note: I refuse to use any other picture than this because this picture is so good so deal with how pixelated it is.
march 29th (no theme day)
cover: ‘til tuesday - voices carry
-the song/the band: this is one of the greatest songs in the world. I have loved it since I was a kid enjoying the cheesy acting on the part of the abusive boyfriend in the music video (seriously go to youtube and watch the video now). much later I discovered that the aimee mann from ‘til tuesday was the same aimee mann who did the music in the pt anderson movie magnolia. that music isn’t so much my thing but I respect the hell out of it and find it very effective. I’m not surprised that someone who could write one of the most heartbreaking brutal songs I’ve ever heard (’voices carry’) also wrote that intense singalong song in magnolia (also, if you haven’t seen magnolia you obviously should. though it’s not as good as boogie nights. off topic…). I decided to buy the LP a few years ago and found that it was mostly good but no song on it compared to ‘voices carry’. knowing that aimee mann played bass and sang on all of those songs impressed the hell out of me because I suck at playing complicated bass parts while singing. I decided not to attempt it but instead to record all the bass parts, even the complicated ones (seriously, the ending…dude. it’s a lot.) separately from the vocals. honestly the vocals for this song are so hard to sing. see more about that in the process section. OH ALSO did you know the gender pronouns referring to the partner in this song were originally female and the label forced aimee mann to change it because they didn’t think a story about a lesbian relationship would sell? as though this song wasn’t already cool enough!
-the process: I thought I figured the main root notes in this song a few years ago but I was absolutely playing it a half step up (which I realized today when playing along with the song). after figuring that out I decided to look up a tab for the ending part because it is so elaborate. once I figured it all out I recorded one root notes-only track in which I played through everything, then another track in which I played the staccato chorus and the elaborate ending. then I figured out the synth hook in the verses, and I tried to figure out the second synth hook but discovered that it is played in a really high octave and I couldn’t go up from the other synth line on bass. so I decided instead to just play the same synth hook from before even though it wasn’t the right notes. it still sounds cool. then I recorded vocals terribly (I’ve been coughing a lot and have trouble GOING for it right now), and then I scrapped them and tried to go for it even though it was super hard to sing loudly. my second vocal take was better, even though I was all over the place volume-wise and I hit a wrong note (on the word “darling” in the line “hush hush, darling, she might overhear” towards the end of the song). after that I decided singing more would be too hard so I didn’t do any backing vocals. I left the weird ending from the music video (”I wish he would let me talk”) that is not in the album version. all in all I am the most proud of this one that I have been of any of them, I think. I figured out a lot of fading in and fading out stuff in garageband and I feel like I have a better idea of recording techniques than ever before.
gracieabrams
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vaporwave
