Members Vito Corleone Posted September 1, 2014 Members Share Posted September 1, 2014 anybody here doing this song? And if so, how do you approach it? While EWF is one of my all-time favorite bands, and this song is a wedding/variety band standard, my band has never done EWF songs for a reason: They don't really translate well to arrangements for just drums, bass, guitar and keys. But, I suppose it was only a matter of time before somebody requested the song for a "special dance" and we'd be compelled to work it up. On one hand, I don't like spending any more time than absolutely necessary working up songs we will only play once. On the other hand, if we can come up with a good arrangement, the song might be a keeper and worth the trouble. But I'm listening to it and I'm hearing the two distinct guitar parts in the intro, and then of course there are keyboard parts and the EWF horns. And percussion. I'm having a hard time visualizing a good arrangement here. But I know a lot of bands do this song, so I'm wondering how others approach it? (Besides tracking the parts, of course!) Any suggestions? [video=youtube;Gs069dndIYk] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sventvkg Posted September 1, 2014 Members Share Posted September 1, 2014 anybody here doing this song? And if so, how do you approach it? While EWF is one of my all-time favorite bands, and this song is a wedding/variety band standard, my band has never done EWF songs for a reason: They don't really translate well to arrangements for just drums, bass, guitar and keys. But, I suppose it was only a matter of time before somebody requested the song for a "special dance" and we'd be compelled to work it up. On one hand, I don't like spending any more time than absolutely necessary working up songs we will only play once. On the other hand, if we can come up with a good arrangement, the song might be a keeper and worth the trouble. But I'm listening to it and I'm hearing the two distinct guitar parts in the intro, and then of course there are keyboard parts and the EWF horns. And percussion. I'm having a hard time visualizing a good arrangement here. But I know a lot of bands do this song, so I'm wondering how others approach it? (Besides tracking the parts, of course!) Any suggestions? [video=youtube;Gs069dndIYk] Yes we do it. The guitar player just has to kinda mix the parts and obviously put the important parts in where they stick out. Our keyboardist plays the horn parts and we cover the vocals with 4 of us. It's a VERY easy and straight forward song if your rhythm section can play the groove. That and funk guitar is most of it. I think my drummer does something in the intro that mimics the percussion and anywhere that sticks out in the song he plays it. Don't over think this song it's actually very easy and sparse. WELL arranged to sound full. VERY easy to pull off with a competent 4 piece musical section, that's why you see so many wedding bands doing it. Don't worry if you don't have every part in there perfectly. The audience doesn't know it. The song goes over great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted September 1, 2014 Author Members Share Posted September 1, 2014 Yeah, I know it's a pretty easy song structurally---especially by EWF standards. (The song was derided by a lot of hardcore fans at the time as a pop sellout...) I guess we'll probably just jam our way through it and see what we come up with. You're right about not over-thinking it. I'm just hearing those two guitar parts on top of the electric piano at the very beginning and scratching my head as to what to do. One of those parts where that walking-down melody on the guitar is what is recognizable but only seems to really work with that 'chunka-chunka' rhythm going on at the same time. And then, of course, the horns come in. I have no doubt the song will go over great---that's why I'm wanting to do more than just fumble through it for a wedding dance number. And I don't really worry about the vocals at all. That'll probably be the best part of the song for us. I just found this live version of them doing it a couple of years ago. A bit different arrangement that sound as only one guitar part. I think. Hard to tell. But I think I've got more to go with here. I like those accent stabs they do during the 2nd verse. I think I might try to keep those. I also like how Bailey throws in the "Best of My Love" line in at the end. Obvious mash-up right there! [video=youtube;-rgj09QhAr8] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members n9ne Posted September 2, 2014 Members Share Posted September 2, 2014 I think we can all agree that most listeners focus primarily on the vocal melody; IMO, September is a great opportunity to take advantage of that. Forget about the original intro....once the vocal kicks in, nobody will notice or care that the fifteen-second intro wasn't totally faithful to the original. Check out the way these guys do it: [YOUTUBE]q_Ig1Iq9GGk[/YOUTUBE] These guys seamlessly insert pieces of September into Bruno Mars' Treasure. If you're looking for mashup ideas/suggestions, perhaps this might provide some inspiration: [YOUTUBE]HiWPLi6xhgU[/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted September 2, 2014 Author Members Share Posted September 2, 2014 Good suggestions! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Old Fart Rocker Posted September 2, 2014 Members Share Posted September 2, 2014 September is a staple in our set list. We do it with guitar, drums, bass and keys. I start the song with the guitar riff. I actually use octaves to fill up the sound a little bit. During the verses, I play the chord progression, then switch back to the riff (using octaves) during the chorus. I know we have a recording of it. I'll try and find it and post later. But, I've heard the recordings of us doing the song and it sounds pretty good to me. Like you David, we have vocalists up front, 1 male 2 female, that do a great job of filling in the harmonies. I think in some ways having that big vocal sound, especially on the chorus, is more important than trying to cover all of the instrument parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nousername Posted September 2, 2014 Members Share Posted September 2, 2014 Wow, the original song is VERY well mixed. Prominent bass guitar with vocals right there. Wonderful. And what is the affect on the singer's voice in the second video n9ne posted? Yes "a"ffect, not effect. I think that's what I don't like about most modern music I've heard. Voice affect: like valley girl, or other similar changes people can add to their speech. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Old Fart Rocker Posted September 2, 2014 Members Share Posted September 2, 2014 http://www.driveplayer.com/#fileIds=0B7CLaKm8iiSQaUR6ZUY5X3lCd2M&userId=103605987592285794012 Not sure if this link will work, but give it a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted September 2, 2014 Author Members Share Posted September 2, 2014 Wow' date=' the original song is VERY well mixed. [/quote'] Are you talking about the original EWF version? Hell ya. Maurice White was a f'in genius. All those little parts fit perfectly and everything is heard clearly. Those old EWF records are the textbook when it comes to that stuff. I'm still as blown away by them today as I was 35 years ago. Love love love that band. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted September 2, 2014 Author Members Share Posted September 2, 2014 http://www.driveplayer.com/#fileIds=0B7CLaKm8iiSQaUR6ZUY5X3lCd2M&userId=103605987592285794012 Not sure if this link will work, but give it a try. Says I'm not authorized or that the file does not exist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted September 2, 2014 Author Members Share Posted September 2, 2014 Except that I've always be bothered by what sounds like a flub on the bass during the intro. He plays that little VII-I lick in the high octave and gets a bit out of time with it. I've always been surprised that they left that in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nousername Posted September 3, 2014 Members Share Posted September 3, 2014 Except that I've always be bothered by what sounds like a flub on the bass during the intro. He plays that little VII-I lick in the high octave and gets a bit out of time with it. I've always been surprised that they left that in there. It sounds like an accent note to me. It's the third one after two two-note riffs, so it's the right place for one. Who knows. I don't think I could count all the "mistakes" I've heard over the years on released recordings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted September 3, 2014 Author Members Share Posted September 3, 2014 It sounds like an accent note to me. It's the third one after two two-note riffs, so it's the right place for one. Who knows. I don't think I could count all the "mistakes" I've heard over the years on released recordings. Yeah, could be anything, of course. Would have had to been there to know. There are tons of mistakes on released recordings for sure. Good luck finding them on EWF recordings though. Not much room for error in those arrangements and mixes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Blackbird013 Posted September 15, 2014 Members Share Posted September 15, 2014 I want to do this in the wedding band I'm putting together.. but I have a sneaking suspicion it's over ambitious, musically. Of the 200-250 songs I'm looking at for this band, it's literally the ONLY one where I'm like "Yeah.. I'm not sure if a guitar/guitar/keys/bass/drums instrumentation is going to do that justice". Interesting ideas on covering it though.. might have to rethink that thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted September 15, 2014 Author Members Share Posted September 15, 2014 We kind of jammed through it a bit at a rehearsal last week just to kind of get of feel of where we're going to go with it. Sean is right to not overthink the tune. I found a live version of EWF doing it back around 1980 where they were only using one guitar player and the guitarist played the chunka-chunka disco-y octave thing in the intro while the keyboard player played the chords with the little descending melody during the intro. We're going to approach it that way. As long as the drums and bass are locking down the groove, it should be fine. The girls sound great on the vocals, so that's going to take us 90% of the way there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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