Back to Black - Amy Winehouse Cover

[miroslav]

Cheers, Miro - if there's frequencies clashing with eachother I'd never know what they'd be or how to sort it out. I haven't re-tracked the little lead licks throughout the verses - maybe I should.

It is in the same key as the original - I have a pretty limited range though - I sing the chorus is an octave higher (probably where Wineo sings the verse) and its close to the limit and I have to scream to get there. It would be shit if I screamed the whole thing.

It's not the lead lick...it's the rhythm stuff.

Oh...when I say a different key...I'm talking maybe 1-2 steps up...you'll know when you hit it, because your voice will sound better and feel more comfy, at least on the lower stuff.
Now...if you are already at the top of you range on the higher stuff...then you don't have nay room to work with...but only you know what your range limits are.

I don't generally record covers, but I will often play/jam with them, and while I try to just stick with the original keys, because sometimes it's critical to the chord structure and general vibe...if it's not right for my voice, I'll always move it.
Heck, often I get an idea for an original song, and start off in one key...and then realize that it sounds way better for my voice in another key.

[JD01]

I could get it up to Em. Most of my stuff is in Em. I working on a song in Cm at the moment and the verses are really tricky. Makes the higher stuff in the chorus easier.

[JD01]

I seem to remember rami telling me that he thought I could do better on this one. Well I had time to go back and look at it this morning and the guitar playing was shit on it. Messy, with loads of mistakes so I re-tracked them.

I also mixed it in a totally different way with a single room reverb and different sends for the various instruments.

Fuck this sounds different as an MP3!

[TripleM]

Don't know if Amy Winehouse was big in the US.

She was pretty big here too. Bad teeth and all.

Very good guitar sounds. Excellent. Tight playing.

Bass sounds excellent as well.

I didn't care for the snare sound. It didn't really fit the mix to me. Too much reverb on it.

The guitars are covering the vocal a little bit. Especially in the chorus.

But overall, it was excellent.

[Armistice]

Jesus H Christ - you're turning into that guy that used to hang around HR and post a song every single day...

OK - so again, haven't killed the Beatz soundcard on the laptop yet so that affects what I'm hearing, but what I'd say is;

Vocals - bring them up a little - especially in V1 - quite hard to hear.

I'm not a huge fan of the lead tone at the start - sounds a bit "simmy" - and also I think the things that you're playing, again, particularly in the first part, are a little unplanned/noodly - especially when you're hammering on at the end of a phrase. Sounds like you were just sitting there playing stuff as it happened, rather than had an actual plan for the notes. I'd be tempted to retrack that guitar having worked out some other fill bits, but that's just me.

Rest of it sounds pretty good!

When's the triple album coming out?

[rayc]

Lift the vocals.
There's an odd thing in the verse, as I hear it, with snare kick kick snare, that feels like snare one is back and the 2nd is forward. Probably just me.
Interesting interpretation.
You're sounding much more confortable in your own voice with this one.

[rammer24]

Your recordings sound good, man.

Snare is a little box-y and has a "plastic-y" soubnd to it. That's the only way I can describe it and that probably doesn't help you. Maybe that's a signature EZD (or whatever it is use) sound.

The only thing I'd say here is bring up the vocals. I think this sounds really good compared to your first take on it.

Just to touch on what Ray said about the snare and kik...I personally don't hear it. But it reminded me of a good tip for all you non-drummers programming your drums. If a drummer is hitting his snare and kik at the same time, they will always be at the SAME TIME. There are a lot of ways to humanize a drum beat, but offsetting simultaneous hits is not one of them.

I think I've read Farview saying something about not hitting the snare at the same time as the high hat if you want a beat to drag a bit. As much as I respect and agree with pretty much everything I've ever read from him, I disagree with that one. I've never heard a drummer deliberately not hit the sanre and hi-hat at the same time. I couldn't even do it if I tried. It's not realistic and I don't think it's something you should do. If I remember next time we're having a conversation, I'll ask him for some examples. It's entirely possible that I'm wrong. It happened once before when I was really tired.

^^^^^That last paragraph doesn't apply to your song. But Ray's comment reminded me of mentioning it. Maybe I should stick it in the Fake Drums thread.

[JD01]

Jesus H Christ - you're turning into that guy that used to hang around HR and post a song every single day...

OK - so again, haven't killed the Beatz soundcard on the laptop yet so that affects what I'm hearing, but what I'd say is;

Vocals - bring them up a little - especially in V1 - quite hard to hear.

I'm not a huge fan of the lead tone at the start - sounds a bit "simmy" - and also I think the things that you're playing, again, particularly in the first part, are a little unplanned/noodly - especially when you're hammering on at the end of a phrase. Sounds like you were just sitting there playing stuff as it happened, rather than had an actual plan for the notes. I'd be tempted to retrack that guitar having worked out some other fill bits, but that's just me.

Rest of it sounds pretty good!

When's the triple album coming out?

You mean the little lead licks in the verses? Yeah - they were adlibbed, I suppose I should actually come up with something that I genuinely like the sound of there instead. It needs something in the verses - just haven't worked out what.

Sorry about the number of tracks I'm posting - but my mrs has been working in Amsterdam for three weeks so I'm getting good recording time on the weekend.

[JD01]

Your recordings sound good, man.

Snare is a little box-y and has a "plastic-y" soubnd to it. That's the only way I can describe it and that probably doesn't help you. Maybe that's a signature EZD (or whatever it is use) sound.

The only thing I'd say here is bring up the vocals. I think this sounds really good compared to your first take on it.

Just to touch on what Ray said about the snare and kik...I personally don't hear it. But it reminded me of a good tip for all you non-drummers programming your drums. If a drummer is hitting his snare and kik at the same time, they will always be at the SAME TIME. There are a lot of ways to humanize a drum beat, but offsetting simultaneous hits is not one of them.

I think I've read Farview saying something about not hitting the snare at the same time as the high hat if you want a beat to drag a bit. As much as I respect and agree with pretty much everything I've ever read from him, I disagree with that one. I've never heard a drummer deliberately not hit the sanre and hi-hat at the same time. I couldn't even do it if I tried. It's not realistic and I don't think it's something you should do. If I remember next time we're having a conversation, I'll ask him for some examples. It's entirely possible that I'm wrong. It happened once before when I was really tired.

^^^^^That last paragraph doesn't apply to your song. But Ray's comment reminded me of mentioning it. Maybe I should stick it in the Fake Drums thread.

Cheers, rami - I'll keep these tips in mind regardless. I seem to have a problem with snares. Greg, even gave me some tracks to practice on and no matter what I did he always thought the snare sounded shit, even though I made a pretty decent job of the rest of it. I think its a combination of me not being very good at mixing drums and actually quite liking a really dead snare sound that's all snare and not much drum. When I used to have a drum kit I used to have the snare really damped. I never had moongels cos I couldn't justify the price but I used to fold up a fairly large dusting cloth and tape it to the top of the snare.

[JD01]

Lift the vocals.
There's an odd thing in the verse, as I hear it, with snare kick kick snare, that feels like snare one is back and the 2nd is forward. Probably just me.
Interesting interpretation.
You're sounding much more confortable in your own voice with this one.

Cheers, ray. I am gradually getting more used to it and even starting to enjoy it a bit. Gimme another year or 5 of practice and I'll do the vocal on that track that I did the guitar solo for.

[ido1957]

Lead fills are a bitch. I can never figure out what to play during verses without stepping all over the singer. Then there's the issue of mixing it.
I told this story years ago - was in a taxi back in the late 70's and the guy was a pro musician scrapin by. Anyway he told me if I could hum or whistle what was in my head - out loud - I could play it on my instrument. I don't always heed his advice, but when I do it works out better. Too many times I just start playing without thinking about it. "Oh yeah I'll just play this lick I know because it's easy".

Anyway I digress, listening on my crappy laptop speakers, the vocals are a little low but only a bit. The rest is blending well (well I can't hear the bass), I love the rhythms, they chug really well, and when you bring in the second set it lifts the mix up and gets it rocking. Drums are fine for me. Mix is much smoother than the first which I did listen to before this latest.