ADK- Pessimist Good song, but drowned out by noise on track
I REALLY enjoyed the Optimist Demo which you posted a while back, and I had been eagerly awaiting a more polished version of what sounded to be a really promising track. This version of the song still has a lot of the elements that I liked about the original demo; really great guitar riffs accompanied by solid and appropriate vocals; well written lyrics; and overall you've really created an epic rock sound without crossing the line into the rock opera hijinks of, say, Meatloaf.
However, a lot of the really positive aspects of the song are lost because they're drowned out by other noise on the track. The drums especially seem disproportionately loud, particularly in the intro portion of the track. However, this doesn't seem to be a problem during the chorus - in fact, I would say that the audio quality is probably the best during the chorus parts of the song, and I wish the rest of the track could sound more like that. I am not sure if the drums drown out the other instruments because of less than optimal recording conditions, or because of how the track was mixed in FL Studio and Reaper, but, if you could lower their volume somehow I think it would really improve the overall quality of the track.
Or, alternatively, maybe you could redo the drum part with less emphasis on the cymbals and mix it in with the other tracks in FL or Reaper? I THINK it's the cymbals that are really the main cause of the noise that I've been referencing in this review.
I thought that the original Optimist Demo really struck the right balance between the drums and the other instruments on the track while still letting the vocals shine through, and I would like to hear something more like that, where the drums are a little less harsh and there's less use of the cymbal. Around 1:46 on this track I think you achieve exactly the right balance between the drums, guitars, vocals, and everything else - so if you want to know which part I think sounds the best, listen to the portion between 1:46 and 2:06.
Anyway, I hope you find some of that helpful. I really do like this track overall; I have been known to blast it pretty loudly while driving and it really does sound like something that Muse or a similar group might have on an album. I'd just like to hear it cleaned up a little more. I know you weren't recording under ideal conditions, so maybe we can look forward to an updated version of the track in the future?
