We do the remix version...

[Lee Knight]

Why is it that I keep hearing a lot guys around here talking about this version or that version of a tune.

 

Somebody That I Used To Know.

 

"We'd do that but it's too slow"

 

"We do the remix version"

 

 

But you realize, that remix version is something you can do to any tune. This is what kills me, the too common idea that someone else has to come up with an arrangement before you can do the tune.

 

Really?!?!?!

 

Just now there was a discussion of not doing the Gotye tune, then someone else lamenting they can't find the remix version on youtube. MAKE YOUR OWN "REMIX" for God sakes!

 

As I mentioned before, as far back as the 80's, I was taking classic, great songs, that for one reason or another might not click on the dance floor, and superimposing a beat that was currently working on the dance floor.

 

How hard is that?

 

And what kills me is that, while I'm no coverband basher, having played in my share of both cover and original recording acts, I am a basher of all those who lack any initiative to be creative. You gotta wait for some remix hack to tell you how?!?!? Sorry for rant but...

 

MASSIVE FACEPALM!!!!

 

:idea:

[PRSJim]

Just listened to that song.... YUK! sorry, it is definitely not my cup of tea.

[Vito Corleone]

Not to bash any cover band musicians here (because I'd be throwing myself into that group) but one of the reasons many people play covers instead of originals is they aren't very creative. If they could creatively re-arrange songs, they'd be writing their own as well.

 

And while I certainly put myself in the "less than creative" catagory as I'm much more likely to steal a "remix" rather than create my own, the truth is that when I do come up with something new and creative for the band---or even just trying to work out something I stole but the other guys haven't heard---it's amazing how much trouble it is to get some of the guys to 'hear' it sometimes. It's only after we get the whole thing worked out -- with me often telling them exactly what to play -- that they start to go "oh...I see where you're going with this now...."

 

Writing and performing come from two completely opposite sides of the brain, IMO. Which is why the most gifted songwriters aren't necessaily the best players, and vice versa.

[FitchFY]

Not to bash any cover band musicians here (because I'd be throwing myself into that group) but one of the reasons many people play covers instead of originals is they aren't very creative. If they could creatively re-arrange songs, they'd be writing their own as well.

 

 

I mean, I just can't believe someone actually said it. :D

[jeff42]

For the full band- many of the cover songs we do are modern pop songs. Sometimes I hear a decent cover version online and we use that as a starting point and go from there. I found out awhile ago it is WAY easier to sell the older guys in my band on songs like Poker face when I let them hear the 5 YEARS AND COUNTING version or tyler ward's more rockier version club can't handle me than when I let them hear the original first. Its a good starting point but we always end up listening to the original then and of course making it our own.

 

For the trio it is more of us being creative because when we tackle a pop tune (lets use Party rock as an example) we do it with just an acoustic guitar, bass and V-drums.

 

as far as Somebody i used to know, yeah I am looking for the version I heard on the radio cuz for one, I like it.

[stratotastic]

Well, one issue is that a "remix" version is another version that is out there on the air and familiar to the public, which is why we play the songs we do in the first place. Start creating your own remixes and you might as well be doing originals, because if you do it, you're likely to get that same bewildered and/or indifferent response from the crowd that you would get if you were doing originals anyway.

[jeff42]

it depends on how far away from the original you go. We don't stray very far and if we have to the song usually doesn't work and we drop it.

 

In the case of Somebody i used to know the "radio mix" IMO is the version most would be familiar with since the radio station up here in NEPA (lol at the cross thread joke) plays it 5X an hour! I know when I sat down to learn it from the official video I said to myself.. Huh? WTF is this crap?

[Vito Corleone]

it depends on how far away from the original you go. We don't stray very far and if we have to the song usually doesn't work and we drop it. In the case of Somebody i used to know the "radio mix" IMO is the version most would be familiar with since the radio station up here in NEPA (lol at the cross thread joke) plays it 5X an hour! I know when I sat down to learn it from the official video I said to myself.. Huh? WTF is this crap?

 

There's several "remix" versions of that song available for download from Amazon for 99 cents. Maybe one of those is the one you're looking for? I know it's not grabbing it from YouTube for free.....

[Jerry_L]

It might be fun to do as one of these Gotye/Police mashups.

 

[video=youtube;x7fMZxJ0EVg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7fMZxJ0EVg

 

[video=youtube;c1_PSXZdQ7k]

[jeff42]

 

There's several "remix" versions of that song available for download from Amazon for 99 cents. Maybe one of those is the one you're looking for? I know it's not grabbing it from YouTube for free.....

 

 

None of the ones I checked out are the right one. (unless I missed it) I'll be seeing a DJ pal over the weekend maybe he will shed light on this.

[kmart]

I would suspect that this...

 

Well, one issue is that a "remix" version is another version that is out there on the air and familiar to the public.

 

 

...is a major factor, never mind the time & energy that's required to come up with your 'own' version vs. copying what already exists, ESPECIALLY if you're geared towards a particular amount of time & energy being required for adding new material. It's hard to bust up that learning cycle when you're in it.

 

I spent roughly 25 years playing almost exclusively originals, with a handful of covers...and maybe 3-4 total that were our own interpretation of an exisiting song...ONE of which was what I'd consider totally awesome and unique and engaging and people LOVED to hear us play.

If I'm going to put that kind of effort and time into changing an existing song into something that's 'mine', I'd rather just create something totally new from scratch...

 

...but now that I'm firmly entrenched in cover-band world, I want to add songs that people are going to recognize immediately, not that they'll have to figure out eventually.

I know that kind of 'our take on the song' angle works for some bands, but that's not what I, and I suspect many others, focus on.

[SeniorBlues]

 

...but now that I'm firmly entrenched in cover-band world, I want to add songs that people are going to recognize immediately, not that they'll have to figure out eventually. I know that kind of 'our take on the song' angle works for some bands, but that's not what I, and I suspect many others, focus on.

 

 

For me, the issue is whether or not you're given latitude to use the live version as your primary source. I understand that the studio version is usually more familiar, but come on guys, your interpretation will depart from the studio version more than their live version does, so relax and go with the song as it's mean to be played . . . . LIVE.

 

It's going to sound like YOUR version no matter what your intentions . . . . see my sig.

[Lee Knight]

Yeah...

 

I am just not getting you guys. Sorry. What "work" or "vision" are we talking about here? This is not intended to be mean but maybe to get you to reconsider what it is you do!!!! Like this...

 

"Hmmmm, Poker Face kills on the dance floor. Hey Bob, play the Poker Face beat to the Gotye tune and I'll try to cop some of that groove in the bass part." Really!

 

And what is this about performing musicians not being creative?!?!? Good lord! When did they start that? Come on! That was the original idea of a cover. A creative take on a standard. But whatever, so that's a stretch... then believe me, slapping beats under less than dance friendly tunes is CAKE!!!! I'm hoping some of you guys might hear this and think, "{censored} yeah!"

 

Go to Billboard.com and check out the top 10 Dance singles. Steal the beats. All the work is homework. So is the brainstorming of things to try. Then bring your ideas to rehearsal. Actually, try One Direction(What Makes You Beautiful beat-groove/Gotye tune

[Lee Knight]

 

I would suspect that this... ...is a major factor...

 

 

That thinking is based on a faulty paradigm. One that says the crowd knows the difference. They know danceable. The know tunes they love. And those two things don't always meet up. But we can make them do so.

 

If you did Gotye's tune with a straight house beat and a keyboard chord hook lifted right out of the latest techno/pop hit, and played all the identifying riffs from the original track we all know and love, not one single person would even know. They'd say, I LOVE THIS SONG!!! They'd shout that to each other while on the dance floor.

 

You guys know it's true. Really.

[kmart]

 

But we can make them do so. .

 

 

CAN being the operative word.

 

If your existing infrastructure isn't used to doing that, it could possibly be all the trainwreck you need to permanently handicap the band.

Certainly, this isn't an either/or proposition, but to make it out to be as simple as saying "Hey, we'll do this" and snap your fingers and it's done...is disingenious, IMO.

 

Keep in mind, SOME bands don't want to work in the manner you describe. And there's room for all kinds.

[Vito Corleone]

Lee's point is well-taken in that I think a lot of bands could push themselves further down the "play it our own way" road and do fine. The audiences aren't going to care--and may even really like it---if you do that and do it well.

 

Operative word being "well". One of the reasons so many bands stick the the original version note-for-note is because they aren't going to come up with anything better, and it might even be worse.

 

Kmart's point is also well -taken in that cover bands are often doing it more as a business than as an art-form and as such--time is money. Why spend a couple of hours working up your own version of a Top 40 tune when you can just crank out a copy of the original in 15 minutes and get the same results?

[Lee Knight]

 

Kmart's point is also well -taken in that cover bands are often doing it more as a business than as an art-form and as such--time is money. Why spend a couple of hours working up your own version of a Top 40 tune when you can just crank out a copy of the original in 15 minutes and get the same results?

 

 

Understood.

 

But here's why it could be a wise business move. BECAUSE NOBODY ELSE IS DOING IT. And... BECAUSE IT'S WHAT PEOPLE WANT. Every town has its Dance radio station. You know the one, they play hits at certain times of the day but they have mixers doing live sets. The hits come and go and it's all driven by some thumthumthumthum. Just like a Club DJ set. Why someone might actually listen to that for their drive time is beyond me but the idea is sound. Mix a dance floor into the stew and it changes things. All of a sudden everything is danceable. Let's face it, hits don't have to be danceable. But club songs do. Club DJs and the guys on your local dance station (one and the same really) do just that. Why don't bands.

 

Cause you never have before? Cause your band members are sticks in the mud? Cause you think it might be to much work? Cause it won't pay off? Cause you don't think you can? Why? All it takes is a little thought and interest.

[Vito Corleone]

 

Cause you never have before? Cause your band members are sticks in the mud? Cause you think it might be to much work? Cause it won't pay off? Cause you don't think you can? Why? All it takes is a little thought and interest.

 

 

I think it's great you encourage that. And I think you're right in that a lot of bands can and should push themselves to be unique and better. I've said here many times that I think the worst thing about the live music scene is so many bands just stick to the same old rules that now date some 50 years.

 

The other side of that coin is that the bands that CAN do that and have the natural creativity DO. Like what Austin Cowbell does with his mash-up band. I think if you're naturally creative--you'll just natural WANT to do such things. So how many bands CAN actually push themselves in such a direct to good success might be a limited number.

 

But I agree that it's probably much more than we are seeing now. And the more really good and really creative bands their are out there, the better the music scene is for everyone.

[Lee Knight]

The other side of that coin is that the bands that CAN do that and have the natural creativity DO. Like what Austin Cowbell does with his mash-up band.

 

[MDLMUSIC]

One of my favorite things to do, both in bands and as a solo performer, is to take an existing well-known song and change the lyrics or beat to make it into something new, but recognizable. I especially like doing this with my German band and solo gigs, where I take something like Z Z Top's "Tush" or Bruno Mars's "Lazy Song" and make them into polkas. Even if some of the people in my crowds aren't familiar with the original version, they still like the song. If they know the original, they really eat it up.

[FitchFY]

 

Why spend a couple of hours working up your own version of a Top 40 tune when you can just crank out a copy of the original in 15 minutes and get the same results?

 

 

... Because it's more fun?

[SLScott86]

I've never seen a cover of a massively popular song, note for note, reinterpreted or otherwise, that hasn't gotten a great reaction, if the band nails it. The quality of performance is a variable that goes without saying, but still can get lost in the shuffle with the other factors. If you nail it, it'll work, period.

[Vito Corleone]

 

... Because it's more fun?

 

 

Of course. But I was speaking of the "time is money" guys.

[Lee Knight]

So this whole topic speaks to a live music quality disintegration creep. The very thought that it is too much work... or whatever excuse there was, it at first makes me a bit agitated, then ultimately sad. These are the same people with the audacity to criticize pop stars in the belief that they have no talent or that things were handed to them.

 

No... things were not handed to them, they took it. They worked.

 

I get the concept of ROI. And time is an investment. But what about the quality of return? Without forward thinking with regards to live music, well... enjoy its last days. Or your last days, rather. Because after watching Duets a few times I see there are indeed very talented people willing to work to bring it. To offer up some of yourself. Cause what else is there? You're an expert in offering up somebody else? And that's it?

 

Count your days. Nobody is impressed with that anymore.

[stratotastic]

 

So this whole topic speaks to a live music quality disintegration creep. The very thought that it is too much work... or whatever excuse there was, it at first makes me a bit agitated, then ultimately sad. These are the same people with the audacity to criticize pop stars in the belief that they have no talent or that things were handed to them. No... things were not handed to them, they took it. They worked. I get the concept of ROI. And time is an investment. But what about the quality of return? Without forward thinking with regards to live music, well... enjoy its last days. Or your last days, rather. Because after watching Duets a few times I see there are indeed very talented people willing to work to bring it. To offer up some of yourself. Cause what else is there? You're an expert in offering up somebody else? And that's it? Count your days. Nobody is impressed with that anymore.

 

 

LOL @ the drama.

 

I'll admit a big part of why we stick fairly close to the "known" versions is because it's quick, easy, and expected. Creating your own versions? Totally different model that we just have no interest in. We do plenty of clever segues, mashups, etc. but that's as "creative" as we get. Are we contributing to the "disintegration creep"? (LOL) We're a cover band for chrissakes. And we're doing fine.

 

We've found that the thing that separates the "good" cover bands from the "bad" at least around here is being able to out market and out hustle the others. Simple as that. We do plenty of recon on the big moneymaking bands around here and (obviously there are no formal statistics for this) but the more successful they are, the less "creative" they seem to be with the tunes. Their creativity lies in the form of being able to engage the crowd in different ways, but as for the actual music, pretty close to the book.

 

The innovation and moving forward? Not our job. That's what the "artists" (i.e. original bands) are supposed to be doing, and who, by the way, are the ones that seem to be circling the drain.

 

Sad? Well, that's like...your opinion, maaaaaaaaaaaaaan