Broken Fortress

Discussion in 'Off Topic' started by jakob hunter, Jan 24, 2012.

  1. jakob hunter

    jakob hunter Ancient
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  2. Xun

    Xun The Joker

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    Firstly, I'll say that the song sounds too busy during the verses. There's something about the chords you used for the bass in the verses as well that doesn't gel well with the rest of the song, you can hear it when the chords clash.

    Also, you should probably compress the song a little better, I could barely hear the drums over the guitar/bass/vox. And they need to be more "drummy", as they weren't really a prevalent force driving the song, which drums should be most of the time. At times when I thought there would be a snare or a crash coming up, there wasn't, and it left my mind feeling unresolved.

    The best thing about this song is the chorus, as it has the most structure and flows generally better than everything else. I know you don't always have to have perfect structure when it comes to songs, and going against the grain can be ear-pleasing, but only if it's executed well. Not trying to sound overly-harsh, but it was just shy of the mark for me. Clearly you have talent and a passion for music, but there are just a few more things you need to develop. :)
     
    #2 Xun, Jan 24, 2012
    Last edited: Jan 24, 2012
  3. jakob hunter

    jakob hunter Ancient
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    Thanks for the honest feedback, i think the verses are unstructured mainly because it took me forever to come up with a melody that worked, the one i wrote the song too turned out not sounding as good when recorded, so i had to change it which made the structure off haha. With the drums, i'm kicking myself right now for not editing them better and not noticing haha
     
  4. Furry x Furry

    Furry x Furry Ancient
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    I like the later bits but I think a lot can be improved upon, even minimal things such as EQ'ing and compression will go a long way with this. Your guitar, bass and drums all get a bit muddy in the mix so I suggest cutting the frequencies in the bass and guitar around 80-120Hz. If you still need to clean it up after, try around 400 Hz. (If you want your snare to really pop, cut all other tracks around 200Hz and boost the snare as necessary.)

    I think you can roll off some of the low-end on the vocals to, to make it even clearer. If you want the vocals to really shine, I suggest using some minimal sidechain compression so that your vocals compress the rest of your track when you (or whomever) is singing. Also, adding slight delay and reverb goes a LONG way on a vocal track. It can be very minimal if you're going for that lo-fi sound.

    The guitar solo is pretty sick. Like Xun said, you can hear some chords clashing with the melody but that's nothing that can't be fixed. What is the extent of your knowledge of music theory? If you're really interested in it, I can teach you a few things I have learned.
     
    #4 Furry x Furry, Jan 24, 2012
    Last edited: Jan 24, 2012
  5. jakob hunter

    jakob hunter Ancient
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    My father is a music major, so i've learned everything i know and am still learning from him. But thanks again for the honest feedback, I don't have the best recording equipment, but i agree that there are things i could do with what i have to clean it up. Soon i might be able to record in a studio which will make things easier (also when I get a drummer and bassist haha) thanks again for the honest feedback, and not totally destroying me :D I'm an ammature hoping to get better and feedback really helps
     
  6. Furry x Furry

    Furry x Furry Ancient
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    Honestly, you can process the current track to sound better without the expensive hardware now-a-days. I think your audio is fine, it just needs treatment and no matter how good your studio setup is or will be, you need to treat the song. Did you apply any effects, EQs, compressors, etc? Assuming you have a DAW, which one are you using?
     
  7. jakob hunter

    jakob hunter Ancient
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    I record through garage band, yeah i used compression on it.
     

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