Poopot's Cover Challenge #25 - the letter L

thecolourbox

Liking the groove and the energy on yours Habanero, that's something I struggle with, keeping a groove going and basically making happy sounding music haha. I also enjoyed your tremolo effects (as per my liking of the trem in Like a Stone haha I'm obsessed) and guitar tones in general. Good song choice (though I didn't know it), suits your voice I think especially the verses. Nice soloing too.

Great full sound on yours fnpt, kind of sounds like the Killers covering Joy Division until your super cool laid back vocals come in (which this song suits perfectly). Must be a hard song to keep interesting as it's quite minimal on the variations on the main theme but you smashed it, really liked that. This is weird but i'd never noticed the jump from the opening introduction drone which i suspect is A up to the main chord sequence, for some reason i'd always had it in my head it was just one tone/step up which is clearly wrong (and results in a very low sounding end to the riff phrase when i've just played it like that haha). Sounds great anyway, lovely work

fnpt

Thanks, I really appreciate your comments. It’s sometimes hard to figure out if there is really any point in doing such straight covers as I do and if they sound any good anyway. 

thecolourbox

Well I personally enjoy a well done straight cover just as much as the creative ones, if not more sometimes as it's a skill in itself to work out all the composite parts and of course learning them or inputting them. My other entry will be a pretty straight cover as i'm using it to practice those skills and to try and do drums and bass that I think sound realistic enough (something I've never really mastered before)
It's a bit ambitious vocally though, more so than Like A Stone, so i'm hoping the tonsillitis I'm currently loaded up with does one soon so I can get my voice in better shape...

flying_pie

fnpt said:

Thanks, I really appreciate your comments. It’s sometimes hard to figure out if there is really any point in doing such straight covers as I do and if they sound any good anyway. 

I view this as not being any form of competition but a way of challenging myself, developing musically and often having some daft, twisted fun as a form of catharsis.

It's totally appropriate to do anything as it serves your aims. That could be just getting a cover entered for the first time @TTony ; . It could be trying to replicate studio recordings accurately. Or it could be destroying Taylor Swift songs by turning then into 80s hair metal.

thecolourbox

flying_pie said:

fnpt said:

Thanks, I really appreciate your comments. It’s sometimes hard to figure out if there is really any point in doing such straight covers as I do and if they sound any good anyway. 

I view this as not being any form of competition but a way of challenging myself, developing musically and often having some daft, twisted fun as a form of catharsis.

It's totally appropriate to do anything as it serves your aims. That could be just getting a cover entered for the first time TTony  . It could be trying to replicate studio recordings accurately. Or it could be destroying Taylor Swift songs by turning then into 80s hair metal.

Yes I agree with this too. I enjoy doing it as a way to practice my singing, arranging, playing and production skills on much better songs than I could ever hope to write myself, so it's more fun than trying to roll my own turds in glitter

TTony

flying_pie said:

I view this as not being any form of competition but a way of challenging myself, developing musically and often having some daft, twisted fun as a form of catharsis.

Those are the reasons that I finally decided to have a go @flying_pie ;

I've listened to some of the submissions in past challenges and generally been very impressed with the level of playing and mixing skills and the inventiveness of some (many) of the tracks. 

Impressed to the point that I've been dissuaded from even trying as I realise that I'm on a very different part of the learning curve compared to some (many) of you and mine are definitely amateur-hour.

But it's not a competition, it's an opportunity to do something within some constraints that mean I might actually get around to doing it, and to learn from the process and feedback.  So I'll be submitting something by the weekend and will try to take part regularly in future.

Habanero

I enjoy that the challenges exist, as it gives a focus to what would otherwise be random noodlings. It’s also one small corner of the ‘net that remains friendly.

TTony

*Really* struggling with the vocals!!

flying_pie

TTony said:

*Really* struggling with the vocals!!

Welcome to the joy that is the cover challenge

The amount of times I've conceived an idea, recorded the backing only to start the vocals with the sudden realisation of "why did I pick this sing and record it in this key....?"

Good luck

TTony

I have submitted a something.

flying_pie

@TTony in the playlist!

fnpt

@TTony That’s pretty good! Vocals are great. 

thecolourbox

Excellent work @ttony and well done for getting it finished. Really enjoyed it, more than the original QOTSA one in fact (they are a band i always feel like I should like in theory, but i don't get unfortunately). I like your use of the acoustic guitar as almost like the percussion keeping it all moving if that makes sense. nice electric guitar work behind it all as well to build it up and  tasty solo. Kind of reminded me of a kind of 90s alternative band doing a session sat in a circle facing each other, that's a good thing by the way

TTony

Thanks for the comments all.


Not a track that I'd heard before (or not remembered having heard it) and a band that had completely passed me by as I wasn't listening to or buying a lot of music in the QOTSA era, so challenged me to listen to and learn something completely new.

Decided to play it all rather than using loops etc, so the drumming is very basic, but I've got a better input device on the Christmas list, so hopefully next time will be a little more realistic.  And I know there's a mistake in the bridge section, but the guitar track was a one-shot take and I'd have made more errors elsewhere if I'd tried to re-record that!

And I'm guaranteed 5 points!!

Bezzer

Sorry, not been very active here lately. Not been very active musically to be honest, hoping to get something done but who knows.

Thought I should stick my nose in and say welcome to the club @TTony tracks is sounding good. Hopefully you'll stick around!

Habanero

thecolourbox said:

Liking the groove and the energy on yours Habanero, that's something I struggle with, keeping a groove going and basically making happy sounding music haha. I also enjoyed your tremolo effects (as per my liking of the trem in Like a Stone haha I'm obsessed) and guitar tones in general. Good song choice (though I didn't know it), suits your voice I think especially the verses. Nice soloing too.

Great full sound on yours fnpt, kind of sounds like the Killers covering Joy Division until your super cool laid back vocals come in (which this song suits perfectly). Must be a hard song to keep interesting as it's quite minimal on the variations on the main theme but you smashed it, really liked that. This is weird but i'd never noticed the jump from the opening introduction drone which i suspect is A up to the main chord sequence, for some reason i'd always had it in my head it was just one tone/step up which is clearly wrong (and results in a very low sounding end to the riff phrase when i've just played it like that haha). Sounds great anyway, lovely work

Cheers, it’s a Rascal Flatts cover of an original by Tom Cochrane. It featured in the Pixar film Cars, and having had a 3d graphics hobby back in the day seemed a good choice.

The verses part was actually really difficult. Finding a space to breathe was the main problem. Not doing it with a faux county voice was also tricky.

The soloing nearly made me abandon the project. It was only when I watched an episode of ‘That Pedal Show’ featuring Andy Wood, who I’d never heard of, but he was phenomenal on the show and blowing away Dan and Mick. At some point in the show he said plays LIAH on tour and I concluded I was never going to compete, and thus make it simpler.

fnpt

I’ve sent a second entry. 

flying_pie

@fnpt in the playlist again

thecolourbox

I've sent another one in (last one now I promise) as my tonsillitis has finally fucked off. I like the letter L I think. Time to focus on the composition one now instead

thecolourbox

Ahh I bloody love the Verve (in particular Urban Hymns) @Fnpt, great track choice. Really like your version of it as well, keeps moving really well and doesn't drag, lovely electric guitar sound to augment the nicely done acoustic as well. Great work. Does that song have a specific meaning for you? Feels like it you're singing it with meaning.