(Art pop?) Vocals and synths

[jayhosking]

Just started working on vocal music again, and would love any feedback on how to better the sounds, mixes, etc. coming out of Reason.



For the curious/interested: main pad is built from a sample of a single key press in Emotional Piano, time-stretched and reversed into an NNXT, with Synchronous and an LFO-controlled RV7000; bass is Reason 9 stock 808 bass patch; snare is stock 808 Kong run through a Decimort2; arpeggio is built from a Red70, Decimort2, and the Echo; and vocals are recorded with an sE Voodoo VR2 into a Steinberg UR44 with the RE-2A on them.

Let me know what you think, and how I might make this music and mix better (i.e. more itself).

[jappe]

Hi Jay,

I liked this a lot.

I'm listening on my Marshall London phone and the mix sounds great here.
The music is creative, beautiful.You have a great voice and this tune really sounds pro.

[VHS]

I LOVE this. Those lyrics were great and your voice is fantastic. You could maybe add some reverb on the vocals or a few other things, but honestly, I think it sounds very personal and well mixed as is. .
That said, I would love to have a shot at remixing this, maybe put the vocals in a different context. PM me if you're interested, I promise it wont be dubstep. Either way, please re-post when you've settled on the final mix as I'd love to hear it!

[jayhosking]

Hey, thanks so much, both of you!

VHS, remixing sounds fun, no matter the outcome. I'll send you a PM now.

[ionly]

I like it A LOT. The extended vocal harmony part (up to 2:35) would sound the biz going slowly from narrow/dry to wide/monster-wash with an effect (verb/chorus/phaser?) Then bang, back to dry.
Maybe add a touch of mastering verb to the whole mix (600hz-7k), so it's barely audible(?)

My ears anyway
Cheers

[jayhosking]

Hey thanks for the suggestion, ionly! I played a bit with reverb on the vocals but didn't try anything so wild. Might not fit the sombre feel of the current mix, but I'm going to give it a shot nonetheless. Maybe it'll lead to an entirely different mix!

[ionly]

I would love a go at it also. You can dump it if you don't like it. And it's STILL YOUR tune. Pretty please

[Pi5cEan]

Yep, good stuff indeed.

[jayhosking]

Hey yeah, no problem! It's all exciting for me. I'll send you a PM shortly.

[ionly]

Hey yeah, no problem! It's all exciting for me. I'll send you a PM shortly.

Marvellous


Cheers

[hollyn]

Really lovely, Jay. You come across as heartfelt in all the right ways: a great song and arrangement with interesting timbres and a balanced mix.

I might suggest that you revisit it with fresh ears after you've been away from it for a bit to see if any lightning bolts strike when it's at arm's length.

My inner-ear soundtrack is imagining a few tweaks and additions here and there; but I'd hesitate to be specific because this mix really is beautiful.

Thanks for sharing.

Holly