Another portostudio production-Velvet Underground Cover

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ksounds

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This is a cover of the song "Jesus" by The Velvet Underground, one of the greatest bands ever.

I've always loved this song, and decided to do my own version of it.

Done on a Tascam 424 mkII and mixed down to garageband.
I've never recorded a cover song, so I was excited to do one. I was thinking about "Heroin", but that seemed kind of obvious and way out of my league...so I picked another great one.

Let me know what you think.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=805880&content=music
 
I am hearing what sounds like a little distortion in the vocals - bear in mind I am listening on a pair of microscopic unpowered PC speakers at the moment. I will give it a listen when I get back to the house later.



AK
 
analogkid said:
I am hearing what sounds like a little distortion in the vocals - bear in mind I am listening on a pair of microscopic unpowered PC speakers at the moment. I will give it a listen when I get back to the house later.



AK
Click to expand...

Good ears analog! A new mp3 has been uploaded. I think it was just pushed up a little to hot. I made sure the levels are lower. Thanks.
 
Awesome, giving it another listen - I'm suprised I heard anything on these crappy speakers, but I guess it goes back to what one of my old instructors used to call the 'worst radio on the beach' effect - basically if your mix doesn't sound good on a crappy radio/stereo, then you need to go back and remix.



AK
 
Very nice recording. Great warm sound, and I like the amount of verb on the vocals.

There are a few tuning issues here and there on the vocals (especially the harmonies), but when they're in tune, they sound great.

Nice job!
 
Thanks for the feedback guys.

Reel...I've seen your sc page, and I'm a big fan of your Ramones covers:cool:

Analog...thanks for the checking out the repost, glad it sounds better level wise.

Beagle...I know the spots you are talking about, and it kind of irks me. To be honest, this is the first song I've done with vocal harmonies, and during the tracking it sounded fine...of course after I broke everything down I noticed some of the spotty areas:(

But, I'm living in the moment, and hopefully the vibe is enough to make up for some of the spotty vocals:o
 
ksounds said:
Thanks for the feedback guys.

Reel...I've seen your sc page, and I'm a big fan of your Ramones covers:cool:

Analog...thanks for the checking out the repost, glad it sounds better level wise.

Beagle...I know the spots you are talking about, and it kind of irks me. To be honest, this is the first song I've done with vocal harmonies, and during the tracking it sounded fine...of course after I broke everything down I noticed some of the spotty areas:(

But, I'm living in the moment, and hopefully the vibe is enough to make up for some of the spotty vocals:o
Click to expand...


If that's the first time you've done harmonies, then hats off to you. You did a great job. Like I said, when they were on, they sounded really nice. :)
 
Thanks again Beagle. Picking it apart, I can hear, that by the third verse I have it. The third verse locks in. The first and second verse have their moments, and there is a an issue of pitch with the dissonant vocal part during the bridge section in one or two parts.

I wish I would have spent a little more time "listening" to it during the track review. I'm sure I could have gone back and locked in the first and second verses all the way, but as it is, I'm happy enough with it as I had a really fun time recording and mixing it on a nice quiet Saturday afternoon. I may go back and revisit it, or I may not, I can't decide. I almost don't want to touch it, being my first attempt at vocal harmony, so I have a reference for posterity. I plan on doing more with vocal harmonies on my own songs because of this experience.

And the reverbs were a mix of the Lexicon Alex and Midiverb II. I really love reverb on vocals...not so much acoustic if I'm laying it on thick for the vocals, like I did here. I like the way the acoustic sits in there kind of dry. The bass is completely dry. Nothin on it but some compression. The solo acoustic bendy notes were played during the backing harmony tracks, so I can't do much about the reverb levels there.
 
Thanks Reel. Yeah, they are. This one has kind of been a learning experience for me. Thanks for the kind words in the mp3 clinic as well. I'll probably do another one here soon...uh oh...I think you're onto something:D
 
ksounds said:
OK,

I retracked the vox. It's a little tighter, still not sure how in tune all of it is...it's hard!!!

The mix is a little different as well. I didn't leave the old version up, just replaced it. Too many mistakes.

Anyway, for better or for worse... here it is...

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=805880&content=music
Click to expand...


Hey Ksounds, the problem line is still "help me find my proper place." I think the harmony vocal on top is going flat a bit, and that's causing the problem.

I haven't heard the original, but is that harmony part on the original? I'm asking because it's a dense part there. The melody (lower part) is going G(help) G(me) F(find) E(my). And the harmony you're singing is going (an octave higher) E(help) E(me) E(find) D(my).

So the last two notes there on "find my" are sevenths apart. And the note on "find" is a major seventh apart (F to E). That's hard to tune really well, so it's not an easy part.

A much more common harmony (and much easier to sing) on the high part would be E(help) E(me) D(find) C(my). That would be 6ths throughout over the melody, which are very melodious and relatively easy to sing.

Now I'm not against different and unique harmonies, and, like I said, perhaps the original version has that harmony on it and so you're doing that. But it's not a really easy part.

Anyway, just some food for thought.

Oh! And I liked you going up the octave for the last two "Jesus" bits at the end of the form like you did in the first recording!

The "help me in my weakness, I'm falling out of grace" lines sound awesome!
 
Beagle,

Your right. I went back and listened to the original, and I go up with the word "place" and Lou goes down. That is a problem line...Hmmmm

I want this to be right now...I will have to redo this later this week. Thanks for the constructive feedback and taking the time to listen and pick apart the notes for me...

Like I said... a learning experience:rolleyes: Will post again when it is corrected.
 
ksounds said:
Beagle,

Your right. I went back and listened to the original, and I go up with the word "place" and Lou goes down. That is a problem line...Hmmmm

I want this to be right now...I will have to redo this later this week. Thanks for the constructive feedback and taking the time to listen and pick apart the notes for me...

Like I said... a learning experience:rolleyes: Will post again when it is corrected.
Click to expand...

A learning experience for sure!

If you need to, take the time and work the notes out on the guitar or a piano if you have one. Take it apart note-by-note if you need to.

Working like this may seem tedious at first, but believe me when I say it will pay off in the long run. You will learn a lot about harmonies and how/why they work.

Good luck!
 
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