By Esther Hatfield Miller
Seal Beach resident, Amanda Marie’s music spark ignited 22 years ago but later exploded after having a private, one-on-one vocal session with American Idols’ Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi at the famous Westlake Recording Studios in West Hollywood.
This is the same Studio A where Michael Jackson recorded his “Thriller”, #1 album at that time. A number of other well-known artists have recorded in this studio including: Mariah Carey, Josh Groban, Quincy Jones, Madonna, and Britney Spears.
With an ever busy recording & producing schedule, Randy & Kara were generous with freeing up a Saturday morning session with Amanda Marie. After hearing her sing, Randy & Kara both encouraged Amanda Marie to pursue her unique music style as a balladeer: light and airy adult contemporary with a classical flavor. If you can imagine a young Susan Boyle vibe, inspired by Eva Cassidy and Josh Groban, with sprinkled Indigo Girls harmonies, that’s the flavor of her singing.
Randy Jackson’s heartfelt guidance of inspiration and excitement was shared when he exclaimed that “Amanda will be ready to record after a couple of sessions with Ron Anderson, vocal coach to the stars.” He offered tips of how to set-up the feel of a song she is about to record by doing some set decoration of utilizing lighted candles to enhance the mood in the recording session. In fact, the night before, Mariah Carey was in the exact same studio with a Christmas tree, holiday lights and festive ornaments recording a song for her Christmas album.
Kara DioGuardi spent a generous amount of time listening to a sample recording that Amanda presented to her, gave her tips on how to use her vibrato, when to use her head voice and higher range to accomplish a certain vibe of a song. Kara further inspired Amanda Marie to pursue singing along with recording and ended the private session with the supportive words “Girl, you have some pipes.”
Amanda Marie’s vocal range is that of a coloratura, a type of soprano with an elaborate voice. Amanda Marie sings in a variety of ranges highlighting her agile riffs and leaps and is a conservatory-trained vocalist. She has been gifted with the ability to harmonize by ear, adding ornamentation to any music that “calms and feeds her soul.” She is currently recording her debut album to be released in July 2011.
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