Sweet vocals ! Congrats for making to the finals !
Couple of days after i found i will be proceeding to the knock-out stages of the NGUAC, i got an email from a client who wanted a song for his anniversary. Great i thought, two birds with one stone. Composed, recorded and produced on the 12th and 13th August in my home studio.
"What would be great is if you could make this kind of like as if Elvis was Young and Alive today. Something like -can't help falling in love- is what i had in mind."
"Simple guitar chords and some drums to fit is good."
That is all i had to go by and this is the result. I went for a more traditional simple ballad. I kept the chord structure simple as the client is wanting to learn the song and play it to his wife.
My process;
I picked 6/8 as it gives a sway which is real nice for a love ballad,
So i used Elvis Presley "Can't help falling in love" as guideline for the direction i want to take.
I started first started off with lyrics then wrote the harmony and melody around that,
I, VI, IV, IVm in C and found a melody that came most naturally but preferred the sound of the melody key of D, But the open chords in D sounded too bright and preferred the cadences With the open chords in C so i put a capo on the 2nd.
Once i had the song written, I found the natural tempo and recorded a reference guide guitar and vocal,
Recorded the drums Gylnn Johns Method (three mic setup),
Next compose and record bassline,
Then double track Acoustic guitar panned,
Then triple tracked my vocal with 3 different mics,
Composed and recorded solo Guitar,
Mix then master.
Unfortunately i had to rush the mix and master as he needed the song by the 15th and i will be out office the 14th - 15th, so i would of liked to have spent a little longer polishing but i did my best in the time given.
Equipment & Plugins;
Logic Pro X
Pearl Forum Drumkit
Ibanez AF-55 E Guitar
Taylor 114e Acc Guitar
Harley Benton Bass
Boss ME-25 Multi-FX Pedel
Roland Micro-Cube bass amp
Tascam US - 4x4 audio interface
Imac 20-inch 2009
Rodes NT-1 Mic
Shure SM57 Mic
Rodes M3 Mic
Waves Audio Plugins
Izotope 7
Recorded Here;
Thank you for taking your time to read and listen to my piece!
Sweet vocals ! Congrats for making to the finals !
I like the relaxed guitars at the beginning and the vocals at :20. The chord progression is a little generic, but the production quality is really strong and I like how the texture gets richer as the piece goes on. The solos at 1:43 are nice, although during the following refrains there might’ve been a little more harmonic variety. On the other hand, the doubling of the vocals with the guitar at 2:05 did add a soulful bent to the tone of the piece, and I enjoyed the novel riffs at 2:50. I think the volume changes at 3:02 could’ve been a little more gradual - otherwise they come off as a bit unnatural. The slight ritardando and stand-alone vocals at the end work well, but also come off as a bit cliche. Still, the mixing and mastering sound professional, and you’re clearly a talented vocalist and guitarist too. Strong work overall - my main complaint is probably the lack of originality in the arrangement and harmonic structure. Keep at it, ConnorHeather! ^_^
Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.25/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
8.5/10
Wow what an absolutely great and in depth review! Awesome thank you!
Well the chords are basically Creep from Radiohead. Doesn't make it bad, at all. Your voice is quite soothing. But a bridge, breaking from the rest, would've been nice. And as said before, the mixing is pretty awesome. Lovely overal.
Cheers.
The chords are a I, VI, IV, IVm and then Creep is I, III-major, IV, IVm.
The 4th to minor 4th is where you are feeling the creep vibes.
Agreed a bridge would be nice, but i wasn't given any lyrics for a bridge.
Lyrics i was given were "Verse - Chorus - Chorus" so i used a guitar solo as kind of "bridge"
Thank you for your feedback it is much appreciated!
Hope you are having a great week!
alright sir. this is really good. that solo was really nice. super polished.
you're too kind, thank you!
Very nice and well mixed. 👏
Thank you!
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