Musician Forum - Band Discussion Board - BandMix

New tune, first mix, on my profile for your review.

A Better Day

It's always darkest before the dawn
A Better day will always come

The sun comes up on a brand new day
Last night's darkness is swept away
Can't change the past, don't even try
Keep moving forward, keep your head high

Always look on the brighter side of life
Forget what's wrong, do what's right
Looking back won't help anything
Look ahead, smile and sing:
It's a better day, a better day

It's too easy to sit and dwell on the past
Regretting every decision you made too fast
Morning gives the chance to start again
Embrace today, yesterday was then

Always look on the brighter side of life
Forget what's wrong, do what's right
Looking back won't help anything
Look ahead, smile and sing:
It's a better day, a better day

Here's knowing the sun will always shine on you
Here's wishing all your friends will always be true
Here's hoping you will never lose your way
Here's wishing you a better day

You never know when your time will come
Better enjoy everything no matter where its from
Don't say 'it's not your style'
Enjoy your life, laugh and smile

Always look on the brighter side of life
Forget what's wrong, do what's right
Looking back won't help anything
Look ahead, smile and sing:
It's a better day, a better day

Here's knowing the sun will always shine on you
Here's wishing all your friends will always be true
Here's hoping you will never lose your way
Here's wishing you a better day

Copyright 2013

Not there Mike...

Jahva wrote:Not there Mike...

Try it now! I don't remember there being a box to check to "allow people to listen" - seems a little redundant, I mean why wouldyou upload songs if you didn't want people to listen to them?

ok mike... i don't believe in giving a "review" unless one is requested. you did, so.....


i didn't care for the block chords on the synth at the beginning. pretty cheesey string patch and if ya have to go w that idea for the intro, may i suggest maybe trying to find some common voice (pitch), or maybe a pedal (same bass note) to tie those chords together.

ok.....after that it was all uphill! you married a perfect choice of upbeat music to amplify the upbeat and positive lyric content. the descending bass line put me in mind of some of nick lowe's tunes that also use that to good effect.

BTW i'm a big nick lowe fan.

Thanks for listening and the comments.
The intro is actually an organ (with slow Leslie), a barely audible climbing cello bass note and about 6 layers of different string 2-chord tracks.
Originally I did it as finger-picked acoustic.
Looking for more opinions, I've got the original acoustic track, very easy to remix. Maybe the guitar with just a hint of the strings in the background ...

Oie... I'd cut that intro at least the string/keyboard/synth sound. Too much contrast from the rest of the piece... doesn't fit imo.
After the pre-lude intro thing I dig the tune. Has an early Kinks/Who/Beatles groove about it. Definitely more "pop" sounding than most of the things I've heard from you.
Couple of wordy spots lyrically but a good theme coming through.

Agree with the others that the intro isn't working. I like the song and the groove. It sort of makes me think of The Grateful Dead covering La Bamba in their own way and the song moves and grooves. Sometimes too many words. I generally like the balance and mix. Good effort with real hit song potential IMO.

Thanks to everyone who has listened and made suggestions!

I should explain the intro, which has a double purpose: 1) Starting the song without an instrumental intro, something I read about starting a song with lyrics right away, gives a nice change-up form usual start; 2) a slow 'dark' start to contrast with the upbeat of the song itself.

So, with that in mind, 2 new mixes on my player.
Demo 2 - only change is the intro, pulled up the finger-picked acoustic, put the strings well behind it.
Demo 3 - intro changed to finger-picked acoustic plus organ, no strings; main song - pulled out 2 electric guitars (they are only in it during non-verse parts) and increased the organ volume. Might be a cleaner sound, overall?

I agree on the idea for the intro just not the choice of instruments (Phantom of the opera organ)
I liked the toned down approach on the 3rd version but I'd leave the rest of the mix similar to the original.

I'd lose the intro lines and just kick it off with the drum fill. Simple and direct.