My daughter's live performance

diwata

New member
Hi guys, after long while, this is again my daughter with her live performance. I've shared about her own first home recording (Audio editing - is it necessary for all recordings?) that she did by herself. Now I'm sharing her live performance. It's not perfect as she doesn't have personal vocal coach, she did it by herself and of course with some advice from close friends. Any opinion/comments? We've been receiving advice from friends to bring her for audition on big competitions (maybe they were just kidding) but not sure if she is ready.

 
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She has very good voice. I actually like the sound of it much more in the beginning, when it's full of body...but for some reason these days (as you can tell from the audience's responses) everyone thinks that the most important thing is to able to belt out loud high notes, as though that's the real sign of a good singer.

Tell her to just be herself and sing what feels natural...and not worry about sounding like everyone else, always having to do the loud high notes just to please the crowd.
Have her listen to someone like Norah Jones...she sings so sweet and subtle, and by singing like that, she forces you to listen to really her and not just wait for the big notes. :)
 
Oh thanks [MENTION=94267]miroslav[/MENTION]. Good to know. As mentioned, she doesn't have vocal coach and I don't have any clue in terms of teaching vocals. She enjoys though singing high note songs like Adele, beyonce, etc. so comments from professional singers/coach would be appreciated.
 
Nice voice, worth encouraging, and perhaps protecting with a few pro lessons to make sure it stays good. My big beef is. in two areas, and they DON'T relate to her singing. She is in serious danger of becoming the soundman's nightmare. Big range from a bare whisper to a belter and she cups the mic, rapper style, she changes her grip slightly and you can hear the change in tone when she covers the rear vents, making it more an omni - but if she's ever working in a near feedback situation with close monitors, doing this will make it very prone to feedback and nasty sounds. She needs to be taught to leave the capsule exposed. I now quite a few quite big names who are so difficult to mix, and worse, they blame the audio people for their feedback prone sounds, when it's them. Great for rappers, rubbish for singers.


The other thing is that the song is fine, for a mid set slower number, but it took nearly a minute to get going, and the first section sounds if you don't know the song, to be a singer who has got lost - the track being very sparse, and the audience noise spoils it. Works in a recording, but in a show like this with screaming kids, or an audition - you'd not get the job with this one. Choose songs for these kinds of shows by what the general audience person would think good, not your favourite. Wasting a minute of a three minute spot will mean losing a good proportion of the audience who switch off.
 
Thanks Rob aylestone. Wow, I never thought about the soundman. I will surely let my daughter read all the comments here. She likes moving around the stage when singing and put more expressions on the song. You are right, the sound feedback may even ruin the show.
 
The trouble is, videos give the impression that mics are kind of fashion items, failing to realise many videos are of course mimed (sorry - current parlance, lip-synced).

Mic technique I reckon is often more important than actual voice quality.
 
Mic technique I reckon is often more important than actual voice quality.

The sound quality during the actual performance was actually much better than the one on the video. I was using DSLR camera with its built-in mic (no filtering) to record the video and the sound in the auditorium was very loud that the sound level overdrives the mic of my camera so the sound in the video is distorted especially on the high notes. What I mean is, for this performance, it is not really due to poor mic technique. I don't know. I could be wrong.
 
When they cup the mic like this, the gain settings they picked earlier go out of the roof - and they have to pull the fader back and it sounds like what I was hearing on the clip. It's very common, and you can hear the sound ops cursing. Mind you the opposite, holding the mic far too far away is even worse. Audiences don't usually notice distortion but they do notice no sound! It's also worse own radio mics of course because they have variable gain settings, and often they'll pick the middle one - -10dB typically, and then cupping overloads the mic TX and there's nothing you can do. Dialling in less gain works for her perhaps but then the others might be too quiet.
 
If you are going to record video with a camera, and don't have access to getting a good feed from the house PA into a field recorder or such, or the ability to put your own mic in place and use a splitter to get a direct signal to a good digital/field recorder, the next option is to use something as simple as a small digital recorder, e.g. a Zoom H2n, or similar.

I stopped using a cassette recorder when I got my Zoom H2 way back when, and also stopped using a stereo (electret) mic plugged into the camcorder about the same time when I realized I could get a lot better sound by putting the Zoom where the sound was best, the camera/camcorder where the video was best, and then put them together later. It also means you can record at 24-bit in very high quality and without ALC/AGC or whatever the camera uses that can really ruin the audio. Then you can use compression or automation or even noise reduction (generally to be avoided IMO) to get the [separately recorded] audio in even better shape before syncing. With very little effort or practice it will sound a lot better than the camera.

I'd get a mic stand with long boom extension and an adapter so you can place the recorder in a mic clip well above the audience, aimed at the performer. It will help reduce audience noise. Even placed at the back of the auditorium it will be an improvement.
 
Difficult though, when the sound all comes from the side PA speakers and little from the stage - I just find it ironic that at these kinds of events, they put real effort into every single area, apart from sound and lighting - which will just be 'on', and any problems the performer's, or the system.

I was playing in the band at one big budget school show with 18 channels of hired in radio mics. The hire company came in and set them up, and then the school folk though they would work themselves wit the faders in a row and the kids forgetting that the mic was live when in the backstage areas and worse, the toilets. The school just assumed that 'professional' expensive equipment worked itself. It was truly appalling.
 
[MENTION=196982]keith.rogers[/MENTION] Thanks for sharing. Good to know. I used to use external mic to connect on my DSLR camera but I stopped using it as I wasn't satisfied with the result of the audio quality. I heard many good reviews of Zoom mics and perhaps I will give it a try. A friend of mine offered me Zoom H4n years ago but I didn't buy it coz I thought it wouldn't be useful for me. Now that my daughter started to perform live, I may need to invest suitable equipment for live recording purposes.
 
[MENTION=95714]Rob_[/MENTION]aylestone Well, I have no clue about PA equipment settings for large auditorium but for this particular show, the sound was really good and loud and no distortion. I haven't heard any mic feedbacks during the show even the performers moved around the stage near the edge very close to the monitor speakers.
 
Hi guys, after long while, this is again my daughter with her live performance. I've shared about her own first home recording (Audio editing - is it necessary for all recordings?) that she did by herself. Now I'm sharing her live performance. It's not perfect as she doesn't have personal vocal coach, she did it by herself and of course with some advice from close friends. Any opinion/comments? We've been receiving advice from friends to bring her for audition on big competitions (maybe they were just kidding) but not sure if she is ready.



there's talent there. just hate it when the audience hoots and hollers. learning how to work the mic will greatly benefit her talents.
 
+1 what [MENTION=116620]sparky123[/MENTION] said.
All these comments are spot on about mic technique, etc., but the main take-away that I got from watching that vid was "wow!". The warm vocals at the beginning capture your attention and those powerful high notes at the climax really make it exciting to listen to. I don't think your friends are joking... She has exceptional talent.
Another thing that stood out to me that I haven't heard mentioned yet is her stage presence. She looks like a performer in her natural habitat, not someone who is going overboard to show off, but someone who knows just what expressions to throw in to captivate the audience.
Overall, the performance was amazing, and I see real talent here. A vocal coach may very well be worth while for some final polishing (I'm not a vocal trainer, just someone who has benefited from one).
Last but not least, if you go the route of pursuing more opportunities in the music field, know what you're getting into. The music business has ruined a lot of people.
 
[MENTION=199133]Chris K[/MENTION] , after watching about mic techniques on youtube lately, I understand why the comments here are focused on mic. Indeed, mic issues can easy be spotted as she performed. BTW, thanks [MENTION=199133]Chris K[/MENTION] for your comment. I watched your youtube channel and just subscribed it as Creator.King. I enjoyed listening the songs. My daughter also sings on Sundays as she is part of the worship team.
 
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Well, I would like to thank all who shared their thoughts on my daughter's performance. After watching videos on YouTube about mic techniques, as most of the feedback on this thread focused on mic techniques, I learned and found out that there are issues related to mic that can easily be spotted as my daughter performed; moving close to the edge, cupping the mic, lowering the mic facing to the monitor speakers, etc., are indeed a soundman's nightmare. Lesson learned for my daughter. Thank you guys.
 
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