Currently This Version is what i am happy with.
i changed the EQ on the main vocals and tweaked some of my coloring effects * i hate adding coloring effects but for this vocal i had to put 3 different coloring effects(phatter knob,louder knob, puig to add presence and air, they are all from waves). which is why i was hesitant about weather it is accepted or not.
this is what it sounds like : https://picosong.com/wAACC/

what it needs to sound better : ( in my opinion )
1) tweaking on the chorus to level it better with the instrumental
2) secondary vocals for the verse to make it sound richer ( for the lack of a better word in my vocabulary )
3) with the pre-chorus i added a delay that sounds nice, but i dont know if its too much or not, the feedback is mixed from the people who listened to it, i guess i will lower it a bit just to be safe though i think it sounds great like this.

il do what i can on these things tonight to see if i can make it sound better so that i can submit a better version tomorrow. i dont know if i leave these things to the mixing phase is a good idea or not , because the phrase ” it will come out in the mix” is what i want to avoid. so il do what i can on these. Thanks for reading 🙂

i had to make the chorus sound big inorder to match the transition of the instrumental when it gets louder, initially the stems were placed differently and the singer sang on each chorus part of the instrumental, what i did was re arrange them and then i chopped the stems to make them match, after that, i started experimenting with my fx, i doubled 2 vocals and added the same fx and panned them to the left and to the right by 42, the 3rd one acted as the main one in the center with a width of 50 . i also kept contact with michael to figure out how he likes the chorus to be on the song so that i dont venture far off, i had previous version that sounded different and he was not quite happy with it so i changed it, but i knew that a simple chorus is not what i want to go for.
doing the chorus was probably the most challenging part of the song, there was also the option of keeping it simple and just keeping it as it is, and it was always in the back of my head, but i am happy that i did not go for now that i am done .
this is what it currently sounds like : https://picosong.com/wAA38/

it has been great to work on an EDM project, i am still impressed with michael’s work with instrumental, after a little bit of tweaking and adding and removing some filters i finally got the vocals to sound right or close to right…. during the final steps i doubled the main vocal and lowered it and sounded just about right, i guess because my filters were too much i needed that natural voice sitting in the back it currently sounds like this : https://picosong.com/wAhvp/

I attached a screenshot below to show what i have used on it to make it sound like this
the doubled one has the same filters but without any delay and no color filters .

Last Sunday (9th/ jun) i decided that the Singer who was singing the song wasn’t doing good, and in my opinion i wasn’t comfortable working on the Vocal Stems that i got, however my attempt failed miserably after i brought a singer who sang the song but it wasn’t her key at all, so i reverted back to the stems that i got . LESSON LEARNED I Will always make sure the singer can sing the same key as my song !!
**** LINK For the different version will be uploaded soon ****

Since experimenting and trail and error is a good way of getting familiar with a DAW, i tried creating a simple freestyle beat using logic, am starting to think that every beat making DAW is the same it just has a different interface, the only thing i dont like about logic is it opens so many windows in my screen like the notepad, piano roll etc…

instruments used : 1- turkish flut 2- ultra beat ( i really love how it sounds generally) 3- ambient sounds
link : https://picosong.com/whA9C/

il still work on it a lil bit to add more depth, and work better on the snare and the clap. but working on this beat made me fall inlove with Logic 😀 .

i would love to hear some feedback about it.

Currently am almost finished with adding my VSTs to the Vocals, and as i work more and more on making to sound like how am imaging it to Sound, am starting to think that i should re-record the Vocals or even change the Singer, because of the following reasons :

1 – more takes are needed for the chorus.
2 – Verse vocals are not loud enough in the beginning of every verse (1st two bars of every verse).
3 – the errors need a lot more time to be treated by filters and sometimes my compressor cant hit the vocals right unless i separate the 1st two bars on a seperate channel and compress them on their own so that it doesn’t effect how the 2nd bars are compressed.
4 – i feel like the Singer can do better
5 – am using way too many effects to make it sound better,and in my opinion, most of these effects can be removed if we re-record and get it right this time which would make it sound better than the current version of the recording with the effects

it currently Sounds like this ( verse 1+ pre-chorus+ chorus) : https://picosong.com/whALA/
and this is how it sounds with any effects : https://picosong.com/whAVw/

Since we have a 1 week break il re-record it (using Logic this time to get more familiar with it) just to have a separate version and use that one before we reach the deadline of the production phase.

Thanks for reading

so far ive been able to get the verses right and sound with what i want them to song… well close…. my main issue now is when the singer is singing with a low voice and tone my VSTs are not affecting that area like they should, i tried treating it with more compression but then it will take away more of the high ends

Apart from that issue… i doubled the main vocal to add more presence and used only a compressor, de-esser and a light EQ to make it sound different abit than the 1st one … just like how we saw it in katy perry’s song and it actually sounds decent now after i did it , i even added a different delay to the 2nd vocal to add more sound to the track and. i think it needs minor tweaks to make it sit better in the mix .

as for the main vocal. im feeling like im adding alot more VSTs than i usually do to make it sound like how am imagining to sound like ,

the VSTs that am using for it are

1- Compressor
2- De-esser
3- Stereo EQ
4- Reverb
5- Delay
6- Vocal centric VST ( it has a doubler and a knob that makes the sound brighter, and i need that since the RAW take is a bit dim )
7- 2nd desser ( i use this one after EQ to make the Ss appear lighter but still visible )
8- vocal Rider from waves

its a long list… and i think a good mix is a simple one, but my argument is these are essentials to the main vocals. il do more tweaking then il proceed to do the chorus and the bridge .

the verse sounded like this before : https://picosong.com/wh4Lw/
and this is what it sounds after : https://picosong.com/wh4L5/

i think it needs to be lowered a bit but il test it on big speakers tomorrow .
il also try to remove or tweak some of the vsts and see if i can get to what i want it to sound .

Thanks For Reading .

i know that this is not Graded but i would like to hear your feedback on this beat i made, i need to level the bass with the melody, and its still lacking transitions.

as for the theme and melody, i wanted to have an arabic style melody and match the lyrics, the lyrics are still not finished for it yet, i only have the 1st verse now.

!!Edited!! LINK : https://picosong.com/whfms/

1st verse :

man i am livin’ on a minefield

people are stepping on it daily with their right heel

man its driving me insane but im living inside my brain im alive inside so im alive here

in a second your soul will elevate,

call me terminator cuz i terminate

am i crazy mates ? for escaping baits ? people trynna hug me & detonate

baghdad is a place for deathly ways, its a ghost-town when it passes 8

so the 4 pound never leaves my waist, so it incase it goes down you’ll meet your fate

its a crysis man i wonder why we livin’ so close to ISIS

im torn to slices im torn to slices

my blood on the news as merchanise and

its not surprising its not surprising

im lost in the dark with no horizon

now children dying, and leaders lying

in yemen libya syria and iraq after palestine

__________________________

i would like to know your feedback

thanks

currently my DAWs are :

1. Reaper for editing and recording vocals
2. adobe audio audition for editing and recording vocals
3. FL Studio for making instrumental

im still learning logic by watching videos and trying new things @mac lab 1, my problem with it is im not doing anything with the required fluidity to be able to work on it properly, im watching youtube tutorials to be able to have that speed to work on an entire session using only logic.

This channel is my go to when im stuck somewhere :

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMLRL8SFdYOV1bxjHkHP1tA/videos i need to

be able to use it and know everything about it like the back of my hand, i still can not achieve that, any tips on this subject are very appreciated .

Thanks

i have just got done with leveling everything all the sounds of the song’s instrumental, i added compressors and boosted the bass by a bit, the quality of it is satisfying on my audio technica headphones, however i still need to test it on big speakers to check if the bass is not covering the main melody. it sounds like this :

legacy instrumental : https://picosong.com/w8h3N/

my current challenge is that the vocals need more adlips and more backup vocals specially for the chorus. and i cant re-record or add more to the vocals because the singer is currently not in malaysia, however i think i can still give a good sound for the vocals if i use alot of editing without adding anything that will make it the vocals sound like its only 1 take and 1 vocal