what a mario world - underground (vocal mix)

this time's commentary: joy sings for a song that doesn't fit her voice but does it anyway just because it's fun

so i've finally learnt one of the many importances of equalizing, and that is to make spaces in frequencies where my own voice sticks out the most so that the vocals sit well in the mix... at first i didn't really understand why most of my vocals only sat "on top" of my instrumentals and that has been bugging me ever since day 1 of me starting to record myself singing for projects, but after watching a good amount of video tutorials focusing on why other producers can blend vocals so well, it started to click why my vocals were so disorienting. i bought dseq3 (dynamic equalizer) for this and uh, as much as it burnt a hole in my personal savings i do think that this is the best purchase i have ever made for my music's quality in a long while. also i suck at de-essing and tuning a bit lol

as for recording vocals, last christmas i burst another hole in my personal savings buying a blue snowball (which you might think is cheap, but where i live everything like that here is expensive) and it sounds really great, the only problem i had was that i had no good environment to get really clean or consistent-sounding vocals... my work computer along with my dad's are both in the living room and i had spent an entire week recording sections of the whole song, sometimes being too tired to sing with no good air circulation (i had to close the windows so that we don't get a noise complaint, but tbf it's not like anyone cares); sometimes i had doubts that the mic would pick up any one of my family members talking in the background, but thankfully everyone mostly respected that, especially my dad

the entire week spent having to eq the vocals were a genuine pain in my arse to deal with... some of the thoughts i posted to bluesky... https://bsky.app/profile/johntayjinf....

as for vocal performance, i genuinely think that my vocals are not really "made" for this track haha. i want people to try and give covering this song a shot because i was going more for a michael jackson kinda style, but didn't really achieve that effect as well as i hoped to... recognizing my strengths and flaws is where i really get to thrive not just as a (mostly) self-taught vocalist, but also as an artist in general

sometimes getting better is not adequate for production like this


Lyrics

well y'know
i never thought this'd be
a true reality
when my own dreams came toppling down

'cause y'know
all what i've witnessed, see
my hopes all turned to mysteries
in my own sea of thoughts would i drown

every time
i take a sneaky-peek through my own mind
in lies a simple clown

(as if it were i!)

but loving you doesn't mean that i'm some mime
because i know that i am least worth someone's time

(all i have to do is) take my chances to be the one to provide
not with any chocolates or gifts, but ones with pure vibes
and through your smiles and tears i will always be by your side
care for you day and night, we'll never run outta time

it'll never be that easy
like a baby learns ABCs
that's why i need your trust in me we'll set us free

no matter
whether it rains or shines
i'll never forget to hold you tight
my love will never be outta sight

i never thought i'd be
living my fantasies
the things i've yearned for all are mine now (all are mine now)

but all material things
leaves a thirst to quench that i can't reach
is this what true love is all about?

everytime
i try to dive the depths of my own mind
a sea that's filled with doubts

i would cry

but simply loving you is not some crime
because i know that i've someone to love this time

[saxophone solo]

all i have to do is take my chances to be the one to provide
not with any chocolates or gifts, but ones with pure vibes
and through your smiles and tears i will always be by your side
care for you day and night, we'll never run outta time

it'll never be that easy
like a baby learns ABCs
that's why i need your trust in me we'll set us free

no matter
whether it rains or shines
you'll never forget to hold me tight
our love will never be outta sight

(never outta sight

mm, never outta sight, hoah

never outta sight)


Song name: what a mario world - underground (vocal mix)
Alt. name: My Love Deep Down
Written by RRThiel;
Arrange, lyrics, and vocal performance by John "Joy" Tay;
Instrumental made with tildearrow's Furnace tracker;
Vocals recorded with a Blue Yeti Snowball
Vocals tuned in NewTone
Mixed and mastered with DSEQ3 (plugin), Audacity (DAW), renoise (DAW)

downloads
https://drive.google.com/drive/folder...

discord
  / discord  

bluesky
https://bsky.app/profile/johntayjinf....

tumblr
  / johntayjinf  

ko-fi
https://ko-fi.com/johntayjinf

bandcamp
https://johntayjinf.bandcamp.com/

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