I Need Everyone's Help!!! Alizée Birthday Song

[lefty12357]

Ok, here’s the deal. This idea popped into my head and the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to try it. But I really need help from my fellow Alizée fans to do it. This is a project separate from the Alizée Birthday Contest, so participating in this endeavor will not exclude you from the contest, which I hope will get a big turnout. All members of this site are welcome to participate.

In order to achieve this goal I would like to get a minimum of 10, possibly up to 20 participants. It involves singing a simple 3 line part. Now don’t stop reading yet! My intent is to combine all of the voices into one big AAm chorus. Only I will hear the individual voices, so no one has to worry about being embarrassed in front of everybody. No one else will hear the voices until they are combined together. No great singing skill is required, only the ability to carry a simple 4 note tune. Once I combine the voices, I will use them in the last 2 choruses of a song I am working on. The biggest problem is how to get all your voices recorded.

I will provide a small MP3 file for download of me singing the part, along with a few backing instruments to keep pitch and time. The lyrics and melody are simple, just these words, “Joyeux Anniversaire / Alizée we celebrate / Joyeux Anniversaire”. Ben has already done it and it worked out really well. You can download my file here.
http://www.mediafire.com/?kn1yu0nmhe1

Here are some methods you can use to make your recording

N°1

If you have recording equipment or software that has tracking ability, download my file and import it into a track.
Record your voice singing along onto another track.
Export just your vocal track into an MP3 file and send it back to me.

N°2
Ben’s Method that he used (with a few excellent suggestions):

-Download and install the free goldwave software at www.goldwave.com
-Go into recording properties in the windows volume control. Set the mic volume and make sure all other recording options like stereo mix are unchecked.
-Here's the most important part: plug a pair of headphones into your computer, and try to get rid of any background noise in the room (turn off AC, etc.)!
-Start goldwave with a "CD quality" mono track and hit record. Hit play on the sample mp3 and sing along.
-Make sure the volume monitors in goldwave aren't hitting the red. Go back and reduce the volume in step 2 if they are.


N°3

Download my file and burn it onto a CD or upload it into an ipod. You will need to listen to it play back into headphones.
While doing so, sing along with it and record your voice on your computer. You can slide one side of your headphones off to uncover one ear to better hear your own voice.
Save your recording as an MP3 and send it back to me.


Hopefully we will get both male and female participants which I think will sound better.

This could be really cool, it could be mediocre, or it could be an epic fail. We won’t know though, if we don’t try.
Remember, this is for Alizée’s birthday, so it’s the thought that counts. I’d like to have everyone’s recordings to me before the end of the month. There is still a lot for me to do to finish the project.

Please PM me if you are interested or have any questions. Thanks, everyone, and I hope you will participate in this little project to wish Alizée a Joyeux Anniversaire. I will keep track of everyone that participated and post the song here when it’s finished.


Some final notes on recording your file

If you have the ability to add effects to your recording, don’t do it. It will severely limit my ability later on to fix anything or mix all the voices together properly.
It’s also important to keep the sound of my file (or other noises for that matter) from leaking onto your recording as much as possible.
Try not to record it too loud because I can’t fix it if it is all distorted. However, make sure you sing with some enthusiasm (but no shouting). Back away from the mic if you need to. If everyone sounds soft and timid, it will end up sounding like a bunch of people singing soft and timid.
This is intended to sound like a group of people singing together in celebration of Alizée’s birthday.

I can take mono or stereo files, WAV or MP3. I think for this project, MP3 encoded at between 128 and 256 should be fine. They are also smaller for faster download.

If the part is too high for you, sing an octave lower. If it’s too low, sing an octave higher. Remember, try to match the pitch and timing of my voice, but don’t get overly anal about it. Some variation is a good thing.

You can upload your recording somewhere like Mediafire and PM me the link.

Thanks again!

[Ben]

Originally Posted by lefty12357

N°2
Ben’s Method that he used (with a few excellent suggestions):

-Download and install the free goldwave software at www.goldwave.com
-Go into recording properties in the windows volume control. Set the mic volume and make sure all other recording options like stereo mix are unchecked.
-Here's the most important part: plug a pair of headphones into your computer, and try to get rid of any background noise in the room (turn off AC, etc.)!
-Start goldwave with a "CD quality" mono track and hit record. Hit play on the sample mp3 and sing along.
-Make sure the volume monitors in goldwave aren't hitting the red. Go back and reduce the volume in step 2 if they are.

Oh, forgot to mention that you'll need to download LAME in order to save an mp3 with Goldwave.

Hope this turns out really awesome, I plan on adding it to our frontpage on August 21st if it does!

[Tomtentp]

Deja vu!
I believe this has already been done for her last birthday over at LTUS, ofc that was the original birthday song in french, this is something else.

In case you don't know what I'm talking about:
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Originally Posted by lefty12357

...

If the part is too high for you, sing an octave lower. If it’s too low, sing an octave higher. Remember, try to match the pitch and timing of my voice, but don’t get overly anal about it. Some variation is a good thing.

...

Well yeah, normally I just can't sing but right now I'm having a cold aswell; you can forget that 2nd part right away

Think you should lower it and make it humanly possible to sing for everyone and then just boost it up again with pitch correction.
Just my 2 öre.

Good luck with the project, big fan of yours

[lefty12357]

I thought I would bump this thread to remind everyone that I am still looking for more people to participate in this project.

If you are in doubt, think of it this way - imagine you’re in a room with a dozen people or so, all of which are Alizée fans. It’s Alizée’s birthday and she is in the room with all of you. Someone says, “Let’s sing happy birthday to Alizée!” Are you going to stand there silent or are you going to sing along with everyone else? That’s what I’m asking you to do here.

Granted, Alizée will not be in the room with us, but she may very well get to hear this song when it’s done. We Americans are always talking about getting Alizée to come to the USA. We have seen all the hard work the Mexicans have done. The French are planning something for Alizée’s birthday as well. We have an opportunity with this song project and the Alizée Birthday Contest to do something in honor of Alizée, but it also gives us an opportunity to draw some attention to this site and her American fans, as well as international fans that are members here. As things stand now, I don’t think we are on anyone’s radar. I would like to see that change.

This is just a small start, but there very well may be many opportunities in the future to “stand up and be counted” when it comes to promoting Alizée in the USA. I am hoping that this little project will demonstrate that we have the ability to get things done and make things happen. So I hope more of you will consider participating. Time is running out, so I would like to get everyone's recordings sometime before August 7...

[CFHollister]

I'll see what I can do... but singing really isn't my thing. I kinda stopped singing when I was in junior high school when I decided I wasn't any good at it. Ironically, it's been Alizée (first) and the other French artists that have gotten me to sing along with their songs... but I generally only do that in the car where no one can hear me.

[BlackAnthem]

That video was...we need better singers. I mean that was good considering I don't know what it means...

[user472884]

that video.......... eek.........

everybody who is contributing needs to sing in the exact tempo as the sample track.
---------------------

btw, "Joyeux" is pronounced like that? like "jw-ah-you"? It would help me immensely on my project because I am writing french lyrics and I have no idea how to pronounce them

[BlackAnthem]

What if I just sang it in English...wait. I have Audacity, in which I have been working on Alizee/Coldplay thing trying to make it my own. If you all want you could try to fix the audio in the video with it. I would do it but I am still fairly new to the program. If you are interested I will have it on YouTube later into the month. (Effects, they are buggers aren't they.)

[Sitting by the bay]

Good idea Lefty! I actually had a similar inspiration, but figured the logistics would be hell, so decided to keep it under my hat.

I thought it would be cool if we members of AA did a video montage birthday wish. Those who wish to participate could shoot a short video, 5 seconds or so, standing in front of the most prominent landmark on their respective area. For instance, me standing in front of the golden gate bridge wishing her a happy b-day. Then compile them all and set it to some nice music.

When and if she would ever see it, I thought it would be a cool way to show her some U.S. love and to peak her interest in the U.S., especially with the visuals of all the famous landmarks.

[BlackAnthem]

Sitting by the Bay has a good idea. I vote S.B.T.B.!