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Project 4, Session Diary 10: Feedback from friends and tutors

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Current version of song which I showed the people giving me feedback: https://clyp.it/dvawbtpy

Today in Professional Industry Practice I approached a couple of my friends and my tutor Colin Doran to give me feedback on my song.

I received very positive feedback overall and the main improvement points from my friends, Callum, Chloe, Alex, and Christie were to record some harmonies with the vocal, add some toms to the buildup before the chorus for extra tension and to make the vocal a bit louder in the parts where Lauren is singing quite low.

Colin was very critical about the track but he said it is a very good song and has incredible potential.
He suggested to rethink some parts of the arrangement because I the piano melody is very strong and needs to show a bit more sometimes, this could be achieved by some volume automation. The vocal sounded a bit muddy to him and he told me to experiment with different microphones and possibly record some counter melodies and harmonies. A specific microphone he suggested was the Rode NT1-A which coincidently I own.
Additionally, I will also try out the Rode NT2-A and the TLM 103 again and choose which one sounds the best.

Image result for rode nt1aImage result for rode NT2aImage result for tlm 103
All of the above are condenser microphones and are rather bright and clean.
Since the track does have some dynamic changes to the vocal and Lauren sometimes sings very loud I will also try to record one take with the Shure SM7B since it’s a dynamic microphone it will handle dynamic changes a little bit better and it has a darker sound than any of the other condenser mics which might fit very well with the rather dark vibe of the song.
Image result for sm7b
In composition skills, I spoke to Mark Taylor and he also gave me some valuable feedback saying that I should make the arpeggio in the chorus slightly lazier and delay it by milliseconds to give it a more liquid flowing feel. An idea he had for the bridge is to add some Aaaah’s or Haaah’s which Lauren will sing when we re-record the vocal. Additionally, I should think about recording someone shots of cello’s or violins to add some more depth to the track and make it interesting.
He also pointed out some mixing improvements, Mark commented on how I should make the mix a bit more 3d by adding more automation to the levels and bringing instruments in an out more subtly. His exact words: “Right now it feels too flat, too 2d and it needs to be more immersive and 3d” even though this is very vague I know exactly what he means and will try to incorporate this feedback when I mix the track.
Other small things that he said were that he thinks the clock ticking sound and the white noise should be more present.

All of this feedback really encouraged me to revisit the project and make improvements with the feedback I received.





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