KVR Audio

Talvin · Post by **Talvin** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 6:43 pm

Hi there!

My new song turned out to be a typically 80s-sounding pop song. A Berlin friend of mine did a great job and replaced the virtual guitars by real ones which makes the song much more organic.

If you like bands like The Cure, New Order or a-ha you might like the song. Any feedback is more than welcome.

http://the-auditorium.net/viewtopic.php?t=4515

Lunch Money · Post by **Lunch Money** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 7:06 pm

It's freakin' cool! Well worth a listen for anyone who happens to be perusing this thread. I didn't hear the original version, but this sounds great.

No energy for constructive criticisms today, but know that I've heard it and I like it!

Greg

Talvin · Post by **Talvin** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 9:00 pm

Lunch Money wrote:It's freakin' cool! Well worth a listen for anyone who happens to be perusing this thread. I didn't hear the original version, but this sounds great.

Thanks a lot.

riffraff · Post by **riffraff** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 9:29 pm

Not my cup o' tea (I'm an 80's metal guy), but this is very very very well done. Kudos to you!

bluedad · Post by **bluedad** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 10:10 pm

I like this
very well done!

pbxs · Post by **pbxs** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 10:29 pm

Yeah-- this isn't my style of music either but it's done very well.. the mix sounds near pro on my end-- and i mean that as a compliment!

i thought the vox were too dry, but that's me.. i don't have a lot of mastering under my belt..

great job! - i don't know how long it took,.. but it sounds like a while
---
damon

Lunch Money · Post by **Lunch Money** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 10:52 pm

pbxs wrote:i thought the vox were too dry, but that's me.. i don't have a lot of mastering under my belt..

Effects (including vox reverb/delay) don't really fall under the mastering category anyhow. More of a mix engineer's job. On to the non-pedantic part, though: I prefer my vocals a bit on the dryer side, so I thought they were nearly perfect.

All opinions are valid, just thought I'd throw mine out there, too.

Greg

Sascha Franck · Post by **Sascha Franck** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 12:04 am

Very good production. I'd probably bring the vocals up a tad more.
Drum programming seems to be quite good, is it all done "manually" or did you use any prefab things?

stayne · Post by **stayne** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 12:25 am

I'm 35 and this is right up my alley. I like it a LOT. It does sound 80s but has a modern feel. The tamborine and Santana-style solo is ace.

rockstar_not · Post by **rockstar_not** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 10:29 am

Keep making more like this. I'll buy.

I would compare it to 'House of Love' and 'The Church' for bands that sound like this, but I like this better than 'The Church' because your vocals are better.

When does the CD come out.

Seriously, I would not change a thing - just make more tracks like this one. I'm 38 and this is right up my alley as well. Immediately going into the keeper folder for further play.

-Scott

Talvin · Post by **Talvin** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 10:45 am

rockstar_not wrote:Keep making more like this. I'll buy.

When does the CD come out.
Seriously, I would not change a thing - just make more tracks like this one. I'm 38 and this is right up my alley as well. Immediately going into the keeper folder for further play.

-Scott

Thanks.

. I don't have any connections and I am not sure who to contact, although I am convinced that this song could easily be played on the radio. So, if you know the right people you're very welcome to tell me.

As to the drum programming...it's all been done manually by my musician friend Kasimiruslav from Berlin. He also added the guitars after I had sent them my demo.

By the way...thanks for all the other great responses. Didn't expect that.

rockstar_not · Post by **rockstar_not** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 1:41 pm

Talvin wrote: As to the drum programming...it's all been done manually by my musician friend Kasimiruslav from Berlin. He also added the guitars after I had sent them my demo.

By the way...thanks for all the other great responses. Didn't expect that.

When you say manually, do you mean he played an electronic kit into a drum synth - because if this was done with just a mouse and no pre-built programming, I want to take lessons from Kasimiuslav - it was top notch. I expected you to come back and say that the drums were played live - they really sound that way.

-Scott

Talvin · Post by **Talvin** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 2:57 pm

I guess he took parts from my drum programming and added some breaks. I always do it with my keyboard...

Talvin · Post by **Talvin** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 11:52 am

Any tips how I can improve on the mix?

rockstar_not · Post by **rockstar_not** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 1:34 pm

Talvin wrote:Any tips how I can improve on the mix?

I think it's time to move on and write another great pop song.

I think some others mentioned this, but you might try to put a little 'shine' on the vocals with an enhancer plugin or even just pulling up the high frequencies to add some 'air' to the vocals. Try this tip from Sound on Sound:

Sound on Sound tip online wrote: Q What do people mean when they talk about using EQ to add 'air' to vocals?

A broad-band, high-frequency EQ can often be useful to enhance the sense of clarity of a sound, and such processing is often referred to as 'adding air' to a recording. Typically, this is achieved using a parametric equaliser set to a fairly wide bandwidth and with a centre frequency of between 14 and 16kHz. In fact, it is because analogue equalisers can often do this without introducing harshness that many engineers prefer to add at least this EQ while they record.

Kinda 80s melancholic guitar pop song