Okay, so i just used audacity on the fly, and poor hubby just walked in the door from work, and i told him " find the stereo plugs, or else!"
so, this are two songs I used to do, so know them pretty well.
My recording technique leaves MUCH to be desired - i could only record it LIVE - just one take, and the first one has too much vocals on volume, and the 2nd, not enough! Go figure, but you get the idea . . .
so, now you've SEEN me, you might as well HEAR me!
http://mysite.verizon.net/jillhumb/

Guess it's open season now!

thanks for all the support, btw . . .

Jill

Hi Jill,
Really enjoyed your songs. 'Boots' was excellent but 'We've only just begun' was wonderful!! I love Karen Carpenter and you really did the song justice. A shame that the vocal was a little low as you say but it did not spoil it for me Re-record it PLEASE I love that song ..... and I lurrrrve your voice!
Best wishes
Tony

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www.tonywmusic.co.uk

tony -
i promise i will re-record!!! I do a few carpenters songs, i love them so!!

thanks for bearing with the recording issues . . . i've got bare bones minimum to record with, but it'll have to do for now!

i'm off to check out your web site . . .

Jill

Jill,
For single takes, I think you did an
absolutely awesome job.
You have a beautiful voice and also happen
to look beautiful.
Anyone could nit pick, but the only major criticism I could offer you,is that the reverb/delay on "Only just begun"
should be adjusted for the first 2/3rds of
the song.
Keep up the good work.

[This message has been edited by Vquestor (edited 07-27-2005).]

yes GirlJam. Thats a great Job you have done there. The Carpenters song was really nice and you sang it beautifully!!

Thanks for that

Jill,

Nice job. I especially liked "We've Only Just Begun".

Tom

Jill:

Keep up the good work, you've made lots of progress with your site. I was there yesterday and you've since added some nice content. Great job with the songs, I enjoyed both very much.

Jill, thanks for sharing your 'on the fly' recordings. Though it obviously could benefit from engineering improvements, I really love your distinctively expressive voice.

Am I assuming correctly that you were singing along to pre-sequenced midi files on your songs? If so, I would have prefered that you performed & played the keyboard in auto accomp mode, selecting a similar (or perhaps entirely different style) to give your song a fresh twist of originality to highlight your own personal vocal interpretation instead of merely coming off as a cover tune re-creation.

My (personal) opinion regarding cover version re-creations is that they make you come off like a karaoke singer, which perhaps, in itself isn't bad, but I would hope that professional singer-musicians all move beyond this. Jill, knowing your piano lessons/extensive music gigging background, I would prefer to hear "We've Only Just Begun" sung & performed on your keyboard in auto-accomp mode with you playing live, minus all those kitchy sounding midi backing track fills poorly imitating the Carpenters original.

On the other hand, the backup accomp track for: "Boots" is far simpler & less obstructive, which (to me) allowing your vocals to be showcased with conviction. With a few engineering enhancements, and instead selecting (tweaking) your own auto accompaniment style & playing the kb live, this to me could be a terrificly successful 'signature tune' for you. Btw, though Nancy Sinatra's version was the original hit version, have you ever heard Loretta Lynn's version of "Boots". If not, I recommend checking it out. I've been a big fan of Ms Lynn since I was a kid. Can you believe this lady's (after all these years) STILL going strong with grammy hit albums? Checkout Van Lear Rose: http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=2986382

As a pro singer myself, I always find it both educational & enlightening to compare different artist's rendition & arrangement of a song.

Jill, looking forward to hearing lots of great things from you.

Scott

thank you all!

yes, sometimes the "cover versions" are a bit "kitschy", but at some places that we had played previously, THAT was the shtick they liked sometimes! That particular carpenters one was put together for an outdoor small wedding that I played.
When i have my "musican" hat on, i much prefer my own renditions!!
I'm still really tweaking all my new stuff, but hope to put up "summertime" this afternoon, and yes, it's just me and the keyboard! Albeit, still much practice is needed - i figure i'm still months away from going live anywhere as a solo!
Please keep ALL comments and suggestions coming, as this is how we learn! I'm still having a bit of a rough time with the audacity recordings, just can't get the mix right, but i'll keep plugging away!

Jill

Scott, I have a suggestion, when someone does not ask for critism, maybe it is better not to offer critic comments..I know you try to help with some comments, but they could have the opposite effect on some folks..

I think we all do this and sometimes do not put ourselves in thier shoes.

Jill, I think you did a great job...and I know how some of the places we play demand that we sound like the record..There is nothing wrong with that..

BTW, Scott, maybe Jill's time is too valuable to tweak the Yamaha styles to sound just right...

Yep, you got a showbiz voice and purty, too.

I downloaded Kristal software, it's free like Audacity. I finally figured out how to load a wav file, sheesh, (from my recorder... but you can record WITH Krystal like you can Audacity)... and I think it might be better than Audacity. It has lots of knobs to twist!

I don't know what I'm doing either, so there. You have a brother. We'll screw up together. I'm having a helluva time getting reverb done right. Lately, I'm just using psr2000 reverb, heck with software, and it's doing okay. I even just did one guitar/vocal, using psr2000 reverb (I used a splitter and piped vocal/guitar through psr2000) and it sounds fine and dandy.

Keep sangin'. As they say down here. Or over here, I guess to you.




------------------
Me Bill
Yamaha PSR2000

thanks fran and bill, for taking a look see!
I DON"T mind critics at all, or i wouldn't post here! But yes, sometimes the folks here in Hudson FL want it just like the record, and we oblige!
I'm not, and will never be, a sound gal! Mixing and recording and all that stuff is not my forte, and don't want it to be!! I'll do the best I can, and sounds like I'm not alone!!!
I truly enjoy what I do, and enjoy hearing from all of you, and love to see and hear your stuff too!
I hope to keep adding more sound clips as i learn and practice, and i do appreciate the support! (and thanks for the "purdy" comment!!!)

Jill

ps - hey bill, whereabouts in tx/la are you?? I lived in Amarillo for 4 yrs, then dallas area for another 4 years . . .


[This message has been edited by girljam (edited 07-28-2005).]

Fran. I really don't think my comments were out of line. In fact, they included BOTH compliments AND suggestions of which I made sure to clearly POINT OUT were only my PERSONAL opinion. It's really no different than our Roland vs Yamaha debate. There's no right or wrong, just opinions, of which I thought we're all freely open to discuss here.

Interestingly enough, Jill later personally emailed me to express her appreciation for my feedback as well as invited me to share my comments on future songs as well.

If my song comments & feedback really have been inappropriate, please point out specific instances. I think I've always been fair and balanced. I'm sorry if I ever offended anyone here.

Scott


[This message has been edited by Scottyee (edited 07-28-2005).]

Heck, I thought you were in England! Haha.

I am at this moment, which is subject to change, about 20 miles from DonM's house. Near Shreveport.


------------------
Me Bill
Yamaha PSR2000

Fran ... I don't think Jill took as much issue with Scott's comments as you did ... And he was (admittedly)expressing his OWN opinion, which as a member of this forum he has a right to do, as do YOU ...

When someone lays themself out for others to hear, I think it is expected (hoped for) that there will be some feed back... especially when one says "Guess it's open season now!"
Jill has asked and received help from this forum and she will continue to do so as she puts together her 'act' to take it on the road as a solo ... I am sure she is strong enough to accept some 'constructive' criticism ...

Scott... While the use of midi backing files may not be for everyone (apparently you included), it is a resource many others use ... I think a number of us perhaps consider ourselves "entertainers" more than 'players', and I for one will use whatever technology is available to help satisfy the client ... I started out many years ago playing unamplified accordion ..I now play an arranger keyboard WHY??? ... because I can and it helps satisfy my clients...
I have often said that I miss "the old days" when our band could take a top hit, play it in 'our' style and the clients would love it ... Unfortunately, that's not the case anymore...Too often now, if it doesn't sound like the record it's not good enough...

Jill ... I've listened to your songs, and if I may suggest, you might want to be careful with the delay/echo/reverb during live performance ...although I thought it gave "Summertime" a nice quality...
As others have said ... You sound good, you look good, and based on what I've read from you, you have certain standards which will help you be successful in this crazy business...
t.

Hey, Jill, what a good work!

I know that styles mostly sound artificial and cheesy but nevertheless you did a good job with your voice - it was a live take without using any tracks. I know that this is a hard discipline!

I also agree with the too much effect setting. And like you mentioned it the voice level was a little bit to loud. But that's normal for a first recording...
I know your next ones will be way better!!!

It's a personal opinion to say wether somebody's looking good or not. But in my opinion the guys who voted that you're looking good are absolutely right!
To succeed in showbiz you won't need only musical talent - you'll also need charisma! I think that you have both!!!

Keep on that good work!!!

------------------
Greetings from Frankfurt (Germany),
Sheriff ;-)

[This message has been edited by Sheriff (edited 07-29-2005).]

Jill, I just listened to your Summertime..I think the effects are pretty much on the money..It gives it ambience and fullness..
Matter of fact, I think others would benefit by adding a little more effects on their recordings...it makes a big difference..Effects do not have to bury the vocals , but support the vocals.. Another good job..

thanks all -

I still can't quite figure out how to get some of the reverb out of my recordings . . . They don't sound that way when i'm playing them live here, i've changed mic settings a few times, but it's still a big learning curve for me.

In case i didn't mention, i'm using audacity, so if anyone here has any suggestions that might help me "tweak", please pass them along! It's not in the budget to be buying any new software right now, seeing as I just got a new computer, and have some logitech speakers on the way!

Jill

....ain't that the truth and something that never ceases to amaze me!

I can set up here at home and even though I say it myself the sound is not half bad. Try to record it and WHAMMY ..... who knows what happened!! Every little flaw seems to be picked up and what you thought sounded like cool effects turn out to make you sound like you are performing in a tunnel!

I need my own private sound engineer because I don't think I'm ever going to figure it out!

On the other hand Jill..... persevere and when you do figure it out you can teach me (as long as you don't use them there technical terms )

Tony



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www.tonywmusic.co.uk

Hi Jill, thanks for sharing your personal rendition of "Summertime". I think this highlights the kind of personally creative artistic expression achieved when utilizing auto accomp arranger keyboard playing along with singing, vs singing along to a commerically produced karaoke midi backing track. Very good re-balanced effects & mix now. Jill, keep up the terrific progress you're making in adapting from acoustic piano to arranger keyboard mode playing. You're doing great. - Scott

Jill...

Just listened to your songs. Not bad, in fact, for first time and "on the fly", I'd say great. I can't give you any technical advice, since at this point I'm probably one step behind you as far as recording. But thke advantage of what you can leard here. This is a great forum with some folks willing to share some valuable assistance. Keep going and good luck.

Glenn

When you are singing live you are not just hearing your voice from your speakers or headphones ( though headphones can help you hear more of the processed sound over your voice ). A lot of the vocal you are hearing when you sing is your own voice in both the air and also through the bone in your own head. That dry signal balanced with the effected vocal diminishes the reverb effect a lot. But when you listen to a recording you only hear the effect vocal and you now hear a lot more of the reverb than you could when you were actually singing. Knowing that, when recording always set the reverb/effects level lower than you usually like to hear it over your own voice singing live. It may not sound quite as impressive while you are performing it but it will sound much better in the recording. It's worth trying a test recording first and listening to the result and adjust the effects accordingly.

I enjoyed hearing Jill's recordings. "Boots" brings back a lot of memories as it was the first 45 RPM single I bought back in the 60s.

This makes so much sense, thanks nigel -
i am trying different levels and doing some sample recording, and i see a big difference. The last andrews sisters song I did sounded much cleaner to me, as far as reverb/echo, so i think i'm on the right road!!!

Jill

Jill:

Looked at your site and attempted to listen to Summertime. Great start on your site and your voice is ideal for that song. My dial-up connection prevents me from hearing the full song due to buffering. (My PC is an ancient clunker, so don't be concerned about your site.) Keep up the good work. Glad to see your posts here from time to time.

RICE (The Lone Arrnager) PSR-2000