The song is good and should be a contender in the contest.

The vocals are the issue. They are sung well, but poorly recorded or produced. If you have access to the raw wave, you can fix it. If the wave was "processed" and then sent to you....since you didn't record this in your studio, you need to either get the raw wave or have it recorded again. The mic isn't automatically the problem. If it's recorded properly, a basic SM-58 will do a superb job.

When I work with singers from out of town, I simply ask them to send me an unclipped, raw wave. No EQ, no compression, no limiting, no pitch correction, and no reverb....I want it just like it came from the mic.....raw. Some singers are cool with that but some want to send you a "fixed" track. Insist on the raw wave...always.

Unfortunately, as the song goes along, it gets so much worse. At first, it had the brittle high end, and a boxiness from the improper use of EQ on the mids and very little low end. Even female singers need to have the right amount of low end. Let me back up a bit... the lows might be OK when the EQ on the mids gets fixed.

The biggest issue I have with the overall sound is that it doesn't sound like it's open on the top end.... As the singer starts to push as she gets into the song, her levels are fine, but someone thought it would be a good idea to compress or limit the wave. So from the middle on, where she's really belting it out, you have that ear grating digital clipping happening on the voice. (It's not soundcloud's fault)

For goodness sake, remove the breaths. They are distracting. They might sound cute, and one or two properly left in for dramatic effect might.... I say "might" be OK, but the rest have to go.

If you added the compression, EQ and limiting.... take it out and start from square one..... this time.... only use reverb and some EQ.

On the song, you did a great job with the writing. It should place well in the contest when you get the vocal track sounding good.

edit: listening on cans. I have to wonder if she isn't also "pulling back" and singing from the throat a bit on the high and powerful stuff..... rather than stepping back and using proper mic technique to sing those louder parts and letting it all out naturally. I didn't hear the same level of high end distortion on the cans as I did on the computer speakers earlier. So that could very well have been the cheap speakers. It's still rough in the cans, but not as bad.... however, it still needs to be addressed.

Last edited by Guitarhacker; 05/01/16 04:07 AM.
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