Paranoid - (slightly punk) Black Sabbath Cover

I feel this would benefit from some drum tweeking: more kick and snare, less hats for starters. Overall though it's not bad. With some pumping up it could be really good.
Nice job
 
Nice one JDOD.
A classic song with classic prejudices for and against.
You did the Geezer bass runs well - I think he used a chorus or something along with his fingers for tone.
You don't sound as manic as Ozzy, just at the extremes of your range, but Ozzy is Ozzy.
Well done.
When punk hit here in late 76 we sussed something was changing - but not a whole lot. We discovered that Sabbs LPs played at 45 sounded like punk. It was amazing except for the squeaky vocals.
 
Nice one JDOD.
A classic song with classic prejudices for and against.
You did the Geezer bass runs well - I think he used a chorus or something along with his fingers for tone.
You don't sound as manic as Ozzy, just at the extremes of your range, but Ozzy is Ozzy.
Well done.
When punk hit here in late 76 we sussed something was changing - but not a whole lot. We discovered that Sabbs LPs played at 45 sounded like punk. It was amazing except for the squeaky vocals.
Cheers Ray, I don't have a prayer of playing bass with my fingers. Didn't think of trying chorus, just used my usual(ish) tone.

It's a little faster than the original, not as much as I originally planned though.
 
I feel this would benefit from some drum tweeking: more kick and snare, less hats for starters. Overall though it's not bad. With some pumping up it could be really good.
Nice job

Weird that init. I couldn't get the hats much lower with the cymbals disappearing, and putting the snare up much more it was getting really intrusive. I'll have a fiddle with it tomorrow.
 
Weird that init. I couldn't get the hats much lower with the cymbals disappearing, and putting the snare up much more it was getting really intrusive. I'll have a fiddle with it tomorrow.

I shouild add that my system and set up is far from ideal and don't get a true sound replication/ It's the sorce of much difficulty in my own mixes.
 
I'm not getting a "slightly punk" vibe off this. It sounds like just a standard cover. I was hoping you'd make it better, like faster, harder, more fun, etc. Make fun of it. Take the piss, or whatever you brits say. Do something different that makes it better.

The mix is okay to me. The drums are pretty bland. No power. They need to punch more. They sound like basic stock samples. The bass is pretty indistinct until you do those little run things, and then it's still just kind of flat and mushy. Sounds like you had the tone knob rolled off on the bass. No attack. The kick and bass have very little separation. The guitars sound pretty good for the song. That dark ass amp you use is perfect for these riffs. The vocals are done well enough, it's not like Ozzy is any good himself, but they can come up more in the mix. Overall it's okay, but there's a lot of room for improvement.
 
I'm not getting a "slightly punk" vibe off this. It sounds like just a standard cover. I was hoping you'd make it better, like faster, harder, more fun, etc. Make fun of it. Take the piss, or whatever you brits say. Do something different that makes it better.

The mix is okay to me. The drums are pretty bland. No power. They need to punch more. They sound like basic stock samples. The bass is pretty indistinct until you do those little run things, and then it's still just kind of flat and mushy. Sounds like you had the tone knob rolled off on the bass. No attack. The kick and bass have very little separation. The guitars sound pretty good for the song. That dark ass amp you use is perfect for these riffs. The vocals are done well enough, it's not like Ozzy is any good himself, but they can come up more in the mix. Overall it's okay, but there's a lot of room for improvement.
Cheers Greg, i did plan to make it a bit faster and to full scream the vocal, but when I realised how bloody high it was the screaming went out of the window.

Right, I bassed the drums on the original, not sure how I could beef them up.. I've never tried EQ on drums, this could be a good time to learn.
I know what I can do about the bass, I changed do a different compressor setting for this track and its a bit too keen!

I don't think Ozzy is that bad a vocalist really. His voice is pretty distinctive and when he was younger he could carry it off well live..
 
I think just getting better separation will naturally make the drums clearer, you can raise their level, and therefore make them bigger. I'm hearing the attack of the drums, but there's not much body.
 
I think just getting better separation will naturally make the drums clearer, you can raise their level, and therefore make them bigger. I'm hearing the attack of the drums, but there's not much body.
Cheers, I'll have a look at what I can do, this is only drums, two guitar tracks, one bass track and a dual vocal. Nothing is chopped up. So it should be an easy one to practice my mixing with.

I do seem to have reached the end of my ability with this mixing bollocks for now though, not sure where I can focus my efforts next. I am starting to get mixes that work equally well on different headphones, earbuds and home stereo though so that's probably a good thing.

EDIT: Here's the version where I've gone back to my usual bass tone instead of that slightly darker one I used on the original mix:
View attachment 06 - Paranoid Black Sabbath 2.mp3
 
It's a good cover.
With regard to the mix, the vocal is too low. It sounds behind the band/down a hallway. The guitars are a little loud, especially the left one. The guitar solo seems to go up in volume from where it starts to where it ends, which is a bit distracting.
 
Hey man, gave this a listen late last night and really enjoyed it. Sorry, I didn't put any effort into critical listening, just enjoyed. I remember thinking the vocals could come up a bit. Ah, also the orignal used a slapback echo and you did a double vocal. I much prefer the slapback over doubling vocals any day... but that's personal preference.

Classic song done well.
 
Hey man, gave this a listen late last night and really enjoyed it. Sorry, I didn't put any effort into critical listening, just enjoyed. I remember thinking the vocals could come up a bit. Ah, also the orignal used a slapback echo and you did a double vocal. I much prefer the slapback over doubling vocals any day... but that's personal preference.

Classic song done well.

Ah, I had no idea how they got the vocal effect on the original. Cheers.
 
It's a good cover.
With regard to the mix, the vocal is too low. It sounds behind the band/down a hallway. The guitars are a little loud, especially the left one. The guitar solo seems to go up in volume from where it starts to where it ends, which is a bit distracting.

Well the vocal is doubled and verbed. Trying to emulate the effect of the original.

I'll look out for the other bits.
 
Pretty good version. This was a staple of our band's set list back in the late 70s. You could tweak it as others have suggested or just leave as is what it is. You nailed the guitar sound for sure
 
Cheers, I'll have another listen to it this morning with fresh ears and see if I can here some of the things people have picked up
 
OK, I've stuck another slight re-mix up to address the overly loud hi hats, the snare not quite cutting through and the bass/kick getting in eachothers way.
 
whoa, the playback was so weak,
i wasn't sure it was even playing at first...
lined up with a bunch of other tunes,
this one needs a bit of mastering.

vocals are pretty weak, i'm afraid, out of tune and drifting quite a bit.
i like the attitude in them tho...

the drums sound completely canned, with the cymbals always happening in the same place.
but the bass line is rockin

i think the solo brings the original punk vibe,
so kudos there
 
LOL, I know my singing is shite.
I think the cymbals are in the same places as the original - I was listening to it as I was programming the drums.
I haven't worked out how to bring the level of a mix up to a level like a commercial mix yet.
 
Back
Top