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[MUSIC ON] Cover contest! This week: Songs about the Devil

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Posts

  • BedlamBedlam Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Oh dang, insomnia proves good for somthing!

    Bedlam - The Man Who Sold the World (Nirvana cover 1996)

    Bedlam on
  • JamesJames Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    That is actually a David Bowie song.

    James on
  • AmphetamineAmphetamine Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    James wrote: »
    That is actually a David Bowie song.

    Kurt actually says "That was a David Bowie song" at the end of it.

    Amphetamine on
  • JamesJames Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    James wrote: »
    That is actually a David Bowie song.

    Kurt actually says "That was a David Bowie song" at the end of it.

    Yes, I guess he does.

    More people should listen to David Bowie.

    James on
  • Simon MoonSimon Moon Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Hey look, I actually scratched out enough time to participate, this week.

    A hasty cover of the greatest song ever written, The Flaming Lips' "Waitin' For A Superman."

    Simon Moon on
    Steam: simon moon
  • Evil MultifariousEvil Multifarious Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Okay, so far only one person has PM'ed me for judging. Anyone else who hasn't participated?

    Evil Multifarious on
  • Evil MultifariousEvil Multifarious Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Also I must apologize to romanqwerty for being unable to complete the Aerosmith track that he wanted vocals for, due to my father's birthday and the subsequent....unpleasantness that occurred in my gastrointestinal tract due to some wine that was a bit off (but unfortunately, still delicious).

    Evil Multifarious on
  • Mojo_JojoMojo_Jojo We are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourse Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    This might all sound rather negative, it's very easy and much more useful to point out things I don't like though. So don't take offence. Also, my scorings are with 1 as the worst and 10 as the best, they don't mean "worthless" and "perfect".

    Mullitt the Wise - All the Same
    I'm not familiar with the original track, but the vocals bothered with this, it sounds like they were put through a slight filter although it could be that this was intention or a bad mic. Aside from that it was okay.
    6/10

    mntorankusu - Maverick Boss Theme (Mega Man X)
    Something about this makes it almost physically painful to listen to. I'm not very musical though so I'm not sure what the problem is. Maybe it's too high?
    1/10

    mntorankusu - Mysterious Woods (Link's Awakening)
    I don't think the background forest tweetings mesh well with the actual track. It's not very exciting, a cover needs to put a unique spin on a track. Background music from video games most likely isn't the best choice.
    4/10

    romanqwerty & syndalis - Estranged
    I think you guys picked a track that was a bit outside what you can achieve. The guitar is very weak, I'm guessing it was made using some kind of synthesiser? The vocals aren't bad, and I think it can be forgiven that whoever was singing doesn't have Mr Guns and Roses' voice as it's a cover, so it's all about putting your own spin on things.
    5/10

    syndalis, James, Evil Multifarious - You Oughta Know
    This may not sound great but I love that it is so much more than an attempt to play an existing song. Like some dreadful rock band's take on it. It's the kind of thing that I love to see cracked out at a gig. That said, it's a bit too sloppy. The backing and vocals mesh quite poorly.
    7/10

    Bedlam - The Man Who Sold the World
    You aren't really singing this, it's more a spoken word version and that is really strange. Also, the backing is a bit too quiet compared to the vocals.
    5/10

    Simon Moon - Waiting For a Superman
    Your vocals are way too quiet, but aside from that, this is really quite good.
    10/10

    Mojo_Jojo on
    Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
  • BedlamBedlam Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    James wrote: »
    That is actually a David Bowie song.

    Kurt actually says "That was a David Bowie song" at the end of it.
    Yes I know. But the version Im doing was from the 90s so I was hoping it counted (I really like the song as well as the way they do it)

    Bedlam on
  • APZonerunnerAPZonerunner Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Mojo_Jojo wrote: »
    mntorankusu - Maverick Boss Theme (Mega Man X)
    Something about this makes it almost physically painful to listen to. I'm not very musical though so I'm not sure what the problem is. Maybe it's too high?
    1/10

    mntorankusu - Mysterious Woods (Link's Awakening)
    I don't think the background forest tweetings mesh well with the actual track. It's not very exciting, a cover needs to put a unique spin on a track. Background music from video games most likely isn't the best choice.
    4/10

    Just weighing in on a couple of Jojo's verdicts. The first one I think the main problem is the clipping - it's too loud in places - and the quality. A little mastering and a new mix would do this track wonders.

    Mysterious Woods - an interesting choice, not least because this track doesn't actually have that much going on in the original version, and, similarly, this piece just lacks enough 'sections' to make it super interesting. I don't think it's because it's game music, though - music is music, regardless of the source.

    One piece of advice I can give from my experience with my game cover band though is try to keep it short 'n sweet. Maximum 2 repetitions of the same pattern - both Frog's Theme and Aerith's Theme that I submitted before have two 'loops', and each is played differently to keep it interesting. You can stretch it to 3 or 4 if you deviate from the original into a solo or something (we did this for a Mega Man track) , but never use any more. If you want the track to be longer, it's medley time. Or pick a track that's longer in the first place. The big problem with Game Boy and NES music is it's often short, with only 30 seconds to a minute or so per 'loop' of the track, which isn't ideal.

    Just weighing in on the game music side. I really think we should try and keep competitions in here as open as possible, so be it bands, solo artists, games, movies, tv, or even perhaps somebody playing an orchestral piece on more traditional instruments - all fair entries. One thing we maybe need to clarify is the stance on synthesised work, though. Can somebody program and synth a MIDI version of the Batman theme or James Bond theme and submit it, even though there are no live instruments? Difficult question, as the synth programming is still musical, and still work.

    I have a theme idea, if anyone stuck for ideas wins - America. Y'know, to go with the election. So that could bhe America Fuck Yeah, or Captain America's theme (Does he have one?) or other famous american heroes.. Or real songs that talk about America - which there are plenty of.

    Will post opinions of the others later. :)

    APZonerunner on
    APZonerunner | RPG Site | UFFSite | The Gaming Vault
    XBL/PSN/Steam: APZonerunner
  • mntorankusumntorankusu I'm not sure how to use this thing.... Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Mojo_Jojo wrote: »
    mntorankusu - Maverick Boss Theme (Mega Man X)
    Something about this makes it almost physically painful to listen to. I'm not very musical though so I'm not sure what the problem is. Maybe it's too high?
    1/10

    mntorankusu - Mysterious Woods (Link's Awakening)
    I don't think the background forest tweetings mesh well with the actual track. It's not very exciting, a cover needs to put a unique spin on a track. Background music from video games most likely isn't the best choice.
    4/10

    Just weighing in on a couple of Jojo's verdicts. The first one I think the main problem is the clipping - it's too loud in places - and the quality. A little mastering and a new mix would do this track wonders.

    Mysterious Woods - an interesting choice, not least because this track doesn't actually have that much going on in the original version, and, similarly, this piece just lacks enough 'sections' to make it super interesting. I don't think it's because it's game music, though - music is music, regardless of the source.

    One piece of advice I can give from my experience with my game cover band though is try to keep it short 'n sweet. Maximum 2 repetitions of the same pattern - both Frog's Theme and Aerith's Theme that I submitted before have two 'loops', and each is played differently to keep it interesting. You can stretch it to 3 or 4 if you deviate from the original into a solo or something (we did this for a Mega Man track) , but never use any more. If you want the track to be longer, it's medley time. Or pick a track that's longer in the first place. The big problem with Game Boy and NES music is it's often short, with only 30 seconds to a minute or so per 'loop' of the track, which isn't ideal.

    I just wanted to do the Mysterious Woods track because it's one of my favorite Zelda songs, despite being really simple. When I started making it I figured I'd be able to add a piano solo or something at the part where it loops but I couldn't get anything to sound good so I just gave up on it.

    For the MMX track I was attempting to make it sound sort of...abrasive? Not physically painful abrasive, but like toothpaste abrasive. I guess I should've toned it down a bit.

    mntorankusu on
  • APZonerunnerAPZonerunner Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    I think they're both solid pieces, they just both need tweaking in places. As for the Mysterious Woods, it's a shame it didn't work out for the solo/improv/whatever, but it doesn't always do so...

    APZonerunner on
    APZonerunner | RPG Site | UFFSite | The Gaming Vault
    XBL/PSN/Steam: APZonerunner
  • mntorankusumntorankusu I'm not sure how to use this thing.... Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    I think they're both solid pieces, they just both need tweaking in places. As for the Mysterious Woods, it's a shame it didn't work out for the solo/improv/whatever, but it doesn't always do so...

    The sad thing is, I had this really clear idea of exactly what I wanted to do with the piano solo at first, but by the time I got to doing it, it was gone. It is a tragedy.



    I tweaked some of the effects on the Maverick Fight song. The distortion is still there but I lowered the wet/dry ratio so that the original piano sound comes through a lot clearer. Plus numerous volume tweaks and other things I can't remember. Mojo, if you don't mind, could you listen to it and tell me if you think it sounds better? Even if it doesn't, your opinion can help me narrow it down a bit.

    http://sites.google.com/site/superhumanballoonmen/music-files/maverick3-test.mp3

    Mastering is really hard. Not only is it hard enough to mix things to sound good in the first place, but even once it does sound good to me, all I know is that it sounds good on this specific set of speakers or this specific pair of headphones.

    mntorankusu on
  • BobCescaBobCesca Is a girl Birmingham, UKRegistered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Given my background in academia, and more specifically in Arts, 10/10 is a mythical figure which doesn't actually exist. 8/10 is a first, 5/10 a third, and any less than that and I really hated it (sorry)

    Mullitt the Wise - All the Same

    7 out of 10

    I love the filter on this...feels very '60s and fun. Like Mojo, I don't know the original track, but some of the guitar felt very high and was a little painful at the back of my jaw. Otherwise much fun.


    mntorankusu - Maverick Boss Theme (Mega Man X)

    5 out of 10

    This is kind of fun! Very, very high, and feels a little disjointed in places, but fun! Still, it's kind of a shame that it's not a song, song, if you know what I mean.


    mntorankusu - Mysterious Woods (Link's Awakening)

    2 out of 10

    Kinda boring, scratch that, very boring. Sorry...it's probably the type of track you're covering, but it's not my cup of tea


    romanqwerty & syndalis - Estranged

    4 out of 10

    The guitar is not great, and I'm sorry, not a huge fan of the vocals either. Overall, I cringed through most of it.


    syndalis, James, Evil Multifarious - You Oughta Know

    8 out of 10

    Ok, that was odd! It's fun to have a metal version of the joys of shit men. I really liked it; really, really liked it!


    Bedlam - The Man Who Sold the World

    2 out of 10

    vocals really made me cringe; not only are you speaking more than singing (which can work), the tone is out of tune and sliding between notes in a really bad way. The backing track was ok, not good enough to tell if that was instruments or pre-made. All the points are for the music, with many, many points taken off for the vocals.


    Simon Moon - Waiting For a Superman

    7.8 out of 10

    Vocals are far, far, too quiet...such that I can't really hear them. From what I can hear though, it's really nice. If it wasn't for the death metal you'd be my highest scorer, but I just like it that little bit more.



    And for anyone who entered last week, here's my scores and the lovely, lovely comments I made:

    mntorankusu - Beverly Hills Cop theme

    8 out of 10

    Perhaps influenced by nostalgia (i remember when I was little, my sister and I getting Beverly Hills Cop 1 and 2 videos in our stockings for Christmas), I thought this was great!

    Timings are off in a couple of places, and there is the eternal problem of the repetition of theme tunes, but overall a solid entry.

    Bonus points for being a re-interpretation rather than a straight cover.


    romanqwerty - The Godfather theme

    6 out of 10

    An extremely good effort, and very nicely done. My main issue with this is the staccato/hesitant nature of the notes through the main tune which becomes a little grating. Also, not sure what was going on right before the end, but it wasn't good.

    VisibleHowl - A gameshow theme I can't listen to at work so can't identify

    5 out of 10

    I'm not sure what the theme was meant to be, it was ok, but suffered from being a vocals-only track (though good vocals, but a bit highly pitched).

    Bedlam - Spongebob theme

    4 out of 10

    REALLY suffered from being a vocal-only track and the problem of trying to sound like you're shouting when you're not, and apart from the funny accents (which were quite well done), it mostly made me cringe (sorry).

    Cesca x

    BobCesca on
  • AmphetamineAmphetamine Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
  • BedlamBedlam Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    and the problem of trying to sound like you're shouting when you're not
    Nope definetly was shouting, just backed away from the mic so I wouldnt overload it.

    Also glad you at least liked somthing :D, I know im not the greatest but I soldier on so I can get better.

    Bedlam on
  • syndalissyndalis Getting Classy On the WallRegistered User, Loves Apple Products regular
    edited October 2008
    Bedlam wrote: »
    I know im not the greatest but I soldier on so I can get better.

    This. Most assuredly this.

    For me, I am happy with my vocal capabilities, but I need major work in learning the craft of mixing / mastering. I know cheap tricks, but these tend to fade away when you end up with 15 layers (like I did for You Oughta Know). Making everything play nice, deciding what does and does not play nice, etc... its that part which I am rough as hell at.

    syndalis on
    SW-4158-3990-6116
    Let's play Mario Kart or something...
  • AmphetamineAmphetamine Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
  • APZonerunnerAPZonerunner Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Mastering is really hard. Not only is it hard enough to mix things to sound good in the first place, but even once it does sound good to me, all I know is that it sounds good on this specific set of speakers or this specific pair of headphones.

    Any piece of music recorded is really only a few parts... Playing, Composition, Recording Quality, and Mastering.

    Mastering is I think by fer and away the most difficult one to get right. Listen around to your mixes on as many sets of speakers as possible.. investing in some decent but cheap monitor speakers may help too.

    APZonerunner on
    APZonerunner | RPG Site | UFFSite | The Gaming Vault
    XBL/PSN/Steam: APZonerunner
  • Evil MultifariousEvil Multifarious Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Mixing tracks is the hardest part of music, I find.

    It's why I have so much respect for people who just mix and don't even really play instruments. It's definitely an art form or a science in itself.

    Evil Multifarious on
  • MishraMishra Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Mixing tracks is the hardest part of music, I find.

    It's why I have so much respect for people who just mix and don't even really play instruments. It's definitely an art form or a science in itself.

    Hell I can't even get my equipment to work right. Anyone ever played with a Lexicon Lambda usb box? It'll record fine and do direct monitoring but I can't get it to play back to the monitors from my laptop.

    Mishra on
    "Give a man a fire, he's warm for the night. Set a man on fire he's warm for the rest of his life."
    -Terry Pratchett
  • BamaBama Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Ok. Like Mojo, I'm just going to do a ranking with 10 being the best. Sorting these out was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be.

    Mullitt the Wise - All the Same
    I rather liked this one, though I've never heard the original before. Good job all around. The only thing that stood out as bad was the guitar solo near the beginning seemed to start off a bit awkwardly.
    10/10

    mntorankusu - Maverick Boss Theme (Mega Man X)
    There's definitely distortion happening that hurts the track. If you can fix that I'd really like to see it re-uploaded. The actual song was well executed, I thought.
    7/10

    mntorankusu - Mysterious Woods (Link's Awakening)
    Again I think you executed the song well, but I you missed a great opportunity to expand on such a sparse track. I thought the wildlife noise fit well, by the way.
    5/10

    romanqwerty & syndalis - Estranged
    As was mentioned, a nine minute GnR track might have been too ambitious. Something about the guitar seemed badly off, even when the phrasing was done well. I don't know if it was tuning or some sort of effect, the clipping in parts of the solos didn't help either. Somewhere in the last half of the song things seemed to come together much better, particularly with the vocals, but I can't put my finger on exactly what it was.
    6/10

    syndalis, James, Evil Multifarious - You Oughta Know
    From start to finish I had a big stupid grin on my face. This definitely wins the award for best re-interpretation of the original. On the whole I'm just not sure I like it better than some of the others, though.
    8/10

    Bedlam - The Man Who Sold the World
    Honestly, the vocals make this really hard for me to listen to. The instrumental parts were all well done. I like the song choice, but it's hard enough to follow one great version of a song, let alone two.
    4/10

    Simon Moon - Waiting For a Superman
    It's really hard to hear you during most of this, but otherwise I really liked it.
    9/10

    and, since I got to these much later than anticipated, a bonus!
    Amphetamine - All Apologies
    Very well done. You, however, don't get a score because you're late and it was already hard enough to for me to rank this week's entries. :P

    Bama on
  • syndalissyndalis Getting Classy On the WallRegistered User, Loves Apple Products regular
    edited October 2008
    Bama wrote: »
    romanqwerty & syndalis - Estranged
    As was mentioned, a nine minute GnR track might have been too ambitious. Something about the guitar seemed badly off, even when the phrasing was done well. I don't know if it was tuning or some sort of effect, the clipping in parts of the solos didn't help either. Somewhere in the last half of the song things seemed to come together much better, particularly with the vocals, but I can't put my finger on exactly what it was.
    6/10
    As for the vocals... that was a one-cut deal, with a simple drag and pan of one section to create the phone effect. I was going nuts on trying to get You Oughta Know hammered out, but I wanted to give it a shot. I was definitely kinda cold at the start and warmed up a bit halfway through. I cringe when I listen to my parts in there at times.

    As for the guitar, yeah... if I had to fancy a guess, I am positive romanqwerty was on the right fret, but slash does some MAJOR pre-bending in this song, and it can be very tricky to gauge exactly where the note is that you want to hit. That's why he is slash.

    syndalis on
    SW-4158-3990-6116
    Let's play Mario Kart or something...
  • JamesJames Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Damn, beaten by 2.8!

    James on
  • syndalissyndalis Getting Classy On the WallRegistered User, Loves Apple Products regular
    edited October 2008
    James wrote: »
    Damn, beaten by 2.8!

    Well, at least we win the coveted Bama "Best Reinterpretation" award 8-)

    syndalis on
    SW-4158-3990-6116
    Let's play Mario Kart or something...
  • romanqwertyromanqwerty Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Bama wrote: »

    romanqwerty & syndalis - Estranged
    As was mentioned, a nine minute GnR track might have been too ambitious. Something about the guitar seemed badly off, even when the phrasing was done well. I don't know if it was tuning or some sort of effect, the clipping in parts of the solos didn't help either. Somewhere in the last half of the song things seemed to come together much better, particularly with the vocals, but I can't put my finger on exactly what it was.
    6/10
    Mojo_Jojo wrote: »

    romanqwerty & syndalis - Estranged
    I think you guys picked a track that was a bit outside what you can achieve. The guitar is very weak, I'm guessing it was made using some kind of synthesiser? The vocals aren't bad, and I think it can be forgiven that whoever was singing doesn't have Mr Guns and Roses' voice as it's a cover, so it's all about putting your own spin on things.
    5/10

    Yeah i definately agree that this song was way out of my legue. My $50 amp really shit me through this song, and it is part of the reason the tone sounded so bad. I had to really crank the Overdrive to get the required sustain and roughness, but this caused it too clip badly during bends. I spent a lot of time messing with settings, and this was the best i could do.

    I don't think it was out of tune so much as just me not hitting some of the bends perfectly. Something about my mic caused the crappy dropping off of notes during transitions, because just listening to me play it live it sounds smooth. It was improved by moving the mic further away, but the required volume increase just doubled the clipping and was far more detrimental. All that said, i'm not slash, so i don't expect to be able to play his stuff anything like he does.

    I agree that the second half sounded far better, but thats the case with the GNR version too imo. I think its just that the second half is written better musically and is far easier to play. It could also be that my amp doesn't shit itself over cleaner tones. To be honest, im still pretty happy with what we got, considering the song dificulty.

    romanqwerty on
  • romanqwertyromanqwerty Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Also I must apologize to romanqwerty for being unable to complete the Aerosmith track that he wanted vocals for, due to my father's birthday and the subsequent....unpleasantness that occurred in my gastrointestinal tract due to some wine that was a bit off (but unfortunately, still delicious).

    Don't worry about it man. Life sometimes does things like this.

    Maybe it can get an entree into this week. I don't think ill have time to record anything new due to a bunch of assignments and a lab poster due in.

    romanqwerty on
  • Evil MultifariousEvil Multifarious Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    James wrote: »
    Damn, beaten by 2.8!

    We tied with Mullitt and were beaten by Simon by 3.8, actually. :P

    So Simon wins this week and will be picking the theme for next week's contest.

    This week will also have at least two guest judges, one of whom will be my girlfriend Jess, who is a cruel, capricious creature; the other is my friend Angus, who has a music show at his university called "What the Folk?". So y'all best put on yer victory scrotums and man up, this week.

    Evil Multifarious on
  • Simon MoonSimon Moon Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Wahoo!

    So, in honor of being #1, how about #1 songs? To make this specific enough to be meaningful, let's say any song that has been #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, Billboard Top 40, or the UK Singles chart.

    Simon Moon on
    Steam: simon moon
  • syndalissyndalis Getting Classy On the WallRegistered User, Loves Apple Products regular
    edited October 2008
    awesome.

    Any chance the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks could be part of the list as well?

    syndalis on
    SW-4158-3990-6116
    Let's play Mario Kart or something...
  • Evil MultifariousEvil Multifarious Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Yeah we should include the modern rock tracks as well because damn, that's a lot of shitty RnB and hip hop. Although both No Diggity and Hey Ya are on there. :D

    Dibs on Wonderwall, bitches.

    Evil Multifarious on
  • NargorothRiPNargorothRiP Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Mixing and mastering are so ephemeral, and is why i am so awed by our leader singer guitarist. He will quite literally get a idea from me and the rythem guitarist, write a full song from scratch playing all of the instruments live drums, bass vocals etc and provide a scratch track in one day fully mixed.

    NargorothRiP on
  • BedlamBedlam Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    theres some pretty good rock tracks from the 80s

    And I think Id be disapointed if someone dosent do Astley.

    Bedlam on
  • MishraMishra Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Yeah we should include the modern rock tracks as well because damn, that's a lot of shitty RnB and hip hop. Although both No Diggity and Hey Ya are on there. :D

    Dibs on Wonderwall, bitches.

    I'm gonna try Save Tonight if I can get my recording equipment to work

    Mishra on
    "Give a man a fire, he's warm for the night. Set a man on fire he's warm for the rest of his life."
    -Terry Pratchett
  • Evil MultifariousEvil Multifarious Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Save Tonight is a good one as well; it's one of the few songs where I can make my voice do a real rock-growl in the vein of David Grohl etc.

    Evil Multifarious on
  • Hi I'm Vee!Hi I'm Vee! Formerly VH; She/Her; Is an E X P E R I E N C E Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Oh this is perfect.

    I hope I have enough time to put together what I want to do.

    Hi I'm Vee! on
    vRyue2p.png
  • AmphetamineAmphetamine Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    wait is this like current #1 hits or what

    Amphetamine on
  • Simon MoonSimon Moon Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    wait is this like current #1 hits or what

    I said songs that have been #1 hits.

    So, no, not current.

    Simon Moon on
    Steam: simon moon
  • AmphetamineAmphetamine Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    is there a complete list somewhere?

    Amphetamine on
  • Simon MoonSimon Moon Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    As this week's host, may I suggest checking out the links in posts 390 and 391?

    Simon Moon on
    Steam: simon moon
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