My first "classical" type recording...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Blue Bear Sound
  • Start date Start date
Blue Bear Sound

Blue Bear Sound

New member
Last minute client came in on Dec 22nd/2001 to record a present for her grandmother for Christmas.... I got permission to post it...

The singer is 15 years old... the piano/backup choir was tracked by someone else at her school recital, she came to my studio to do the main vocal....

Her voice is not as refined as say, Diana Krall's, but she's got some pipes!

Check it out here...


Bruce
 
15!
Damn, that girl can blow that trumpet!

pretty damn good vocal sound....what mic/pre did you use?......
 
Gidge said:
15!
Damn, that girl can blow that trumpet!

pretty damn good vocal sound....what mic/pre did you use?......
Click to expand...
That was the AT4033/PreSonus VXP run direct to tape with no processing/EQ.

The conversion to MP3 seemed to draw a bit of sibilance 'cos there's some slight exaggeration that doesn't occur on the final mix, nor on the WAV..... and people say MP3's don't affect the sound! :rolleyes: ;)

Bruce
 
Sweet.

Did you mix the piano?. It sounds very warm and padded(padded is great)

THe vocal works very well with the piano. Really upfront and nice. I can definitely hear the 4033 imprint but its a very good one. Slightly spitty, slightly tapey and very spicey in the midrange. I think I'll be using the 4033 on female vocals now.

THat girl has an awesome voice.
 
yes, great voice (15 years old? wow!) As far as the recording goes... I'm wondering where the low-end is? or is that part of what you're going for? I'm guessing it's what you're stuck from the recital tapes.

Re-tracking the piano (if required) to get a little more life would suit the mix, imho.

-Shaz
 
Wow. I love hearing kids do stuff like this. Of course, I work with kids for a living so I'm a bit biased. Damn near made me cry.

I hope her grandmother was happy with it. The singer should certainly be proud of her work! I can't do that.

How long did she spend tracking that? The only thing I noticed that she had well within her power to do well was start on a stronger note. Sounds like she was getting more comfortable as she went on.

I'm thinking about myself when I was 15 and going to a recording studio...:rolleyes: I would have been a complete dork.

Way cool.
 
I didn't track the piano or the choir... that came to me premixed as a 2-track.... I didn't care for the piano recording myself (needed some more depth and a tad more low-end as Shaz pointed out) The piano was played by one of the singer's friends, apparently (also around the same age!)

All she tracked at my facility was the lead vocal.... the whole thing was a 3-hour job (including mixing, etc...)

She did 4 takes, of which I used the 3rd in it's entirety, as is - except for a 2-word phrase towards the middle taken from another take......... the killer is she had a bad cold when she did this!!! :eek:

Still - piano recording aside, I like the overall mix and the way it turned out....

Bruce
 
Last edited:
Well, Bruce, I'm sure you helped make Grandma very happy! She could care less how the piano sounds anyway, I'm betting. Nice work pulling it together.

-Shaz
 
Shazukura said:
Well, Bruce, I'm sure you helped make Grandma very happy! She could care less how the piano sounds anyway, I'm betting.
Click to expand...
No doubt! :D


Thanks for the kind words guys!

Bruce
 
Excellent. Very good for any age. Too bad you didnt track the piano, it needs help, but granny is gonna love it
 
Bruce,

Great job. Somewhere, I have an old recording of Ave Maria on 78 rpm, don't remember who did it. The piano sound actually reminded me of the piano from that old 78 rpm. Even though you didn't track the piano, the mix you did gave it the "old-time" flavor. I don't know if you were thinking about that, but considering that if was for "grandma" I thought that might have crossed your mind.
 
To hell with the piano, the girl can sing. (Grandma has coronary for X-mas) :eek:
Thanks for posting this.
 
Sonic Misfit said:
Bruce,

Great job. Somewhere, I have an old recording of Ave Maria on 78 rpm, don't remember who did it. The piano sound actually reminded me of the piano from that old 78 rpm. Even though you didn't track the piano, the mix you did gave it the "old-time" flavor. I don't know if you were thinking about that, but considering that if was for "grandma" I thought that might have crossed your mind.
Click to expand...
Thanks Sonic....

Naw... I wasn't mixing "for Grandma!" My intent was to put the vocal she tracked at BBS in the same environment as the backing track she brought with her!

(And I couldn't have done it without the Nanoverb and a 3630!!!) :eek: :eek: :eek:

Yeah - right......... as if! ;)


:D :D

Bruce
 
Nice vocal sounds there bruce. Very natural and big and pretty all at the same time. Not very much air, but as you said it could be the encoding.

Glad to hear you didn't track the piano. I guess if that was "a sound" somebody was going for, then it would have been cool, but the vocals were much more natural sounding in comparison.

Slackmaster 2000
 
Hmmmmmmmmm.....

I would have approached this a bit differently. The piano has an "old recording" type of sound to it, and in that context, it doesn't sound all that bad really. It is articulate and a bit warm. Definately has a "distance" to it. I would have did the vocals in a similar manner. It was too close mic'ed for me. I would have tracked her from across the room to match the piano.

The levels were a bit low.

A little milky sounding.

A great demo for her though!!!

Ed
 
Blue Bear Sound said:
(And I couldn't have done it without the Nanoverb and a 3630!!!) :eek: :eek: :eek:

Yeah - right......... as if! ;)
Click to expand...

Oh my aching Nanoverb. He winced when you said that. =)

Fangar
 
Man, she's really good Blue Bear.
I remember when I first took music lessons back in 58. I was playing a Hawiaiin Steel Guitar back then. There was very little music for a steel guitar then, and AveMaria was one of the songs I learnt.
Brings back the memories. :)
 
Damn good job all the way around. I see Sonusman's point though. But keeping in mind what it was for, (grandma) great job.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top