Wow. This is really good! You did an amazing job with this. What program do you use to mix the audio?
Reviews for "Never To Have Love"
kynivoid responds:
Thank you very much! Glad you enjoyed it! :)
The program I use isn't anything impressive. It's just Audacity haha.
Another awesome track in this group! Really melancholic... You did a quite awesome job here. Did you sing all the layers in the voices by yourself? If... Than congrats! A really sombre and nice song with a lot of emotions. Good luck here!
kynivoid responds:
Thank you so much! It means a lot! And yes, I did everything, including the different vocals and whatnot! I'm glad you liked it! <3
== This is an official NGUAC Review ==
Wow, this song is beautiful.
First of all, I ADORE your vocal harmonies. I think as soon as I heard you sing the first harmony I was hooked and also amazed, and the song only really improved from there. I can't even think of other songs that do 3 part harmonies off the top of my head... maybe the Beatles, or some psychedelic music, I dunno... but like, your harmonies are so effective everywhere. The harmonies in the chorus are a different style, but they're really good too.
While I'm praising stuff, allow me to also praise your composition and melody writing. It's all excellent. There isn't a single bad melody in here. The chorus is great, the verse is great. I like it all. The song is very sombre and thoughtful and pensive in the way that you'd imagine a song about a breakup to be.
I actually find it hard to believe that you're still mixing this down with just pure Audacity. Dude, if you are looking for a sign that you're good enough to use a better DAW, LET THIS BE IT. Your songwriting is great and it could REALLY be helped by all the additional stuff that a decent DAW can afford you, like more instruments to add into the song, greater ease of mixing, etc etc etc. The advantages are too many to really list.
My biggest problem with this track is the slow and plodding speed of it all. When I first saw it was verse/chorus, I was hoping that the chorus would speed up the track a little bit. Unfortunately, if anything, the chorus is even slower than the verse, stripping away even more layers and high passing your vocals. If the song was only a single verse and a single chorus, I think that it would have worked, but unfortunately as it is I get kinda tired of the same thing again once we launch into the second verse and chorus. Don't get me wrong, the melodies and harmonies are great, but it's too much of the same, you know? I would have LOVED to hear you ramp up your harmonies even more for the final chorus, like really fill out that mix!
My other problems with this song are mainly minor. I think that the guitar tone is pretty thin and definitely needs a better recording. Also, the guitar drumming at 1:20 and a few other places is just goofy, it doesn't sound good at all and should definitely be replaced with something else.
All in all, great track, just let down a little by the arrangement and slow tempo.
Mini-scores (not used to calculate final score in any way - just so you know what needs improvement):
Arrangement: 3/4
Composition: 4+/4
Sound Design: 3+/4
Production: 2+/4
Overall: 9.0
kynivoid responds:
Wow, I dunno what to say except thank you! For both the criticisms and compliments all the same. I definitely agree my stuff could use more variety, and I feel ya on the goofy guitar drumming. Looking back on it, it is not the best thing I could have put there. I'm really not working with much so I guess I just look around for whatever sounds I can make and add to a song. I'll try to look for a better DAW, but I'm very very VERY new to this whole music thing (so new that I had to look up what DAW meant). So I don't know what programs and equipment are good for this sorry of thing and I'm also very broke haha.
Anyway, thanks a lot for the review! I'm sad, I couldn't make it to the final round of NGUAC, but I'm glad I at least received a good and constructive review! :)
I wasn’t really a fan of the robotic vocal sample at the beginning - feels a little out-of-place given the acoustic vibe of the rest of the piece, and also takes the emotion out of the lyrics. Still, I like the minimal guitars at :13. The pacing of the vocals thereafter is really fitting to the melancholy vibe of the piece, and the vocals blend really well. I also like the lyrics a lot - very down-to-earth and relatable. After a while, the minimalism wore on me a bit. I think you need some drums and bass to give the piece some more punch and drive. I also thought you needed to enunciate some of the consonants better - like “taKe” at 2:07. Overall, I really like the mood, and the production quality is also quite strong. The mix is dry, though, and the composition is pretty underwhelming. I’d encourage you to keep working on this! Keep at it, StealthyNine. ;)
8.5/10