Artist Name: dreemeternalmusic Title: You Belong Genre: Modern Contemporary Pop/Rock Rating:
Equipment
DAW – Logic Pro; macOS Catalina; Interface – Focusrite Clarett 8Pre, Microphone – Audio-Technica condenser; Software – Ozone 9 for mastering
Music
“You Belong” is a contemporary pop/rock song written, recorded, mixed, and mastered by dreemeternalmusic, with vocals performed by Rachel Sharp.
Review By Dave Martin
“You Belong” fits well into the modern contemporary pop/rock genre. The drum track is, like many others these days, programmed—but I like that the drums provide a steady beat without getting in the way of the vocalist or the interesting keyboard sounds used on the track.
Sonically, the keyboard sounds are, I think, the coolest thing on the production side. There are quite a few layers of synth sounds—strings, voices, pulsating rhythmic elements, and some sounds that reflect an interest in wonderful sound design, especially in the “down” section around 1:35. Around 2:05, a sound much like Mellotron voices appear, helping to reinforce the vocals much like a choir. As vocalist Rachel Sharp added background vocals toward the end of the song, the Mellotron choir stayed in the mix, helping to support the vocal stack. It’s also interesting and fun!
Rachel Sharp’s lead vocal track was well sung and has the vibe of a contemporary pop chanteuse.
Dave’s Suggestions
A few things in this track might deserve a closer look. Starting with Sharp’s vocals in the mix, I wonder if the lowest harmony vocal might be a bit loud. It seems to be a touch overpowering when it appears. There are also a couple of notes—especially in the background vocals—that may be a bit questionable. Also, once the song begins, the guitar gets lost in those cool keyboard sounds. I can hear it if I listen closely, but I’d like to hear the guitar a bit more.
And speaking of guitars, the intro to this song reminded me that when you play the chords as they were played in the intro, as a rake, it’s often best to shift the rake a little ahead of the beat so that the higher part of the chord sounds in time. In this recording, the guitar sounds a little late. Technically, the lowest note of the chord is in time, but the placement of the fuller high notes is a bit behind the other instruments.
I’m assuming that dreemeternalmusic’s primary instrument is keyboard/synth, but upon repeated listening to the recording, I found myself missing a couple of other guitar parts. When the keyboard parts are primarily pads, as they are in this track, I miss hearing something more rhythmic in the verses. As possible suggestions, perhaps adding an arpeggiated electric (even with chorus), delay, and something like a lightly distorted eighth-note guitar rhythm in the choruses.
Finally, while I applaud the simplicity of the drum track, it might be helpful to program the cymbal crashes to hit at the beginning of the sections rather than on random downbeats. Also, there’s an occasional tom hit that lands on the last eighth note of the measure (and usually followed by a crash cymbal on the next downbeat). In and of itself, it’s a cool minimalist drum fill, but much like how the cymbal crashes should announce the beginning of a section, drum fills are typically used as an announcement that a scene change or a new section is about to start. I likely wouldn’t have noticed immediately was it not for the tom hit right before the down section (where the drums aren’t playing). At that point in the song, it seemed a bit of a distraction.
Understand that these are minor quibbles that could well be dismissed as simply the artist’s creative choice. But for our readers who look at these notes to see if there is anything usable for them, these quibbles are worth pointing out; often, the difference between a demo and a record are minor issues like these.
Summary
“You Belong” is a well-written song with some cool keyboard sounds and a believable vocalist who understands how to sing this sort of tune.
I like it!
Dave Martin is a producer, engineer and bassist. Dave owned Nashville’s Java Jive Studio for close to 25 years. Dave has recorded, produced and/or played with symphony orchestras, rock and roll icons and country music legends ranging from the Old Crow Medicine Show, The Dead Pickers Society, Porter Wagoner, Robben Ford, Billy Cobham, The Box Tops, Carl Verheyen, Richie Faulkner (Judas Priest), Adrian Belew, Rick Nielsen (Cheap Trick), Eric Johnson, Robbie Fulks, Steve Vai, The Coasters and others. Dave is also a member of the Western Swing Hall of Fame.