I would love to hear your thoughts on this arrangment

[Mile Mandic]

Hi everyone,

 

I've challenged myself to upload one cover song per week onto my YouTube account. I think it could be helpful for meeting new people, learning some new techniques, etc.

 

I uploaded my first video because I was eager to start from somewhere and introduce myself, so I didn't want to put too much effort into it (you can check out my first video).

 

Anyway, I've seen that this community has extremely talented people in every sphere—producing, singing, people with knowledge and experience. I would love to hear some of your thoughts on the next song I'm about to cover before I upload it. I thought about doing "Killing Me Softly," but I still want to add some electronic motives into it. This is a raw version with no effects whatsoever (I have the CLA Vocals preset "Rockman Dry" on vocals), no reverb, or anything like it.

 

The singing and the guitar parts will be redone (I know they're not very good at this point). This is just a take I did in order to produce this.

 

I would love to hear from you on this one—what can be done with it effects-wise, production-wise, and all in all, do you see yourself enjoying something like this?

Thank you in advance for your time and answers.

Cheers,

Mile

[john]

Hey Mile

 

It’s a great starting point. Ok so you are looking for arrangement/production ideas?

 

You have a good amount of space in your arrangement. You could do with a nice soft muted trumpet or similar as a mood setter. Try dropping the snare and bass in the bar before the chorus, and perhaps other instrumentation other than the shaker.

Similarly post-chorus, try dropping back to your intro bars with the lo fi (up to 08).

 

At points the backing vox could do with a bit more colour, and generally timing could be better to help support the lead vocal more.

 

Performance wise you sing well. A little pitchy at times, but you can do much better in terms of emotional connection. You have a good voice, but if you don’t firstly connect with the work emotionally, your performance will struggle to connect. Try to feel the emotion and meaning of the words. Feel what you are singing about. It adds an authenticity to your performance that goes a long way towards connecting with your listeners.

 

I’m really looking forward to hearing your original songs!

 

Cheers

 

John

[Mile Mandic]

4 hours ago, john said:

Hey Mile

 

It’s a great starting point. Ok so you are looking for arrangement/production ideas?

 

You have a good amount of space in your arrangement. You could do with a nice soft muted trumpet or similar as a mood setter. Try dropping the snare and bass in the bar before the chorus, and perhaps other instrumentation other than the shaker.

Similarly post-chorus, try dropping back to your intro bars with the lo fi (up to 08).

 

At points the backing vox could do with a bit more colour, and generally timing could be better to help support the lead vocal more.

 

Performance wise you sing well. A little pitchy at times, but you can do much better in terms of emotional connection. You have a good voice, but if you don’t firstly connect with the work emotionally, your performance will struggle to connect. Try to feel the emotion and meaning of the words. Feel what you are singing about. It adds an authenticity to your performance that goes a long way towards connecting with your listeners.

 

I’m really looking forward to hearing your original songs!

 

Cheers

 

John

 

Dear John,

 

I can't thank you enough for your time and deep analysis of my track. It really means a lot to me.

 

I'm constantly looking for feedback on my production, mixing, and everything related to music, but I didn't have a place to connect with other professionals and exchange thoughts on our music.

 

I will use your tips to improve the production of this piece and will post my progress here for further discussion if you have the time.

 

I will definitely sing this again, keeping in mind your helpful tips. Without putting emotions into it, the song will struggle to connect with people. I shared this file with a friend who has years of experience in audio and music listening, and he said something I'll try to remember for my future projects: "This song has one serious problem, and that is that the original is just too good." To be frank, I couldn't agree more with him. However, a challenge is a challenge, and for too long, I've had projects that remained unpublished because they couldn't come close to the original. I'm taking a different approach nowadays—I post my work and seek ways to improve by collaborating with fellow musicians. I'm sure we can all help each other with feedback and tips.

 

I'll keep you updated on this, and once again, thanks. This was literally one of the most helpful critiques and tips I've received so far. I'm sure I'll find a way to give back to this community. 👌

 

Best regards,

Mile

[john]

Your friend’s comment is very true. Generally with covers, especially of BIG songs, they benefit from original thinking. They need radically reimagined to stand a chance.

 

Realistically it depends on your goals for the song.

 

Would you throw everything at it?

 

What you do if you truly let loose your imagination? How would you reshape it to be in line with what the track means to you? What it says to you?

 

How different would you make the instrumentation? The sound canvas? The emotional map?

 

If you can reimagine it entirely, I think it stands more completely as a work in itself, as much as it can ever be that.

[Mile Mandic]

On 6/5/2023 at 1:00 AM, john said:

Your friend’s comment is very true. Generally with covers, especially of BIG songs, they benefit from original thinking. They need radically reimagined to stand a chance.

 

Realistically it depends on your goals for the song.

 

Would you throw everything at it?

 

What you do if you truly let loose your imagination? How would you reshape it to be in line with what the track means to you? What it says to you?

 

How different would you make the instrumentation? The sound canvas? The emotional map?

 

If you can reimagine it entirely, I think it stands more completely as a work in itself, as much as it can ever be that.

I just wanted to give it a shot because I enjoy experimenting with different genres and exploring various types of music. My ultimate goal is to incorporate everything I've learned into my own songs.

 

I don't want to change the instrumentation too much because I feel it would lose some of the emotions I'm trying to convey in my interpretation of this song. However, I do want to give it a slightly different sound because the original is just too good to cover it exactly as it is.

 

In the next few days, I will redo this song based on your tips (I'm still trying to emotionally prepare myself for this rendition).

 

Once again, thank you for your time, and I will soon post the updated version here.

 

Best regards,

Mile