Just the intro is a 5 easily. This one is really fun. The intro was a 5 but the rest kind went cheesy a bit but I really really like that bass so the 5 stays
This is my big experiment with mixing which I worked really hard on, mostly in early September. Started it in January 2013, and I was never really happy with the transitions and the ending, but hopefully you guys like it. Learning how to mix is like a new beginning for me, thus the title. You might have to turn up the volume a bit - I had to turn down the volumes a lot after I tossed the limiter. 13 hours' total work in FL Studio 10. Thanks so much for listening, guys, and enjoy! :D ...and I will start uploading more often soon, I swear!
Just the intro is a 5 easily. This one is really fun. The intro was a 5 but the rest kind went cheesy a bit but I really really like that bass so the 5 stays
Haha, thanks man! Yeah, cheesy is an understatement. :)
Some assorted thoughts:
I often hear a riser in the song, like at 2:27, but it doesn't rise TO anything, if that makes sense. When I hear a riser I expect a buildup and then a "drop" of some sort on the other side, but that's not happening here.
At 2:37 I understand what's going on - you're doing call and response with the piano and synth. I think this was hard for me to understand at first because the synth does not feel like a lead instrument like the piano does. I can't really explain why - it's something about how the synth sounds.
The chords are quite jarring to me because they move around so fast. You normally only expect one chord per 4 measures, except under rare circumstances that are justified by a complex melody. I would say that for now, try to follow this rule - and then once you feel comfortable with it, try breaking it :)
At around 1:07 I'm feeling like the song is lacking a lot of coherence. Like, one thing happens, and then another thing happens, and then another idea comes, and they don't seem related too much. I think one way to fix this problem would just be to use some sort of pad instrument to "glue" the song together. Pads do a great job of making a tune sound coherent.
The melodies are also kind of random.
I have a challenge for you that might fix this problem of randomness and coherence. What I want you to do is write a song that has a melody and then has variations on that melody. There are a lot of fun "tricks" you can do to make melodic variations. One of the easiest (and most successful - great musicians are doing this ALL THE TIME) is to take an initial melodic idea (say you play E-F-G on the chord of C major), then transpose it (say to A-B-C on the chord of F major) and have that transposition follow right after. Or I could do something after E-F-G and then play the transposition.
Check out the tune "Seeing Other People" by Belle and Sebastian for an example of this - oh my god, so many transpositions - and yet it sounds awesome.
Another fun way to do variations is to play the same melody under different chords. Say I do C-D-E in the chord of C major. Sounds happy! Now I play it in the chord of A minor - sounds sad. :(
(Obviously your melodies will probably be longer than 3 notes... mine are 3 notes just for the sake of readable examples...)
I also want you to focus on melody. Sad thing is that there's no shortcut to get better at melody except tons of practice.
Overall I thought it was an improvement! I don't mean this to sound so negative, I just notice a lot of things that I can suggest to improve! For comparisons sake, if I go back and listen to, say, Lily's Theme, I think you've made definite strides. Keep it up!
Well, this is a fantastic review, Johnfn, so thank you SO much for all the careful thought you evidently put into it. ;D About the "riser," I was just trying to smooth out some transitions, but I'll try to think more about leading somewhere with them. I can also understand your disorientation with the lead and piano. For some reason, Autogun sounds different in NG's project system than it does in FL Studio, if that's any defense. I agree with you about the jarring chords, especially at 2:59. I suppose I just tried to keep it a little TOO engaging. Thanks for your advice about the pads. I think I need to stop using random Garageband loops in my songs. XD I agree that my melodies tend to be...random. I'll keep working at it. Thanks so much for your advice, Johnfn! :D I really appreciate the support! ;D
Please contact me if you would like to use this in a project. We can discuss the details.