Studio Series: Covering a Classic Part 1

Posted on Monday, November 23, 2009
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Going to change things up a bit and share the experience of putting a song together. Sharing what goes into putting together, performing, recording and mixing a song. With writing and recording as much as I do there are times where you hit a wall. Where the goal of what you set out to accomplish gets lost. After releasing "(OMG) Mom, I'm an Alien" I went through many issues between computers not working, internet failures and the wondrous roller coaster of life, I found myself frustrated the I had not succeeded more plus a bit disenchanted with music all together. But then a song came on which I have not heard in a long time. A song that inspired me not only just to play guitar but to write songs. That song was the Jimi Hendrix version of the classic Bob Dylan song "All Along the Watchtower".

I must admit I am not a fan of cover songs, unless they are done in a way that the band or person covering the song performs the song in their own way. A kind of interpretation that is a musical thank you to the original artist that wrote and performed the song originally. With that said, I set out to do just that with my version of "All Along the Watchtower". To work out a version that said thank you to Bob and Jimi at the same time while performing the song from my musical flavoring.

How do I plan to pay homage to Dylan and Hendrix in the same song? First I chose to use the chord structure Dylan played when he recorded the song. That being the Am - G - F - G chord progression. I then found I liked repeating the F & G at the end of the progression instead of going back to Am. I also added a guitar riff in the key of G to start off the song and at the end of the verse chords to transition into the solo passages that Hendrix established. Secondly, by keeping the Hendrix solo passages and transposing the Hendrix intro lead guitar riff into the same key as Dylan original, I chose to do the lead passages in my own style but to keep the same spirit that Hendrix played with.

I hope you agree the in the end result you can hear both the Dylan and Hendrix versions within my interpretation of "All Along the Watchtower". For part one of this series I am posting the first mix for my version of the song. Overall I am happy with the direction the song is going but feel somethings need to be improved. The issues I have are as follows:

1. The vocals are not as strong as I want them to be. I recorded them after a long work week and need a day to rest my voice completely before recording them again. Plus I feel the lyrics need to sung more clearly
2. The drums: I recorded a basic kit and then repeated the same drum line with a drum machine using a techno sound and a word beat sound. Played alone they really worked well together but in the final mix they are drowned out and need to be more present.
3. The bass: I recorded two bass parts for the song. First I used a 1968 bass amp set up and then I used a "sub-sonic" bass tone to add some extra bump plus the tone went well with the techno and world beat drum lines.
4. The guitars: I recorded a clean and a distorted Fender guitar part, a single acoustic guitar line plus a clean and distorted Gibson Les Paul line. What seemed like a good idea in recording all those guitar parts at the time only came out muddled and not as defined as I wanted. Sonically speaking the combined sum of the guitar lines are too cumbersome so I want to use just the two distorted guitar line plus the acoustic only in the next mix.
5. The guitar solo: I recorded a Fender and a Les Paul lead line and used a different tone each. In truth I riffed most of in on the fly and recorded it at the end of a 16 hour session. My head and hands wear not at the top of my game and want to solidify the solo more. I hope to do this for the next mix.

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Apologies for the delay....

Posted on Saturday, November 14, 2009
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My apologies for the delay in new music. I have had the unfortunate luck of the draw with internet connections over the past several weeks plus the added bonus of a computer crash. Thankfully I had backed up all the songs I was working on before the crash and did not lose anything but the time it has taken to get everything reinstalled plus the daily grind has put me in a hole so to speak. On top of it all my internet connection has been off and on by the minute over the past several weeks as well. But all issues have now been resolved and with my "swear jar" now full enough to buy guitar strings for the next two years, I am ready to get back to doing what I do. A new song will be posted by next Monday. I hoped to have one by this upcoming Monday but cannot promise I will be done in time. Three weeks of work is a lot to catch up on in a single weekend.

I would like to personally thank Microsoft for forcing my computer with an update, which from their point of view was supposed to improve my OS, the result being a full system crash. They should change their name from Microsoft to Full System Failure services. I would also like to thank the immensely unhelpful folks at Qwest Internet services for asking me to connect to a website that would help after I explained repeatedly that i have NO INTERNET! That was a week of fun I will not soon forget. Customer service is supposed to listen and then help the issue you call to report, not ignore you and ask why you have no internet when you are calling them to find out why you have no internet?!? Plus I love the new trick of transferring your phone call only to hang up on you so you have to call back over and over again. Both companies need a serious overhaul when it comes to their customer service hiring programs. But I doubt that will ever happen in light of the money the spend to convince us they care and that they are here to help.

So remember skull candy cadets: Don't believe the hype, stay tuned for November 23rd for new WGC head food goodness and to always rock on, be true and stay strong.

- Wolfgang

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