The Flight/The Choice - two songs for the price of one! (still free)

[vomitHatSteve]

These two songs flow together as one, so I'm uploading them as a single file. (Don't worry, it sill only clocks in at 3:45).

The Flight/The Choice - Regdar and the Fighters

As always, I'm open to any and all feedback.

Does the transition work? How's the acoustic tone? How does the piano sound? I'm experimenting with some new auto-mastering algorithms; how is that sounding?

[vomitHatSteve]

That bad, huh?

[JD01]

Sorry Steve, missed this. Will have a listen now!

[JD01]

OK, on 2nd listen now.
Those acoustics at the start sound huge the way you've doubled them with the fuzzy thing.

I don't like the tapping thing that comes in.
Its much better when a proper stare comes in, can you replace the tapping thing with one of them egg shakers or a proper tambourine?

When its all kicked off after the two minute mark, the lead vocal disappears to the background occasionally. So, "Choose now" is cool, "is it really worth it disappears a bit. I think its a combination of those lines being a bit quite and the fuzz guitar being a touch loud.

Then at the end I think you lead "fly away" vocal is a touch on the loud side!

This is good though, really mate.

I've never liked your snare sound, but then mine is shite too!

[SweetDan]

The acoustic guitar sounds good. There's something (not the acoustic) in Part I, though, that's a bit too grumbly/gritty. (Like you were playing a power chord on electric with the 5th below?) My ears want it to sound more open, I guess...more like the balance and the sound on the V chords in that progression (:10, :20, etc.). Maybe move the I / II chords in the electric guitars up an octave? (You could get away with keeping the IV chord as is...try both?)

Other things I heard:

:42 - little timing glitch in the acoustic guitar doubles?

:53 - vocal too loud/present in relation to the other parts

1:10-1:30 - the build up sounds a bit messy

~1:49 - some timing issues among vocal parts as the tempo accelerates

2:06 - pretty big level drop in the vocal - sounds like you stepped away from the mic when tracking; sounds like it happened later in the song too, though not as extreme (2:22 - lotta' words there!, 2:36, 2:41, 2:57; maybe some others where the drop isn't as pronounced)

1:33 / 3:10 - both spots where the motion of the tune pauses - I like the effect, but the vocal here still needs some oomph, needs to carry the tune - maybe hold the notes out a bit longer? ("Storm sets in" => "Storm sets iiiiiiiin")

It would be nice if the lead vocal in the chourses on Part II (1:50, 2:20, etc.) stood out more and was different from the verses. What if you doubled it? (In addition to keeping the harmony vocal parts, of course.)

Finally...is that a tambourine I hear every once in a while in Part I? Yes! More! In fact, how about more of all the hand percussion in that part?

[vomitHatSteve]

That's some specific notes!

JD, when you say tapping thing, do you mean the stick click? All of the misc percussion at the beginning (including the tamborine) is procedurally-generated, so I don't have a lot of control of what sounds happen when (tho I can swap out the click for a different sound and increase the general density)

The distorted guitar in the first part is a power chord with an octave below it rather than a fifth. Unfortunately, the intonation on the instrument is such that it can't go up an octave. (The Cs it goes to in the build are already pushing it)

I hear that volume drop at 2:06, yeah.

JD, when you say the "fly away" is too loud, is that for the very last chorus where all the parts are going at once or the one before it?

Thanks, guys!

[JD01]

I'm out now mate. I'll have a listen in the office tomorrow.

[vomitHatSteve]

Oh. Hey, that post that I 100% submitted 5 hours ago should probably go up:

Ok. New mix at the same link

More randomly-generated hand percussion! Actual tambourine!
More automation on vocals!
Tighter editing on acoustics!
Slightly-tweaked levels on a bunch of stuff!

I also uploaded the unmastered versions of each song for comparison.

Thanks!

[rayc]

That stick hit either needs meat or lots of reverb/delay -
My 1st thought was related to the opening word "So..." - whether it was the usually lazy way to begin a sentence giving an impression of an ongoing conversation or does it actually tie to the previous song...I don't know but it bothered me more than it should.
I like the songs but not the drum/click/percussion track. I assume it's a stylistic choice but I could hear the song pumping away with better drums.
Peter's Wrath in soup of broth?

[vomitHatSteve]

Oh... Thaaaat click. That's an EZ-D side stick. I could totally tweak that sound.

This is the immediate follow up to the last one
"I won't get caught; I'll let you out; then we'll flee together. Flee with me before the Wrath of Peter"
...
"So our heroine soon acquired the key"

[vomitHatSteve]

Alright, being as I was already at my computer and it was an easy fix.

The click is better now.

[musicturtle]

Nice mix. I like the opera style arrangement where you connect the songs through a recitativ to help the story move along. I really like "The Choice" part of this, the electronic keys and bass sounds are interesting and pull me in.

[JD01]

Listening to Mix 3 now, mate.

That's a much better sounding snare/click, might actually be a touch on the quiet side now though.
The vocal is a touch quiet when the organ thing comes in... maybe the organ is a bit loud?

The bit after "Choose now" is still a bit quiet. Even the "choose now's" could come up louder - you could even double track them.

Think you're pretty close on this one though. The "choose now" vocals at the end when the "fly away"s are happening is still pretty quiet.

[vomitHatSteve]

Thanks guys. I'll take another stab at it this afternoon.

(That's an actual piano but I threw a bunch of distortion on it)

[vomitHatSteve]

Ok, 4th mix up with some vocal tweaks.

Probably circling the drain at this point, so I'm gonna just sit on it for a week or so.