Bennie And The Jets A Elton John Cover(sorta)

  • Thread starter Thread starter queepy
  • Start date Start date
queepy

queepy

aka Variaxman
Inspired by some of the great covers on here lately, I thought it might be a great time for me to take the bar back down a few notches.....here is my take on on of my favorite artist songs ..Elton Johns "Bennie And The Jets"...having no piano and limited skills, I thought I would try and do my own take on it as more of a guitar oriented thing...my band is looking for some new material to cover and since we are a 3 piece, I'm thinking we might be able to pull this arrangement off....our singer is much better then me so that should help a lot.....this is a 1st mix and wondering how it sounds to some fresh ears....


http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=6361690&q=hi
 
i think there is something very out of tune ...possibly the rythm ....until that is adressed i can barely listen to this.....
 
queepy said:
maybe the singing?
Click to expand...

I think that is probably it....

A few things I hear mixwise that would improve the mix IMO. The bass guitar is suffering from either room node issues, or really uneven playing. Also, it is clipping pretty bad in spots. I think the verb is a little overdone and bright, but that's subjective. Also, I'd clean up the tracks some so you don't hear the weird little amp noises and such.

Hope that helps. :)
 
NL5 said:
I think that is probably it....

A few things I hear mixwise that would improve the mix IMO. The bass guitar is suffering from either room node issues, or really uneven playing. Also, it is clipping pretty bad in spots. I think the verb is a little overdone and bright, but that's subjective. Also, I'd clean up the tracks some so you don't hear the weird little amp noises and such.

Hope that helps. :)
Click to expand...

Yeah the vocals are a tiny bit flat through much of it. I think the main issue is that the guitar chords and bass notes you're following do not contain the melody line notes, at least not obviously. I'm not one for instruments following the melody line exactly, that's overkill, but having the notes within chords gives the singer a better reference. Lord knows I need them (wink). Not sure how you address that with the arrangement you have here.... I like your voice and I've heard you do many songs justice before, so I think you can do this one with a few changes. I don't want to dwell on this too much though as you mentioned someone else will sing it live...

The guitars - great, nice arrangement, playing.

The bass sounds like it's clipping as per NL5 - sounds a bit like the string hitting the pickup too....

The overall mix is good, easy to follow/listen to - just the bass clips are an issue I believe.

BTW - this is a classic EJ song - I love it and so will the audience when you play it. I think you can pull this off quite well even without the pianny...:cool::D:cool::D
 
Song could come across cool...vocals aren't doing it for me though...I think if you can't sing it, then just belt it. I mean be harsh. Don't even try to sing, just get rough. Course, it might not fit the music then...:o

I think you were trying to hard to sing, so you'll probably have to redo that. The music is ok though...could come out fine with some tweaks.
 
its not just the vocals....also the bass....horrendous...seriously....how can you play this and not know???? some fundamental questions need to be asked here about tone ..pitch and everything else ....just listen to the original and then play this...back to back...just as an education......
 
zazz said:
its not just the vocals....also the bass....horrendous...seriously....how can you play this and not know???? some fundamental questions need to be asked here about tone ..pitch and everything else ....just listen to the original and then play this...back to back...just as an education......
Click to expand...


I did try to do this completely different from the original....did not try and copy the bass part from the original at all, or anything for that matter....I do check my tuning with a tuner, and a "A" note that I record as a reference in the beginning of my project , before recording every track to kinda make sure everything is tuned to the same OK...my ears must suck worst then I thought .....as far as bass tone..again, I kinda was going for obnoxious on this so maybe I overshot the mark :o.....
Thanks for putting yourself thru listening and the honest feedback , I will tear this one apart and see if I can salvage it.....appreciate your feedback!!
 
NL5 said:
I think that is probably it....

A few things I hear mixwise that would improve the mix IMO. The bass guitar is suffering from either room node issues, or really uneven playing. Also, it is clipping pretty bad in spots. I think the verb is a little overdone and bright, but that's subjective. Also, I'd clean up the tracks some so you don't hear the weird little amp noises and such.

Hope that helps. :)
Click to expand...


I played the bass pretty aggressively on this and probably did do some "clanking"...this was my 1st mixdown, pretty much trying to get levels in the ballpark, and then posted to see how it sounds to others.....I will be try your suggestions when i get back to working on this...thanks so much for the feedback...appreciate it!!!
 
ido1957 said:
Yeah the vocals are a tiny bit flat through much of it. I think the main issue is that the guitar chords and bass notes you're following do not contain the melody line notes, at least not obviously. I'm not one for instruments following the melody line exactly, that's overkill, but having the notes within chords gives the singer a better reference. Lord knows I need them (wink). Not sure how you address that with the arrangement you have here.... I like your voice and I've heard you do many songs justice before, so I think you can do this one with a few changes. I don't want to dwell on this too much though as you mentioned someone else will sing it live...

The guitars - great, nice arrangement, playing.

The bass sounds like it's clipping as per NL5 - sounds a bit like the string hitting the pickup too....

The overall mix is good, easy to follow/listen to - just the bass clips are an issue I believe.

BTW - this is a classic EJ song - I love it and so will the audience when you play it. I think you can pull this off quite well even without the pianny...:cool::D:cool::D
Click to expand...

This one may be the nail in the coffin for my singing career:o...I knew it was probably a bit over my head, but it was fun as hell to try it!! I will try and fix the bass track...probably re-record it.....
thanks for the kind words about the guitar...i always appreciate your comments!!
 
Dogman said:
Song could come across cool...vocals aren't doing it for me though...I think if you can't sing it, then just belt it. I mean be harsh. Don't even try to sing, just get rough. Course, it might not fit the music then...:o

I think you were trying to hard to sing, so you'll probably have to redo that. The music is ok though...could come out fine with some tweaks.
Click to expand...

Hey Dog, after hearing you do the Aerosmith thing, kinda gave me courage on this....it's funny...for me , I thought I was singing pretty rough on this :p....I am gonna try it again and see if I can get it a bit better...or maybe I will do it spoken word style :rolleyes:.....we'll see....
....Thanks for your comments...you always have great advice!
 
cool arangement! :)

agreed on most commments. I dig the style of vox, but they are somewhat off in most parts. Bass sounds to me like it is being played through a small guitar amp. the heavy staccato hits don't have much of a pitch. more of a plunkiness.

Great idea for a cover! Patched up a bit, it could be a real rockin tune!
 
queepy said:
This one may be the nail in the coffin for my singing career:o...I knew it was probably a bit over my head, but it was fun as hell to try it!! I will try and fix the bass track...probably re-record it.....
thanks for the kind words about the guitar...i always appreciate your comments!!
Click to expand...

queepy said:
Hey Dog, after hearing you do the Aerosmith thing, kinda gave me courage on this....it's funny...for me , I thought I was singing pretty rough on this :p....I am gonna try it again and see if I can get it a bit better...or maybe I will do it spoken word style :rolleyes:.....we'll see....
....Thanks for your comments...you always have great advice!
Click to expand...

Dude, don't give up...you just have to work within your abilities. Or expand those abilities. To me, you were just trying too hard to actually "sing" this, when maybe you should have just ripped...use less range. I have a pretty big range, but can't seem to use it. I get pitchy whenever I go up at all, so I just do it in my lowest register. You sing better than I do, but some of this doesn't require you to sing...just vocalize. Find an area that is comfortable for the whole tune. I tried real hard to use some range on a few tunes, and got blasted....it didn't fit. Just keep working on it...;)
 
Dude, don't listen to the haters. I love it! It's raunchy and edgy and a great take on this cheesy fucking song. Just re-track certain parts to clean it up (like the bass), but the arrangement is great. I think your vox are out of tune in some spots, but in a good, fun way. Seriously man, don't get down over this. I'm a total cover whore, and I totally approve this cover. Rock this shit man! :)
 
Greg_L said:
Dude, don't listen to the haters. I love it! It's raunchy and edgy and a great take on this cheesy fucking song. Just re-track certain parts to clean it up (like the bass), but the arrangement is great. I think your vox are out of tune in some spots, but in a good, fun way. Seriously man, don't get down over this. I'm a total cover whore, and I totally approve this cover. Rock this shit man! :)
Click to expand...

If Gerg approves, I gotta give it at least a 5...:p
 
I read all comments prior to listening (probably a mistake) and I don't quite get it. I don't hear the pitch issues as being quite so prevalent as the others. I love the fact that you turned this song (which is truly awful as far as I'm concerned) into something totally different, yet still recognizable. This is infinitely more fun than the original for me anyway.

The bass sounds a bit unrefined perhaps, but not horrible or anything...still, if so many think its a problem, there's probably something to it. I hope you stick with this one and just tweak it a bit and repost...I think this is pretty cool but could be better.
 
heatmiser said:
I hope you stick with this one and just tweak it a bit and repost...
Click to expand...

That's it right there...good basic start, just some tweaking. I bag on Axeman for his vocals all teh time...he needs to just be himself in a cover. Aint no one gonna be Elton John, so they may as well do it up good....:D
 
Thanks for all the great replies!

Dogman - Yeah, I'm gonna retry those vocals without the vibrato singy type vibe....should be interesting....

Greg_L - Thanks man, I wish I could my sound as tight and heavy as yours....I'll keep working on it!


heatmiser - Thanks...this is a tune I have sung along with forever, so I really thought I could pull it off....as far as my singing..I have no professional training or experience (:p)...but I'm gonna try it again with a little different approach.


Today, I totally cut my bass and guitar parts(except for the lead guitar) and re-did them...hopefully the bass is a little tamer..I really tried not to play lead bass this time around :rolleyes:....I think the guitars may be in a bit better place in the mix now as well....will take on the vocals in a few days so , unfourtnatly..it's still the same vocal tracks, I did take almost all the delay off the lead vocal so its pretty dry....
Here is a link:
http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=6361690&q=hi
 
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