I taught her how to play the guitar a couple of years ago and she picked it up quickly. She turned 12 last week and I surprised her with a recording system. It is studio one professional, a decent condenser mic, headphones, and small JBL monitors.
She has had notes laying all over the place with her lyrics etc. Always is singing out for anyone to hear. Two weeks ago she wrote a song to a boy in her school that has cancer. She played it in front of a few hundred as a request of the chorus director at a end of year concert. It went well. Last week one of her friends who has emotional problems tried to do harm to herself. Grace calmed her and wrote this song for her. I get all clumpy just talking about it. All she can do so far is strum chords and with a very unusual timing. I think that will get better. She wants to be a part of this forum, but is a little fearful at this time. For now, gramps will just report to her on the changes that have to be made. You will notice the guitar and vocal timing is off, but I don’t want to mess with it right now. I wanted it just like she recorded it. The ONLY thing I did was to put some reverb on her voice tho. ha ha Thanks in advance for listening.
That’s an impressive 12 year old! I would’ve chosen to pan the guitars differently, since one guitar is consistent and the other is only playing temporarily. It offsets the stereo balance, but for being 12 and just starting that’s pretty good. By 13 she’ll be ready to play Black Star.
well, I think it’s awesome for 12 years old. The song is well written, well recorded and well played. She will obviously get better with practice, so I have nothing to critique other than to keep practicing and getting better.
Hi Yes, I explained what panning was and just let her mess with it. She told me it “needs a bridge yet”, so I will give her some hints for the next step. thanks for listening and your comments
"You’re too good for perfect, you"
Wow. Why can’t I come up with lyrics as great as that?
Songwriting: Very good. No qualifiers, not just good for a 12 year old, very good full stop.
Nice singing, she might be a little unsure at times, a little nervous, but I don’t hear any reason why she should be.
Hi Boz Yes, as she was singing this in her bedroom, I stuck my head in to see her sitting about two feet from the microphone. She said it was too loud when she was close. I then showed her the volume controls. ha ha I can’t believe the vox was loud enough. thanks much for the nice words. Gramps is proud
Hi tachin Yes, I read some of her scattered notes and am blown away by the cleverness. She is straight “A” and has a great imagination. Actually it is very cool to hear what a 12 year old is thinking. Being a bit nervous? Yes, she walked in from school and I had the system set up. It was a bit intimidating, but she did this with about a half hour crash course from me. It is gonna be fun for gramps. thanks for your positive comments
Really good, and she’s only going to improve with age. It’s contemporary, but not in a way that dates the song to today. It sounds like she has the potential to excel today, and not be dated tomorrow. It’s certainly more commercially viable than any of my work. Less dated as well. I can’t resist using my '69 Plexi, which I had before George Lynch, but now everything I play sounds like Dokken! I’m a talentless Zappa. She’s got the ability. If she’s got the drive, then she’ll accomplish anything.
Coming along nicely, really good for 12…wow. Id like to hear it without the double track vocal, Just the main vocal line. I like the imperfections in it…adds a nice human feel. Something reminds me of Taylor Swift -RED in some ways… no i have to listen to it a lot cause of my daughter!.. honestly! …
Hi clownguy She has a few songs that I have heard that are actually better. this is just the new one that she chose to work on for the first shot at the daw. My goal now will be to catch those cool little things she does with her voice that really didn’t come thru on this recording. One take is just all we had before I had to leave for home. Don’t know what you mean my the 69 Plexi. ha ha sounds like and amp? To answer the question about drive, yes, she is relentless in everything she does in that little 80 pound body. a special kid IMHO
Hi SC Yes, she played and sang this to a click track and I could hear she was way off. There is a lot I could do, but for now, I am doing nothing. Good thing for facetime so we can talk and demonstrate some things. So much comes out of that little head each day, it really makes me tired:) thanks for your time
I bet you win grandfather of the year for that gift!
I think that this is a great recording for 12 years old. I agree that there’s no need to pick it apart, though it is a great sign that she’s looking for feedback. Is this the first one she’s done? I think she’ll make the most progress by just writing and recording a bunch of songs at this point. It’s such a growth phase, and a period of exploration.
Hi Cristina She actually has many songs that she has just been playing for anyone who will listen. This is the last one she has been working on for this troubled friend and the first (one take) on the new DAW I bought her. I brought her to a very good acoustic group two weeks ago. We heard there was one couch front and center so we went an hour early and got it. The group did original stuff, but could see Gracey singing along with them. The last finale song they asked her to come up and sing. She was singing quiet and didn’t jump on the mic, so the dude lowered the volume of his guitar and her voice then shined thru. The crowd howled. How exciting. She went up and thanked them for the opportunity and Gracey told them she loved their songs and she would be following them. As we were walking out the singer Kelly, turned Grace around and told her she would be following her. It was a wow moment. (the group was Weep and Willow) best vocals I have ever heard
O yay Paul, this was a delight to listen to… she has a magic there for sure… a natural sense of the music that shines through. At that age, it’s all about the joy of it all, the free creative flow… the more you can gently enable her, the better. I’m sure that your gentle guidance will be an awesome support for her… clearly she has a good ear, so the more she just becomes used to the concept of a click track, the more it can slide its way in to being a guideline to work within and then sometime without… Some gorgeous tones coming through in her vocal… exciting stuff eh?
Make sure she writes down all her lyrical ideas in the one book rather than endless bits of paper… how lucky she is, to have the gear and the gramps!!
Hi Emma When she sits on my lap and sings, some amazing things come out of that little gal’s mouthl. I pretend not to show her that I am slightly blown away. ha ha I have to get her away from using the same chords. This one is C,F,Am,G She picked them and the melody lines. I had nothing to do with it. She did say “how about the Em and Am in the bridge gramps”? The biggest challenge will be patience. She has a type “A” personality. I am tickled that she has a big heart like her mother and thinks of others before herself. I just taught her harmony a few weeks ago an now that’s all she wants to do. She will say “sing a note, any note” I will and she will instantly harmonize to it. Then she says “nailed it” I remember when she was smaller and couldn’t ride her two wheel bike. I said just turn in the direction the bike is falling. she said ok and took off. ha ha Instant study.
I paid about $500 to get her set up with a DAW. I then constructed a desk and hutch like structure for speakers etc. Looks pretty good. It was an expensive trip. I bought my 11 year old grandson a dirt bike and paid half for my 17 year old’s new fishing boat. I told them all I will take them back if they are little shits. Going to be interesting. Hope you are feeling a little better. I just mowed and weed whacked 5 acres and my allergies are going nuts. But you know all about that. Say hi to hubby.
1969 Marshall Plexi amplifier. I had it before Dokken got popular, but George Lynch of the band Dokken used it on their records so now everything I play sounds like Dokken. They have a V-Amp of it, but it’s just not the same. I actually have spoken with their engineer, Michael Wagener. Great dude. German, very efficient. If you don’t know who they are look up their song “It’s Not Love”. That’s my amp!
This is beautiful. And also well recorded and mixed!
But with such a raw young talent i dont think we should get bogged down with bashing.
I enjoyed just sitting and listening and enjoying it.
Tell her she should be so proud of herself and to keep it up as people need to hear this.
I hope she enjoys her music and keeps creating such beautiful heartfelt pieces such as this.
She is a credit to you and your family.
This is what musics all about
Wow LazyE I will not fault anything for sure. Maybe a gentle nudge. It is just fun to watch her walking around the house with that small acoustic strapped high and belting out tunes. I taught myself how to play when I was 10, fifty eight years ago, and have had so much enjoyment over the years. The only thing I feel bad about is not having the ability to mix and master as I should at this point of my life. I have a feeling she will quickly surpass me on that note Thanks for the kind words
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