WARNING...WARNING....female Christian easy listening!!!

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mixmkr

mixmkr

we don't need rest!!
I've been searching high and low for a female singer to colab with...and this is the latest. What do you guys think of her?

also...does this qualify as a song?....too square??:eek: Weirdo song form??

many little things that annoy me with this recording, but I won't point them out to bring attention to them. It was kinda a quickie, to bring it to a somewhat final product, for purposes such as this.

My Undefiled
---->http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/9/1322/album54.shtml
 
Nice job. I really like the female vocals. I like the beginning of this and the overall sound works well.

One thing I noticed on my machine is the drums kind of got lost a bit in the mix, but it may just be my machine. Other than that I like how this sounded and you have a really good singer to work with.

Nice job!
 
To my ears, you've accomplished the task...present the song and the singer in the best possible light. Her voice is crystal clear, and doesn't have to compete with anything in the mix.
Drums up? Maybe...but not much. You did say this is easy listening. Square? Hey, sometimes it's hip to be square (now where have I heard that line?) :D

Mark
 
Ahhh.... :p listen to that dynamic range on the fade in :p... Singer sounds like she's right in front of me. You can hear her saliva :eek: it's so clear...

you must be jokin' there mix :p There's nothing wrong wit this, is there? :D (On the paranoid side, some of the low synth swells may have gotten a bit loud... but that's 12:03 AM talking... :p)

You've done it again. Hope you start makin' money, so you can get away from that business with your boss' slackin' sister-in-law.


Chad
 
Ok, the vocalist is great. The vocals are too loud, though, compared to other stuff, especially the drums. The drums need to be a lot louder. Well, not a lot, but somewhat. They sound too background. Not that the drums need to be upfront, but they're too far out (and I don't mean that in a hippie way :D )
 
she sounds like a very polished and on-key singer.......very clear vocal recording..........the little wind breaze at the start was cool........also, at around 1:55 did you modulate up a key, or just go back to the home base?......my ear's not perfect, but it sounded like it was ready for a key shift and then just headed back to base.......the part made me want to hear her belt, but then she just came back low......i could be wrong though, maybe you did change keys and my ears are too worn out.........anyhooo, sounds good.
 
Very nice voice, excellent pitching, great tone. For my tastes, her vibrato is a little too deep. But she sounds like she's easily a good enough singer to change that if she wanted to!

I wonder if you might push the vocal back a little with a touch of reverb? (Or a touch more reverb) I don't think it's too loud, but it's pretty "up front" - maybe just a little too much?

You should take everything I say about singing with a very large pinch of salt - I'd love to have a tenth the talent your vocalist clearly has!

Drums sound nice, and could probably cope with being a touch louder.

Stylistically this is so far from the stuff I listen to that I wouldn't be able to give you any useful comments on the songwriting ;)

Very good sound, very good singer.

Cheers

Alastair
 
This takes me back to the days when I played in the church.She has a really nice voice and you'll be able to write some great tunes with her Im sure if she's into that sort of thing.Can she sing harmony?I kept wanting to hear some type of big vocal pay-off especially at the key change where you stepped up a notch at 1:45.....it would sound really good to have a big vocal sound there with layered background vocals all the way through the step up and chorus at that point......I like it.....I have a few female Christian CD's..Twila Paris,Kellye Huff(her dad is in David and The Giants),Amy Grant of course,Kim Hill,margaret becker.........just a few..............I need to get my butt back in church.:confused:
 
"My undefiled", heh.

Nice singing. Adequately virginal. Nice detail on the vocals except for a very noticabley EQed air somewhere between 9-12k. It sounds very applied. What mic did you use? Sounds like an AT4050 or some kind of AT, maybe 4033. I like the midrange on her voice and the reverb is tasteful. Its that space reverb that you dont notice but give teh mix lots of space.
The drums are pretty lifeless and out of time occasionally. Get live drums for this song or leave it without drums. The ride after the timpanis is too loud (the timpani roll is nice). The bass is good, warm and muted and the electric piano works though a little too much ding for my taste. Im into a smoother rhodes or natural piano personally. The electric piano here is the luther van dross-very late 80s, early 90s dated R&B sound (though with less ding). That may be the custom in christian music, I dont know.
I think acoustic guitar would work better than the electric piano. The song is good, the writing is good, I like the modulation.
Overall the vocals are a tad louder than they should be but she sounds great.
 
Nice sound on the vocal. What's the mic & chain? Almost sounds like an Opto compressor maybe.
 
thanks for all the replies. I kinda a feel a "sigh" of relief with your comments....good to wake up to.:p

to respond and answer some questions....

boydrj...
your reply, being first was nice to hear a compliment about the singer. That was what I was hoping for, as I like her singing too...but was fielding some outside comments also. Yeah..the drums....

mkg... Yeah...what ever happened to Huey?? I liked his stuff. I appreciate your time as well too. Thanks for the comments. I'm lost if this is too corny or not of a song... I can't see thru the forest for the trees... I presume 4 sided is ok with you....:eek:

participant....your name reminds me of "Data"..in startrek...for some reason;) Sounds like a late "nighter" for you..but I appreciate your compliments. The 'saliva' is problem number 7 that I alluded to in my first post...Not sure I really like all the lip smacking. Lame ass-sister-in laws...yeah...funny thread I did there...eh?:rolleyes:

Crankster....yeah..the drums.. I played them "live"...on the keyboard...you know..the "one finger" here..the "one finger" there... I always do vocal 'up' mixes for some reason. I always figure the singer will whop me upside the head if they can't hear every sylable.... So, yeah..I know I tend to overdo it ...but it's intentional...REALLY!!:eek:

powederfinger..... do you play with firecrackers??!!? Another 'thumbs-up' for the singer...and I'm REALLY glad to get that confirmation. Yes..the song did modulate....and I'm glad you liked the "wind"....my wife hated it:mad:

alibish...the vibrato is deep...and I DO believe she has the talant to control what she needs to. I have just actually met her, and she seems anxious to do more recording. So..I'm digging that..
This is kinda out of my style too...but for some reason, I've done a fair amount of it:eek: It's a lot harder for me than some good guitar bashing actually.

Kramer...yeah..it appears she wants to do a whole CD with me...so that is the direction we are heading. Write and record.... This was a 'step up to the mic and sing' kinda ordeal...so we didn't even get as far as harmonies and all that 'needed' production. It was a 2nd take for her..no punch ins...and the 1st take I had some bad levels...so it would have been her first if I was ready:rolleyes: I DO agree about some more vocal production. I feel she has the ability to do it...or I'll find out soon!! My feelings are if I can keep up with her abilities!...

JuSumPilgrim....You hit the nail on the head with your remarks, I feel we almost live on the same planet...>!!...seriously...
I chuckled with the title too...
and....I'm looking for the "virginal" sound too...for sure...with some 'meat' behind it. She's a Karen Carpenter fan, for sure...but she needs a little "metallica" to bring her into the new millenium...
The drums DO suck....and my choice IS to actually leave them out, but I was struggling for something else to 'keep the time' (which they obviously didn't do well), as everything else is so legato feeling... so...I quick 'pounded' them in via a keyboard.... The timing is off...but the song kinda wavers around a bit, and the drums only served to bring that to the attention more. Obviously drums where added after the fact. (problems #8-14). And yeah..the ride is too loud...and it's the only percusion really happening at the time too:rolleyes: I noticed that when listening to the mp3 for a check, and was toooo lazy to go all the way back and correct. I struggled with acoustic gtr (first choice too...you're scary!!), but didn't like anything I did...so on with the rhodes sound. Thanks for the confirmation on the singing talant...and yeah...she'll blend (volume wise) better in the future.

track rat....(and JuSumPilgrim)
The mic is an RE20...one of my darker sounding mics, I think...hence its choice...but it IS a crispy sucker too...isn't it? She was "right" on the mic (it was bulging out the backside of her throat!!)..hence all the lip-smacking...etc. No EQ...except actually a mild high freq roll off..to tame some of the extra crispies I got with her...So...I guess there WAS EQ:rolleyes: !! Also....more EQ!!:rolleyes: ..as I ran her thru the Waves DeEsser...and the Waves RCL (on OPTO>>..you dog, Track Rat!!! how did you hear that??!!). I was actually battleing all the high end I was getting. Need an even darker mic, it seems...I'll try my Beyer M160 next (on vocals.....:confused:)) I didn't really experiment...just slapped a mic up, and went....
oh yeah...the mic pre....the ones in an older Fender board I have grown to really like. It's like the Mackie 1604's...same knobs,..actually more... etc...but the pres seem clean to me. It's a MX5200 series.. Actually some nice features for recording. Maybe toooo crispy..eh??

Thanks all...for the replies... phew...this was WAAAY too much to type to respond!! ha! thanks again...
all your comments makes me feel I'm on the right track with this singer. That's a great feeling.....:) ...and actually THE comments I was hoping to hear. I can struggle with the mixes down the line..as I'm sure I will do. I've heard she is a real 'stickler' when it comes time to "finish up" things, mixwise. Drums....ahhh,, yeah...we'll figure those out later too!!...
 
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That Waves C-4 on the Opto setting is fast becoming a fav of mine on vocals and I'm getting where I can spot it a mile away. An RE-20 eh? I'm entertaining the idea of picking up something darker myself and in particular, an RE-20 or 27, an SM-7 or a pair of Sankin modded M-260DX's.
 
I'd love a Sm7...but don't really feel like shucking out the beans for a new one...and used ones don't seem to exist. I'm finding that I'm really leaning towards dynamics for vocals, and not all these "great" condensor mics coming out. Even a 57 or 58...
I don't seem to be struggling with "detail" with dynamics, as you might expect...but hey...what do I know??:confused:
 
hey mix, I liked it a lot.. It sounds like it could sit right in a 'Disney' movie.. 'King of Egypt,' 'Lion King' etc. I didn't read the other comments.. You write the singing for her and the words?? excellent.. 'undefiled' sounds like a strong word to use here though, but maybe I'm thinking too much about the 'Disney' score..:) It's really good as a whole. I love her voice, and this is a great vocal melody... Nice job of capturing the natural voice.. really.. I listened to it about 6 times in a row. :)




Now, let's talk about the drums... :eek:



Forget the fact that they are low, that's not my beef.. Is it just me, or are there some timing issues?? Maybe it's just me, but I'm hearing some offness on the drums, and maybe that's why you kept them low.. :eek: :D

I had to complain about something.. :)


This is really a great piece of work imop.. 'Disney' worthy..


I have most of your tunes downloaded, but I never downloaded 'yellow brick road.' Put it up so I can do a cover of it! :eek:
 
o.k. now that I've read the other posts, I see you addressed the drum issues.. I sometimes don't read the other posts when it's someone like you.. I like to see what I hear first..

great piece!

late :D
 
sabb...thanks for the comments. I wonder what Samicide might say:eek:

I'm supprised you listened to it as many times as you say...but I suppose you might have been reading other posts in other forums (like I sometimes do), and just listen the the MP3 that is current on the computer, instead of downloading a fresh one!!
Thanks for the thoughts. ...but at least unlike a drummer, I'm able to NOT lock myself in my own car:rolleyes: ..even if the timing sucks...ha!

Disney...huh?....that's a new angle... and a great compliment too, I suppose.
 
Mix;

Great Praise and Worship song, Bro! You did a great job on this. I like it so much that I'm downloading it. :D

That lady can definately sing!!!

BHS;

CR
 
Axe...thanks for the comments and the listen. Hopefully, I'll have a final version of this in the near future. ...and some others too. You were one of the ones I had wanted to have a listen to this praise song. I need to behave now, and check out some more of yours. thanks again.
 
Hey mixmkr,

Had to pop in and say those vocals are the shit. Perfect for the song. I loved the build of the arrangment. Nice poise and execution.
wonderful recording!!

Theron.
 
Sounds great!

Mix is really full,nice keys.
She has a fine voice,definitly hang onto her!:D

I think you guys have a cool thing going there,great start!
Looking foward to hearing a lot more from you,the best of luck to you both!:)

Best to you,
Pete
 
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