Rita Ora - Your Song Remix demo

[Linkan]

Hi,

Lately I've been working a ton on trying to get a more professional sound and figured I would ask you all with more experience than me what you think. This remix is something I've been working on since yesterday afternoon and it's pretty unlike most of the stuff I've done before so I really struggled with the mixing. This was also my first time ever working with vocals & vocal chops so if anyone have any tips/tricks on how to improve the overall quality in that perspective please let me know.

As for the actual demo I feel it's got a strange arrangement which I think is pretty cool. The plucky piano melody at 0:40-0:55 & 1:44-1:59 doesn't fit that well with the vocal tbh. But that might be because of the actual acapella as well, it's not the official so it's got some weird sounds/timing in there which I've tried to get rid off but sometimes it shines through, so my apologies for the acapella not always fitting perfectly with the instrumental. Other than that I struggled with picking drum samples and I think the kick is lacking a bit in punch.

Rita Ora - Your Song (Remix Demo) by Linkan | Free Listening on SoundCloud

Another thing that I noticed the other while looking at more professional productions is that they seemed to have removed all frequencies between 16-20 kHz since these are frequencies that humans have a trouble hearing. Is this something that you do as well and how do you think it affects the overall mix?

Thanks in advance for feedback/help!

 

[Cruooshup]

Hey man, thanks for looking at some of my tracks earlier! Thanks for such an in depth great down, I really appreciate it! Super helpful

I love the addition of the piano chords. Really brings something different from the original song. Using it as the intro was a solid choice!
The bass sounded really great. Great buzz to it and it had a strong presence flowing well with the keys. It gave the song some meat and made it feel quite solid and full.
The change up at 00:54 (and subsequently) was really cool. It added a different more serious feel to the song despite maintaining the same bassline. And then taking away the bass to add a bit of recovery time was another nice choice!

And did you change the volumes of the bells/ringing during different parts of the song? E.g. It was very sharp in the intro, sounded slightly softer with the bass introduction and back to it's original sharpness again at 00:54. I thought this added some interesting contrast to the instrument, and when it's playing during this down period it therefore becomes more noticeable. Very interesting technique if it was intentional.

I also see that you're incorporating that sweeping and crash elements from your previous songs. They felt just as great for transitions and using it to introduce additional insturments! The smooth and echoy build towards the crash sound super clean. After reading a comment under your song I now picture waves haha. Everything felt that they an adequate setup and the sweep and the crash were a signal for some kind of change. In a way I would believe that it conditions the listener to look forward to it!

That beeping melody also had a nice pop to them. I liked how they were set up and then followed by a pluckier and higher pitched sound (like at 0:27). Added some interesting variance to the song. . I've never ever thought of doing that. Great hit to them. I love how you were able to reuse elements in this songs but by varying the time they
were introduced or intermingling it kept everything interesting.

The vocals were also great. Very clear but not overwhelmed by the instruments. What I think is spectacular is how you matched the tone of the vocals. It was light where it needed to be light and when there was added tension to the voice the beat started to pick up.

I agree with your assessment that the kick needing a little more punch. I personally also would have liked some extra snap to the claps. But I had no issue with any instruments being out of place haha! Great work dude!

 

[Linkan]

And did you change the volumes of the bells/ringing during different parts of the song? E.g. It was very sharp in the intro, sounded slightly softer with the bass introduction and back to it's original sharpness again at 00:54. I thought this added some interesting contrast to the instrument, and when it's playing during this down period it therefore becomes more noticeable. Very interesting technique if it was intentional.

If you're referring to the high plucky sound it's made up of 4 layers. The volume difference is due to me removing parts of the pluck at certain points to give more room to the other instruments and the reason it stands out at 00:54 is that I'm bringing up the volume on the piano part of it. It's inspired a bit by the pluck from Heaven by Avicii. The pluck sound in that one is switched up throughout the song which gives a very simple melody quite a lot of depth which I really like.

I also see that you're incorporating that sweeping and crash elements from your previous songs. They felt just as great for transitions and using it to introduce additional insturments! The smooth and echoy build towards the crash sound super clean. After reading a comment under your song I now picture waves haha. Everything felt that they an adequate setup and the sweep and the crash were a signal for some kind of change. In a way I would believe that it conditions the listener to look forward to it!

Haha yeah originally there were some other samples in there for the transitions but they just work so well.

That beeping melody also had a nice pop to them. I liked how they were set up and then followed by a pluckier and higher pitched sound (like at 0:27). Added some interesting variance to the song. . I've never ever thought of doing that. Great hit to them. I love how you were able to reuse elements in this songs but by varying the time they
were introduced or intermingling it kept everything interesting.

The idea was to try and incorporate what I think are the best part of the original song - the pluck, the vocal and the pitched "Ah-ah" sample which is played at 0:59 in the original. Can't see the reason in changing something that is already great. Very happy to hear that you thought it was a good choice haha

I agree with your assessment that the kick needing a little more punch. I personally also would have liked some extra snap to the claps.

Now that I've listened to it again with this in mind, I agree with you on the claps as well. They get a bit hidden in the background and not really adding more than quiet rhythm.

Thanks so much for the feedback bud! Means the world that you've taken the time to give such in-depth and great insights on what can be improved on. And again if you ever want to do something together or want my opinion on anything just give me a shout anytime

 

[Cruooshup]

No worries man, I learned a lot myself listening to that track! And likewise dude, don't hesitate hit me up. Really looking forward to your stuff in the future!