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What exactly does it mean to play "covers"

#41
You can do whatever you want with a song as long as it is good the crowd likes it. When my band plays things like Girls On Film or Maybe I'm Amazed they are usually done note for note but when we worked out "Bohemian Like You" by The Dandy Warhols we kind of made it our own and rocked it up a bit.
 
#42
As the saying goes, every recording band, even a very famous one, becomes its own cover band; meaning it will not faithfully reproduce its recorded songs in a live situation. Why, because invariably songs will evolve over repeated performances and many bands have a hard time reproducing their studio efforts because of multitracking, use of more talented studio musicians, use of different equipment live vs. studio, and plain ol' performance mistakes.
 
#43
stringthrough said:
As the saying goes, every recording band, even a very famous one, becomes its own cover band; meaning it will not faithfully reproduce its recorded songs in a live situation. Why, because invariably songs will evolve over repeated performances and many bands have a hard time reproducing their studio efforts because of multitracking, use of more talented studio musicians, use of different equipment live vs. studio, and plain ol' performance mistakes.
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Exactly. I mean, I don't even think I've really thought about it when were rehearsing new tunes to play. If we play something note for note then it ends up that way but sometimes organically the song will take on a life of it's own within our style. There's never really any plan to do one or the other.
 
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#45
I think as a general rule, if the song highlights the instrument, it's a good idea to be as exact as possible. If the song is simple and basic, it's much easier to make it your own.

Can you imagine YYZ, Roundabout or Cliffs of Dover improvised? However, I could see a lot of room for doing what you want on Takin Care of Business or You Really Got Me.
 
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#50
Big Hoss said:
So I have been learning some newer songs, and am just not comfortable with the bass line as written. I can play it, I just don't think it's good enough.

I know through the years there have been plenty of covers that simply don't follow note for note the original. I am just wondering where people fall on this issue. It seems some folks get apoplectic if you don't go note and others that want to put their own spin on a song...

Example...

Original...


Cover...


FWIW, I tend to fall into the camp that thinks note for note reproduction of a song belongs in the realm of "tribute" and not covers...
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Play it your way.

Always play it your way.

The xerox guys can do whatever they want. Play it your way.
 
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#51
socialleper said:
You can use the sources foundation and still "make it your own."
The bane of most cover bands is that they don't have the talent/gear/people to do a mirror cover, or the creativity to do something of their own with it. Most of the cover groups I see at fairs, car shows, restaurants, bars, etc suck something awful because 1.) their set list is as old as they are; and 2.) they are half-@$$ing the songs. Their "spin" is apparently is: song + Valium + dippy hats and Hawaiian shirts.
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Funny!!! :laugh:

Cuz it's true!!!:roflmao:
 
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#52
Kmonk said:
My feeling has always been that if you are in a cover band you should try to play note for note. People want to hear songs the way they know them. They don't care about a local cover band's interpretation or arrangement. If you are a famous musician, you have earned the right to create your own arrangement and people will usually like it because you already have a body of well known work.
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No, _you_ want to hear songs the way _you_ know them. "People" can't be generalized. Some are stupid and some are smart. Some are artistic and some are not. And some know that there is no such thing as "earned the right" to create original arrangements. And of course, by the post above, we can see that some just don't know that. :rollno:

So, if someone you've never heard of gets a hit out of a cover, they didn't have the right, right? What are you going to do to stop them, tell them they suck? Funny, hasn't worked yet..... :banghead:

Good thing we have you to tell us what our rights are. :roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao:
 
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#53
I think it is important to learn a song note for note even if no one ( less on YouTube no one play the same cover exactly the same and I'm pretty sure no one as it nailled it 100% ) will actually get it 100% like the original musician did it.

Most of the time I hear a cover by an original band of another band music, they do it in their style. And it is prefectly fine as the band as a distinc style of music. My problem is more with a cover band who mix style ... do a rock song as a reggea, then a reggae as a disco etc.
 
#56
If you're simplifying a tune cause the band can't play it, that's kind of lame. We've been playing the first half of baba o riley but we have to stop before the violin solo and i've always been a little embarrassed about that. Crowds are impressed anyway so we've kept doing it.

The lead singer i've been working with the past five years is obsessed with getting all vocal harmonies just like the original. instrumentally he's flexible, but if we cant nail the vocal lead and harmonies, we drop the tune.
 
#59
I think it is important to be able to do both: 1) accurate note-for-note transcription with correct tone, effects, and technique, and 2) creative and imaginative re-interpretation of a classic. I appreciate a great tribute band who can reproduce the performance and energy of some of my favorite artists, but I also keenly remember being blown away when Devo first appeared on Saturday Night Live and played Satisfaction...
 
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#60
Fondsdale said:
Do what ever you want as long as it fits. Most bands don't even play their own songs 100% the same as the album when playing live.
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so many years of my youth wasted in a delusional belief that bands wrote and reproduced songs live as they were on the recording, and that if i couldn't reproduce things nearly note for note that i was flawed as a player. i was young, dumb, and full of . . .
 
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