Latest effort...

V1 - First effort...



V2 - after forum feedback



Final Edit - after more feedback

 

Last edited: Jan 15, 2023

“Art is never finished, only abandoned.” – Leonardo Da Vinci

 

I pressed play expecting a guitar. The title is misleading and i feel bamboozled. 0/10.

But is it finished? I think you've reached a point where it's technically okay, but it could still be improved indefinitively, maybe that's "finished" enough.

I think you should mark it as finished, get some feedback, but not spend more time on it.

 

I'm a newbie here. It sounds pretty good to me. Would you like to share a few tips about your track:

1. About the the voice, did you just sample short sections from Lady Gaga and put them all around your track? I'm genuinely curious about how you do that.

2. At 1:12 I like how the 'Oh Anyone' hook plays with the main voice. It's like the hook is wider and closer to the listener.

3. The main synth bass sounds great. What plugin you used?

4. Remove that cymbal crash at the end, hahaha.

 

Nice one!

I think a track is done when you ask yourself if its done. Meaning, we have reached our current ability limit. Unless someone else can guide us or make you get on the right track again. But most of the times its because you simply have reached the ceiling and made it your best.

Regarding the track, my feedback would be, nice mix and overall idea. What could make it better? Maybe melodies, countermelodies? Strings, maybe some sort of stabs that reinforce parts. As of now its a bit naked, like if you had taken out stems out of an nice sounding multi-track.

Probably this is because you maybe dont feel confortable playing keys yet and have difficulties figuring out what notes matter where? if you dont know really where to go with certain notes its because you haven't establish sort of "chord-progressional" melodies.

Very common for most of us, more for some and less for some others. Fortunately practice makes perfect. IMHO from what i hear your tracks seem to have all chances of getting really good.

 

Last edited: Jan 7, 2023

I find the bass sound the weakest part. I like what it's doing but it should have more low end punch to fit to the drums.
Other than that you could call it finished.

 

There is a rhythm guitar in the chorus. I assume you were expecting to hear the sound of a rope too.

 

i created the outline of the musical parts first and then decided it needed an acapella.

i have a folder on my hard drive of about 300 acapellas. I looked for those in the same key as the track, loaded into Serato Sample and then jammed until i found phrases that worked together. Then added them into the track.

Used UVI relayer to make some of the vocal parts more lofi.

plugin for bass was Uhe Diva

 

Last edited: Jan 7, 2023

Youre right. I created the breakdown but it didnt really fit. Various attempts at trying to lead into it with reversed reverbs and/or Toolrooms infinite effect seemed clunky.

 

In my case for some unknown reason the "ropes" and "Lady Gaga" thingies gave away the guitar one. Okay, very known reasons

 

You do know these are genuine lyrics?

I'll be your girl backstage at your show
Velvet ropes and guitars

 

A track is, by definition, finished when you have spent countless nights recording, mixing and mastering, when you have cursed the Gods and the worlds, when you have nearly thrown up over your screen just from seeing the project because it finally gave you PTSD and when it, eventually, after decades of blood, sweat and tears, sounds worse than after the first take.

 

Finishing a track is not healthy

 

If you're grooving in your chair with an excited feeling, it's finished

If not, ask why not and keep going

 

As a professional, it was always when the deadline hit

 

No mix is ever finished...

 

As a bass player and it is only my opinion, I think it's perfect for the tune. There is plenty of clarity in the line and when it is by itself there is enough low end that does not defeat the clarity of the bassline. HOWEVER - It could possibly have a little more in the 100 cycles register but no lower because the kick has the the 60 and lower covered. He could add the stand-alone sections 60 cycles and sub-bass curve in the spaces matching the kick low frequencies for consistency, then write it out when the kick comes back in if that's what you meant? Otherwise I think the bassline would lose its impetus.

 

https://pitchfork.com/features/cover-story/reader/aphex-twin/

"James has never been known as a terribly forthcoming talker. For years, what few interviews he gave, he conducted only by email—and those could be almost painfully curt. In one from 2011, for example, a reporter from Spain’s biggest newspaper asked him about his relationship with his public. "I hate them." What does he look for when he composes? "Nothing." How does he know when a song is finished? "When I'm sick of making it."

 

yes… I must admit… I was fatiguing at the point I decided to upload to soundcloud.

Whilst I take on board the comments about the mix and particularly the bass (I will have a go at trying to improve this), I was at that stage where tweaking further with my current skill set wasn’t going to improve the overall song by more than 20%

 

I think this is a great track!
If I was to change anything at all, I feel like it could've ended a bit earlier, maybe around 3:27.
The outro feels like it's meandering without knowing where it wants to go.