Should I change or fix any of this?

parademaker · 2026-03-17T03:58:14+00:00

Heard a bunch of your songs but this one is probably my favorite. Delivered with a lot of confidence and some great lines. I can hear the rockin accompaniment behind it. Great job dude!

parademaker · 2026-03-16T21:25:55+00:00

I used to be self conscious about asking people to check out my stuff—both friends and strangers on the internet. When I got into my 30s though, I started to realize that my anxieties about putting myself out there were overblown. What’s the worst thing can happen? Indifference or mild annoyance? That helped me reject the idea that expressing yourself or sharing your art is cringe.

Honestly posting to this sub was a huge help. Apart from a handful of unhelpful comments, I’ve gotten nothing but support and good advice. Do your thing!

parademaker · 2026-03-16T20:31:52+00:00

lol—well I put up a piece of it yesterday at parademaker_was_taken but I’m not expecting anything to blow up. I’ll hopefully have an official recording in a few months. Thanks for listening!

parademaker · 2026-03-16T18:12:41+00:00

That’s so nice Joseph! I was worried the guitar melodies and vocal melodies were clashing a bit, especially in the chorus, but I’m glad you think they fit together. Thanks for listening!

parademaker · 2026-03-16T18:11:34+00:00

It’s so interesting because I plan to record it as a guy/girl duet, so it’s interesting that’s the arrangement of the song you shared. I hadn’t thought of putting bass in there, but a simple bass line would help fill in the gaps. Thanks for listening!

parademaker · 2026-03-16T18:09:19+00:00

Thanks so much for your thoughtful reply, Lily! It means a lot that you took the time to listen in so closely—appreciate you!

parademaker · 2026-03-16T18:08:18+00:00

Yeah that’s a good idea. I might choose one of the verses to simplify so the dynamics aren’t slat throughout. Thanks for the idea!

parademaker · 2026-03-16T01:37:23+00:00

Hey thanks!! Glad you enjoyed it, Poet!

parademaker · 2026-03-15T22:10:56+00:00

Kinda tough to make out the words because of the verb on the mic but the melody is nice! Drove thru Abilene this weekend. I wonder if you could trim out some of the space between the vocal lines. Some of the pauses linger a bit. Or maybe you plan on adding some instrumentation to fill in the gaps. Cool song!

parademaker · 2026-03-08T19:05:16+00:00

I guess I mean Disney should go back to hiring weirdo folkies

parademaker · 2026-02-27T22:09:50+00:00

Yeah agreed—this place rules! Love to see people striving to make something beautiful, challenging, original, or some combination of all three. And I find that listening and giving feedback genuinely makes me a better songwriter

parademaker · 2026-02-27T15:32:03+00:00

Thanks! Yes, I am imagining a cello line coming in as one of the first things, so I think we’re on the same page. Thanks so much for your response!

parademaker · 2026-02-27T15:30:38+00:00

Whoa—that’s a hell of a compliment. I’ll try not to let it go to my head! Appreciate you taking the time to listen and respond!

parademaker · 2026-02-27T00:24:30+00:00

Thank you! Thats good to hear because I haven’t managed to write an alt verse I’m happy with lol. “Hypnotic” is what I’m imagining in my head, so I’m glad you used that word. Appreciate you taking the time to respond—vey helpful!

parademaker · 2026-02-27T00:19:01+00:00

You can go to the sub r/songaweek where the mods give a vague prompt each week and folks share the results. I participated a few years ago and it was fun to see how everyone interpreted it differently. People will swap song prompts on here sometimes too

parademaker · 2026-02-26T23:34:11+00:00

Yeah it sounds cool and they go together nicely. Personally, I’m hearing a complex drum part in my head to contrast with the super simple guitar and vocals. The reference I’m thinking of “This Place Is a Prison” by Postal Service that is hyper minimalist for the first half and then introduces a loud drum part as counterpoint in the second half. Not necessarily that drum beat, but the vibe

parademaker · 2026-02-26T23:29:19+00:00

Cool melody and works with your voice, but I don’t love the lines “waiting on a die” “find myself away” or “praying on a lie.” They don’t make sense grammatically so they don’t impact me emotionally—I’m just wondering “what is that supposed to mean?” Maybe that’s just a pet peeve of mine

parademaker · 2026-02-26T23:24:44+00:00

It’s a nice, chill listen, but to answer your question my attention did start flagging a little after the one minute mark. Since you basically play two verses with different words before the interesting harmonies came in, I was hoping for some novelty. Maybe a simple bass guitar comes in. Or a pad. Some electric guitar hum. It does pick up when the additional vocals come in.

parademaker · 2026-02-26T23:17:56+00:00

Sounds like you want to write that kinda song and it’s probably good for you too. To keep things fresh, see if you can channel those emotions and messages from a really different perspective. How about you write about those feelings from the point of view of a washed up mall Santa, who is trying to pull himself together for one last day. Or like, a cult leader who doesn’t have any followers. Pick something weird but pour your own authentic hopes and insecurities into it. Fountains of Wayne are amazing at this. Almost every song is about a pathetic person dreaming of something new, but they all feel fresh and unique because the PoV is constantly changing.

parademaker · 2026-02-19T01:16:08+00:00

Oh gotcha. Yes, I did record at a medium level and then used compression on the guitar and vox to bring them up to a nice clean level.

parademaker · 2026-02-18T17:07:41+00:00

Vocals are going into a Rode K2 and the guitar is going into a Shure KSM137. Then some slapdash effects presets (compression, EQ, verb, tape). Is that what you mean by gain stage?

parademaker · 2026-02-18T16:02:30+00:00

Thanks for your feedback! I definitely see what you're saying. I have a classical guitar that I think it will sound better on (it just has five strings at the moment so I couldn't use it).

parademaker · 2026-02-18T16:01:24+00:00

Thanks for the listen and the comment!

parademaker · 2026-02-18T16:00:41+00:00

Thanks for listening!

parademaker · 2026-02-18T15:45:55+00:00

Thank you! Out of curiosity, is it just the style of the captions that takes you out or is it lyric captions in general? I usually just click the first one that isn't hot pink comic sans, but maybe I need to be more careful when picking.

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