Showing posts with label singing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label singing. Show all posts
Karen Mello Burton 5 comments

summer singing session

He Won't Go (click to listen)

 A little singing on a warm Summer afternoon.  


Kazzy's voice has been silenced by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act(see the details here). Sorry you can't listen to her sing directly. But send her a message and she'll try to work something out.
Karen Mello Burton 8 comments

musical monday: love's divine



After poking around in some Seal songs, I chose to cover this one.  Click on the song title below.  Thanks.

Love's Divine

 Kazzy's voice has been silenced by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act(see the details here). Sorry you can't listen to her sing directly. But send her a message and she'll try to work something out.
Karen Mello Burton 7 comments

how bout a song?

Click on the song title below to listen. 
Kazzy's voice has been silenced by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act(see the details here). Sorry you can't listen to her sing directly. But send her a message and she'll try to work something out.

Your Song  (originally by Elton John, with this version inspired by Ellie Goulding)


Some of you have asked about my process when I record.  Here is how I do it. 

I keep a running list of possible songs on my iPhone as I listen to the radio, watch, TV, go online, whatever.  Most of the time something strikes me and I know I just really want to sing it.

I go to amazon.com to find karaoke mp3s that I can use as my accompaniment.  Sometimes I get surprised by how many options I have for the one song I am looking for, and sometimes I am disappointed by how few options I have.  There have been many times where I have looked and looked for a track I really want and I just can't find it.

I use Audacity, which is a free sound mixing program, to upload my karaoke track.

After I do that, I sequester myself in the den and use my snowball mic to record a track on top of the music track.  When I do this I have to use headphones so that the audio track is not getting recorded twice by coming out through the speakers on the computer and back in again through my mic.

Often I combine a couple of singing tracks.  For example, if I like the track I lay down, except I mess up on the last line, I record just that last line until I get it right, and then I cut and splice it in.  I would say half of my recordings have a cut and paste somewhere within.

Once the tracks are satisfactory, I mess with fine tuning, using Audacity.  I normalize the sound so it is more even, I add in a fade in or fade out, I clean up background noise, etc.

Finally, I save all of my recordings to box.net, which is an online storage facility.  I currently have 75 recordings saved.  Some I am not ecstatic about, but others turned out pretty good.

At box.net I click on a share option and then I post the link here on my blog, or sometimes on facebook.
Karen Mello Burton 24 comments

where i make a music video

At the gentle suggestion of Geo, I spent a couple of hours tonight (because who doesn't have 2 hours on a weeknight to mess around on GarageBand?) recording, mixing, and tweaking colors on this video.

I thought after doing around 60 audio tracks it might be time to try a video.  I have some more creative ideas for a possible next time, most of which would include much less of my mug and much more nature or other images.

Thanks for stopping by.
Karen Mello Burton 7 comments

Musical Monday: listen to your heart

A softer version of a favorite 80s song.  I wrapped a few tracks together in order to overlap in certain areas.  It was fun, but it took a little bit of extra time.

In the middle of all my mayhem, singing gives me a respite.  A chance to think about something else.  Creativity as a salve.  I like it.

Click on the song title, then sing along.

Listen To Your Heart

 Kazzy's voice has been silenced by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act(see the details here). Sorry you can't listen to her sing directly. But send her a message and she'll try to work something out.
Karen Mello Burton 13 comments

musical monday: love remains the same

It's been awhile, so I was itching to do some recording.  I hope you like this one as an alternative Valentine song. Click on the song title.


Love Remains The Same

 Kazzy's voice has been silenced by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act(see the details here). Sorry you can't listen to her sing directly. But send her a message and she'll try to work something out.
Karen Mello Burton 8 comments

january music, installment numero uno

Click on the song title below to hear a little Spanish tragic love song I recorded tonight.  What can I say?  These rip-your heart-out ones are always more beautiful to the ear.  I will include the English lyrics too, for those of you that are not bilingual.  Tomorrow look for another musical post.


Kazzy's voice has been silenced by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act(see the details here). Sorry you can't listen to her sing directly. But send her a message and she'll try to work something out.

 Si Volvieras A Mi

Como sobrevivir como calmar mi sed
Como seguir sin ti como saltar sin ver
Con ese adiós tan salvaje y cruel
Me deshojaste la piel
La eternidad en final se quedo
Y un desierto... es mi corazón...

Ay si volvieras a mi
Encendería el sol mil primaveras
Si regresaras por mi
Seria un milagro cada beso que me dieras
Pero hoy te vas
Y no hay vuelta atrás

que abra después de ti
Mas que estas lagrimas
Si hasta la lluvia en el jardín
Toca música sin fin...
Sombría y trágica...
Hoy de rodillas le pido a dios
Que por el bien de los dos
Algo en tu pecho se quiebre al oír
A este loco que se muere de amor...

Ay si volvieras a mi
Encendería el sol mil primaveras
Si regresaras por mi
Seria un milagro cada beso que me dieras
Pero hoy te vas
Y no hay vuelta atrás


Y desataste un huracán
Fuego y furia de un volcán
Que no se apagar...
Como olvido que fui
Esclavo de ti... ya no puedo más...

Ay si volvieras a mi vida, si volvieras
Si regresaras por mi
Seria feliz otra vez
Pero hoy te vas
Y no hay vuelta atrás

How to survive
How to calm my thirst
How can I continue without you
How can I jump without a net [to catch me]
With that farewell so savage and cruel
You took away all I had
Time came to a halt
And my heart is now a desert

Oh if you came back to me
The sun would raise 1000 spring times
If you but came back to me
Every kiss you gave me would be miraculous
But today you’re gone
And there is no turning back

What is there after you?
More than these tears
Like the rain in a garden
Playing endless music,
Cold and tragic.
Now on bended knee I plead to God
That for the good of us both
Something might break inside you when you listen
To this idiot dying of love

Oh if you came back to me
The sun would raise 1000 spring times
If you but came back to me
Every sight of me would be miraculous.
But today you are gone
And there is no return for us

You let loose a hurricane,
The fire and fury of a volcano
That I don't know how to stem
Being the fool that I was
A slave to you
I just can't do that anymore.

Oh if you would just come back to my life,
if you come back
If you returned me,
I would be happy once again
But today you are gone
And there is no turning back.
Karen Mello Burton 18 comments

musical monday: the house that built me

After a long day, including 3 hours of my own church, and then 4 hours in other meetings, I came home, put on my plaid flannel night shirt and stood in front of the mic.  It felt good and right.

This is for Charlene.

The House That Built Me

Kazzy's voice has been silenced by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act(see the details here). Sorry you can't listen to her sing directly. But send her a message and she'll try to work something out.
Karen Mello Burton 16 comments

exceptional

Today is my husband's birthday, and I wanted to do a kind of modern little love ditty for him.  He is exceptional in many ways, but mostly in how he gets me, and in how he not only puts up with my weaknesses, but he embraces them. 

The Only Exception

 Kazzy's voice has been silenced by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act(see the details here). Sorry you can't listen to her sing directly. But send her a message and she'll try to work something out.
Karen Mello Burton 13 comments

where I attempt to sing classic R&B

OK, so I am not really a good candidate for R&B, unless you consider my absolute love for the passion and rhythm of the genre.  I have been nuts for this one for years.  Enjoy.

A Change Is Gonna Come

 Kazzy's voice has been silenced by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act(see the details here). Sorry you can't listen to her sing directly. But send her a message and she'll try to work something out.
Karen Mello Burton 11 comments

calming my inner beast

We moved when I was 12, and after the awkward "new girl" thing wore off in 6th grade, I joined the middle school choir. I knew I liked music and enjoyed singing, but I had no idea that it would become something that I loved, and even felt like I needed to survive. Now, 35 years later, it still holds true. I haven't done any recording in a month or so, and I miss it. I want to get back to it. I want to close the door to the den/studio and belt it out. I want to collaborate with friends. I want to try new things that I haven't sung yet. I want to push myself.


On a non-teaching day today, my husband, on his own accord, set up a data base of the 67 songs I have recorded and posted here on my blog. So many have poor sound quality (I had a bit of a learning curve as I was learning to record and mix the music), and so many are just poor quality in general (sometimes I just didn't perform the best I could).


After getting the data base set up, he used www.soundcloud.com to set up a place for me to store my files and then organize sets that I will now post as tracks in my sidebar (look to your right under my photo). I have tried other systems, but this seems easy. For my friends who subscribe to my www.box.net updates when I post recordings, I will probably still use that also since I am comfortable with that app on my iPhone.


These are the ones he (and I) decided on putting into the top 12 list. I hear flaws, of course, but I remember each recording experience and have great memories. Also, when I put new recordings up in my Musical Monday posts, there will be an mp3 player right there in my post, so that you will not have to leave and come back. I hope this is easier for everyone involved.


Thanks so much for listening and sending in requests. It has been so much fun to have a place to express myself this way. I would ask you, What are you doing to demonstrate your own talents on your blog?
Karen Mello Burton 11 comments

sound waves to chicago

My BYU bff and I must have texted back and forth for over an hour steady tonight.  She just dropped her oldest baby here at the Y and I feel like a godmother who needs to make sure all is well.  After a few minutes of checking in, we ended up "talking" about the music I have recorded and posted right here on my blog.  She was texting with one hand and flying around my Musical Monday posts with the other. 

Once her husband joined her we started to brainstorm about how to do a long-distance duet together.  Adam has been learning to play the guitar, and he likes to sing.  So we hashed it out, and then rehashed it out, and decided to do something soon by swapping our own recorded mp3s until I get it all mixed and sounding good.

Some people like to think technology was invented for things like keeping up on current world events.  Me?  I like this music stuff.  *fist pumping and roof raising*
Karen Mello Burton 9 comments

day 347: music-free

Obviously, I did not post a Musical Monday entry today.  I am rethinking it a bit because of current obligations (probably should have rethought it months ago as the whirlwind began, but I have so much fun doing it!), and am leaning more toward monthly rather than weekly recordings. 

The next time some music is posted here it might, just MIGHT, be Love Shack by the B52s.  Got a couple of friends that want to do a fun recording with us.  And what could be more fun that that one?  Anyway, thanks for your continued support of my amateur efforts.  I appreciate it.

ps Keep singing.
Karen Mello Burton 12 comments

Musical Monday: Across The Universe

 click on the title below to hear my recording
Across The Universe

 Kazzy's voice has been silenced by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act(see the details here). Sorry you can't listen to her sing directly. But send her a message and she'll try to work something out.
Karen Mello Burton 16 comments

Musical Monday: Sleep Song

With the engagement of my oldest son this week, I wanted to do this little lullaby I discovered recently.  Any of you who have been reading my blog over the past year or so know that I have been basking in nostalgia as I welcomed home my oldest from an LDS mission and have now sent my second son out.  My two youngest sons will both be in junior high school this year, and now we have a wedding in 2 months.

Please click on the title below to hear my recording for the week, and then go and hug your children.

To Perry, my first-born
Sleep Song

 Kazzy's voice has been silenced by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act(see the details here). Sorry you can't listen to her sing directly. But send her a message and she'll try to work something out.
Karen Mello Burton 19 comments

Musical Monday: When It Rained

Maybe I had rain on the brain this week, but while I was driving in my car running errands I cranked this one up and thought maybe I could try it out.  I had to mess with the key a little to make it work, and I still ended up having to hit some low notes, but it is a gorgeous song and I had a great time singing it.  Click on the title below.

When It Rained
Kazzy's voice has been silenced by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act(see the details here). Sorry you can't listen to her sing directly. But send her a message and she'll try to work something out.
Karen Mello Burton 8 comments

Musical Monday: Chasing Pavements

When I recorded Hometown Glory I knew I would come back and do Adele's other hit, Chasing Pavements.  In Britain pavements are sidewalks, so keep this in mind as you hear the lyrics.  Click on the title below to hear my rendition of this cool song.

Chasing Pavements

 Kazzy's voice has been silenced by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act(see the details here). Sorry you can't listen to her sing directly. But send her a message and she'll try to work something out.
Karen Mello Burton 13 comments

Musical Monday: Breakeven

I remember the first time I heard this song on the radio.  I thought it was Gavin DeGraw, whom I believe is underappreciated.  I had never heard of The Script before, but the tune was catchy and I thought it would be fun to record.   
Singing is such a great outlet when you are overburdened in other areas.  It opens the soul....

Breakeven   
(click here)
Kazzy's voice has been silenced by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act(see the details here). Sorry you can't listen to her sing directly. But send her a message and she'll try to work something out.
Karen Mello Burton 10 comments

day 308: Mad World Video

My husband stayed up all night (not at my request) finishing this motion graphics video of my recording of "Mad World."


Karen Mello Burton 9 comments

Musical Monday: Break Your Heart

I have always loved Natalie Merchant, and this is one of my faves that she did. OK, I danced a little while I recorded it!   Enjoy.  Click on the song title to hear my recording.

 Kazzy's voice has been silenced by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act(see the details here). Sorry you can't listen to her sing directly. But send her a message and she'll try to work something out.


Break Your Heart

People downcast, is despair
See the disillusion everywhere
Hoping their bad luck will change
Gets a little harder every day

People struggle, people fight
For the simple pleasures in their lives
But trouble comes from everywhere
It's a little more than you can bear

I know that it will hurt
I know that it will break your heart
The way things are
And the way they've been
And the way they've always been

People shallow, self-absorbed
See the push and shove for their rewards
I, me, my is on their minds
You can read about it in their eyes

People ruthless, people cruel
See the damage that some people do
Full of hatred, full of pride
It's enough to make you loose your mind

I know that it will hurt
I know that it will break your heart
The way things are
And the way they've been

I know that it will hurt
I know that it will break your heart
The way things are
And the way they've been

Don't spread the discontent
Don't spread the lies
Don't make the same mistakes
With your own life
You never will let love survive

I know that it will hurt
I know that it will break your heart
The way things are
And the way they've been

Don't spread the discontent
Don't spread the lies
Don't make the same mistakes
With your own life
Don't disrespect yourself
Don't loose your pride
And don't think that
Everybody's gonna choose your side
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