Help me out with my first non-metal mix.

[roy22341]

WARNING: NOT METAL!!

This is a song I recorded for a buddy of mine - more of a Staind type thing than anything else. I have Ozone thrown on there just for the sake of seeing how it sounds but since its only the demo it cuts out once in a while - don't mind that.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=884527&songID=7036217

Some more quick background if you're interested. He came to me with only the acoustic part and vocals and my guitarist and I wrote the rest of the parts. So easy to write music like that if you ask me. Any suggestions on the songwriting too would be appreciated. Thanks again.

 

[smy1]

I don't wanna sound like an ass, but this is the perfect example why this kind of music is not easily written and produced (I personally think pop/rock is much harder to do well than metal).

My opinion:

a) please tune your instruments, everything sounds like a big wobbly, chorus-y, out-of-tune mess
b) there is no hook at all, nothing is memorable
c) the song has no real dynamics, the chorus isn't a real climax
d) the lead guitars are noodly and not memorable, in pop/rock you have 8 bars or 16 bars to write the most memorable lead in existance, people need to be able to sing it - not the case here.
e) the mix is one big soup of sound, the vocals are totally buried so that I can't understand most of the words. If I can't understand the words, I can't sing along. If I can't sing along, I don't wanna listen again.
f) the singer can't sing. Lot's of famous singers can't sing, but they at least have a recognizeable voice. Your friend doesn't have one either. At least he doesn't sound like a trained musical singer doing alternative rock now. That's a big plus ...

I have really been trying hard to find anything positive to say, but I really can't find anything. From recording, performance, songwriting to mix ... it's all not very good.

Please don't take it personally, take it as a subjective critique. Others might think differently!

 

[The-Zeronaut]

I don't wanna sound like an ass, but this is the perfect example why this kind of music is not easily written and produced (I personally think pop/rock is much harder to do well than metal).

My opinion:

a) please tune your instruments, everything sounds like a big wobbly, chorus-y, out-of-tune mess
b) there is no hook at all, nothing is memorable
c) the song has no real dynamics, the chorus isn't a real climax
d) the lead guitars are noodly and not memorable, in pop/rock you have 8 bars or 16 bars to write the most memorable lead in existance, people need to be able to sing it - not the case here.
e) the mix is one big soup of sound, the vocals are totally buried so that I can't understand most of the words. If I can't understand the words, I can't sing along. If I can't sing along, I don't wanna listen again.
f) the singer can't sing. Lot's of famous singers can't sing, but they at least have a recognizeable voice. Your friend doesn't have one either. At least he doesn't sound like a trained musical singer doing alternative rock now. That's a big plus ...

I have really been trying hard to find anything positive to say, but I really can't find anything. From recording, performance, songwriting to mix ... it's all not very good.

Please don't take it personally, take it as a subjective critique. Others might think differently!

MO-MO-MO-MONSTER KILL !!!

 

[smy1]

MO-MO-MO-MONSTER KILL !!!

No. Just being honest, nothing in my critique is meant to be anything other than helpful.

I produce pop music. I know what listeners, artists, radio stations and a&r's expect, because I've been dealing with this for a while now ...

 

[DominikJW]

Ahh come on, it's not that bad! The mix aint the best in the world (is this mono?) but since it's just a demo imo it's definitely listenable. Could be a really cool song with better production.

 

[smy1]

utarefson: as I said above "Others might think differently".

I'd still say that 99% of all A&R and radio people would turn this off after 20-30 seconds. I also disagree that it'd be a better song with better production because the song is weak (no hooks, no dynamics, boring structure, boring lyrics from what I could make out).

Regarding "it's just a demo". Most demos that get submitted to pop/rock artists sound almost exactly like finished records (minus the mastering), so this approach doesn't cut it.

 

[DominikJW]

Well, you know, there are demos and demos. And with the better production I forgot meant also better performance. Rewriting the solos would be also nice. Anyway smy1 I get your point and agree with most of your arguments man.

ps. I know loads of boring pop songs with no dynamics

 

[roy22341]

smy1,

Definitely no offense taken - I agree with most of what you said. The song itself is very generic. I'll try to bring the vocals out more and make the chorus a little more climactic. The vocals were pretty hard to work with since they mostly had very little emotion and were immensely out of tune. I'll work on it some - thanks for your input. If you have any other suggestions I'd greatly appreciate it.