When I see local bands at a bar and they are playing covers I would absolutely rather have them play the songs note for note as I know what to expect and I like the song that way, most of the time when they do their own thing it just ruins the song. To some people that might be boring but at that level I would rather know what I'm going to hear then be disappointed when someone does their own interpretation of I song I love and just ruins it.
I've never found bands who cover songs their own way ruin it. Unless their playing is sloppy and the guitars are out of tune. I've heard Kittie doing Pink Floyd, Disturbed doing Genesis, Nightwish doing Gary Moore, Evanescence doing Nirvana. If I wanted to hear Land of Confusion played exactly like Genesis does, I'd just listen to the Genesis version. Though I agree with playing note for note for the sake of practice.
OWA,
I meant local bar bands only..professional bands like the ones you mentioned usually do a good job. I've always been a big Bowie fan and when Hootie and the Blowfish played atthe club I was working they did a version of Ziggy Stardust that was just great..it was very close to the original though.
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
Just admit it, you're playing note-for-note and you're evil. :P
sleu,
Yes it is true I am evil and I try to play note for note...and I will defend my right to do that until I get good enough to go off and do my own thing tastefully.
Why have musical notation in the first place? Isn't it so someone can reproduce exactly what the composer intended?
This might be an exaggerated example but it's like when you go into some cocktail lounge and there's a guy on a piano and all of a sudden he does a cheesy lounge version of " Feels like Teen Spirit"....and that's supposed to be better than someone playing it note for note?
By thye way this all a theoretical exercise since I can't really play anything note for note either..
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
Why have musical notation in the first place? Isn't it so someone can reproduce exactly what the composer intended?
Not really. That is, I think the 'issue' here. Sheet music only gives the notes, rhythm and a vague indication of tempo and dynamics. There's a lot of room for interpretation (which is why there is a conductor). You can play the exact notes but still have it be 'your' version: your vibrato speed and width might be different, you might accent one note a bit more, you can slide a tad faster into a note or mute it a bit more strongly. Listen to two concert-pianists play the same piece and you'll notice differences, even though they play the same notes. Jimi Hendrix noticed that people were copying his mistakes. That's where the line is between 'copying' and 'covering'. You can do a fantastic and inspiring cover of a song without changing a single note.
That is the gap between you and King. King says that you shouldn't play it precisely as the record. You say you shouldn't play it wildly different. There's a gap in between there where I think you'll both can find some agreement. It also has to do with skill: people like us are happy when we hit the right notes. When we progress we'll slowly open up a world of new 'sound dimensions' that will allow us to 'play our way' without raping the tune. King is already a but further ahead so he's thinking and talking about other aspects of music then we are.
Because let me assure you, I hate it just as much when some wanker butchers Comfortably Numb with his 'own view' on the solo. There's a difference between giving a song a twist and evading the tough parts...
second most annoying thing is....hi-jacking one thread for a full on head-to-head debate lol :lol:
release the doves of peace guys :roll:
Arjen...surely the role of a conducter is to cue in the different sections of an orchestra mainly...after all the guy in front of the brass section cannot hear the other instruments above the din :shock:
Sleu,
Good stuff and right on. I think someowher back in my earlier posts I alluded to the fact that both King and gnease are much farther along and maybe when I get there I would feel the same way, but I still don't think that's a bad thing to play it note for note if that's what you are striving for..it doesn't necessarily make you an android.
But your last line said it all..many times I think people say that as a crutch to avoid difficult parts in a peice of music and to me that's more "wrong" than regurgitating something note for note.
Bally,
hey annoying people is what I do best
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
Arjen...surely the role of a conducter is to cue in the different sections of an orchestra mainly...after all the guy in front of the brass section cannot hear the other instruments above the din
Yup, but think about it. When you are the one that indicates the tempo and signal how loud sections should come then that gives you quite some control over how it will sound. Else they would just program a click-track through in-ear monitoring. :D
(ingoring the graphical value of a conductor, elderly women like seeing a man wave his stick around :P)
This might be an exaggerated example but it's like when you go into some cocktail lounge and there's a guy on a piano and all of a sudden he does a cheesy lounge version of " Feels like Teen Spirit"....and that's supposed to be better than someone playing it note for note?
Google up Prozak For Lovers. Cheesy lounge lizard versions of metal and punk classics. Terrific stuff!
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
Arjen...surely the role of a conducter is to cue in the different sections of an orchestra mainly...after all the guy in front of the brass section cannot hear the other instruments above the din
Else they would just program a click-track through in-ear monitoring. :D
no such technology three centuries ago...but yes i concede the conducter has the power to influence the way a piece will sound.....it would be interesting to know if a classical expert would be able to tell who the conducter was for a given piece
Last year there was an English program on television where people were given two weeks to learn a new job and see if they could. One of the shows they had a, IIRC semi-pro, punk-rock musician and his challenge was to become a conductor in two weeks. He was trained extensively and put in front of a real orchestra after that. Four other, professional, conductors would perform that night as well. A jury was then given the task to rate each.
In the end it kinda machted out, and he was voted last. However, one of the jury members changed his mind right at the end, before he had the punker at #1. Given the fact that these were knowledgable people on music and that they rated it him worst but still 'good' shows to me that the difference, which does exist, between professional conductors is not that large.
Dawn of the dead had a lounge version of down with the sickness... compared to the original it sucked, but it was an interesting version of the song anyway. Tenacious D and the pick of destiny featured many note for note but distorted/tempo increased versions of classical songs, and I find it hard not to like those.
Things I hate, when someone says they think it's fine to play something note for note, then someone says people who always play note for note are robots for only playing songs note for note, and then the first person is all like I didn't say it has to be played note for note all the time or that not playing note for note is bad, just that I like to do it that way, and then the other person is all like, you note for note nazi's caused world war 3! And then like, valley girls, they took over, you know what I mean?
Btw, I think that tenacious D movie has to be one of the dumbest movies I've ever liked, I don't even understand what there is to like about it. I hate movies with corny gooberish plots like two guys who need to find the pick of destiny and other things about the advertising might make someone think the movie is kind of aimed at younger kids (cause the title is really dumb) and then you get to the theatre and COCK PUSHPUS! (sorry mods if this is over the line please beat as much of this post as necessary into submission to make everything OK again).
Arjen... although i didn't see the programme i am aware of it....interesting concept
i drink wine to an excess so maybe i could bluff it as a wine taster...i think the red eyes and slurred speach would be the killer though :lol: :lol:
maliciant.....i've just wet my pants with laughter :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
I'm one of those people who'd rather hear a cover version done differently to the original....be honest, how many of you would rather listen to the Beatles' own version (or Billy Bragg's, or Wet Wet Wet's version, neither of which stray too far...) of "I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends" than Joe Cocker's? Dylan's own version of "All Along The Watchtower" or Hendrix's? Springsteen's "Blinded By The Light" or Manfred Mann's?
What Joe, Jimi and MM did was take a good song and do it radically differently - and in MY opinion, better - than the orginal. They interpreted the song rather than just copied it. There's a lot to be said for doing a note-for-note cover as a learning tool, and yes if I'm watching a bar-band, I'd rather hear a fairly close interpretation of the classic version....but if you're recording a song, I'd rather hear YOUR version.....what's the point of recording someone else's song unless you're going to do it differently?
On the subject of bar-bands - couple of years ago we were in Texas on holiday. Decided to go to Fort Worth on July 4th to see Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Doobies and others. On the list of must-see places was Billybob's - the biggest honky-tonk in the world. Country music playing through the sound system, ice-cold beer - great vibe. Then a band gets on stage, tunes up, and launches into .......
"Sweet Home Alabama!".......well I thought it was funny.....
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
