Hi everyone, just finished a new track and hopefully I got the bass right this time…should be more than enough, cheers, Kevin
I like the song and the vocals, though they get a little lost in the choruses I thought.
I reckon you could work the arrangement and dynamics more on this one. A bit more texture in the choruses and more ‘drama’ in the drum performance. Actually I could hear some nice string parts working well on the choruses.
I guess I’m used to a different sonic character with my own stuff and I’m not sure how to describe it but it sounds like its lacking mid-range warmth to me. It sounds quite ‘toppy’ with a well-defined bottom end, but I think its the mids that seem to be lacking. Dunno… its all very subjective I guess!
You write some nice stuff 
thanks sherz…I did have some probs getting this to work (or not work) and did pull a lot out of the midrange because it seemed crowded, there’s definitely an art to mixing…if I knew how to produce and mix properly I’d have a new song out every week !!! the production is the hardest part…cheers, Kevin
I liked the song too! But gotta echo the same comments, the dynamics and arrangement could be improved a bit. I really liked the guitar sound as well as the notes in the verse, but the strings lacked the correct harmony to what my ears wanted to hear. I felt it was really missing something to the right above the bass’ pitch, but I honestly think the note choices could be better for the verse on the strings. The string sound however, works very well for the song.
The bass was actually pretty quiet still! I kinda felt like if I imagine a live player playing it, that he/she would be hitting the notes too softly instead of solely a volume issue. My headphones are pretty balanced between bass and treble since they are designed for making music nothing gets boosted.
As for the sonic character I’d best leave that to Sherz. It could be something in the mixing or the mastering stage that could add the warmth and stuff. Oh, btw what reverb and how many instances of the reverb effect do you use? Even without knowing that I can tell you a good deal of the too crowded comment you said is because of that. If you used QL Spaces you’d also be astounded at how much clarity and definition between the instruments it makes! What do you use for mastering btw? Good going so far, sounding good!
Hi jonathan5456…the strings are just playing the chords of the song, don’t know what else to say about that really, the reverb is lexicon pcm and there is only one instance of it and that’s on the vocal, there is a tiny bit of a lexicon vintage drum plate on the drums…I’ve re uploaded the song with a bit more “middle” and lifted the vox a bit in the chorus after the comment from sherz and I don’t use anything for mastering, I just mix it in the project and export it…something I’ve got to take a look at in the near future obviously, I’m working on a song now with lots of strings so when I put it up I would be particularly interested in your comments and thanks for taking the time to listen to this track, Kevin
Another good one! Like that ending. One thing that’s bothering me is the second chord in the verse. If I am hearing correctly, that’s a Bb minor chord, but I hear an A in the bass which clashes to my ears with the Bb you are singing. Would agree with Jonathan’s and Ian’s comments as well.
Well…went to the project to check it out and you were right !! and when corrected sounds instantly better, wish I had ears like yours !! gotta thank you for that input, I’ve changed the bass part in question and reuploaded it, thanks again early21, Kevin
The bass still sounds just a little bit too thin/weak, it isn’t just a volume issue with it being too quiet, it sounds like the player is just hitting the notes too soft to have the right timbre/energy, even in a more laidback song like this. Mastering will make a huge difference, I use iZotope’s Ozone 5 myself, picked it up for just £120 online, it was around £220 from their official website, complete rip off.
Anyway, I like that mastering program because it has many presets for lots of different styles, a nice interface to work with and from the presets you can begin to tweak it. If you don’t wanna buy a mastering program you can always download the iZotope Ozone mastering PDF guide for free, which has a lot of good tips in it and I’ve learned a lot from reading it, although there is still a lot I don’t understand in it and doubt I ever will!
i didnt hear the first one you posted but this ones sounds pretty good to me, think i mentioned before you remind me of duran duran, if not well… you remind me of duran duran
Thank you THS…and jonathan5456…i will definitely be looking at doing some mastering…cheers, Kevin
Hi,
liked the song overall and the mix is not bad. However, I also find the mix to be on the thin side. Maybe one culprit could be the way the drums sound: I find the drum sound way too bright - this is very prominent in the chorus part. Additionally, the drums sound too artifial and unnatural to me but maybe this is a genre/opinion issue rather. Maybe you could tweak the hihat/snare levels and eq a bit. And also the kick could have a bit more bottom end.
Liked the outro of the song with the reverse sounding pads.
Hi hko, your right about the drums…got a lot to learn about everything really, the songs never end up sounding like they do in my head…and I seem to have over done the mid frequencies thingy and intend to have another go tomorrow and re upload it, I would be very interested in your opinion of the redone version if you wouldn’t mind listening again,…thanks for listening anyway, kevin
I’m gonna have some free time on my hands soon. I’d love to have a play around with one of your songs (this one?) if you’re interested. You know, do a mix for the fun of it - interesting to see what, if anything, good comes from it. I find it quite refreshing working with other peoples stuff. 
I would have no problem with that and would be very interested in the outcome…how would you want the files sent given that everything is wav, suppose i could put them up on my soundcloud page and you could download them…maybe ? or is there a better way…pm me…Kevin
having said that I am re mixing it now and will be re uploading in an hour or two so if you want another track have a look at my soundcloud page…knmac, cheers, Kevin
Ok…re mixed it, I think it sounds better…Kevin
Hi Kevin,
definately more bottom end now overall. I also find the drums sounding better now. I would still reduce the levels on cymbals/hihat quite a bit so that they blend in better with the rest of the mix.
But all in all much fuller sound. By the way the vocals sounded good to me from the start.
Hi hko, thanks for listening again and helping to improve the song…gotta problem on the drums…rendered them to wav and didn’t keep the midi track, I’ve just had a go at using eq to reduce the cymbals and hi hat but it sits on all the other kit also…I always do my drums on one stereo track ( I can see your look of horror ) but it’s a load of hassle having 9 or 10 separate drum tracks and anyway…if you see a drummer all the drums are in one place and you hear them in stereo…that’s my excuse anyway, cheers and thanks again, Kevin
I listened to your song twice , from start to end, that should be a compliment coming from me 
Overall a good song !
You have a stunning peace right at the end ! It is stunning, but it sounds a little weird as the end of a song (in my humble opinion). I would use only the first 2 bars of that piece and mix than in as a bridge between the 3rd and last refrain as it makes a nice contrast with the rest of the song. As for the end of the song, just a simple fade out on the refrain would be my choice.
I agree with other members that your drums needs more variation, would just help to build the song and give it more substance.
But great piece of work - congratulations !
Ok, I see. I guess you are then a bit stuck with the cymbal/hihat levels. Midi tracks do not use a lot of space so I would keep those so that it is possible to make tweaks later on a bit easier.
I don’t always bother having separate tracks for drums either but I’m using Superior drummer i.e. I can still tweak the individual pieces of kit even though I would stick to just one virtual instrument stereo track.