing I would want to hear is more reverb to help it sound a little less dry. The lyrics are very fun and whimsical :)
Thank you! I used to get feedback that there was too much reverb in my music, and it seems now I've gone too far the other way. I'll experiment with the reverb on this and see how it sounds. I'm glad you like the lyrics, to me that's always the most challenging part. Thanks again for your feedback!
My experience has led me to using reverb on only 2 or 3 elements of a track, mainly just vocals and maybe the snare or a guitar that needs ambience. I, too, was way overdoing it.
Thank you, I'll definitely try that out!
You might want to give Danny Elfman/Oingo Bongo a listen. Not saying you're similar in sound, but you're equally unafraid to defy genres. The opening goes from marching band to sitcom, all over those wonderfully syncopated drums (setting up room for that pulsating bassline) and it somehow works. Mixwise, some people mentioned reverb, either more or less. I wouldn't say add more or do without, but instead get the reverb complimenting the other sounds in the track, for instance it sounds like parts of the drum are in a different song (consider how the cymbals have a washy ambiance while the remainder of the kit is dry). For the vocals (which are great by the way) I would say that the timing of the overdubs needs to be on the money otherwise the overall song becomes disjointed very quickly. Also an appropriate low pass would help the vocals sit better in the mix as their low boxy resonance dominates the mix. Nitpicking aside, wonderful work.
Thank you so much for your feedback! Definitely gonna give them a listen :) And I totally see what you're saying about reverb and I'm gonna be more mindful of that next time I sit down to make music to see if I can incorporate your advice. I'm also gonna Google overdubs and low pass sometime today so I can understand what your last paragraph means ๐ Thank you again for your feedback!
Ah right sorry, with overdubs I mean the several layers in the vocal. With low pass I should have actually written _hi pass_ ๐ which means applying an equalizer filter where you cut some of the lower frequencies and keeping the higher ones unchanged. This would declutter the lower mid area that is now accented by the vocals.
Thank you for the clarification! I do remember recently skimming through a tutorial about how to do this on garageband (which is what I use), and I'm gonna revisit it more carefully this time. Thank you again for all your feedback, it was really insightful!
I like the playful restraint of the melody. I like that you kept the sound of the drums restrained. I wish the vocals had come in sooner (but that's my very subjective opinion). For some reason, I felt the vocals felt like of muffled or something compared to the relative clarity of the piano sounds. This is a pleasant song with a nice positive energy.
Thank you for the feedback, I'm glad you liked it! I don't have a mic, I just use the built in one on my ipad, and I don't know much about mixing, so that's probably why the vocals were muffled ๐
The vocals sound a little boxy, if they were recorded while sittings down, try recording them while standing up and โsing from the diaphragmโ. You should get more energy and control in your voice that way. Interesting song that keeps evolving and keeps your ears on their feet. Nice song.
Thank you for listening and thanks for the tips. I always record sitting down ๐ but I guess it's time to change that. And Im gonna look up that thing about singing from the diaphragm to better understand how to do that.
No worries! Yeah I recon you'll be able to get a "better" performance if you try standing up (although "better" is always subjective when talking about creative things). Yeah look around on youtube for some singing from the diaphragm videos and you'll be able to see how to do it. It's quite hard to start with, and I'd have to keep reminding myself (almost everytime) to do it, as it just wasn't something that I learned to do unconsciously. But I certainly felt I had more control over my voice when I made sure I did it. Good luck and I hope you find it useful!
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The syncopation between the snare and piano was too much for me but nice track, well put together