Rock/Punk cover of Del Shannon's Runaway

Hey all, I had some spare time and went back and cleaned up the mix a bit. It was originally was kinda muddy overall(overlap in the bottom of the guitars and the bass), hihat was too in your face and fatiguing by the end of the song(it's a sample only -- EZDrummer Nashville kit -- and I had to spread it across the image some and tone it down), guitars and bass were generally a bit loud, and the drums just didn't have the energy i wanted(tweaked the drum bus compressor plug -- it still works wonders even on sampled drums). This is the updated version -- the original has been replaced.

I'd appreciate any comments or advice on this version! Thanks for reading(and listening if you have a chance).
 
Not terrible. I'm a big fan of punk/rock versions of classic songs, but this one left me shaking my head. The biggest issue to me is that you left out the most key vocal element of the song - the high squealing "waaaa waaaa waaaa wonder" and "why why why why why". That was very disappointing. You also wimped out on the organ solo melody thing. You could have done that on guitar and had it sound cool. Instead you went with some generic haphazard octave thing that only halfway fits. Not cool. The two most identifiable elements of the original song were left out. Maybe you're trying to make some kind of statement by not doing those two parts? If so, message not received. The mix is okay, although I'd like another guitar track and have them panned out to the sides. This sounds all too centered. Or pan the bass out about halfway to one side and the guitar to the other. I like the bass sound, but the drums are a little plastic sounding. Obviously fake. That's not a big deal, but I'd like them more real sounding. I'm assuming the guitar is a sim too, but it sounds pretty good. So instrumentally the mix is pretty good. The sounds are all good enough and it's put together pretty well. Stylistically, it's a wreck. You left out important stuff!
 
Having worked with ezdrummer in the past i hear a common mistake of sticking them in the back of the mix. Kind of sounds like everything is sitting on top of the drums. Mixed together really well. But sitting on top of the drums.

NOt sure about anyone else but it kind of sounds like the bass and guits are driving right up the middle?

Was an o.k. cover. But like greg said, the really high pitched parts aren't there and that was what i was waiting for. I was a little let down.
 
Thanks for the feedback guys!

Drum sound:

Admittedly, the Nashville kit from EZDrummer has a weaker/thinner sound to it. I've got a number of other kits from Toontrack that sound more solid but I started with the Nashville and decided to keep it and finish with it. Agreed that they'll never sound like a real mic'd kit though.

Guitar location:

The sound is mostly centrally focused, agreed. There is some separation there but it's not huge.

Cover vs rendition:

I actually like the rendition that I pulled off. That's not to say that others won't dislike it and I certainly understand. I more accurate term would be rendition vs cover. I specifically didn't include the solo/interlude from the original because I wanted to do something different. Half of my friends like it and the other half don't! :) I went higher in pitch on various phrases after the "waah waah waah... wonder" to switch it up some. Again, just a stylistic choice and probably reason again to use the term rendition vs cover.

I really do appreciate the feedback though! I had a lot of fun working on this(minus the tedious process of setting up the drum tracks) and it's great to share it -- like or dislike!

I'll be sure to take some of your tips into consideration for the next song(it's an original in the works).


Steve
 
Hey guys, thanks again for all the tips.

I got some time and went back and addressed some of the mix-related shortcomings.

Guitar:

I only had one guitar track and didn't want to retrack the guitar again to get another performance to be able to pan. So, I reamped it through Guitar Rig to get a slightly different tone on the right and get rid of the phase/combing issues of panning the same performance to opposite sides. It actually worked quite well after a bit of trial and error even considering that I didn't have the dry signal to work with(only the track I already recorded). I also mixed in a bit of the original at a really low level just in the center since it sounded a bit empty just panned to the sides.

Bass:

I panned it very slightly to the right to get somewhat out of the way of the vocal. I didn't want to go too far and lose the bass reinforcement of being in the center.

Drums:

I killed most of the bottom snare mic and parallel compressed the remaining snare sound with a pretty heavy hand(got this tip online and tried it and really liked it). I also killed most of the cheesy room mic sound and added my own reverb. Finally, I EQd the overheads a bit to smooth them out. The drums are definitely more forward in the mix now and sit pretty well with the extra space the panned guitars provide.

Again, I just replaced the original recording so the above SoundCloud embedded player will play the latest.

Thanks again for all your tips!
 
The problem with covers like this is that it's always compared to the original. The vocals, well I will be kind and say they could be a lot better. the very first note sounds shaky. I mean if you cover "this" song, you have to hit that high falsetto too.
 
Thanks. I'm admittedly not a singer. I play guitar and bass and do what I can with the rest! These vocals were a one or two take sort of deal too.

I'm primarily interested in the mix though so if you have any other tips/hints certainly let me know!
 
Hey guys, I got a spare moment and went back and recorded a new lead that pays homage to the original song. The lead starts right around 1:10. It's by no means note for note but something I came up with by ear rather quickly. Thought you might want to hear. The plugin above in the first post will play the latest version.
 
I really enjoyed this. I love the original and I think you did a pretty good job of it. I don't mind the missing high vocal parts, for me this song's all about the melody in the verse and the bridge and the chords under them. The notes you sing on 'she ran away' in the chorus sound wrong to me - it's not the original melody and I think the original is better. Throughout, it sounds like you don't hit the higher notes right - I'd retrack, but maybe that's the punkiness you're after?

Nice job, though, really liked it.
 
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