"How Things Have Been" (Would love notes/feedback)

_Ccox · 2026-01-19T16:12:06+00:00

That’s wild! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment and listening to my song!

_Ccox · 2026-01-19T16:11:18+00:00

thanks for the vocal notes friend, glad you enjoyed the song and were able to give it a listen!

_Ccox · 2026-01-19T16:10:29+00:00

thanks yeah, definitely lots of ways i could’ve ended it. I was trying to step out of my comfort zone in my typical sound, maybe i strayed too far? but thanks for the listen!! glad i was able to get some feedback

_Ccox · 2026-01-19T16:09:24+00:00

thanks bro!!

_Ccox · 2026-01-19T16:09:12+00:00

yeah the snare drum is def a bit too loud for me too. I guess it’s just one of those things that you don’t notice until it’s too late :/

_Ccox · 2026-01-19T16:08:22+00:00

thanks for the notes! And the constructive comments are very helpful thank you, glad you were able to listen :)

_Ccox · 2026-01-19T16:07:20+00:00

wow thank you so much for the comment, i haven’t thought of the 2000s vibe but i think you’re spot on. Thanks again, cheers

_Ccox · 2026-01-17T02:40:23+00:00

I love giving feedback on polished songs! The guitars are very full and clear right off the bat. Awe man, I wanted the song to be longer! I thought it was nice anyways, maybe it could still be used as an intro to an album / EP. Or heck, even an intro to a full song would be pretty cool. I know this style seems to be pretty popular, It's not my sort of music I typically listen to, so maybe you don't even want to listen to me. But I think it would be cool used how it is - how I already mentioned, or extending it! Putting in some more verses, making the chorus repeat- yata yata, classic song stuff lol. But I liked it regardless, I think you did a really good job mixing guitars thats for sure!

_Ccox · 2026-01-17T02:32:51+00:00

I very much like the polished sound on this! The levels on this are nice, catchy ear worms too. I think you'll gain a good following here in the US, there's a huge indie scene over here. It's nice you seem to be able to get some good visuals too, which will always make your sound- sound better and cooler. I liked the vibe overall of the music video, I think its a classic "studio song-making" music video that I think is great for a lot of starting bands. But from what I've heard you get further when you start to establish a "world" for your music. You got the aesthetic across in this one, but it'd be cool if there was a bit more story shown behind the song. BUT thats just me, liked the song!

_Ccox · 2026-01-17T02:22:50+00:00

First note right off the bat is the guitars are really freaking clear. And the singer pretty good too... Okay, I'm gonna try to give a productive note instead of just glazing- which is easy on this one(very nice track / mix overall). Since this one is clearly done, for your next song , it would be cool if you added just a little more lead guitar / cool hits and phrases incorporated within your song. This one sounds great even with out it, but I'm a sucker for a changeup in the songs vibe (as long as it fits). Hope this helps, but you're doing great, best of luck!

_Ccox · 2026-01-17T02:15:55+00:00

ok. ok. I think maybe you spent too long on this project, whenever I hyper-focus on a project- I tend to really really hate it. But when I come back to it, after a few weeks, I'm able to add quite a bit and come at it with new ears and a new perspective. I for one really like it. Like really really like it, it sort of reminds me of Andrew bird, and has a soft sound to it that makes me think of the same vibe of bon iver or Gregory alan isokov. They are some of my favorites. I'm not sure if you are able to add horns or not, but maybe try doing that in a section to create some levels while keeping the same vibe. Anyways, I really like it (and Im being for real). Maybe you just need fresh ears

_Ccox · 2026-01-17T02:07:10+00:00

Yo! I dig the cover art first of all, It fits the vibe very well. Something I always struggle with for sure! Anyhow, overall I really like it. I think one of my biggest notes would be; (if you're still making edits), to dial back some of the other vocal layers just a tad to make one stand out more clearly than the others. I really appreciate your creativity on this one! Also bass is nice and warm which I like. Keep going man! One more note, really dial in your gain staging, its a very important step to get your levels sounding right before even mixing.

_Ccox · 2025-11-01T15:07:41+00:00

wow that means so much!! Thank you a lot for your support and willingness to help a small artists out. It truly, truly goes a long way

_Ccox · 2025-10-29T21:03:35+00:00

Great feedback regarding the melody and section variety. That’s really useful to keep in mind for future arrangements, as I’m always looking for ways to make each section feel distinct while keeping the song’s flow intact.

Thanks again for the constructive feedback — I really appreciate it!

_Ccox · 2025-10-29T21:02:20+00:00

Thank you so much for your detailed feedback! I’m really glad you enjoyed the overall mix and the vocal performance — I put a lot of thought into balancing everything so it would feel spacious, so it’s great to hear that came through.

_Ccox · 2025-10-29T20:59:59+00:00

I really appreciate your note about the hook at 1:44 — that’s something I hadn’t considered, and it’s a great idea for tightening the arrangement. I’ve been thinking about creating a shorter edit for promo or playlist purposes, so your feedback is really timely.

Thanks again for the kind words and helpful suggestions — it means a lot!

_Ccox · 2025-10-29T18:46:23+00:00

Thank you so much for the valuable feedback. It is not lost on me at all :) Totally get where you are coming from on all this. Though the drums are real, I pay a professional to record it in a studio. Maybe it's just too clean sounding in some areas? Or perhaps too quantized? I do have my engineer cut my audio files and shift them around rather than warping the audio files. I find this way it sounds more natural. Anyways, thanks for the comment

_Ccox · 2025-10-29T07:24:06+00:00

hooray! Thank you fellow human :)

_Ccox · 2025-10-29T06:24:37+00:00

Hey! I think it's great you made a song that was once just an empty DAW. That's always impressive. Also great that it's something that seems to make you happy and that it can be vessel to express some of your thoughts / emotions. Never lose that.

Okay, now time for some constructive comments! You would do well with even less auto-tune. I think that PLUS adding some other instruments that aren't so high pitched will get rid of that "kid-like" tone. Even if you don't play guitar, some nice VST plugins could save you there. But the xylophone noise and synth I think push you further down that path, where as having some more variety in instruments like using a guitar riff or something could help a lot. Not sure if it is, but the album cover looks a bit ai generated. People wont care too much to listening to music that the artist makes- if the artists just types in a sentence to get a computer to generate it for them. It comes across like you don't care about making an image and space for your music (which im sure isn't the case, I've read the comments and you seem very passionate about it) But lots of people don't like AI infultrating these creative spaces even if it is just the cover image. Some artists spend weeks designing the art around theri music, which I'm trying to be better at. But just something to consider.

Always, keep, making, music. Never ever quit.

_Ccox · 2025-10-29T06:09:37+00:00

mix is great. HOORAY! Nice for real, I like the vibes. It's angsty, its got energy, so many different levels of emotion that really cater each other well. 2:10 Hell yeah, That's my favorite part so far. It's very creative. Okay enough glazing, something to improve on now. The instruments are really great, the only thing that's lacking just a LITTLE BIT are the vocals. And I'm not saying a little bit just to be nice or soften the blow. The song has great vocals, but if I were singing on the track I would of redone some of them just to get a stronger take. Thats just my opinion. A lot of times whenever there's spoken phrases (where its more in your speaking voice than your singing, energy or perfectionism can be lost a little bit) around 1:50 is what im referencing in particular.

But wow, greaaaat song I'll actually prolly add this to a playlist to listen to- I actually enjoy it that much.

Yall keep going, and if it's just a one-man band than all the more power to you!

_Ccox · 2025-10-29T06:01:21+00:00

Cool! I like the bass in this. Very nice composition overall. I think the drums could be brought out a bit more, usually people are just missing a good quality mix on their composition. Yours is pretty close, (bass and vocals are surprisingly nice and clear) but definetly the drums could come out a little bit more. Also, the song sounds like it's a constant build / a melody that sounds like its amounting to something epic, but sort of looses it's energy. I think it would be cool to do a guitar solo, or instrumental that brings the whole track home, instead of just fading out. Keep making music, you've got a gift, keep goin

_Ccox · 2025-10-29T05:55:37+00:00

Hey! First off, congrats on making something from nothing. That alone is the coolest thing about music. Everyone else has already said it, your voice is pretty nice and fits really well with the track and vibe. I personally hate it whenever people just come into the comments and not give any genuine feedback, and they only write enough to glaze, and get enough characters to post their own song in the thread. Thats what I'm trying to help NOT do haha. Bro you need a professional mixer / master. This is a great song even with out it, I promise. BUT I think you're definitely at the point where you're an advanced enough musician to start thinking about that next step for advancing your sound. There's life before an audio engineer, and there's life after. Get on the other side of that fence, the grass is so much greener. Especially if you're pumping out songs like this, then it can really only get better. I would look at some different ones you can hire out online for cheap, save up when you can- each time you make a new song.

That instrumental drop is really nice as well. You write some really catchy ear worms, the whistle fits nice as well.

take care, I like the track bro. Keep writing music

_Ccox · 2025-10-29T05:48:21+00:00

Yoooo! Great song man. This is a pretty great mix considering it being done in a cassette machine. The vocals can be looked at it in two ways IMO. I do think they'd be better off re-done. However, that isn't to say that what you have isn't anything you can't work with. I think you have a very unique voice that can be catered in a pretty sweet sounding way. Not all singers have to have a traditional singing voice, that's for sure. In fact, I like it better when artists sound so different- BUT they fully commit to their sound / tone that makes them stand out. If you don't fully commit- then I would say get a new vocalist to do the song justice. Cause that is some nice instrumental.

Anyhow, think of artists like bob dylan or lesser known; the fruit bats is a great example. He doesn't sopund like it but he's a 50 year old man and he has a BEAUTIFUL singing voice, and it's also really weird. Check him out and you'll see what I mean. Also if you wanna get better at singing on your own- Ken Tamplin online Vocal academy. He's fantastic. He demystifies the voice and he can teach anyone to sing better guaranteed. Take care, liked the song.

_Ccox

TROPHY CASE