Hear and Identify

Negatives about the song

In the 'worse version' song I could hear a tiny bit of popping at 0:16, 0:19 and 0:23 seconds, plus the panning of the drums, vocals and piano at are not balanced during most of the song. It is mostly panned to the right. The reason for these errors could be that the mic used to record the vocals is faulty, plosive consonants like p,b, and m could've caused a blast of air into the, plus the panning might have not been balanced properly during the final mix. I would fix this problem by replacing the faulty with a better mic that has a popping shield, then I would test the mic for any faults and if the mic functions properly I can ask the singer to re record his vocals again. During the final mix I will look at the dB meters to check whether an instrument has been panned to the center. If not I will change the panning to it's appropriate setting. The reason why I would do all this is because I want to make the music better, clearer and sharper for the listener.

At 0:53 seconds the vocals sound very muffled and barely hard to hear. The reason for this being could be that the effects used for the vocals are very bad, the mic could be a dynamic mic or the mic could be faulty. To solve this problem I would replace a faulty or dynamic mic with a good high quality condenser mic. The reason why I would do this is because condenser mics are used for recording audio sound whereas dynamic mics are used to record live sound. To check for any fatigue in the mic I would test it first by recording myself talking normally. I would then play the recorded audio and if me and the singer are happy with it I would re record the singer again.

At 0:21 seconds I notice that the vocals are out of time. What I mean by that is the vocals are of beat. I also notice at 0:47 seconds that the kick drum is taken out when it's supposed to be playing throughout the whole song. I think the reason for these faults happening could be that the drummer and singer are not paying attention to their parts or they haven't rehearsed their parts properly. I would strongly recommend that every musician rehearses their parts well before recording it, this will make recording easier, faster and better. If the instrument data is midi I can add a few extra kick drums. If it's audio I can chop the audio up, remove the sections that are not needed and replace them with the parts that are needed. Doing all of this will benefit the song better because you are making edits to the errors that the vocalist or instrumentalist has made.

At 0:03 seconds I can hear the singer cough. When you a singer/rapper is about to record it is essential that the singer/rapper is ready. The reason why the singer coughed is because he needed too clear his voice or maybe he had a cough recently. The way it could have been prevented I would recommend that singer or rapper clears his/her voice before he/she starts recording. If the singer/rapper has had a cough recently it would be very essential for him/her to drink plenty of water to make it stop for a bit or take medicine if it persists. If the recording artist is too ill to record then he/she should arrange a different day to record.
This will prevent any unnecessary mistakes while recording.

At 0:18 seconds I hear the word 'competently'. This word is not meant to be there. After the word 'performance' in the 'goodish version' song it's meant to say 'with a degree of independence'. Perhaps this occurred because the singer wanted to make changes to the lyrics or the singer didn't rehearse his lines properly. If a vocalist wants to change his/her lyrics he/she would need to practice his/her lyrics to see whether it fits in with the music. If so then he/she can record the vocals again. If not then he/she has to stick with lyrics that were already written.

At 0:30 seconds the backing vocals are flat and louder than the other instruments. In every song every element has to be sharp, clean and adequate. This is what makes the song sound professional and perfect for the listener. The reason why the backing vocals are flat and louder than the other instruments could be that the singer hasn't listened to what key the song is in and the dB meter on the adlibs could be peaking. What I would strongly recommend to the singer is listen to the song carefully and know what key it's in. If I was mixing the song and I noticed the vocals were louder than all the other instruments I would look at the dB meter and reduce the volume until it's at 0dB.

At the beginning of the song the piano doesn't have much or no reverb. In the 'goodish version' the piano does have reverb. I can hardly hear any reverb in the piano, this means the piano is dry. Perhaps the reason for this error is because the reverb could've been bypassed by mistake, not enough reverb or not sustain on the piano. The way I would go about fixing this error is by looking at the recording to see whether it's a audio or midi recording. If the piano is an audio recording I would tell the pianist to re record the piano again and I would tell him to use the sustaining or sostenuto pedal on the piano because these 2 pedals lift the dampers on the piano and allow the sound to last longer. If the piano is midi I would add a reverb vst and I would adjust how much reverb there should be on the piano. By doing these things this will not only make the piano better but it will make the song itself so much better for the listener because I am making edits to certain errors or faults.

Positives about the song

In the 'goodish version' everything sounds clear, fluent and in time. All the instruments are in time and in the same key and the vocals are in tune, clear to hear and in time with the song. The mixing of the song is good because nothing is too loud or too quiet. The volume levels are equal and the panning is balance to the center. This is how every song is meant to sound like for the listener that is listening to song.

What to do when a song is not fully finished, mixed and mastered?

Maybe the reason for all these errors happening in the 'worse version' song could be that the mic that is being used to record song is not good quality, the final mix of the song is poor and needs lots of editing and the project itself is not fully completed. The way I would make the recording of this song better is by replacing the microphone with a better quality one that will make the vocals sharp and I ask the artist to re-do the vocals for the song.

Once that is done I will ensure that the final mix of the song is immaculate and flawless. First I will ensure that the dB on all the instruments are at 0dB, finally I will look at the panning levels to see if there's anything wrong with them. If so I will change them to a balanced position. If I do all of this the song will be so much better and so much clearer for the listener to listen to.