Mystery female vocal audition

[Lopp]

This is a recording (or two) of song clips meant as demo tracks for a promo CD for a female vocalist.

I have more info about these tracks, but I'd like to abstain from disclosing it until I've received a few comments. Some of the info I'm proud of and some pisses me off .

I'd appreciate some input before I let on the info. Any comments about the quality of performance, recording, mixing, or mastering would be much appreciated.

The clip names are "Open Window" and "Uninvited." They are not originals:

http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=1213&alid=-1


Thanks.

 

[Track Rat]

As much as I like reverb, sounds like too much. She's a decent singer. On the first one I thought I heard her looking for the note in a few spots.

 

[dtb]

IMO, she has a great voice. I'd like to hear her dry, and thru a tune. You should surely be working this. Let's hear a "demo" around 3 minutes.

dtb

 

[B.SABBATH]

hey Lopp,

I happen to love Alanis..

I thought 'uninvited' was excellent.. Shes definitely singin the piss out of this one..(I listened to the 'unplugged' version just yesterday.)

the other tune was good, but I heard some minor intonation things.. very minor, but definitely there.. I'm sure whoever this is can sing it better.. probably just need to catch a better take of this one..

definitely a great set of pipes though..


did you discover her or something?

 

[participant]

will you hate me

if I say... I didn't like her voice? I dunno... she sounds like Paula Abdul doing a Kermit-the-Frog impersonation to me a little nasally for my tastes, anyway... (that was "open window")...

("uninvited")... if she can control the tendency to go nasally, she could have a decent Reba-like vocal tone...

IMO she needs some coaching; if she already HAS coaching, she may be beyond help (just MHO...) bcs in that case, maybe she's unteachable...

Diffrent strokes, I guess... there's probably a few people who like her voice... sorry to say it, but if she's GOOD LOOKING, she'd still probably make it... (wish the music biz had nothing to do with looks, and everything to do with music )

Go with your gut feelings...


Chad

 

[Lopp]

Track Rat:

I agree about the reverb. That much is only needed at karioke night. The first song is her least favorite, so I wonder if she put less effort into that one. Thanks for the listen.

dtb:

Again, I agree that there should be a little less ambiance on her voice. She'll appreciate the compliment. I'll see if she'll do a whole song.

Sammy:

Is that some subliminal red image on yer avatar? I can't quite make it out.

I also really liked "uninvited." She was a little pissed when she found out I posted the other one. Oops.

Yeah. I "discovered" her. One funny thing about the intonation aspect is the studio apparently used some sort of an "intonator" on her voice. Thanks for the comments.


participant:

Thanks for the candid comments. She just started taking lessons and has never been recorded before. Only live performances. Hopefully she's not "unteachable."


I'm currently trying to figure out a good way of accentuating her good qualities. She's been recorded using a Marshall v67 and I think these clips used some GT mic (which I assume is Groove Tubes). I've got an AKG C3000 (not "B") lying around that I might try on her if she'll let me. I also might try a sm57.


Thanks again everyone for the comments!

 

[Michael Jones]

On the first one, it felt like way too much presence on the vocals. If you're show-casing her vocals that's one thing, but if the intent is to have a well balanced mix, then it sounded like the vocals were just too forward.

Couldn't get the other one to D/L. I'll try again later.

 

[Kramer]

Good singer man.She nailed the alanis tune, but the first one sounds like maybe she couldnt hear her self while she was singing and was flat a few times.I say that because the second tune is proof she can hit notes with precision....a bad singer is bad on everything they sing whether they have a good monitor mix or not....she has a nice "crying" quality in her voice that sounds cool.

Make sure she has plenty of monitor volume.....thats the only thing I can figure that would cause her to be off on those few notes on the first tune.

I would definetly like to come across a female singer this good to work with.It should only get better....You can tell that she has a natural singing talent.

 

[Lt. Bob]

Uninvited was definitely the better of the two. Open Window had some pitch issues as others have already commented on. I think she has a pretty good voice, maybe a little inexperienced maybe?
I've heard many singers start off a little thin sounding and have their voices build and blossum with extended use. I think this girl could have that potential so she would be well worth working with.

 

[Lopp]

Michael:

I agree. The first one was actually recorded using some sort of a karioke filter to remove the original vocals. Thanks for the listen.


Kramer:

The monitor volume is a good point. I'll ask her about the monitor levels. She'll appreciate your comments/compliments. Thanks.


Lt. Bob:

Yes, she's a little inexperienced. Like I noted, she's inexperienced with recording and she's only been performing live for about a year without stage monitors. Hopefully she can continue on her voice training. Thanks for the comments.



Lopp

 

[acidrock]

Hey Lopp!Just taking a break from commiting crimes against music and I saw my fellow Wisconsinite had a post in the mp3 clinic and thought I'd give you a bump.
I don't really have anything to add to what's already been said about the two female clips but I gave your song (Bams song) a listen and thought it was pretty cool.I may have gotten the wrong(?) impression about your music because of your avatar.Unless of course this song is atypical of your music.
I dig the acoustic stuff,I used to play in a acoustic duet in the Milwaukee area in the late 80's/early 90's so I'm partial to that kinda stuff.

GO
PACK!

 

[Lopp]

Hey Lopp!Just taking a break from commiting crimes against music and I saw my fellow Wisconsinite had a post in the mp3 clinic and thought I'd give you a bump.
I don't really have anything to add to what's already been said about the two female clips but I gave your song (Bams song) a listen and thought it was pretty cool.I may have gotten the wrong(?) impression about your music because of your avatar.Unless of course this song is atypical of your music.
I dig the acoustic stuff,I used to play in a acoustic duet in the Milwaukee area in the late 80's/early 90's so I'm partial to that kinda stuff.

GO
PACK!

Hey Cheesehead,

Thanks for the bump!

Nope, you didn't get the wrong impression. Those tunes are a little atypical. The more typical stuff is in the "albums" section (or whatever it's called).

My wife loves acoustic stuff, so I've been dabbling in it more lately. "Bam's song" was only my 2nd attempt at recording acoustic. Also, I'll sometimes play acoustic live if the drummer and keys/bass can't make it.



Packers crush puny Viqueens Sunday!

(If they don't have problems with the damn fake turf...)

 

[Lopp]

Damn fake turf.

 

[Lt. Bob]

 

[acidrock]

Football was meant to be played outdoors in the elements.
It should be a wrestling match not a track meet!

BTW this type of thread perversion happened a long time ago in the cakewalk forum and a thread was started in the cave for OT material,mostly bitching about work,marraige,kids and sports.
Feel free to join in....

https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?s=&postid=561903#post561903

 

[junplugged]

Good to know she knows "Open Window" had trouble. I knew a dude who sang off key all the time for this band and it was harsh, then strangely interesting. I was wondering where he was getting those between pitches. I could see if he was Asian or Middle Eastern or from Indian Continent, but he wasn't. And they rehearsed and rehearsed. I tried to find those notes in my mind but I gave up. Point is the guy didn't seem to know, therefore fix his pitches. She knows, she's fine, take down "Open" get up the next one, let's hear more, we're interested, mission accomplished.

 

[Lopp]

Good to know she knows "Open Window" had trouble... She knows, she's fine, take down "Open" get up the next one, let's hear more, we're interested, mission accomplished.

Exactly. I've got to get that one down and free up space for the next one. I'll post a new thread with it, along with some details about how all of them were recorded.

Thanks for the comments.