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Hi all,

Here is a song that Tim & I completed a little while ago. It's possibly going to be No.1 on our album which we will be releasing later this year. We're in the process of releasing it as a single on Itunes and will be donating all our itunes profits to a charity called Veterans Aid. I will post more about that another day.

I would appreciate any thoughts and feedback on the song if you would be so kind.

[url=http://soundcloud.com/northfield/make-it-happen]Make It Happen[/url]

http://soundcloud.com/northfield/make-it-happen

Your heart is pounding
And the crowd are on their feet
Their sound is drowned out
As you're starting to believe
You want to win this
You can see the finish line
The moment's getting closer
And that's all you need

You can make it happen
You can find a way
This is what you've lived for
This can be your day
If you start to believe
You can only achieve
And you can make it happen

Your time is right now
And now is all you have
The future's waiting for you
You've got to reach out

You can make it happen
You can find a way
This is what you've lived for
This can be your day
If you start to believe
You can only achieve
And you can make it happen

You can stand proud
You can sing it out
We will all be there with you
Every step you take it matters
Even if it's hard to face
But you wont give in

You can make it happen
You can find a way
This is what you've lived for
This can be your day
If you start to believe
You can only achieve
And you can make it happen


Thanks

James

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Someone tell me what I'm doing wrong here!!!

Here's the link: http://soundcloud.com/northfield/make-it-happen

hi james, really good quality recording,is this only a demo?,the song is good too, no crit's. don't see anything about metalurgy in this one so you're good there,just kidding, really liked it, has a coldplay feel to it. enjoyed it.

cheers, dmk

Cheers DMK,

No, this is about as good as we can get the recording in our home studio. I Like the comparison. Funny actually. This song has been compared to about 4 bands so far which i find quite interesting.

Cheers

well constructed and recorded pop-rock tune. Pretty good stuff, quite pro sounding!

Kevin

Cheers Kevin. That's good to know. Thanks

Hi James, the opening bit made me think a bit of Owl City. This could pass easily for a inspirational song under Christian rock as well.

That is really cool that you are giving proceeds to the Vets. That is very cool of you.

This is one I could hear for commercials, as well as athem style song that people would sing along to and the title cut.

Really good stuff...as I always expect from you and Northfield.

Kimberly

Hi James,

Firstly, awesome job! Wonderful cause!

There is only one nit... the first 10 seconds can make or break whether people listen on... imho it doesnt give anything away.... like the style or the power of whats coming...I would rethink this because the rest is amazing, love the vocals, the sounds, the package. K

Great reference by Kim to Owl City. Obviously you've got chops and production skills so I'll comment on that level. If you're trying to pitch this then the generic lyric works. I can hear parts of it used in a movie, etc. If not then it's TOO generic. I need a little more imagery in the lyric.

Musically it's good. I thought the chorus could have elevated more. You sing the chorus with the same cadence as the verses. Even doing a few lines of the chorus more rapid-fire would break it up. I also thought there should have been a minor chord on 'start'--it would have made the chorus pop more. Good start.

Zeek

James,

Even if you can't post a link..you can make great music!! LOL!!

This is a wonderful song and I will make a different comparison on purpose. This is like the first time I heard "SWITCHFOOT" in the movie "A Walk To Remember", this has that same pop feel of their songs in that movie. I am mentioning it because I think your song can be on that level. I think Zeek's chorus idea is valid because you need to up one more level because it is good enough to push.

That is just my opinion, but I think this sounds great and worth kicking it a little harder, but I really do like it!!!

Tammy

Thanks for your suggestions guys. I'm not really sure how we can push the chorus more. Is it the music that you want bigger and bolder or the vocals?,or both maybe? Perhaps I'll figure it out for the album version.

Switchfoot eh? I like it

As for lyrics, yes we wanted it quite generic with a nice simple message. "Believe" I feel we achieved that pretty much.

Thanks all

JD

Hi, James! I really love the message in this song, and it sounds good, too! You've got some really great suggestions here already.

I agree with shortening the bells in the beginning.. maybe to about 4 or 5 seconds, then that powerful music that starts in. The bells are a nice intro, and will make for undeniable song recognition, but as is, they are just long enough to make the listener say "What in the world is this?"

Just a teeny technical nit on the lyric if you keep it as is: V1L2 should be The crowd IS on their feet. I know I'm a nerd, but you want it perfect, right? "on their feet" is a prepositional phrase... the verb relates to "crowd".

Now, as for the Chorus, I think the first one is good, leave it alone, imo. The second one, to give that something extra, maybe use the time in between each of the first 4 lines to ECHO each line.

Then, after the bridge, the musical solo needs to do something different, imo. I wouldn't say it's too long, it's just way too much of the same thing, and it leads right into that final Chorus, which also does nothing different. Tickle our ears with the music by stepping it up... then,

In that final Chorus, tickle our ears again with the vocal, either have the echo WAIL higher (if you add one) or make certain words wail higher... I was hearing the emphasis in my mind on the words MAKE, FIND, WHAT, BE YOUR DAY, beLEIVE^, aCHEIVE^ (take these notes higher on the last Chorus), then keep the last "and you can make it happen" just like it is! It sounds really, really good... but it could sound really, really great!

--Jen

Hey Jen,

Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions. I think you may have identified what the others meant by lifting the song up further on each chorus. I can hear how that could certainly improve it. It's normally something we really would look while recording a song but we felt the track hit pretty hard from the off so I guess we struggled to lift it even more. I'm sure it's something we'll look into as it appears to be a common nit for listeners here.

I understand about the bells. They aren't perfect but we needed something to enhance the kick at the start when the intro comes in. Again, we may look at that.

Prepositional phrase? Well, I've done some research on that subject and yes I can confirm you are a nerd! hehe

Thanks for your input I appreciate it.

I look forward to working with you

JD

This is very good IMHO. You have received some valid suggestions above but I am not sure that it needs much (although the crowd is on its feet!).

Your verses start out pretty mellow and build up to the chorus well. Some different chords would add interest as Zeek said but you may be too far along to consider that change.

Good job!

Thank you Colin.

This crowd lyric is starting to make my brain ache lol. I can't see anything wrong with the first lyric. Why can't the crowd be on their feet? What I do know is, it scans well and sounds good so artistic licence should help

As far as musically goes yeah we are pretty much too far along for that. I think the best I could do is add more vocals and try some add lib type stuff on the last chorus.

Anyone think this kind of song would sell in the US?

I appreciate everyone's thoughts so far.

JD

Hi James

Two words, WOW, AMAZING, or maybe three, YIPEE or maybe four, five, I absolutely love it James, yep, another one of JPF greats hah.

Congratulations, I'm hooked.

Hugs Michele

Good sounding pop tune James. Very contemporary. Enjoyed my listen. Great production quality.

Stevie

Hi! I listened to this and all of the songs on your sites. You have a great voice and this song really caught my attention. It has a positive feel to it...great tempo, simple,fun message. I think it could well. Good luck with your album!

Hey James,

Great summer song here.

If you want a crit, I'm sorry I don't have one.....

Very intricate layering, and a delicate precision make it all work.

If anything, I would probably make the guitar riffs squeal more, but if it's already post mixed, then that's Ok.

Nice work !

cheers, niteshift

PS - as a post audio dude, I would have loved to have mixed this track down. Magic !

PPS - on second/third listen, I can see a better EQ on the voice. The sweet spot is not quite there.

Michele, Thank you so much. That's really lovely of you to say that.

Stevie, Thank you so much for listening. I'm really glad you liked it.

Jen, Thank you for your positive thoughts. I'm hoping you are right. This is the first of our most recent songs and we're really going to push it. Glad you liked it.

Niteshift, Thanks fella. Glad that from the ears of another producer that you thought it layered well. I must admit, the guitar sound was always something that made me think.
As post production is your thing, do you think you could mix it better? We don't claim in anyway to be expert at what we do. We're not Pro's in any way shape or form, we just do as well as our ears and equipment will allow so If you think you might be able to bring the song alive more please let me know and we can talk about it.

Thanks again

JD

Hey James,

I might be reiterating what others have said on this thread but I just wanted to put my two cents in.

I first heard this song on your Reverbnation page a while ago and really liked it! In fact I really enjoy all the songs you have on there. I think the message is good and the music is well-written and catchy. Will definitely be buying your album when it's released later this year, and good luck with it.

Hey James,

Sure, I'll take a crack at it. If you package the raw files up into a zip file ( no EQ or effects ) and email or PM me a link, it would be a fun song to mix down.

I do take awhile though ( weeks ) so if you're not in any rush, a bit of knob twiddling on a song like this would be cool.

You can keep or sweep as you see fit.

cheers, niteshift

Hi James,

VERY nicely done.

Calvin


http://www.soundclick.com/bands/0/calvinstewart

James,

Great sounding song! Very commercial to me. I really like how the bass drum comes in after the pounding heart lyric at the beginning.

Ricky

Ann, Thank you so much. I really appreciate that.

Nite, awesome. From the point of seeing how someone else would mix it I am very interested to hear what you would do. I will sort the file out soon.

Calvin, Thank you.

Ricky, Woo. I'm glad you picked up on that . Glad you liked it. Thank you.

James