Hi from a newbie :-)

[KathrynOverall]

Hi all Just wanted to say a quick hi to the community here. My name is Kathryn Overall and I am a 'not yet' Taxi member, but am planning to join soon once I am confident I am able to record my songs well enough to take advantage of the experience.

In a nutshell, I am a Kiwi girl who grew up playing piano, singing and writing songs. I moved to Sydney, Australia to study songwriting when I was 19 and apart from doing lots of writing and a bit of recording, I accidentally fell into the world of music publishing and spent most of the next 7 years with my head in the business end of songwriting. Having had somewhat of a sea-change I am now back in my native land, 18 months away from turning 30, and determined to dust off my creative dreams again and given them some focus and attention!

My recording ability is very limited, and my home studio is pretty basic. The combination of these two things keeps me in perpetual frustration and in need of many M&M's (for medicinal purposes of course...) My current strategy is to just demo all the songs I have written over the years- however imperfectly - and then when I have finished that song inventory, then figure out what the heck to do next!

Any better ideas? Should I save more money and try and record in a pro studio with a producer? Should I do a course in home studio production and get better myself? Should I just do basic guitar/vox or keyboard/vox song demos to pitch to TAXI?

I would so welcome your advice and feedback.

Here are links to two demos so you can hear for yourself if you are so inclined.
http://www.ubetoo.com/kathrynoverall/28851 Compass
http://www.ubetoo.com/kathrynoverall/28852 Legacy Of Love

Many thanks and I look forward to contributing here as well as learning from you all.

Cheers,
Kathryn Overall
http://notesfromafellowsongwriter.blogspot.com/

[jfraizer]

Hey Kathryn, nice to meet you.

This is a good place to realize your dreams or see if they are just fantasies. My advice to you would be to hang around and learn as much as possible. There is a lot of help and information here in this forum and on Taxi's site..

[mojobone]

Hi, and welcome aboard! I'm sure that publishing experience will come in handy. Basic recording gear and basic recording skills can take you a long way and save you buckets of cash, is my opinion. Even if you can't take your tracks all the way to final, it's much cheaper to hire out mixing and mastering than the whole kit and kaboodle. (do they still make kaboodles? It's been a long time since I've seen one...)

[jdhogg]

Are you a crowded house fan?

I dont think you are that far away from a goodquality sound. I listened to a few of your songs and the string sounds were quite weak. So getting some realistic samples will see a good improvement.

I think there is a lot to be gained by you learning to record your voice and guitar to the highest standard. You can then always give your tracks with the midi stuff to a producer to replace the midi sounds and mix.

It is so empowering to be able to record things yourself that I would suggest keep demoing your songs but for each one if you can choose a "hit" song and try and copy the sound. This way you will be achieving two things.

When you have all your songs demoed you will have a better idea of what you want to do. Decide then.

I would stay with your original plan

[DorothyWallace]

Hi Kathryn,

I enjoyed listening to your songs. You're really talented. One of the benefits of Taxi is being able to get a custom critique of your songs from a screener. They will give you feedback on what works and doesnt work. I've done up to 3 for the same song. Then once the feedback is very positive you can invest the money in a professional production.

Good Luck.

Dorothy

[KathrynOverall]

Thank you so much everyone for your advice and feedback. Much appreciated and I will put your suggestions into action!
Have a great day.
Kathryn

[ottlukk]

Kathryn:
Listened to your tune, loved your voice & lyrics. Welcome to the TAXI forums.
Ott

[KathrynOverall]

Thanks so much for your kind words Ott! I am enjoying your music - listening to your MySpace page now. I especially like 'Everyone Else Thinks I'm Pretty'.

[KathrynOverall]

Hi, and welcome aboard! I'm sure that publishing experience will come in handy. Basic recording gear and basic recording skills can take you a long way and save you buckets of cash, is my opinion. Even if you can't take your tracks all the way to final, it's much cheaper to hire out mixing and mastering than the whole kit and kaboodle. (do they still make kaboodles? It's been a long time since I've seen one...)

Ha. Kaboodles are certainly rarer than they used to be... Thanks for the advice. I'm thinking of stripping everything back to guitar/vox or piano/vox demoes for a while and just get good at recording them at a decent quality for a while. Just listening to your MySpace page. Nice work. How many of the instruments do you play yourself?

[KathrynOverall]

Hi Kathryn,

I enjoyed listening to your songs. You're really talented. One of the benefits of Taxi is being able to get a custom critique of your songs from a screener. They will give you feedback on what works and doesnt work. I've done up to 3 for the same song. Then once the feedback is very positive you can invest the money in a professional production.

Good Luck.

Dorothy

Thanks so much Dorothy for your encouragement! I think I probably do just need to bite the bullet and join Taxi, so I can make progress with that custom feedback as you say. The NZ exchange rate is a bit of a nightmare - but you've got to invest in the things that matter to you right? I love the personality in your verse - they make your songs very distinctive. Have listened to a few tracks, particularly like 'Talking Like Stranger'.