Beatles Cover -- I Feel Fine (umm, this time with the file attached)

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mbrusko

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Beatles Cover -- I Feel Fine

Deceptively tough song to play and mix, as I soon discovered. Perfect example of George Martin's genius with early Beatles songs: big, fat sound with just a few instruments and voices -- and spartan equipment.

(For the record, I acknowledge that this "Clinic" caters to -- and may even be intended for -- originals. Please don't be offended by my use of covers as a learning tool for this craft. I've always learned best by first trying to emulate experts.)

On a scale of 1-10, how much do you hear "Beatles" (10) and how much do you hear "passable but still totally amateur" (1)?

Thanks for listening.

Mike
 

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  • 01 - Track 1.mp3
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Hey there,
I like this, it's a great effort.
IMO though, there's one massive global issue.......Compression!

To me it really sounds accumulatively squashed. It almost sounds like the vocals are triggering a compressor over the rest of the mix.

If anything, that much compression sucks the fullness out of everything and makes things blend together less.
For that big sound you're talking about, I'd pull back a lot and let all the parts blend naturally. :)
 
Yes :)
Not that there weren't a lot on them productions either. More a 'where and how..
Still, nice track, and harmonies! (Tell true.. a' natural e'?

Damn it now I want to play some :)
 
Really nice vocal work; wish I could do as well. . .

But the overall mix bothers me a bit. I assume you were going for a "mono" effect, but your result sounds rather thin and tinny. The guitar work is very Beatle-esque, but perhaps a bit too out front during vocals. I would really try to spread the sound out a little more -- and yes, maybe try a mix without compression -- you may not really need it.

Nice effort, though -- and never apologize for doing covers. The people who wrote this stuff are pretty happy when someone else wants to play it. . .:)
 
Thanks for the thoughts so far, y'all. I did squeeze and EQ the guitar pretty hard, to try to capture Harrison's Gretsch Country Gentleman axe and his rockabilly sound. Maybe overdid it a bit. But there's no compression on anything else except a tad on the lead vocal. For the overall mix, I chose one of the 2488neo's Master Presets and didn't touch the preset compression. Just tweaked the master EQ at 5.6K to brighten the sound.

I'll go back and listen to a few other pre-sets ... or maybe tinker with the thresholds and ratios on the one I chose, to see if I can open it up.

Still hoping to hear from others ... especially Beatle fans old enough to have played the original on a 45rpm until the grooves were white.

mixsit said:
(Tell true.. a' natural e'?
Click to expand...

Ha ... totally falsetto. But at 60 years old, it probably took as much effort for me to hit it as it did for you to pick it out of those seven vocal trax. Nice catch, bro.
 
Hey, what catch?
It was really just trying a polite way of inquiring if you'd 'auto tuned :)

Ya know what, 60 (ehmm..) something here.. having more fun singing now than ever :D
 
It sounds pretty good. Agree about the compression especially on the guitar as way too much. While the original is compressed it's because of the amp itself mostly I think. Probably a Vox.

The lead vocal is good but all John's were double tracked and had a lot of reverb on them. I don't hear that here.

The harmonies are well done but they sound more like the Beach Boys than Beatles to me. During the I'm So Glad part, I think I hear extra notes like 6ths or something that aren't in the original.

These are nit picks to be taken lightly. Having played this song live in bar bands I can appreciate the difficulty. I can remember nights waiting for that first note to "do its thing" and not always doing it.

I give you a No.9 :)
 
The vocals are really strong. I feel like the kick is a lot higher up in the mix than the other drums. I agree that the vocals could use a double and some more reverb. Perhaps a slapback delay. overall a strong cover 8.
 
Agree with the previous feedback, guitar sounds really compressed and kinda thin, also agree its a bit "upfront ", great comparison about backing vocals sounding somewhat Beachboysish...not a bad thing in my book, playing singing top notch if I had to rate it on your scale would give it a 7.5, enjoyed the listen.
 
I have to agree with most of what was said above. That guitar is compressed a lot, but it doesn't sound natural.

Besides that, if I can give you one piece of advice, I'd say DON'T USE PRE-SETS. Learn the tools and apply them. I gurantee you there is no such thing as a pre-set that will automatically work for your mix.

Overall, good performance, though.
 
Unsqueeze that lead guitar, give the song a thumping bass line, and you'll have yourself an awesome cover of one of my all time favorite Beatle tunes.

Nice!
 
If the point is to mimic then the guitar riff is too prominent and plucky (try more distortion and less volume), and the Bass Drum is too thumpy.

Vocal is difficult to mimic, but this is good, and sits very reminiscently like a Beatles mix.
 
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