Hi - I'm back with my second song in Band-In-A-Box! This song is a celebration of my marriage, which is in its 24th year. We have one daughter in college and the other one in the high school. I find myself reflecting on how much has changed and wondering what the future will hold.

I generated all of the music with Band-In-A-Box (thank you PG Music for making this life-changing software!!) and I mixed in a couple of tracks with me singing.

Link in Soundcloud: Meant To Be

My first experience with this forum was fantastic and I am excited to have something new to contribute. I look forward to hearing your feedback!

Style
_ELECROK.STY (ElecRock RealTrks guits (120 RS))
RealTracks in style: ~~387:Bass, Electric, Metal Ev 085
RealTracks in style: 691:Guitar, Acoustic, Strumming AcRockBright Ev 120
RealTracks in style: 694:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm ElecRockArp Ev 120
RealTracks in style: 697:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm ElecRockDirty Ev 120
RealDrums in style: RockHardModernEv8^2-a:Snare, HiHat , b:Snare, Open HiHat

Lyrics
Watch the sun goes down
you're in a wedding gown
what will become of the rest of our lives

Waves rolling in and out
that's what its all about
we'll make it up with our collective vibes

Winds cause the leaves to swirl
no longer boy and girl
now we are more than just you and me

Snow makes it all look clean
as if we're in a dream
time spins quietly while we don't see

This is how our sweet life is meant to be
Make it what we want, don't follow, we are free
This is how our sweet life is meant to be
Live it the way we want, just let them see

Rain washes it away
We live another day
moving through life while we're standing still

Flowers bloom in the ground
our path that we have found
takes us to where it should, we know it will

Rivers swell and flow
onward we must go
savoring the moments of each twist and turn

Trees grow empty now
I don't remember how
lots to be proud of and still to learn

This is how our sweet life is meant to be
Make it what we want, don't follow, we are free
This is how our sweet life is meant to be
Live it the way we want, just let them see, just let them see

Adam,

A good listen. A good "rock sound".

The mix is good - though the vocals could up just a little. The guitars have good punch to them. As the song continues, the drums seemed to drop a shade and could use a bit of "heft" (they seem to be EQ'd to accentuate the top - could use a bit more bottom)

Enjoyed the song.

floyd

Hi Adam,

This is a very nice American rock sound.
Very nice second post indeed.
We detect sort of a radio/transistor sound to it with too much mid.
The Realtracks you used could definitely have a lot more body.
Are you using your build in soundcard or usb interface?

Kind regards,

Rob and Anne-Marie

Adam, I agree with floyd. If the vocal was brought up a bit and some bottom end and volume applied to the drums it would help. This can be a really nice rock song with a few tweaks to the mix. Keep em coming. Tom

Hi Adam, you have something going for you and I think if you follow the advice given above you will be on the right track.
Enjoyed the rock and I am glad that you have made it to your 24th year of marriage. My wife and I have been married for 47 years and I would not want it any other way.
Enjoyed listening.
Sonny

Thanks Floyd - glad you enjoyed it. I will work on the mix some more - thanks for the advice!

Hey RnAM - you are very astute!

I was playing with the track in GarageBand (never really used it before). I added the BIAB track to a microphone track and then again to an instrument track. It added some interesting crunch, so I left both tracks in there. Sounds like I need to play with the EQ more - I'm still really new to the mixing and don't really know what I'm doing yet.

My mic is fed into an audio interface through usb.

Thanks Tom - I'll get working on it

Glad you enjoyed the song, Sonny. Congrats on 47 years - I wish you many more!

Very nice track!! Agree with others about the mix. Also, the melody, as cool as it is, could be mixed up with another musical phrase to break it up a bit. Nice job! Take care. Greg

Hey Greg - that makes sense to me. It could use some other element to add some depth. Not sure if adding something to the beginning and/or end would work or if I should try to insert some kind of a break in the middle. I'll try some different things to figure out what works.

Thanks very much!

I re-recorded the song and tried to mix it properly - please let me know what you think this time around! I did it differently this time and now I will have more control and be better able to tweak it based on your feedback.

• Used Ableton Live instead of Garage Band
• Exported each track from BIAB and brought each one separately into Live
• Did not apply any effects in Live - the tracks are as they came out of BIAB
• Recorded the vocals and the harmonies directly into Live (I couldn't export/import cleanly, so I had to sing it again - oh well!)
• Adjusted the volume of each track - not sure if this is the proper mix, but at least I can easily adjust any of it now.
• Boosted the master volume - it kept coming out too low
• Panned it more over to the left speaker - leaving it centered seemed to skew it to the right speaker for some reason.

Please check it out and let me know what you think: Meant To Be

I really appreciate your feedback!

Adam

Hi Adam,
This is a nice tune, very "hooky" chorus!

The vocals are buried and muddy and need some adjustments there. Overall, the mix is heavy in the mids and could use some thinning out there.

Stucture-wise, I wanted to hear the chorus after the "second verse" instead of after the third.

Nice work! Keep working!

Thanks for the feedback, Beagle. I thought I fixed the vocals in this re-mix, but I still don't quite know what I'm doing when it comes to mixing and am very glad to get your feedback.

Interesting note on the structure of the verses and chorus. I'm still new to songwriting and am learning as I go. Thanks for the observation.

I will certainly keep working on it!

OK - I finally figured out how to update the EQ. I lowered the mids, boosted the lows and I also boosted the volume on the drums a bit. I hope you like the new mix - please let me know either way, so I can correct it if needed or know that it is good.

Thanks!!

I need some help understanding how to set the pan between the speakers. For some reason, I start out on a Mac and it sounds like the music is mostly coming out of the right speaker. I panned it to the left a bit and it sounded good. Then I pushed it up to Soundcloud and listened on both my phone and a PC, where I found that it sounded like it was mostly coming out of the left speaker! I just set it to be in the middle (louder on the right on the mac) and re-published. It sounds wrong on my mac, but good on my phone and my pc. How is it to all of you?!

Also, I did re-mix it and hope to hear some feedback. Thanks very much!!

Hi Adam,

I enjoyed listening and I like your song. "time spins quietly while we don't see"...love that. You've got a good vibe going and a nice voice too.

Before you export your RT's to your DAW make sure they are panned center in BB or Realband so you can pan however you like in your DAW of choice.

Your Mac panning everything left is not normal. You might want to ask about that on the BIAB or Realband PG product forum and the guys will help you figure out why that is happening.

To learn mixing - check out The Recording Revolution. (I have no affiliation with the site other than Graham's the best practical - follow along see it done, hear how it sounds - teacher I've found. And many other people here share that opinion.)

HI Adam ...

Good to have you with us here on the PG Showcase.

Good take on the soft rock sound. Very nice lyric ... catchy. would like to have the vocal and drums a little more forward in the mix. Still, it was a great listen ... thanks!

Alan & Di

Thanks Josie - glad you like the song.

You are right - the tracks were not centered in BIAB, so I will do another pass after centering them and exporting. Also, I will check out the other forums and the Recoding Revolution - I took a quick peek and it does look like a great resource.

Thank you so much for the guidance!!
Adam

Thanks Alan & Di. I'll keep working on it - thanks!!