Does this song have hit potential ? (top 40 pop/rock)

[dantheman360]

Okay guys, I'm still new to producing. This is my 2nd client so far. He's a young singer/songwriter just starting out. He sang and played acoustic guitar on this track.

I recorded, produced, arranged, mixed and mastered the song. Everything was done ITB.

I'm not a pro but so far the result isn't too bad. However I want to improve, so please give me constructive criticsm.

1. Do you think the song has hit potential ? (answer the poll)
2. What technical aspects can be improved in the production/mixing ?

Thanks !

Daniel

[hle144]

Originally Posted by dantheman360

Okay guys, I'm still new to producing. This is my 2nd client so far. He's a young singer/songwriter just starting out. He sang and played acoustic guitar on this track.

I recorded, produced, arranged, mixed and mastered the song. Everything was done ITB.

I'm not a pro but so far the result isn't too bad. However I want to improve, so please give me constructive criticsm.

1. Do you think the song has hit potential ? (answer the poll)
2. What technical aspects can be improved in the production/mixing ?

Thanks !

Daniel

Not bad, keep up the good work. Its very commercial accessible. I can hear this track on "The O.C" or one of those teen TV series.

[C Heat]

Tight song.

I really, really like it.

If it were Jesse McCartney it may stand a chance IMHO

[C Heat]

dreamsongs? What are your thoughts / opinions?

I'd be really interested to know.

[HIGHENDONLY]

great song
What's the vocal chain on lead vocal?

[snüzz]

let's see- cheesy? yes. predictable? quite a bit. artistic? not really. so in other words, yes, you have a radio hit. the song actually sounds pretty darn good through my computer speakers and it seems like you did your client justice very well. the music has a nice radio friendly sheen to it. good job pal. MySpace.com - www.myspace.com/snuzz

[heathen]

Nice mix, it would probably be worth your while to have it mastered professionally.

[Dopamine]

Nice song and production, sounds pretty current.


What do you mean when you say this is your 2nd client? How long have you been involved with recording? I'm just saying some of the things I hear sound a bit more sophisticated than a newbie could pull off.

[dantheman360]

Thanks for the feedback guys ! The vocal chain was a Peluso 2247 LE into a Great River MEQ-1NV into an RNC compressor. My converters are Echo Gina 24/96 (thinking of investing in Lavry Blue). I use Sonar.

I'm 23 and have been recording my own stuff as a solo artist for the past 4 years. So I guess I'm coming from the artist background moreso than the sound engineering one and have a lot to learn. I started producing when my friend's band asked me to do their album. Word of mouth led to my 2nd client. As fun as producing other artists' music is, at this point I really miss working on my own stuff and playing shows, so I think I'll get back to that.

I totally admit, this song's lyrics aren't the most original but hey that's how this artist writes and I can vouch for the honesty of his writing. Oh, and keep in mind he's 20 and has been writing songs for not more than 3 years. He's a good, hard working, ambitious guy, albeit slightly naive. He's in the "I want to get signed to a major label, become a star and play stadiums within the next year" mode right now. Problem is..it took lots and lots of vocal takes and tuning on almost every note. He needs to improve his chops. I'm trying to give him constructive criticsm and encouraging to get out there, get vocal lessons and play tons of shows. I'd love to see him succeed, even though that's certainly not my definition of success.

I'd like to post some of my material at some point and get feedback although I'm still a bit shy. I like the idea of hearing what total strangers who know a thing or two about music and production think !

[dmbandtimmy]

Did you program the drums?

[deathman]

Nice piece of work! I like it! ...maybe the snare drum is a little anoying ... but overall a great mix!

[snüzz]

but overall a great mix!

[/quote]


is it an eq thing or is it the bit of verb that you don't like with the snare? i have to say for a 23 year old chap you are doing quite well. i would tell your client, in addition to having career ambitions, to never loose track of his love for playing music. i have been a musician all my life and i'm now 43. at times it was feast and at times it was famine. mostly famine and that's how it goes even for the majority of extremely talented folk out there. always remember the "plastic hallways" quote by hunter thompson and play music for the love of it.
i think you should post some of your own music to get some feedback. music is very subjective. some like nickelback- some hate nickelback. the point is if you play music you are putting your head out to be lobbed off by someone. i still record on a dinosaur called the 1680 but i always thought the compostition was as much or more important than the fidelity. you can even send it to me privately and i'll check it out. MySpace.com - www.myspace.com/snuzz ps. i hate nickelback

[dantheman360]

Thank you again for all the feedback/comments. The drums were programmed using BFD.
Now that I listen back to the mix after some time off I'm realizing the vocal was overcompressed and I could have created more dynamics using automation . I'll incorporate that into version 2 of the mix.

I've removed the old file.

The song will be getting some radio airplay on a local station tomorrow, can't wait to hear how it sounds on the radio !

[DeeDrive]

Originally Posted by dantheman360

The drums were programmed using BFD

Out of curiousity, what drums did you use in BFD?

[heathen]

Hope you got a radio master done or your going to be in for a rude shock when you hear it, most likely.

[dantheman360]

For BFD, I honestly don't remember what drumkit it was. I did slightly augment the snare with some samples and eq'd and compressed it quite a lot.

Unfortunately the artist has no budget for professionnal mastering so I pretty much had to do it myself to the best of my knowledge and ability.

Is my master really that bad for radio ? I've listened to it on different systems and it seems okay.

What exactly is a radio master ? How does it differ from the regular album master ?

[deathman]

You just have to watch out for the stereo and mono image... to be as similar as possible! And don't overcompress it...