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Writing a song: Part 4: First complete demo is ready for listening

See also: Part 1: The Beginning, Part 2: Fattening up, Part 3: Lyrics, EQ, Compression.

First draft is done! Give 'er a listen.



Changes in this version:

  • slight lyric changes, new performance of vocals
  • guitar solo! The solo was comped together from ten awful attempts to come up with something. Some slicing and dicing, and I have a solo that almost sounds like I meant it to sound like that
  • changes to the drum arrangement, mostly moving the kick drum
  • more compression, EQ and panning adjustments
  • compression on the master bus to glue it all together
  • a quick spit-polish job on the mastering to brighten it up and make it a bit louder
Now, I'll have to take it to the car, the living room, the ipod, and other places to check the balance to see if it sounds good everywhere other than the studio. I've had problems before with my monitors deceiving me, and ended up with mixes that were either too bassy or shrill and overly bright or strident. A well-produced song will sound good on all systems, even bad ones.

Any feedback on this mix is welcome! IMHO, not a bad job for a few evenings' work through the week.

Not my first original song ever, but probably the best one so far.
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Comments

  1. NoniJune 6, 2012 at 10:40 AM

    'k - I like this. A lot.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Scott SimpsonJune 6, 2012 at 10:42 AM

    Hey, thanks, Gracey!

    ReplyDelete
  3. NoniJune 10, 2012 at 7:35 AM

    So....when can I expect the music video? I can't get this out of my head ... it makes me want to get up and dance.

    I think you might have a winner here.

    ReplyDelete
  4. NoniJune 13, 2012 at 2:31 PM

    Hey - my daughter wants to know how she can get this for her iphone.

    Like I said - this is a winner, and people are going to want it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Scott SimpsonJune 13, 2012 at 3:07 PM

    Good gravy! You make me blush!
    Okay, I've changed the permissions on the Soundcloud file -- you can now download the track as MP3, which should let it transfer to iPhone just fine. Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  6. NoniJune 16, 2012 at 1:08 PM

    Awesome! Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  7. UnknownJune 24, 2012 at 5:17 PM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

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