Punk meets comedy somewhere in the Austrian Alps - "Shut yer Von Trapp!"

S

Simon Beck

New member
Here is a fun project from last year - four songs from "The Sound of Music" performed in a variety of punk styles.

trapp2.gif

Music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hammerstein
Guitar, bass, Farfisa organ, rhythm programming, all vocals, arrangements and production by Simon Beck

Rhythms were programmed in HammerHead 1.0 and arranged in Audacity
All audio was recorded on a Fostex MR-8 (the red one)
Editing and mixing was performed in Audacity

Playlist:
  1. Overture/The Hills Are Alive
  2. Do-Re-Mi
  3. My Favourite Things
  4. The Lonely Goatherd
 
Skip at :24? Sounded a bit like it.

I thought it was kind of fun to listen to.

Not sure what to say about the recording. Almost sounded like a cassette recording. Backing vocals were performed pretty poorly - perhaps on purpose. They're tough to hear at times. Lead vocal gets lost in small spots.

The Overture might have a low end problem. On headphones it's hard for me to tell. But I suspect it's kind of boomy.
 
Thanks!

A lot of the problem with the vocals was simply that I didn't have a vocal mic at the time (and that I can't sing!) - I used my MR8's built in mic, which isn't particularly good. The bass was a bit out of tune, and I had a sore finger on my right hand which means that some of my bass playing was less dextrous than usual. ;) Yes, the backing vocals are meant to be a bit uncouth - back in the day backing vocals (and keyboards) were something of a rarity in real punk bands, but I wanted to capture something of the do-it-yourself vibe.
 
Fearlessly mono or something went awry?
The guitar needs some EQ as it pretty dull sounding.
Bass is as you describe and in need of compression too.
 
Interesting song, but to be honest it's a little difficult to listen to because of the quality. I guess you were going for the 60's punk sound though.
 
I think it's brilliant in a twisted sort of way. The recording fits the material perfectly. Don't change a thing.
 
Oh my. HAHA!! I love it. Kind of. I am personally not a fan of mono recordings, but let that not take away from the awesome arrangement you got going on here. Really cool man.

Did you ever hear "Punk Side Story" It was done in the late 90's i think? A bunch of punk bands did a compilation of all the tunes from west side story. I like that stuff! Hope to hear more.
 
Thanks once again for all your comments! My own favourite part is in "Do-Re-Mi" where the backing vocalists (over?)-enthusiastically yell "Jam 'n' bread!" as if they are hoping to score some... I'm also quite pleased with the reggae-influenced bass line in "The Lonely Goatherd". I was thinking of The Clash when I recorded it, but several people have suggested that the overall sound of the song is more like Ian Dury.

Here are two original songs of mine - not punk at all and very different from each other. I just can't seem to keep my sense of humour out of my music.

https://homerecording.com/bbs/general-discussions/mp3-mixing-clinic/couple-my-songs-365598/
 
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Yep, definitely very boomy.
Using a better mic for vox wouldn't be a bad idea. Most of the instruments sound like they were tracked too hot and are clipping for it.

Drum machine sounds pretty good though. Gets a nice Atom and His Package vibe.
 
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