music critique

[steph77sings]

I'm really scared about this, but here goes:
I came here to post because I need stranger's opinions, not good friends who will lie. Will you listen to some tracks I crudely recorded and let me know if it's alright? I'm trying to use the page as an online press-kit.
Stephanie Maxwell on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Videos
Thanks,
Steph

 

[K-Sound Krew]

Compliment:
Your voice is very preatty

Criticism:
The mix is all wrong, goes against the songs
What did you use to record, protools?

You need an engineer and a producer if you want to bring out your best, just sounds like raw talent to me, but there is something there

 

[steph77sings]

Lol. No mixing...just a mini disc recorder and 2 mics. My husband just compressed the sound...no effects. I just wanted something up quick & kinda raw because I'm trying to get gigs & wanted it to sound close to what it would live.

 

[steph77sings]

Oh, & thanks for the compliment!

 

[K-Sound Krew]

I love my MD, it's sad that it never took off

I have no problem with your skill or talent

About 15 yrs ago I moved away from performing and got into the producing/ engineering side of things

How you capture the performance is 100x more important then the actual material

My advice
get a mac
get a good sound card (I have an rme) I'm sure there are better ones now
get a sequencing program like nuendo, cubase, etc;
get the waves mastering software
go on amazon and get the sound engineers bible
Mic's are real important too

go to sweet water.com, get a catalog
ask them to set you up with a mini studio

 

[K-Sound Krew]

FYI, the protools comment was a joke

I could hear the guitar and vocal bleeding into one another, you need to seperate them and use the pan

If you want a good recording use pan, eq, comp; maybe a bit of reverb

 

[steph77sings]

Thanks! I'll need money for that...maybe that will be something down the road

 

[ed_bollix]

I'll check it out as soon as I feed kittens but I wanted to say MD!!? I love MD!

 

[taukimada]

beautiful voice steph... nice control and clear quality...

K is correct.. you DO need better recording equipment and software.. keep up the good wrok and you'll go far

 

[K-Sound Krew]

one last tip
this stuff is expensive, if you know anyone who is in college you can find sites that sell this stuff at an educational disscount price with a valid colege ID, or atleast I did when I converted my studio from hardware to software

My sound card lists at 1,200... I got it for 400

the waves stuff is over 2,000... I got it for 600

 

[steph77sings]

That's awesome...i should make my husband resume his classes. lol
Thanks taukimada, that was really sweet. I hope to be able to record better soon..this was just a quick fix to the problem of people wanting to hear me before they hire me, but ...if it doesn't sound good, they probably won't hire me. It's the catch-22 of ya gotta have money to make money...

 

[Noctriate]

Honestly, your voice is great, as many have said before.

The guitar isn't bad. As I have no musical experience, I don't really feel I have enough authority to criticize this area. But I do with it were more consistent in your songs.