[AndyClayton]

As title I have written a few songs over the last year or so, do you think
this one is good enough to get on the radio?

http://www.andy-clayton.com/4hellogoodbye.mp3

I have recorded all the instruments and vocals myself at home but I don’t think the quality is good enough what do you guys think? I am wondering if its worth sending out.

I know I am probably going to get slated for this but i thought you guys were the best to know as you listen to the radio daily and know what’s good and what’s not.

The CD version sounds a bit better quality as this is an mp3 but any feedback would be very grateful.

Thanks.

[derekacorahsdad]

i think its great

kind regards

[derekacorahsdad]

send it into genesimmons.com ,hes always looking for new acts

[AndyClayton]

hey thanks i will check it out!

glad you like it

[gbm]

Thats quite good for a internet song, my advice would be to make a myspace as everyone is doing and then send it in to Colin Murrey's show I seam to remeber them saying something about sending in your own songs, but yeah I would say give it a go and try and be one of radio one's in new music we trust things, you might get a jingle / drop.

Also just wondered how you recorded the drums ?

[AndyClayton]

I already have a myspace thing and a website, my friend made it for me but i dont think it gets many views, the drums were recorded just by micing them up using very cheap condenser mics. The drum kit is a flat kit becuase i have no space, which is why they may sound abit dull.

I heard Colin had a new show, didnt know it was one you could send tracks in, ill get right on it. Thanks for the advice! and thanks for listening

[AndyClayton]

"I would say give it a go and try and be one of radio one's in new music we trust things, you might get a jingle / drop."

i have heard them say this on the radio, but i dont know what it is, is there a website you can visit about it?

thanks

[gbm]

Yeah sure I just found it out for ya:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/colinmurray/blackhole.shtml

Down the bottom is the e-mail address for his show, but its like an automated one where they should check it out,

[AndyClayton]

Fantastic thanks alot! ill get on it right away

[Diffusionuk]

I've heard worse

some mixing advice;

less reverb/ambience on the drums if you've got a room ambience mic or overhad mic trun the level down in the mix.
vocals up
guitars down
and try and get the guitars 'less stereo', mono has more impact.

[AndyClayton]

thanks ill give it a try

[AndyClayton]

Diffusionuk i wish i had someone like you to mix my songs you sound like you know what you are on about.
theres no reverb on the drums, but theres a slight distortion filter, ill turn it down. the vocals, i always have them too quiet (hate the sound of my voice)

[Adam]

im sure if you ask him nicely, he might do

[Diffusionuk]

I used to teach music technology for my sins. apols for my terrible typing on my initial post BTW.

If you've done all that yourself then you're heading in the right direction. The best way to get your head around a mix in the short term is to listen to recordings of songs that are roughly in the same musical ballpark as you and dissect the mix. The levels of instruments in a mix, how much reverb etc..

Plus if you buy this months SOund on Sound (from all good newsagents) they've got a feature this month on getting a good mix. A snip at £5.

[AndyClayton]

yeah i get sound on sound every so often ill get it tomorrow. The problem is everytime i read it, its like they are talking another language than me.

talking about frequencys and stuff.

dont worry about spelling as you can see mine is terrible lol.

[Diffusionuk]

alas the dark arts of Eqing, aux sends, compressing gating etc all need to be mastered in the long run.

[AndyClayton]

yes lol, well i got sound on sound today so ill read it over the next few days.

tell me what you think about the mix on this track, its the most recent.

http://www.siliconeswamp.co.uk/music/9notsure.mp3

[Diffusionuk]

better than the first for me this, the levels of the drums are much too high for me on this one and again there's a little too much room ambience/reverb on them.

You'll find mixing can be quite subjective however, you can ask ten different people and they'll probably tell you ten different things!

[AndyClayton]

lol yes i have found this too, thanks for listening

[MyPurpleUndercrackers]

As title I have written a few songs over the last year or so, do you think
this one is good enough to get on the radio?

http://www.andy-clayton.com/4hellogoodbye.mp3

I have recorded all the instruments and vocals myself at home but I don’t think the quality is good enough what do you guys think? I am wondering if its worth sending out.

I know I am probably going to get slated for this but i thought you guys were the best to know as you listen to the radio daily and know what’s good and what’s not.

The CD version sounds a bit better quality as this is an mp3 but any feedback would be very grateful.

Thanks.

Thats class!

I don't know anything about mixing whatsoever.... but I think you need slightly less drum, and slightly more vocal, the cymbal through the first verse is distracting as loud as it is.

Superb sound though.... Change a million is great too!

[Boboff]

Don't worry too much about the mixing, your not quite there yet, good song but it's missing something in my humble, and I know nothing, but seriously if your intent on making music, it needs to be just a little bit better.

Now for me, I would put some fiddle in, and up the Bass, to give a broader spectrum of sound, and I would also up your vocal, but re do it with less "accent", mmm I have no idea what I am talking about , this is not meant to be critcal, but an opinion, I like female voices in harmony also, which I think would work well on your chorus, which is strong.

Does anyone remember the Dharmas ? They were on the folk scene about 10 years ago, playing this type of music, I remember seeing them in Swansea and they were brilliant, to the extent that they were thretening to bring the ceiling down on the Pub below, so we all had to sit down ! They were brill, and your voice reminds me of the lead singer from that, and I suppose my comments only serve to reflect this personal feeling that that total mix was cool, they used a bit of a reggae thing with it as well which worked for me. I Liked Rock Salt & Nails & K Passa which were all doing the rounds at the time as well.

Rory McLeod and Show of Hands still remain my firm favorites though !

[Walter Sobchak]

Hi AndyClayton, Good stuff!
Why not put some onto Cnet's Download.com, take a look here -
http://music.download.com/2001-1_32-0.html?tag=navtab

I believe that some bands have been 'found' on there, at least it puts your music into the public domain.

[AndyClayton]

Thanks for the advice my friend, you don’t have to be a mixing guru, end of the day everyone has ears and you can tell what needs changing and its all useful.

I’m terrible at mixing, I just wanna play the music and let someone else have a take on it, unfortunately its just me who does everything, I love the recording and writing bit, I find the mixing really tedious, and you have to listen to the song that many times over you really start to hate it when its done.

I'm glad you like change a million its the one that everyone says is the best and i don't like

Thanks for spending the time to listen.

As title I have written a few songs over the last year or so, do you think
this one is good enough to get on the radio?

http://www.andy-clayton.com/4hellogoodbye.mp3

I have recorded all the instruments and vocals myself at home but I don’t think the quality is good enough what do you guys think? I am wondering if its worth sending out.

I know I am probably going to get slated for this but i thought you guys were the best to know as you listen to the radio daily and know what’s good and what’s not.

The CD version sounds a bit better quality as this is an mp3 but any feedback would be very grateful.

Thanks.

Thats class!

I don't know anything about mixing whatsoever.... but I think you need slightly less drum, and slightly more vocal, the cymbal through the first verse is distracting as loud as it is.

Superb sound though.... Change a million is great too!

[AndyClayton]

Don't worry too much about the mixing, your not quite there yet, good song but it's missing something in my humble, and I know nothing, but seriously if your intent on making music, it needs to be just a little bit better.

Now for me, I would put some fiddle in, and up the Bass, to give a broader spectrum of sound, and I would also up your vocal, but re do it with less "accent", mmm I have no idea what I am talking about , this is not meant to be critcal, but an opinion, I like female voices in harmony also, which I think would work well on your chorus, which is strong.

Does anyone remember the Dharmas ? They were on the folk scene about 10 years ago, playing this type of music, I remember seeing them in Swansea and they were brilliant, to the extent that they were thretening to bring the ceiling down on the Pub below, so we all had to sit down ! They were brill, and your voice reminds me of the lead singer from that, and I suppose my comments only serve to reflect this personal feeling that that total mix was cool, they used a bit of a reggae thing with it as well which worked for me. I Liked Rock Salt & Nails & K Passa which were all doing the rounds at the time as well.

Rory McLeod and Show of Hands still remain my firm favorites though !

That’s ok, I think it does lack some power, but I’m always told I drown out my vocals, that’s because I don’t like the sound on my voice. I know what you mean on the bass. The drum kit I’m using is really rubbish, it sounds better on the track than it does in real life cause I add so much EQ and effects to them lol but I really cant get it any better I’m saving for an electric drum kit.

Everyone says "what do I know" but the fact is people make music for any one to listen to therefore any one has the rights to comment if its good or not or what they think about it, you should not be so hard on yourself. Thanks for listening.

[AndyClayton]

Hi AndyClayton, Good stuff!
Why not put some onto Cnet's Download.com, take a look here -
http://music.download.com/2001-1_32-0.html?tag=navtab

I believe that some bands have been 'found' on there, at least it puts your music into the public domain.

hey thanks alot Kwyjibo ill put it on right away!