Don't bring me down with your (High and Higher reviews)

[Cybronica]

Reviews:

Phlebia: I like what you did with your vocals. They are indecipherable, but the PinPointable tunefulness of them Balances out the organized din of the rest of the arrangement. Higher and higher is really pretty. Whispering interludes is trippy and cool. I voted for This, mainly because it was just enough contrast And enough pleasing to listen to for me to enjoy it in the mix. That odd drum that goes through out has a weird timbre, like it’s the only thing in the mix with out reverb? It stands out in an odd way. Vote

Shade and honey: delay on the vocals is a little too long. Sounds like an echoey recording studio. The bass coming in on my car stereo was an EXPERIENCE. The various pieces feel a little disparate. They need to tie together a little better. Like a store brand arcade fire. In a good way- basically the same but a better value.

My social Uniform: I like the mix, but the drums are to present for me. The back beat punches me in the heart, not in a good way. I really like the bass, a lot. That and the guitar give this a really cool retro funk feel which I find fits your melody and lyrics well. Vote

Pig farmer jr.: I really like this one. I am always singing along in harmony on your chorus (meaning I only just now noticed the doubles vocals there- nice). Sounds a little low for you- you could have more energy throughout yo ur song if you weren’t scraping for low notes. Vote

Sweeney toad: vocals don’t exactly like up rhythmically. Digging the 80s video game synthsthe verse vocal delivery is pitchy is a way that Is noticeable only bc of the doubled vox

Glenn case: good clear vocals, the chorus is catchy in a way that I expect to hear this on the cd retail stores play on a loop- very consumable Americana. The best part of this song is the guitar solo- I like how it continues through the last chorus, but why make us wait so long to get there?

Pannacotta army: the guitar is lovely in its simplicity. I like the flow of the lyrics, particularly your use of rhyme. The pre is a great contrast to the verse. The unexpected fbomb adds to the songs charm. Love the chorus effect On the chorus guitar (I see what you did there...) the building orchestration as the song goes on is great ( slide guitar!). That second chorus being delayed with just guitar and the rest fading in is great. Vote

Hot pink halo: The doubles vocals in this are your own worst enemy as they are disparately pitchy. When they split into two harmonized lines, I don’t hear the pitchiness really stands all, and it sound full and satisfying. Is this through composed? The melody is a little meandering at times.

Bw&bw: the effect you have on your vocals in incredibly unsettling, I suspect because the harmony is not adjust for tonal harmony, and it almost as loud as the melody. I like how the timbre of the ooP-ah Vocal matches the synth. I find this hard to listen to. I want it to be be part of an interactive art installation from the 70s.

Mandibles: us! A little sparse in the arrangement due to starting working on it late, but y’all seem to like it, so let that be a lesson to me- less is more! I was watching Netflix and there was a kid on a swing set. I felt at once nostalgic and resentful that I had to go and grow up. I can’t even find a swing set high enough off the ground for me these days! Vote

Lichen Throat: the odd meter on this gives it a great groove. Makes me want to dance. The vocals are sounding good- the voice itself is very present, and the melody is more defined then in past songs of yours. At this point what seems to be tripping you up are the lines that have the same note in quick succession- each one is near the pitch, but not quite on it, and it’s easier then to hear that it’s off.

Balance lost: first couple vocals lines are pitchy in a way that makes me think another take would have fixed it. I like the line “they’re coming for you and staying for” me a lot. A good piece of poetic turnabout! Something about the arrangement feels unfinished. I think I could have use more low tones in the mix. The bass isn’t enough to balance all the higher tones.

Robin Mackenzie: Love the guitar tone at the start. When you come in on “my meditation” it is a really special moment, which punctuated by the fact that it has your best singing in the song. The verses are pitchy in a way the chorus is not, which says to me that you’re getting the quiet intimate sound by sacrificing breath and support - I know I talk about these things a lot, but to be clear- having a well supported tone does not mean more volume or power, it means more [b]control[/b]. Often times we tap into this control when we go for a more powerful sound because we instinctively know we have to, and that makes us think that then to have less power we lessen the support- not true! In fact it’s the opposite- you need more support to sing quietly beautifully. And this is universal, not just for classical singing: Dolly Parton’s ‘Cologne’ comes to mind. The quiet parts in that song are perfectly controlled, perfectly supported. Id like to hear more a more supported tone in your quiet moments.

[Shade&honey]

Hot Pink Halo

I like the intro. I think the drums could have a little more thickness to them. I like how the song just seems to float around. This is something i could put on and kinda zone out to.

Pigfarmer jr

I like that crunchy guitar intro. This has a 90s alt rock feel to it I think.i like the panning of the splashes. I dig this. Nice solo.

Phlebia

This is very frantic. Probably could do some intense working out to this song. There is alot going on and its hard to focus on any one element. Its well put together.

Brown Word and the Big Whine

Love that synth! It sounds nice and full. And the effects on the guitar, reminds me of the dead pirates. I really like the feel of this song.

Mandibles

This has a ballad vibe to it. Vocals are all point. Sounds like it could be a song on an animated movie. Well done.

The Pannacotta Army

I like this. Has an alt folk/country feel about it. Love the support guitar notes. This is a gentle good natured romp.

Shade & Honey

I threw this together. I took some of the advice from the previous week. Thank you for that. Bass gets a little out of hand around the 20 second mark. It was done on a synth. I set a personal challenge to record all of this on my tascam model 12 with little help from a pc. I just amplified the wav file in audacity. Im happy with it.


Robyn Mackenzie

I dig the major chord progression. Your voice compliments the music well. Like the lyrics. I really like this song. Reminds me of susan vega.

Sweeney Toad

Video game tones meets the cure meets mindless self indulgence. I really dig this. Pineapple express?

My Social Uniform

Earth wind and fire vibes. Straight 70s funk. This sounds really good and i could groove to this any day.

Lichen Throat

Intro is nice. Reminds me of a friend who goes by the limbs. Voice seems a little flat in some spots but its not enough to take me away from everything else. I dig it.

Balance Lost

Like the panned guitars. Reminds me of all the c86 bands. Jangle pop. I like this but I think the vocal performance could be tighter. All in all a cool song.

Glenn Case

I really like this. I like the way your vocals fit in the mix. I like the distorted guitar supporting the acoustic. Vocals are tight and on point. Id listen to this any day.

[robynmackenzie]

Thanks for all the kind words and constructive feedback! Guess I'll take a shot at some reviews.

Mandibles: This is gorgeous. The drums really kick it up a notch when they come in. This has a very Broadway feel to it, which is cool. Your vocals are killer. My only complaint is that I'd like to hear more sustain on the piano. Overall, a very beautiful take on the prompt.

Shade & Honey: I agree with the other reviews that the delay is a bit much and I'd like to hear that backed off a bit. But I really like the feel of the song, especially the slidey bits on the chorus. Reminds me of something I might hear on the radio at a hipster coffee shop. Very nice.

Phlebia: Whoa. This is intense. I like the autotune effect on the vocals and I'd like to hear them a little more upfront. Love the production, and it sounds really good in headphones. I also like the contrast between the rapid fire vocals in the verse and the almost dreaminess of the chorus. The breakdown with the whispery vox works nicely.

Hot Pink Halo: In contrast to Phlebia, this is really laid back and smooth. Kind of a shoegazer ballad. The doubled vocals are a nice touch, and I like the beat a lot. Love the dreamy indie vibe. Maybe fade the end out a little longer, since it sounds kind of abrupt. Really nice tune.

Pigfarmer Jr: I dig that intro. The lyrics are great and I like the doubled vocals in the chorus. The cymbals could come down a bit, but you've already heard that. Really strong songwriting and guitar playing.

Sweeney Toad: Interesting blend of chiptune sounds and dissonant vocals. Definitely a fun ride--reminds me of Outkast a bit. I could definitely listen to this for longer.

My Social Uniform: Ooooh, disco-y. I think the vocals (which are excellent) could come up a bit, but other than that this is great. Fantastic lyrics and the production is spot on. Definitely had me grooving.

Balance Lost: I get a very Clash feel from this. The "oh-whoa"s in the background are nice. Another excellent production, and everything feels perfectly in its place. I don't have any suggestions for this one. Really good job.

The Pannacotta Army: Really nice arrangement, I like the chorus a lot. Top notch production as always. Again, no suggestions--this rocks.

Brown Word and the Big Whine: Another really interesting piece of dissonance. Is that a koto? I think I might like to hear the vocals a bit clearer, and the ending feels a bit abrupt. Really cool take on the prompt though--I like it.

Robyn Mackenzie: Oh look, it me. I'm not crazy about the production on this and I'm working on some adjustments as have been suggested here. I really didn't like the song when I first wrote it, but it's started to grow on me the more I listen. It's definitely the most depressing song I've written in awhile, but I'm glad it resonated with people.

Lichen Throat: I like the instrumentation a lot, and would like to hear it come up as I feel that the vocals are overwhelming. I like the lyrics, and the dreamy guitars work well.

Glenn Case: The meter in this is really engaging and keeps the song flowing nicely. I really enjoy the chord progressions you use. I think the vocals could be louder, as they're really good and they're a bit drowned in the instrumentation. Nice rhyme scheme in the chorus.

[sleepysilverdoor]

Oh, Robyn I figured out what trip-hop era song your melody was reminding me of: Massive Attack's Teardrop. The melody where you sing "throw in all into the fire" heavily echoes the line where Liz sings "teardrop on the fire", with that descending IV-III-I melody line, along with the similar vi-VII-I chord progression.

Not a bad thing, I just couldn't for the life of me figure out what it was about your song that sounded so familiar! Usually I never figure it out around here...

[lichenthroat]

Lichen Throat: Do you ever write songs outside of SongFight?

Not much, aside from the other competitions that are related to SongFight, such as Nur Ein and spin to Spintunes. I began in 2015 by composing instrumentals and did that for a little over a year until I discovered SongFight.

[Lunkhead]

The Pannacotta Army wins!

[Pigfarmer Jr]

Congratz, Tim. I liked your song (again.)

[Cybronica]

Congrats, Pannacotta army! Well deserved win.

Thank you also to everyone who wrote reviews!

Mandibles:
This immediately has very Musical Theatre vibes. It’s feel reminds me a lot of the song “Ring of Keys” from Fun Home. Your vocals feel a little low in the mix, but that being said, I can clearly understand everything you’re singing. The lyrical take is a good angle on the prompt, and I love the ending. I know this goes counter to your whole entire training, so please forgive me, but I’d like to hear you approach the vocal delivery with some more pop style techniques (what you’d probably refer to as “bad habits to avoid at all costs!”) sometime. That being said, I do think the stage-type delivery works for this particular song. I would be interested in hearing how your voice sounds with more mixing techniques common to pop though, like doubling, extreme type filters, an exciter plugin maybe?

So, I admit in the last couple of years, I have had to do a lot of unlearning of elitist gatekeeping views about singing that I learned at school. Things that I used to consider bad habits I realize are just a different style of singing. At this point I am trying to only identify bad habits as types of technique that will cause damage in the long term. That said, I’m not sure how to make my voice more poppy. To my ear, this is waaay more pop than I did when I was still singing opera ( https://soundcloud.com/kempson-abigail ... lusinghier). Ill try out the mixing suggestions. Something tells me that will get me farther in the right direction!

[sleepysilverdoor]

I seriously doubt you'd *win* but you should totally just go full-on opera for an entry. Or at least do something completely not poppy at all, like just a capella madrigals in 3 part harmony or something awesome like that. Or like write something like the Bulgarian state choir with all those rad microbial harmonies or something. You've totally got the voice for it!

I'm not at all surprised you have an opera background...it shows!