First attempt at commercial music

Hi Ive just started trying to learn how to improve my mixing and so decided to write in a style I don't usually do. How did I do on the mix and is the song itself good?

I'm no mixer or masterer, but the mixing sounds good to me. A few audio things I think I can comment on -

1) The bass drum is a little one-dimensional. It's a great kick, but I'm not sure it works for every section in the piece. There are moments when it would have been nice to add some more upper frequencies, or some "reverb" or something to draw it out, or something that would compliment what's going on musically. Also, once you do that you'll have room to bring up the backbeat. My ears are craving something more aggressive to fill in the 2's and 4's.

2) The  mix sounds much better in headphones, but is underwhelming on my computer's speakers. I once read about a mixing master who gave each track the "car stereo" test, to see how it sounded with the average joe listening. Maybe a car stereo isn't the best option anymore, but don't rely only on your sound system for audio mixing - once you're nearly finished, I'd recommend checking your work on a couple of different systems.

Now about the music itself:

1) Melodically fine the minor 6 in the beginning feels strange (around 0:03, it's the 2nd note in measure 2, and its repeats). I know the tune is in minor, but it's a weird clash, my ear doesn't accept it (which is important if you're making music for a venue like this). Weird stuff is good only if our ears accept it as good. As time passes, my ear becomes acclimated to it, though, and the harmony mirrors that a little more.

2) The pullback at 2:30 ish is really strange, it feels out of place. If it had been a smooth transition from all spectrums to a hi-cut I would have liked it more. This section is good as a composition. The solo is good, would love to hear a more assertive supporting line (rhythmically?). Perhaps some separation between articulations would help?

Overall good stuff, keep it up :)

Gustav Johnson

About the mixing, I can't tell if you want the backbeat to be emphasized or the on beats. It seems to be a little inconsistent.
Compositionally, your lack of a lot of V chords in the same progression would make more sense if the song was convincingly in D phrygian, but the jump makes it a little awkward to pass through.
I also agree the dropoff in 2:37 is really weird. It doesn't feel like a transition.
You do this thing in your sections where you seem to almost have an off beat canon trying to capitalize on suspensions, but it's not quite right.
Careful about the octave leap motions in the bass. It sounds a bit too disco-y that way.