"For A Moment" thoughts

[oldsoul]

I am struggling with the chorus of this song. I was thinking of adding a male harmony. Any other suggestions?

[dwoz]

I'm not sold on the startup. Either vox alone or music alone, or both together, but the way its rendered now it sounds like the vocalist went off before the count, or the band was still holding beers on "one". In other words, its a by-half measure that needs to go one way or the other.

If it were me, I would put the vox right out alone, they're strong enough. Hold the word "If" for a full two beats before the band hits the downbeat of three like a 4 penny nail with a 16oz hammer.

The band has the right idea, but the mix lets them "meander" too much. The mix isn't gelling. It might be the smallness of the drums, it might be the time-inspecifity of the bass (is that even a WORD?) I think there's room for more layering of harmonic instruments, perhaps basically doubling of the existing parts.

The problem you're having with the chorus isn't related to instrumentation or anything like that...the problem is with PEAK EMOTIONAL ENERGY.

coming out of the bridge (guitar solo), it needs to HIT, and spike up onto the next-higher shelf. Currently, it maintains a common level throughout. Think of the emotional energy has having SHAPE, a big curve, with plateaus and dropoffs...

The ending is just flat. pancake flat. That really needs some kind of treatment.

Even in a preliminary mix, pay attention to your fades. This one cuts off like you just got sick of waiting for the guitar to fade. That needs fixing.

Of course, I'm a complete sucker for this kind of female vox in this kind of intimate presentation. I eat it up. I love the voice, and I think she can sing. I hear very little in the way of pitch problem or breathing problems with her (is it you?).

The comments about emotional shape and peaks applies directly to the singer, and ricochets of her onto the band. Think about where the song is going, where it rises, where it peaks, etc.

dwoz

[mousdrvr]

Oldsoul,

Cool tune. Very cool vocal delivery. I have just one suggestion, and it's not a slag cause like I said the delivery works for me. But if you're going to harmonize the chorus, you might want to check the pitch on "re-wind" the one that popped out at me was around 1:41 . I thought it was cool actually, in a Psychedelic Furs kinda way. By the end of the tune I was pretty sure that's how you'd intended to deliver it. But I'm guessing that it will make it difficult to harmonize, as even if you stuck with the response style harmony, at the beginning of the chorus, that line is probably were the voices would come together with a pretty close interval.

Nice Job




-mous

[aframe9999]

I really like this chick's voice. very intimate and with the potential for some real emotion. I tend to agree that the chorus doesn't jump out at all. It doesn't take me to the next level, as the listener. it seems that there is plenty of room for more layers, especially in the chorus.... more guitars, like a distant wall of power chords, or some sort of BGV counter melody with her voice... i dunno... something to make the chorus 'bigger' is going to help a lot IMO.....

AF

[oldsoul]

Thanks for the thoughts guys. Dwoz I'm not sure I follow your comments about the mix letting the band meander. Also in terms of peaks, plateau's and valleys is this something that can be acheived by levels alone or would you add some more layers to the choruses? I thought a small string arrangement might be nice here.

[dikledoux]

Yeah, something more on the choruses. The guitars could go very wide with an additional layer (maybe acoustics?), or your idea about strings... something. Also the 16th note hi-hat part in the verses is distracting to me. If that can come down or sound more washy, less clicky. MousDvr mentioned the word "rewind" at 1:41 and I hear that as well. I'd steal that from another part in the song to fix it, because it's the ONLY part where the singer sticks out in a bad way.

I like the song a lot and the girl's voice a LOT.

dik

[oldsoul]

Here it the latest attempt at this one. We added a organ & piano parts for a different texture. The singer being across the country is going to deliver some harmonies vocals via a minidisc recording. I'm hesitant but will wait to see what she does.