Playing Covers, The sound of each artist or just get close?

[rickster]

I was just curious what approach you cover players take towards your cover songs.Since each artist has a unique sound ( amps/settings/effects..etc) Do you just have one sound and play the danm thing or build a patch for each song ( digitally) on your set list and scroll..( would that even work) Im working towards single pedals now and was wondering if that is the right way to go to play covers since my sound will be limited,..thanks

[firewalker0702]

I dont know about other bands but the one im in plays covers the way that best suits the band we might end up changing the entire song around to make it work for us. a lot of bands hate when other bands do this but we like to put our own twist on thing's. so to answer your ? depends on the band your in and if there going for an exact cover or kind of a remake

[slackin@dabass]

just play the damn thing!


get a tone that you like and works well with your band, and let er rip, zip. i know guys that build patches around what bands sound like, but i never saw the point. as long as you have a clean, an overdrive, and maybe a full distortion, i don't see why you'd need more. most people in the audience that can tell the difference between stevie ray and brian may's guitar tones are guitar players, anyway. and i bet even they take a similar approach. unless they've got like 100 different banks in their rig.

[grimmbass]

For us bassists, as long as you have a Spector, everything else takes care of itself anyway. Is there any other bass:)?

[VENTGtr]

just play the damn thing!


get a tone that you like and works well with your band, and let er rip, zip

This. You may want to tweak some things in some instances, but find a
sound/setup that you like, when you're listening to the tune, see how it
all works for what you do, listen well at practices, etc.

You'll end up doing things you like more than what you're hearing in the
original and it'll lend your personality.

A way to look at it, once you have your sound down, etc., think if, say,
Robert Plant called and asked you to tour with him play Zep stuff...but
wanted you to do what YOU would with the tunes.

Many years ago I had a list of sounds that worked with whatever song
we did (Pre models, and amps with more than a clean and drive chan).
Didn't last long. WAY too much effort to keep during a show...and not
much point. Live and learn.

I do know guys who have everything banked per song... Just seems like
a lot of scrolling when you could be playing. BUT, to each his/her own.

[songsmith]

I've been playing covers a long time... seems like back in the proverbial day, folks wanted you to ape what was on the record as closely as possible, and people still like that, but I think younger folks are bored with that, and would rather hear a quirky take on a classic chestnut. I worked pretty hard at sounding like the original singer, at least, though admittedly I seldom sounded very close to the record... I'd have much rather had fun with my own version, I think. Looking back, I learned a LOT from playing other folk's music, so I wouldn't have it any other way, but it just seems like more fun to take a bubble-gum pop song and brutalize it. --->JMS

[thebattle]

For us bassists, as long as you have a Spector, everything else takes care of itself anyway. Is there any other bass:)?

Traben

[VENTGtr]

but it just seems like more fun to take a bubble-gum pop song and brutalize it. --->JMS

Si.

[Merge]

just play the damn thing!


get a tone that you like and works well with your band, and let er rip, zip. i know guys that build patches around what bands sound like, but i never saw the point. as long as you have a clean, an overdrive, and maybe a full distortion, i don't see why you'd need more. most people in the audience that can tell the difference between stevie ray and brian may's guitar tones are guitar players, anyway. and i bet even they take a similar approach. unless they've got like 100 different banks in their rig.

Do this, and everything will be fine.

[slackin@dabass]

For us bassists, as long as you have a Spector, everything else takes care of itself anyway. Is there any other bass:)?

not that i'm aware of!

[BDR]

old sKool has patches for everything and he has no problem scrolling that I'm aware of. Of course, he could speak to this topic better than I can, but he's a tone freak, which I think is cool. I personally like to hear those familiar parts when we're playing. You'd be surprised how much the average fan notices. I've had people come up and say things like, ''I've heard different bands do that song but you guys nailed it,'' and that's a good feeling. At the same time, there are several songs we do our own twist on, usually cuz the original recording is weak compared to our style. Eminem and Wheatus, for example, are two artists that we ''rock up.'' r:>)

[slackin@dabass]

he's a tone freak

it's so much about personal preference. i know if i was a guitarist, i wouldn't want to try to come up with enough tones to cover a full nights rockin, but i do have much respect for the guys that can hear each tone and know what to tweak to get one as close as possible. it has to take a little bit of time to do it. and patience. mostly patience.

[BDR]

And that wasn't a dis or anything, believe me, there have been times I'll call Ken and he's busy programming his shit. There is a time investment involved and it is a personal preference thing. I personally love hearing songs that have been reworked. As far as vocals go, I try to maintain ''my sound'' no matter what we're doing, in that I don't try to mimick the singer to a T. r:>)

[whitedevilone]

I dunno man.I say a good tube amp,Boogies are hard to beat and you can pretty much achive any tone you want.A tuner and a few stomp boxes should cover you.Remember tone comes from your fingers and over all control of your instrument. Not some modeling go go gadget.I mean i've seen cats playing $2900 PRS's through supersonic 80patches per song gooblygook who couldn't even throw i little trill or interesting lick at the end of the verse.Yeay yeah don't give me the preserving the purity of the song BS either i mean play the fucker.I'm not much for the Jukebox Jimmy vibe anyway and this is purely my opinion so i don't want anybody to get their feelings hurt but i say practice practice practice and you'll be suprised how much vibe you can create on your own.No scrolling required.

[RobTheDrummer]

I say do what you feel you wanna do.

[Colton]

I say do what you feel you wanna do.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Don't be a record player. I'll speak in the terms of rock/blues here, since that's my forte, but the guys who wrote the damn songs never played it the same way twice. Why the fuck would you?



eh...

[RFBuck]

I used to be a perfectionist, and the one thing I learned above everything else is this - even if you had EXACTLY the same rig as a particular artist, you're still not gonna sound like him, because you don't have his HANDS. So I found MY sound, and it works. Most of the time, people are drunk and they get into the beat and that's all it takes.

Knowing that, we just play the songs. Some we change for the fun of it, like Bad Daze with theirs. I'm not an Allman Brothers fan, be we amp up "Midnight Rider" big time and people really dig it. We do "You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC and have never had complaints...Brian Johnson isn't easy to copy. To make up for that, we make sure we put on a good stage show and really look like we're having the time of our life. We get the crowd involved, and our party becomes their party. I don't have time to go "tone chasing" all the time. If I pick up a $50 acoustic, play Enter Sandman, and someone recognizes it...job done.

[VENTGtr]

Yep, Rickster. It's all in what you wanna do. In the end, it's just
"make it work" and love it.

[songsmith]

Remember tone comes from your fingers and over all control of your instrument. Not some modeling go go gadget.I mean i've seen cats playing $2900 PRS's through supersonic 80patches per song gooblygook who couldn't even throw i little trill or interesting lick at the end of the verse.

Word. Connect with the song in your gut... if you feel it, it'll work.--->JMS

[RamRod 1]

Playing Covers, The sound of each artist or just get close?

There's no right or wrong. I personally like doing the same tone and the same notes but to find a band willing to do that is rare.

[lonewolf]

It depends on the format of the band, the format of the song, etc. No matter what though, coming up with an original arrangement on at least a few songs is a good thing.

Bands with 2 guitars and/or especially keyboards can go a hell of a lot further to imitate songs and are probably better off doing that on most songs.

Bands with 1 guitar, bass & drums (microphone holders optional) should probably not try to imitate Hotel California because there are 5 or 6 guitars going at once.

By the same token, Hotel California is one of those well-written songs that sound good just played with its basic chord structure. It would probably be a good idea for a 3-piece band to create their own arrangement of the song--if they felt the need to cover it.

If a three-piece band wants to do a cover that has a significant keyboard phrase or motif, the guitarist should come up with a catchy means of replacing it. Otherwise, the song might be either a candidate for re-arrangement or the round file.

When you get down to it, there is very little studio cover material where a 3 piece band doesn't have to wing it in some way or another. For example, when covers have more than 1 guitar part (and excepting for designated solos), I generally avoid solo fills in favor of the rhythm part during the lyrics of a song. I don't necessarily like it, but this helps to prevent dead spots and gives the band an overall fuller sound. During the solos, Matt (bass) compensates for the extended period so the band still sounds full. Notable exceptions would be Crazy Train or Enter Sandman where the fills are kinda trademark.

The best thing to do is just do it! If you don't like it the 1st time, change it and try it again.

[old Skool]

No right or wrong answer here. I say do what you want, just make sure you put the feeling into it. You mention scrolling. Are you talking about going in order from one patch to another such as 1-2-3-4 etc? This would be pretty tough to set up. For one if you wanted to mix up the set list you're screwed. Two, what happens if you step on your controller by accident and bump up a patch? Screwed once again unless your controller allows you to switch backwards. If you're switching you should have a midi controller that allows you to go directly to the patch you want, such as from 1 straight to 4, etc. As several people have mentioned a simple two channel amp or some pedals will work just fine. Personally I like mixing it up more and creating different patches within the rack to capture different dynamics, moods, etc within the songs. I may use up to four different patches within one song depending on the situation. It also helps to keep things more interesting for me. If you're just getting started I'd keep it simple and concentrate on gettin' tight and being comfortable on stage. Rock on!

[Banned]

Yep, Rickster. It's all in what you wanna do. In the end, it's just
"make it work" and love it.

I agree...as a singer/front-man I would hope to perform the material well and do it justice. Everyone would like to add their touch to song's but sometime's it's good to stick with what works. When the (I love this word-) climax ...of the song is met with thunderous applause, you must have done something right...Rock On!!!