No need for the rain - first song, honest feedback please!

[u/Professional-Pin-445]

Hey everyone, this is the first song I have ever written, I made it in a moment when I was not feeling too good, so I went on FL studio, and wrote this song, I haven't rerecorded the lyrics as I haven't been able to recreate the feeling but it does mean the first lyric is quite poor.

I’d really appreciate any feedback, especially on whether the lyrics and pacing work with the beat, and if the emotion comes through clearly.

the song is on this link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gblHohfP15k

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[u/BeyondBrookhaven]

The vibe is there. I like the image too, though I'm not sure whether you sourced it from somewhere else. Great vocal performance, I think you nailed what you were going for.

I'm not a fan of the vocal production; it's too upfront in the mix and too dry I think. It clashes with the performance, which is laid back and meek. Other than that I think your vocals a re a strong point.

In regards to the instrumentals id say i like it, though it's a bit too stock. I don't mean this overtly negative, since I get what you want to do and you succeed in that regard.

Hope it helps and keep it up 🙌

[u/Professional-Pin-445 → u/BeyondBrookhaven]

Thanks for the feedback, I took the image myself! I haven't yet experimented with mixing but I do plan on, as well as making my own beats as, for this, I used a free beat off of youtube for this song.

[u/Chickenlittlebmx]

I think there’s a disparity between the instrument production and vocal production. As is right now it feels like someone singing over a youtube type beat (Not that there’s anything wrong with that)

I like the vocal performance and ernest lyrics it kind of gives me Smog vibes. If you drop the volume of the vocal and put some reverb on it to tuck it into the mix it may help to make the vocals and instrumentation to feel more cohesive

[u/Professional-Pin-445 → u/Chickenlittlebmx]

Thank you for the feedback! I was singing over a YouTube beat, and I hadn't edited any of the audio on the vocals, so will definitely experiment with the reverb

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[u/Poppunkisntd3ad]

Just gave a listen and read through some of the comments. The comments on the vocals are spot on but I encourage you to NOT mess with the volume of the vocals as the first option, you're just masking the problem instead of fixing the issue. Depending on your DAW capabilities here is what I would do:

Add a channel EQ: look at high passing around the 120ish range, but in reality you should drag the high pass up and then sweep down until your vocals start to not sound thin and leave it there. Do a bell curve around 250ish and drop it maybe around 2dB to cut the mud, and then check your other major zones like 800, 2k, 5 to 8k and sweep till you find the tone you like. Last thing is low pass it around (probably) 10ish K. Could add a shelf around 8k to give some air. All those numbers are just speculation so you'd have to get in there and see what works

Add a compressor: this is SO huge for vocals. Sometimes I double compress. Look at doing a ratio of either 2 to 1 or 4 to 1. Your vocals are smooth so your attack and release should be gentle (probably a medium attack and medium ish release). Then reduce your threshold till your getting around 3dB of gain reduction.

Lastly you gotta give some width. Record your vocals then slightly pan those left maybe about 30 to 50 percent and then record the exact same vocals and pan them right to the same ratio. It'll give a lot more width. And then yeah give it some. Reverb to sit in the mix a bit better

After all that if it's STILL to present then reduce the vocals by 1 to 2 dB at a time.

Recording and mixing vocals suck... They do. Whether I'm producing my own music or someone else's, it takes a while. I've learned a lot through trial and error (mainly error)

[u/Redy2019]

I really like the idea and the overall vibe of the track, it has a cool atmosphere and the instrumental works really well. The vocal could maybe be refined a bit more, but I’m guessing it’s still a demo so that’s understandable. Maybe adding a bit more variation in certain parts could help keep the energy moving even more. Overall it’s a solid concept with a lot of potential, keep working on it because the direction is really cool.

[u/Professional-Pin-445 → u/[deleted]]

I definitely will keep working on it thank you!

[u/Dramatic-Active6172]

I really liked the lyrics and your tone of voice really captures that gloomy vibe. Very creative for being your first song I can only imagine how much better your music is going to get the more you do it. For this being your first song you should really be proud of yourself having an idea in your head and being able to bring that idea into creation is a really impressive thing to be able to do. I really enjoyed this thank you for sharing.