13 year old amazing talent!!!!

[flakk2]

Hi every one my name is Flakk i'm a producer engineer student and like some feedback on some of my work.
this first song is from a 13 year old girl that has a lot of talent, i'm so proud to have the opportunity to do her first album. any comments welcome. thank you and i hope you enjoy.

[808statement]

Never would've guessed her age. Nice. That's a good place to be in this age of youth dominance in the music business.

[flakk2]

that is so true 808... thanks for the comment. don't forget to comment on the production too!!! ahahah

[Dean Roddey]

A very confident voice for that age definitely. Though, these days, one always has to ask how much correction was done on it. There's hardly any such thing as an honest evaluation of anyone's voice these days. If it's all natural, then it's very impressive.

[flakk2]

Originally Posted by Dean Roddey

A very confident voice for that age definitely. Though, these days, one always has to ask how much correction was done on it. There's hardly any such thing as an honest evaluation of anyone's voice these days. If it's all natural, then it's very impressive.

believe or not no correction what so ever but EQs and good compression... thanks for the comment

[BajaCapt]

Wow, great tone! she sounds great!
good job on the mix too!

[somethingstarted]

wow that is amazing! what do we look for to buy?

[flakk2]

Originally Posted by BajaCapt

Wow, great tone! she sounds great!
good job on the mix too!

thanks so much

[flakk2]

Originally Posted by somethingstarted

wow that is amazing! what do we look for to buy?

thank you for your kind comment

[Tom Higgins]

Excellent. Really v good. Strong vocal for someone that young!

Though, at :26, sounds like a pop on the vocal.

[flakk2]

Originally Posted by Tom Higgins

Excellent. Really v good. Strong vocal for someone that young!

Though, at :26, sounds like a pop on the vocal.

thanks Tom i will check for that pop....

[RiF]

Originally Posted by Dean Roddey

A very confident voice for that age definitely.

Hmmm... I think what's actually lacking is confidence. Both from an emotional and technical perspective. Her voice definitely has quite some potential, but I would like to hear her after some time of pro vocal coaching and real-life experience to make her voice sit stronger and more confident.
Same goes with the music production. It's OK, but also lacks some emotional and technical impact. Mainly due to the static drums and the balances of the individual tracks where it's not totally clear where to focus is. A lot of tracks seem to fight for attention at the same time (example: the intro. What's more important? The guitar or the synth?). Same goes for the choruses. Then her voice isn't the strongest one, so I would mix it a bit higher in level above the rest of the mix, to not let her sound as if she could easily sing against the whole arrangement. And ride or compress the vocals so that the vocals do not dip in and out of the mix but ride "confidently" just above the mix without ever backing off.

[flakk2]

Originally Posted by RiF

Hmmm... I think what's actually lacking is confidence. Both from an emotional and technical perspective. Her voice definitely has quite some potential, but I would like to hear her after some time of pro vocal coaching and real-life experience to make her voice sit stronger and more confident.
Same goes with the music production. It's OK, but also lacks some emotional and technical impact. Mainly due to the static drums and the balances of the individual tracks where it's not totally clear where to focus is. A lot of tracks seem to fight for attention at the same time (example: the intro. What's more important? The guitar or the synth?). Same goes for the choruses. Then her voice isn't the strongest one, so I would mix it a bit higher in level above the rest of the mix, to not let her sound as if she could easily sing against the whole arrangement. And ride or compress the vocals so that the vocals do not dip in and out of the mix but ride "confidently" just above the mix without ever backing off.

Rif i appreciate your input and i know you are right on some good points, she's only 13 and thats y she's having vocal coaching w/ a very professional coach, but she will be ready in a few months maybe in a couple years but hey... she's got all the time that she needs. the work we're doing is primary a demo to get her going. i will work a lot more on the mix till i have a good balance between the instruments and vocals and clear everything out a bit. but this kind of input that i essentially was looking for since i am only a student of the art as for right now. but i'm getting there little by little. thank you very much for your honest opinion.

[RiF]

Hi flakk2,
I hope I haven't been to direct or harsh, but my intention was just to give her some time to develop and don't put any pressure on her, given that she's just 13 years old and should enjoy her life as much as she can. Your point "she's got all the time that she needs" eliminated my worries, because that's what I wanted to point out.
Doing a demo is fine and fun, but the music business can be a very hostile environment and you have to be well prepared to step into it.

All the best!
RiF

[AfterViewer]

Originally Posted by RiF

Hmmm... I think what's actually lacking is confidence. Both from an emotional and technical perspective. Her voice definitely has quite some potential, but I would like to hear her after some time of pro vocal coaching and real-life experience to make her voice sit stronger and more confident.
Same goes with the music production. It's OK, but also lacks some emotional and technical impact. Mainly due to the static drums and the balances of the individual tracks where it's not totally clear where to focus is. A lot of tracks seem to fight for attention at the same time (example: the intro. What's more important? The guitar or the synth?). Same goes for the choruses. Then her voice isn't the strongest one, so I would mix it a bit higher in level above the rest of the mix, to not let her sound as if she could easily sing against the whole arrangement. And ride or compress the vocals so that the vocals do not dip in and out of the mix but ride "confidently" just above the mix without ever backing off.

Have to agree with RiF, she will be more listenable as she stays in the game, should be an excellent vocalist when in high school, America's got talent has a regular line-up of very young talented vocalists. thumbsup

[flakk2]

Originally Posted by RiF

Hi flakk2,
I hope I haven't been to direct or harsh, but my intention was just to give her some time to develop and don't put any pressure on her, given that she's just 13 years old and should enjoy her life as much as she can. Your point "she's got all the time that she needs" eliminated my worries, because that's what I wanted to point out.
Doing a demo is fine and fun, but the music business can be a very hostile environment and you have to be well prepared to step into it.

All the best!
RiF

ohh no Body!!! you did just fine, i think you're right in every aspect of your comments, neither or her parents are trying to push her to a premature business that can be harmful to her self, but preparing her to be the best she can be down in the road. i really appreciate your input.

[comsigns]

Hi I would have to agree with Rif on alot of his points regarding the production and voice, if this was to be a demo and as Rif pointed out "music business can be a very hostile environment" I know u said there was no tuning going on for the vocal but it sure sounds like it, something is a miss, maybe the compressor or eq or even the fx whats doing with the harm sounds very thin, maybe a little less production is needed let the voice be the voice.
keep up the good work.
Cheers
comsigns

[RiF]

Some comments/suggestions on/for an already good mix:

• The composition is a very solid piece of work.
• It's Pop/Rock, yes, but for my taste a song should decide if it's Pop OR Rock. If I would arrange this song, I would decide for the synths OR the organ. OK, I am a rocker, so I'd mute the synths ;-
• The chorus get's introduced nicely with the drum fill and the vocals raise their energy in the chorus as expected/introduced, but the guitars do not. I'd strum 8th notes (without damping) or just straight chords here instead of the rhythmic guitar playing.
• Make room in the stereo center. The vocals need space (in the center) and everything should be kept out of it that not really belongs here. Bass, Kick, Snare and Vocals. That should be it. Checkout the "Pensado's Place #5" audio or video-podcast by engineer Dave Pensado on this topic as well.
• The whole mix lacks a bit of depths. Everything is very upfront. I would stage the instruments from front to back a bit more. To me the instruments sound as if all are standing on the very front edge of the virtual stage and all of them are crying "more me!" ;-). Raise the level of the overhead or room mics of the drums, push the keyboards back with some reverb and pan the guitars hard left/right for starters.
• Female vocals of this register almost always have some edgy frequencies in them (see Avril Lavigne, Evanescence for example). Same here. Grab one band of a parametric EQ, set up a narrow Q and push the gain to plus 6-9 dB. Then sweep through the whole frequency band and listen for annoying resonances. I'll bet you'll find something somewhere between like 1.2 and 2.8 KHz in this case. Then turn that frequency down a few dBs until the edgy tone is gone.
• Compress the vocals even more to make them sound fat and thick and let them ride nicely above the mix. I'd choose an LA-2A style compressor here.
• Make the vocals a bit wider by sending them to an Aux where you put a short delay (0 ms one side, 30 ms other side, no feedback, 100% mix). Adjust to taste so that the effect is barely audible.
• Tame the transients on the vocals with either a very fast attack compressor (the only plugin I know of that can do a half decent job here is the Waves API 2500, or hardware like a Distressor) or a De-Esser. The Waves SSL E-Channel compressor in fast-attack mode or the UAD Fatso can be tried, too.
• The background vocals are just a tad too loud for my taste.
• All in all, the mix is still a bit "jumpy". Maybe my ears are getting used to that modern overcompressed and limited sound, but here I'd strap a compressor across the mix buss to glue everything together.
• To get the balances right, I'd make the drums, the bass and the vocals sound good without fighting each other. Then add guitars and keyboards, but here make sure (and maybe you have to use automation throughout the song) that nothing should fight with the vocals for space.

Just some thoughts. Simply ignore everything you find stupid, not applicable or out of your taste-range.

[Tom Higgins]

Some helpful points there, RiF