Couple new stripped back one-take (ish) covers recently - Slade and Oasis

thecolourbox

Hi all

Been trying to get my voice back up to scratch recently and also to get stuff recorded to play about with, especially more "stripped back" accompanying myself on guitar or piano. Generally just doing one take with no metronomes or anything just to get the voice and playing flowing and I can play with the tempo a bit.

First I did an electric cover of Slade's Far Far Away, a song I declare now I want to be played at my funeral. I know the vocals are very up and down, it's because I was playing and singing at the same time and I had to keep moving my head to see where my next chord was...


Then today I've done a piano version of Oasis' Don't Look Back in Anger, dedicated to poor old Pep Guardiola. Sorry for the repetitive GIF based video, i couldn't find a cartoon picture of him looking sad.

This one's one take per track, ie I recorded the piano straight through then the vocals straight through over the top, because I can't record my keyboard in stereo at the same time as recording my vocal. I tried to do this one as if I was Damon Albarn accompanied by Thom Yorke on piano with Noel Gallagher as songwriter


All recorded in my untreated very reflective room. Guitar is my Mustang guitar through my Bluguitar Amp1, direct from speaker sim output. Piano is my Yamaha MX46 direct through USB. Vocals through TC Voicelive Play on the Oasis one, then the CLA vocals and Mix plugins in Cubase. The Slade one was not through the TC Voicelive, but still the CLA plugins in Cubase.

Any feedback or comments welcome especially if they can help me improve. I'm conscious my vocals sound a bit synthetic but I'm not sure how as even if I record them dry as anything they seem to lack something when recorded. Any ideas on why that might be would be great.

Hope you don't hate them

poopot

Noice!...

really like those...

knock out a kinks cover for the cover challenge!!!!

Funkfingers

Squier guitar sounded very nice. Piano sounded digital and curiously muffled.

thecolourbox said:
I'm conscious my vocals sound a bit synthetic but I'm not sure how as, even if I record them dry as anything, they seem to lack something when recorded. Any ideas on why that might be would be great.

You have made life difficult for yourself by choosing to cover a song associated with Noddy Holder. He shifts a lot of air and has a characteristic raspy tone in his voice.

Option 1) Fire up the DeLorean. Return to your early teens. Smake tabs. Partially ruin your vocal cords. 

Option 2) Gargle the contents of used ashtrays. 

thecolourbox said:

CLA vocals plugin

Is that a Teletronix LA-2A clone? The LA part of the name stands for levelling amplifier. In other words, much more of a limiter than a compressor. (Also a major part of the early Roger McGuinn sound!) Limiting your mic signal isn't going to add much unless your vocal power is mostly driving the LA-2A very close to the limit.

It might be worth trying other microphones.

Mainly, if you want to sound "rock 'n' roll", you need to holler forcibly when you sing.

thecolourbox

Cheers chaps.

@funkfingers yes the Squier works well with the Amp1 though I have remembered that I had a TC Electronic Mojo Mojo on as well, just above unity but with a bit of warmth and boost added as I play quite softly.

The piano is digital, it's a basic keyboard I think to be fair but I like the stereo spread (high notes to the right, low notes to the left). It probably is a bit crushed as I had to do some basic eq as I hadn't written a good enough piano part so as not to clash with my lower notes on the voice. It is probably therefore a bit crudely squished. Only took about an hour to set up from scratch (and set down again), record and mix though so that is my excuse.

I've no intention of sounding like Noddy or Gallagher or whoever, I do realise my choice of songs suggests a bit of a macho laddish musical preference but I was aiming for something far from that. Any images you may have of me in a parka coat chugging a bottle of cheap lager whilst singing these are sadly off the mark

I don't have a rock voice sadly, neither do I hope to achieve one as it's beyond me.

Re the CLA plugins, no they are Waves plugins by Chris Lord-Alge who is a producer I think, I dunno, they do an ok job quickly though I don't really know what I'm doing with them just yet. I have the vocals one and one you put on your master, just not had time to learn them properly yet.

@poopot thanks but sadly back at work now so not sure whether I'll have time to work out a bed-wetter version of All Day and All Night, I'll try if I can though

poopot

thecolourbox said:

@poopot thanks but sadly back at work now so not sure whether I'll have time to work out a bed-wetter version of All Day and All Night, I'll try if I can though

Or any song beginning with “A”