Hi, Beth.

A pleasant listen - well done! That's especially true for a first attempt.

As others have mentioned, perhaps the fastest way to get a good mix to to compare your song to a reference track - another song that fits the same general feel as yours. You can then compare the attributes of that song against your own song. It sounds simple, but it's really effective.

The main thing I think you need to keep in mind with a mix (and arrangement) is to make sure that at any point in the song, the listener is paying attention to what you want them to be hearing.

For example, with the intro, you want them to hear the bass, which sounds pretty cool. That's fine, but as soon as the vocal comes in, it's time for the bass to step back and stay out of the way of the vocal. So at that point, you need to bring the bass down in volume. This preferably should happen in a way that the listener doesn't notice it happening. Since the vocal coming in is something new, it'll grab the attention of the listener, you can usually bring it down on the beat and get away with it - assuming you aren't moving from a comically loud volume to something way too silent.

The drum is much too low in volume. You'd probably be surprised how loud a drum without considered loud by listeners. That's were reference tracks come in handy, because instead of having to guess where the volume should be, you can just listen to what other people have done.

You mentioned that you've got some reverb on the vocals, but it sounds a bit dry to my ears. Then again, it's hard to tell over the bass.

As a rule, you should change the instrumentation up a bit between verses and chorus, and even from one verse to the next. It helps delineate the sections for the listener, and prevent a sense of sameness. It can be as simple as adding or taking out an instrument.

For example, at 1:30, you could bring the bass up in volume so it's got a solo, and drop the volume back at 1:41, where you've got a stop. Although the bass has a cool bit, you could hold off in bringing it in until after the lyric "It breaks my heart", which would give more focus to the lyric, and a bit more change and drama to the music.

Adding a simple instrument, like a held acoustic guitar strum or electric piano, is something else you could add to a verse without changing the overall sound. Making a small change like that leaves the listener with a sense of movement, but isn't such a large change that their attention shifts to it, because we've learned that these sorts of things are just background things that don't need our attention. Keeping the new instrument down in volume also cues the listener that it's just texture they don't need to pay attention. This would be in contrast to the bass, where you might raise the volume to get their attention.

I don't think the MIDI strings fit the feel of the song. I think replacing them with a jazzy electric piano solo would be a better fit. It can be something super-simple, but it's a break from what's before, which makes the return to the vocal a welcome change instead of more of the same.

I think stopping the song at 3:55 would be a stronger ending, since the focus would be on the affirmation instead of the instruments.

If you're thinking all my suggestions are pretty obvious... well, they are. wink

Again, nice work!

-- David Cuny

My virtual singer development blog
Vocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?

BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.