New song

Hi…finally finished this song, paid more attention to the bass line after Jonothan rightly pointed out that the bass on my last song was the same all the way through ( me being lazy) also kept the intro shorter after kzrider pointed out, also correctly that the intro on my last song was too long…hope this song is better…Kevin

https://soundcloud.com/knmac/carpe-diem

Hi Kevin, not sure if the link is correct, I removed the # symbol and then found the song, might be my browser. Anycase, great song ! Nice harmonies in the vox and great background singers. Base is very effective and the guitars sound very good in the mix. You used the organ kind of sound panned to the right so effectively to lift the refrain. You should do more songs, your sound is unique and I like that you only bring in the drums after the first minute, makes the intro really effective for setting the vibe of the song. Michael

Thanks for the encouraging comments MFox and thanks for the info…corrected the link and should be ok now…Kevin

Hey Kevin,

Nice song, the drums are nice and punchy-love that! Sounds like you’re going '80’s classic rock ballad sound on us here. :wink:

Hi Bane and thanks for the comments…must admit I’m a big fan of rock ballads…tend to lean that way when I’m writing and have to fight it off sometimes…Kevin

Kevin dude, do not fight off the rock ballads, you’re good at it, really good :laughing: The first thing that hit me was the great mixing of the vocals, they sit well. Lovely effects here.

nice :smiley:

Great tune Kevin, and nice mix indeed ! You have a great voice as well !



thanks guys…always considered myself pretty crap at production/arrangement but I must be getting somewhere finally…encouraging comments…cheers, Kevin

Very good - I couldn’t find anything out of place in the mix. The choir that came in more towards the end sounded great, was that you? The drums and bass complimented each-other great, in general a very polished piece that I enjoyed listening to.

Kevin, Most excellent as usual. Great ability to put parts together.



Thanks guys…appreciate you looking in and taking the time to comment, there isn’t a choir anywhere in the song so not sure which bit your talking about Ethan…Kevin

I think the electric guitar at 1:08 could have entered with more impact and a slight increase in dynamic from the rest too with a bit of a thicker texture. Bringing the guitar in at that point was a good choice though. I think the guitar could be brought up a little louder in the mix and stereo-doubled to the left/right or whatever it is called.

The reverb could be dropped a touch on the drums and overall. I also think there is too much reverb on the vocal at 2:09 and the repeat of it. I think it’d be better to double the notes in unison with more instruments and experiment with the dynamics of the instruments and reduce the reverb than to have that amount of reverb for impact.

The bass is noticeably improved upon in this song, the balance of it is nice too. The guitar solo could have been a bit more overdriven for better vibrato sustain and also a bit louder in the mix. The electric guitar playing chords sounds a bit too fuzzy and missing some of the punchiness and thickness that you usually hear for this stuff.

Nice pop-rock arrangement anyway, so well done! Do you EQ the reverb btw? (At the mixing stage as part of the reverbs plugin settings, not when mastering.)

Hi, jonathan, I eq reverb sometimes but didn’t in this case, regarding your other comments, it’s always difficult to know which way to go and we would all choose different paths, as we all know…there’s a million ways to produce/arrange any song but as usual your comments are precise and noteworthy and will be taken into consideration on any future songs…the reason the bass is better on this song is due to your comments on my last song so I thank you for that push…Kevin

Awesome song, great playing. I really love the “Carpe Diem” chorus, it’s very strange and wonderful. It sounds like you were going for a big epic sound but I think you can achieve that with a little less reverb or at the least riding the reverb return in the mix somewhat (or more than you are already). Specifically the reverb on the drums and vocals. There is absolutely nothing wrong with your treatment. I’m just suggesting what I’d like to hear. In short, bring some of those moments up and in our face and then drift away again. Just my opinion. Great work.

Hi jjtcorsair, did try reducing the verb in some areas but just seemed not to work if it sounded closer , thanks for listening and taking the time to comment, Kevin

Well done Kevin ,I like it very much ,it gives off a warm glow , the chord sequences could easily double as a dance track, if you divided drums by ½ the time or even ¼ the time ,I especially like the chorus part it has a good contrast reminds me of the band Tame Impala and the chuggy guitar sounds good .then the solo part takes another nice twist , even the versus sound like choruses well done, the hi hats and cymbals are a little shattery ,don’t know if that is cause what you are hearing on your monitors ,I’ve noticed when using stereo wideners it brings up the volume of the high frequencies in the side channels to give the appearance of width. ,I don’t know if you were using one .i like the drums though they have a bit of weight . good stuff, keep it up. I look foreward to hearing the dance mix. ha ha .

Thanks firestamper, didn’t use any stereo wideners but I always have trouble with high frequencies, dunno why yet.
and your encouraging comments are very welcome, I’ll have a listen and see if I can hear a dance version…Kevin

i always think for example, if people think my mixes are too bright ,then i am probably hearing it too dull and mixing it to that,it must be a reverse thing , could be monitors and room ,i also try listening to mixes on other day to day stuff .i need a new room . :cry:

Using low and high pass filters on the reverb helps a great deal for clarity and it’s common practice in most, if not all genres of music. I’ve only recently started doing it myself, in general high pass at around 100-300hz (depending on which instrument sections reverb it is) and the low pass at between 12-16khz. Apparently pop music has those values even further for clarity, but I haven’t looked into it for any other genre except orchestra as of yet.

I also found that the wrong band/percentage of the stereo imaging in Ozone caused my music to sound too trebly and tinny in the higher frequencies. Although yours doesn’t sound like that, but the reverb filters should definitely help with what Firestamper was saying.

thanks for that input Jonathan…