Kitto Eien ni

[Nayami]

I haven't really sung anything seriously in a long while, but decided to try Crystal Kay's Kitto Eien ni today.

I think its a little difficult

I know my pronunciation is off in quite a few places (it's something I'm trying to work on), and I know my pitch goes a few times, but...

Anyways, I like getting constructive criticism?

Nayami's Kitto Eien ni

[exdevlin]

I don't think I can say much about the song itself since I don't know the original song, but pronounciation wise, I think the 't' sounds could be a little softer. I heard a few that sounded like English 't's, which are a bit harder and pronounced than the Japanese counterpart.

You have a very melodic voice, have you tried to extend projection before?

[Nayami]

Yeah, my t's are off. I keep trying to fix it, but seem stuck with my hard 't' sounds. I'll continue working on it. My "o"s are a little weird, too. ^^;;;

I'm not sure what extend projection is, so I'm assuming I haven't tried it ^^;;

[Ciel]

Ooooh! =D I have to say, I was thoroughly impressed with this recording =)

You have a very beautiful voice, Nayami! And this song really suits your voice! Your singing flowed VERY nicely throughout the song, just like Crystal Kay's =) Emotion was very nice too! You did an excellent job building that energy when the chorus came in! Overall, I thought pitch was fine; you maintained it well when you sang the verses...but a couple of the higher notes in the chorus sound offkey.

And I did hear a couple of lyrical mispronounciations. But only some minor ones. However, I would like to point out one misprounciation that I heard throughout the song: the Japanese "t". For instance, in the lines "Toki wo modosetara ii noni" and "Kakegae no nai ai ga atta koto", the way you enuniciated those "t" sounds is very sharp, which is incorrect. The English "t" sound is very different from the Japanese "t". It has to do with the placement of the tongue... If my explanation isn't clear to you, then I'll be more than happy to explain it to you in more detail via PM or something =)

Also, I think a couple of times (like during the choruses), your vocal track was on the edge of peaking. Not EAR-SHATTERING peaking, but just about to peak. I think, but maybe it's because I'm wearing headphones...? But the high notes do sound a bit sharp. Anyways, just keep in mind the volume when mixing in the future (not that it was a HUGE HUGE problem in this song).

Your vibato sounds so awesome too 8D! Maybe once or twice did it sounded forced...like in the line "Taisetsu ni shite zutto wasurenai" But I think that last note sounded iffy because you ran out of breath? ANYWAYS, with that little thing put to the side, you have one of the best ones I've heard so far in the Recording Studio! *0*

Despite the nit-picky critique, I REALLY enjoyed listening to this! <3 It was very soothing =) I see a lot of potential in that and I would love to hear more recordings from you! xD

You know, in some parts of the song, your voice reminds me of ICD's =")

[Nayami]

Ciel: Thank you so much for the in-depth critique! That kind of thing is exactly what I like to get~

Yeah, the peaking. I had so much trouble making my vocal track loud enough to be heard over the instrumental without the instrumental being too quiet and that was the best I could do. But I don't know what I'm really doing when I'm mixing, so maybe I'm missing something.

Thank you so much for the critique! I'll continue working on my t's!

[CKMel]

You have a VERY pretty voice!
I was also impressed with this recording! ... Very much so. XD...
I absolutely adore your vibrato. XD...
Aside from the Japanese pronunciation and the peaking... Well I didn't notice like, ANYTHING aside from the Japanese pronunciation.
At the end, when there's almost no BGM behind you, it sounded like you went a little flat, but that's pretty much it.
Hmm... Maybe work on your higher notes so they don't sound as airy? (*COUGHIAMAHYPOCRITECOUGH*) ... XD...
Ciel mentioned everything else, really.

For the thing about the t's, I suggest thinking of the t's more as "hard D's" if you understand? XD...
Watch your vowel sounds as well. Make sure you don't make the vowels too wide. :3... (AKA, for the "wo"s, don't go, "wO," but something more like, "wuh")

I really loved this though.
You have a beautiful voice. Post more! XD

[Nayami]

CKMel - Thank you ^^

Yeah, the wide vowels are one of my banes of pronunciation... even in my native English xD

[ICD]

Gosh you guys give such awesome crits ;_;.
And Ciel... you left me in a position with nothing to critique on >O!!!! XDD JK hahaha. And NO! Nayami's got a much prettier voice than I do :"D..

Okay! Onto what I've got to say.
There was lots of emotion in this so well done with that . I do think, however, that you could've sung the choruses with even more oomph. They just seem to be missing something to me. I was waiting to get an 'explosion' in the chorus as the melody is soo beautiful but I think I only got a mini one so maybe try using more support and power will help. (Sorry my explanation is so vague T_T)

Pitch was quite good overall. You do have a tendancy to go off in some phrases though. In the verses you go flat a couple of times, and sharp in the chorus. The high notes sound a bit weak and forced sometimes. Try singing with more support and think of hitting 'over' the note instead so that you project even more..? Someone has told me that before D: But I'm not very good at high notes overall so well I'm not a person to ask for advice in this ><.

The pronounciation issue has already been touched on by the above people! Do listen to them! They explain it very well. It can be quite distracting sometimes but it is very, very common for people to sing Japanese songs in an 'English accent' so don't worry about it - it will come with practice =). I'm listening through my speakers and I don't really have a big issue with the mixing, actually. :/ Perhaps it's because it's night time now and I haven't really turned it up. D:

Anyways I should get back to revision now. Just thought I'd drop by 8D. Best of luck with your singing~ Your vibrato is so awesome heheheee. Look forward to hearing more!

[AlexL55]

Very nice, I love Crystal Kay's songs. I don't have anything really constructive to add, especially after Ciel's post @_@. Mixing-wise for the peaking, scale back the gain of the instrumental track rather than pushing the gain of the vocal track. Maybe a little bit of compression. Add reverb for more "presence". Harmonies will add alot of fullness, but original didn't seem have any.

[Nayami]

ICD: Thanks! Best of luck on your revision!

Alex: I did lower the gain of the instrumental track... quite a bit. I lowered it by 3.1db, and hard limited it to -1 db. And there is reverb ^^;; I would add harmonies, but my pitch isn't good enough to create harmony lines on my own ^^;;

Thank you so much for all the feedback, everybody~