It's possible to write and produce a song without a second person ever hearing it. After tweaking a mix for hours and hearing a song so many times that you’re practically deaf to it, a fresh set of ears to give advice can be invaluable. Tuts+ Workshops let you get helpful feedback from your peers. Our strong community is made up of both audio rookies and veterans, an audience full of fresh ears with bucketloads of knowledge and experience. Here's how to get their feedback on your track.
How to Submit Your Track to Be Workshopped
To participate, just fill in our form. You'll need an MP3 of your track, a brief description about it, and a typed copy of your lyrics (if applicable).
Each week we’ll pick a track to feature on the site. By default, tracks will be streamed only, so you don’t have to worry about people downloading your rough mixes. On the other hand, if you want to make your mix available for download, we’ll make that happen — just let us know your preference in the Terms of Use section of the form.
You will need to ensure that you have distribution rights for all sounds and samples used in the mix.
How to Leave Constructive Feedback About a Track
When leaving feedback, please be constructive. The artist has put their track (and their heart and soul) in your hands to get your perspective and learn how their work can be improved.
Have a listen to the track and leave your feedback in the comments section. Feel free to offer any type of advice - arrangement, mix, lyrics, performance. And remember to play nice - be constructive!
Here are some questions that might help you get started:
- Do you enjoy the song or track itself? Does it have potential?
- Can the arrangement be improved?
- How did you find the mix? What would you do differently?
- What do you enjoy about the rhythm track? What can be done to improve it?
- Is the choice of instruments relevant and effective for the style/song?
- Are the lyrics (if any) effective? Does the style, arrangement and genre of the song suit them?
- Can you suggest any specific techniques that might improve the track?
- Do you have any other constructive feedback?
About Our Professional Critiques
We also provide professional critiques on some of our workshops. Every month or so, songwriter Patty Way will choose a track and let you know what she thinks.
Patty is most comfortable critiquing country, pop, indie rock, alternative, gospel, and folk, and is most likely to choose a track from one of those genres. You can make her job easier (and increase your chances of being chosen) by supplying a typed version of the lyrics of your song.
Songwriting is my passion and discovering talent in someone else is very exciting to say the least. Each writer speaks in his or her own unique voice and when that uniqueness becomes a finely honed craft, a beautiful thing can emerge!
I like to believe that I have helped launch quite a few writers over the years. I love giving my opinions on songs and do my best to be constructive, but if I only give compliments I am not of much use!
Please do remember, if you submit a song, that my opinion is just an opinion, albeit an experienced one. I greatly look forward to the privilege of hearing and commenting on your songs!
You can learn more about Patty and our professional critques in this article: We’re Taking Workshops to the Next Level
