"Chasing Cars"

(original song by Snow Patrol)

Here is a song I felt would work slowed down incredibly. The original version goes for bombast but I thought it might be more effective as an elegy. The tone throughout is from a Casiotone which has had an equalizer and distortion applied to it.

In terms of instrument layering, this cover was essentially conceived the way it wound up. I knew I wanted the limited percussive track, the spare guitar and the drone backing the vocals, and once they were together the song sounded complete so I didn't bother adding anything. I was a bit surprised at the length once it was finished, but it seemed like a natural fit.

Snow Patrol - "Chasing Cars"

On comments

I forgot to mention the comments section. I'm leaving it open and largely unmoderated. Tell me what you thought about the song, the post, whatever. Feel free to suggest songs to cover, as well. I'd just ask that you keep it civil and/or constructive, hey?

"Brightside"

(original track by The Killers)

So, a confession: the initial premise of this assignment lasted about as far as the first song. I wound up recording a cover of "Mr. Brightside," the real breakthrough single for The Killers. Retitled "Brightside," the main focus of it for me was mixing and layering.

I wound up buying a USB condenser mic this week for about half the regular cost. I don't recall the model, though I'll update this post with a look at it as soon as I get home. What I do know is that it captures audio at a decent fidelity and works well with Garageband. To tell the truth, it's probably the nicest my vocals have ever sounded.

Initially I was thinking of just doing this with mandolin and voice, but I realized it needed guitar to add a little richness and depth to it. Since I have the condenser mic now, I can actually work to create a bit of that depth, which was largely missing when I used the treble-centric microphone built into my Macbook. I understand that the lo-fi feel that came across with the built-in mic - complete with pops and buzzes that sound nearly like tape hiss - were a good deal of the charm that came with the previous covers, but the idea and process behind these were the same. The new fidelity meant I could record, mix and layer vocals more effectively, so the ending is something I was completely unable to do before. (For reference, see the kind of odd vocal sound on "American Idiot." Even putting reverb on those voices did nothing to separate them.)

There were two percussion tracks that I wound up cutting out from the final version of this song. I tried to use a tambourine almost like a hi-hat, but the jangle of it detracted from the pacing of the cover - the song's story of a jilted lover is far more suited to a more measured feel. Even the mandolin strumming in the chorus is balanced by slower, lilting guitar. The second percussion I wound up trying was a kick drum struck lightly with a padded mallet. It sounded great with the pacing but I couldn't get the timing right, and loops sounded too fake, so I had to cut it.

Enough talking. Here's my cover of The Killers' big hit, translated as a folk ballad.

The Killers - "Mr. Brightside" (retitled "Brightside")

Ending Start

Here is the initial proposal for my project:

"I plan to arrange and record a number of AM radio songs - colloquially known as 'yacht rock' - in a style that I find interesting. The learning materials I require are largely the songs themselves, which I will then attempt to re-interpret. Documentation will come through recorded songs, performance and a weblog which I will update whenever I record a new song. I aim to record one song every two weeks. This is enough material for a short live set and certainly enough to draw from in the future.

"The challenges I might face are personal attachments to the song, time commitment and feelings of being restricted. I'm not as concerned about the latter two, because if I set a deadline for songs I'm likely to complete them and if I feel restricted by the guitar I can always touch up the recording with another instrument, vocal overdubs or other additional lines, though I'm going to make sure it remains guitar-centric. Having a personal attachment to the song, however, is another problem entirely; after all, nobody wants to fix something they don't think is broken. I'll try to pick songs based on a theme, genre or artist that I am less fond of so that I won't be afraid of drastically altering them.

"My critical friend - on the condition that he accepts, of course - will be Jim Brotheridge, arts editor for the Carillon. He knows his stuff about music and more importantly he knows his stuff about my ability, so he'll be able to tell me whether or not I'm reaching my potential in this project.

"The arrangements are their own reward. Playing a cover song in a style that's your own is an incredibly difficult skill to learn, and it's even more difficult to learn well."

I'm basing this off of a personal project I've been doing for a bit now. The fact is, it's something I like working on. Rearranging and stripping covers is a fascinating way of looking at my own approach to creating music. I'm excited to continue it.

For an idea of what I'm doing here, I'm going to provide links to the songs I've previously covered.

Coldplay - "The Scientist"
Papa Roach - "Last Resort"
Chumbawumba - "Tubthumping"
Metallica - "St. Anger" (retitled "Saint Anger")
Coheed & Cambria - "Welcome Home"
Green Day - "American Idiot"