Korg Forums

[GregC]

Set the stage here on my little bubble:

" Full Cover" is creating/performing/recording ALL instrument parts.
Plus the recorded vocal , if applicable.

Not just the piano/organ/synth parts.

IOW, think like you are a 1 Man Band for the well known song you are re-creating.

And I publish my material on SoundCloud, and its important that listeners enjoy
my musical product. That is my goal, all the time.

Why a Pro and con discussion ? Its a big question [ for me] of time invested and what your music priorities are.

My time is more important than money, just to underline the importance of choice of song.

And I am 95% original material, thus investing in a " full cover" recreating a well known song, is thought out vs ' casual experiment for myself '.

Pro's
-----

-the song is generally recognizable, depending on era, listening demographic.
-it might hold listeners attention and hopefully result in more than a casual listen.
-in some cases, the prerecorded vocal track is incredible. The lead vocal [ not me, ha ! ] is the star of the song.
- casual and most listeners have stronger preference to hearing a great or distinctive vocal
- as a ' One Man Band" I get to either duplicate all the instruments/backing tracks as close as possible or do my own backing track version. Or a mixture of both including the vocal.
-I am nostalgic for 60's/70's material. Doing a 'full cover' is satisfying, and scratches the itch of my memory.
-Since I am 95% original, a decent re-creation of a ' full cover' will add variety to my 80 song portfolio.
-If my version satisfies listeners, I can continue to create more ' full covers' of popular songs.


Cons
-----
-Out of pocket expense to buy a License to re-create/publish the popular cover song.
-Listeners familiar with the original version will instantly notice that my version does not sound " exactly like the record" , or my tracks are different than the original, thus they prefer what they have ' heard ' 500 times before. Thus their
preference is towards the original , which is per their memory.
-it takes time and effort to faithfully re-create certain instrument parts. Like the bass guitar, or backup vocal. This is fun to do, but there is a time commitment.
- the song is dated, [ 60's/70's] and listeners have little interest, no matter how excellent the vocal is.
- there is always another million songs out there to listen to, that are todays pop, contemporary, etc etc etc.

I think that's it ! It's your turn , Kronos musician !
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Kronos 88. MODX8
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[runningman67]

Greg, I would lovingly say, don't over think things.

Don't lose sight of why you play and write your music, how it feels for you, what it means to you.

Everyone else see's and hears things through their own filter. Trust your own.

I see you as a song writer 100%. I love your passion and your heart felt wish for others to be happy. Your songs are an extension of you. Part of your consciousness and I hope you feel proud of your compositions.

Covers are covers.

When a bird sings, it doesn't sing for the advancement of music. But if somebody stops to listen and is delighted, that's fine. Alan Watts.
_________________
https://m.youtube.com/user/1967runningman

[GregC]

[runningman67]

[Xenophile]

I think that recreating favorite recordings is a great way to learn, have fun and pay tribute to your heroes.

Here's one that I and a friend did about 15(!) years ago. A cover of Deep Purple's "Highway Star." I programmed the drums (EZDrummer sounds) and played the keys (Mostly Native Instruments B4). Bat's Brew took those tracks and added the guitars, bass and vocals, and mixed in Sonar.

https://soundcloud.com/bats-brew/interstate-sun-2

Check out this guy's tribute to Yes: https://youtu.be/M-6QNshZyL4

[GregC]

good point. Doing a cover is a way to challenge my song part construction.

It forces me to listen to tempo, how the drum rhythm groove locks into he song.
_________________
Kronos 88. MODX8
Achieve your musical dreams
https://soundcloud.com/user-898236994

[kronoSphere]

cover song is nice way to approach and undestand a composer and the way she/he writes music. I remember that some years ago, I had spent wonderful moment to decrypt by ear (and after I have verified with the music sheet) the song "Hasbrook Heights" from Burt Bacharach. Sometimes and even often a song seems easy to play, but in most cases, songs have secrets that are more subtle thant it seems.
In the case of Burt Bacharach it is the subtle constantly moving tempo of his songs. And more than that : his absolutely aerial way of arranging a song.
His songs are like balloon that quit the earth. All the others composers including Macca and even Brian Wilson keep their rythmic patterns down to the ground. Burt Bacharach is an exception.

But beware : some "easy" music sheets contain error due to the fact that they are simplified version of the real original music sheet.

And the essential question concerning the cover of a song is this : How to be as nearer as possible of the song and, in the same time, not to make a useless musical clone of the original song.
The balance is extremely difficult and dangerous to find !
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trees are going fast.

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Current Gear : Kronos 88 / Seaboard Rise / Triton Extreme / Sequoia / Motif Rack XS / TC Helicon voicelive rack /Awave 11 / Audio & VSTi plug-ins connected /wide touchscreen / iPad Pro 512.

[GregC]

[Lightbringer]

Hey that's a pretty good list of pro/cons there, Greg.

I've recorded some "full covers". I think the why and what I do with them is a little different from yours, though. When I do, I don't really post them anywhere very public (may share with friends/family). And my purpose is usually either

1. I'm trying to learn a production technique (how did they get that to sound that way)

or

2. I'm having a dry spell with originals or just feel like I'm stuck in a rut and need to break out somehow.

So I guess with that approach/mindset, I'm able to reap some of the pros you listed and dodge most of the cons.

[GregC]