Jump to content

My cover of Radio Cure (Wilco)


PavlovsCat

Recommended Posts

I've always loved this song.  When I fall in love with a song, as I did this one, I sometimes have a habit of naturally -- in my head -- thinking about different arrangements of the song. This arrangement has been in my head since I first heard the song. As usual, I play and sing everything.  I brought my voice up louder before anyone had a chance to ask! :)
 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Jesse Screed said:

I'm familiar with Wilco, but not this tune.

It is a very nice recording.

Can you give a little more insight into how you recorded the vocals?  I find the sound interesting and am curious as to your workflow.

Thank you

I started having problems with my mic -- which is just a podcasting mic -- during this recording. The differences in the tone you hear wasn't actually intentional,  it was because of the mic issues. I'll eventually re-record the vocals. My workflow, in the most basic sense, has been the same since I did multitrack recordings with reel-to-reel and cassette recorders as a kid. I start with the piano part and a scratch vocal to a click track and then add each additional track, which in this case was acoustic guitar.  I usually play every part once or twice and use the  best take, although the lead guitar during the final "epic" part (it's not really a chorus, I guess I'll call it the first verse) was improvised on the spot -- as are most of the parts -- and I thought it fit well, so I kept it.  

This is the original song. As you'll notice my cover is quite different.  I didn't repeat a couple of sections as I thought it would be best to hold out during the epic part. 

 

Edited by PavlovsCat
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, John Vere said:

Most excellent and great job on the arrangement. And good to hear I'm not the only one who still thinks a DAW is just a fancy 8 track that doesn't need the heads cleaned. 

I struggled on whether to give that a THANKS or a LAUGH emoji. I went with THANKS, but I also did laugh, to be clear! 

Edited by PavlovsCat
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey Peter Pavlov, this song has great space and I think your vocal is at an excellent level in the mix. I know Wilco is immensely popular, but I'm not at all familiar with them, sad to say. Boomer's choice? However, I of course love the Beatles and there is some familiarity between the two, at least as far as this song goes?

Only occasionally does your main vocal (or maybe it's the bgv) get a bit of razor edge to it . . . it might be the mic issues you mentioned . . . I noticed it on the outtro vocal lines . . . that happens to me, too, and I blunt the razor with Softube Tape or similar, where you can dial the initial transient down a bit. Might be worth a go, if this were my vocal, I don't think I'd redo it, it's a great performance!!!

 

the piano sites very well, the mix is a good'un. nice job!

cheers,

-Tom

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, PhonoBrainer said:

Hey Peter Pavlov, this song has great space and I think your vocal is at an excellent level in the mix. I know Wilco is immensely popular, but I'm not at all familiar with them, sad to say. Boomer's choice? However, I of course love the Beatles and there is some familiarity between the two, at least as far as this song goes?

Only occasionally does your main vocal (or maybe it's the bgv) get a bit of razor edge to it . . . it might be the mic issues you mentioned . . . I noticed it on the outtro vocal lines . . . that happens to me, too, and I blunt the razor with Softube Tape or similar, where you can dial the initial transient down a bit. Might be worth a go, if this were my vocal, I don't think I'd redo it, it's a great performance!!!

 

the piano sites very well, the mix is a good'un. nice job!

cheers,

-Tom

The Beatles are definitely a Wilco influence, and of course, my style is very influenced by The Beatles, and I certainly brought a more Beatles' vibe to the song when I put the Mellotron on. This actually isn't a very popular Wilco song, and of course, my arrangement sounds A LOT different than the original, but it's a really simple song and there are a million ways it could be arranged, of course. I'm awful at production and my mic problems (still unresolved), definitely impacted this song. I'm no singer and that's why I thought this one might really work for me as Wilco's singer, Jeff Tweedy isn't much of a singer either. He's a great songwriter. I am definitely going to be trying out the techniques you and others (including a friend of mine) have suggested, although, at some point, I'm probably just going to re-record the vocals, because of the mic issues.  

Edited by PavlovsCat
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...