I don't like covers because they've already been created, often many times. If I want to hear something that already exists, I'll go get a recording of it.
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Why are "covers" looked down on?
- Thread starter Amara
- Start date
So post a link to some originals you've been working on.
Here's your chance to get a bit of an audience.
For me, I can't go see Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, or any of the classic rock acts live, and I don't really want to watch a tribute band pretend to be one of these acts for a few hours.
I have put together a cover band that plays what I, as an audience member, would want.
Do you think the average audience would prefer to hear what a fifty year old man has to say, presented in the format of straight up rock, or would they rather dance to Sweet Emotion and Freebird?
I tend to do FOLK originals, for an audience that is more likely to want to hear what I have to say.
ROCK originals? Who is my audience?
If that is your desire, go for it! More power to you! And I do mean that in all sincerity.
However, many of us do need an audience...since the audience is what generates cash flow (and therefore money for us), and the audience gives us satisfaction from watching their enjoyment of our performance. So if performing covers gets us that audience, and the audience responds with enjoyment (and money) then we are happy too.
OK, waitaminute--who dances to Freebird? Other than a few people on heavy doses of brain-altering substances?
OK, waitaminute--who dances to Freebird? Other than a few people on heavy doses of brain-altering substances?
In all seriousness, we end EVERY SINGLE SHOW with that song, and pretty much everybody always dances to it.
Wow. Just to be clear, I'm not saying it's a bad song. It just never struck me as danceable.
It's the perfect ending song, because the people start out slow dancing to it, which is the one thing everybody can do. When it picks up, some stay and shake it, and some just stand up there and rock out, and flick lighters or whatever, and some sit back down and watch the fun.
What amazes me is how it has never failed to bring down the house.
Really i've thought about it and the only reason why im not interested in playing covers (well aside form maybe the odd one here and there, i do HAVE two or three recorded covers and I did enjoy adapting them, like i adapted a song that was 95% synth into just guitar and bass before and that was a nice challenge and the end result was in my mind pretty good) is because it does not make me feel fulfilled.
Most of the songs i've ever learned/covered are most likely better than anything i will ever come up with, however when i do come up with something, i get a tremendous sense of satisfaction. What's important to me is not so much, how well does this song i just wrote rate in the whole history of rock n roll (if i did that id get depressed and give up)...its, how good is this song to ME, considering my limitations (be it technique, composing skills, gear, whatever). Is it better than the last i wrote? Did i raise MY own bar? And that's why i play my own songs. If i could get that from playing covers, i'd play covers (and i assume some people do get that from playing covers and that's great). It is a lot of fun to play covers with a good band, but at the end of the day, that's all it is to me, a lot of fun (which is already something). But it didn't make me feel like.... fulfilled.
Most of the songs i've ever learned/covered are most likely better than anything i will ever come up with, however when i do come up with something, i get a tremendous sense of satisfaction. What's important to me is not so much, how well does this song i just wrote rate in the whole history of rock n roll (if i did that id get depressed and give up)...its, how good is this song to ME, considering my limitations (be it technique, composing skills, gear, whatever). Is it better than the last i wrote? Did i raise MY own bar? And that's why i play my own songs. If i could get that from playing covers, i'd play covers (and i assume some people do get that from playing covers and that's great). It is a lot of fun to play covers with a good band, but at the end of the day, that's all it is to me, a lot of fun (which is already something). But it didn't make me feel like.... fulfilled.
OK, waitaminute--who dances to Freebird? Other than a few people on heavy doses of brain-altering substances?
Plus it's long, a few changes, and lots of guitar going on.
Roland GR 88
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Everybody has their own reasons to play music.
Nobody can look down what one is working on.
AMEN !!
It's a challenging bassline, and the rhythm section is doing a lot of very cool things.
It's one of my favorites that we play.
The entire band loves it.
Most people never bother to learn it correctly, and just jam through it.
I love good songs by good song writers/composers. I like to bring things to the table when I play someone else's songs. I have decent arranging skills. The Frank Zappa quote should have been the end all in this thread.
Just for the record, Zappa was the composer. He hired musicians who could sight read and fined them for mistakes.
So much for "originality" in his original band, Frank was the innovator in his band.
Everyone else was a hired gun.
Just for the record, Zappa was the composer. He hired musicians who could sight read and fined them for mistakes.
So much for "originality" in his original band, Frank was the innovator in his band.
Everyone else was a hired gun.
Equal respect for both. My band works incredibly hard to be a cut above the average bar cover band. Many of the songs we perform are taken from live versions of the original artists, so I guess in a sense we are covering covers. In some cases we take an original version, and someone else's recorded version of a song and craft elements of both into our rendition. Sometimes it comes easy, and sometimes it takes a couple rehearsals to nail an arrangement. But we always make sure that if there are key or memorable moments in a song, or even a certain sound or tone that make it recognizable, we do it (insert pedal addictions here-lol!) FWIW-fellow musicians and casual listeners have told us we are the tightest cover band they have ever heard. That just makes us want to work even harder to bring people a top-notch show every time.
On the flipside of things, if there were no original bands, then there would be no material to cover. If Bill Hailey, Chuck Berry and Bo Didley weren't brave enough to innovate a new sound, we would all still be listening to, and covering, Rosemary Clooney and Pat Boone.
Case in point-a band must have good musicians to be good at all. The real good cover bands are as good as they are because each member still had to learn their craft, to understand the fundamentals of their chosen instrument, and develop the feel of playing both by themselves and with a band. If it were easy, wouldn't everybody do it?
To the original artists/musicians, songwritting is an incredible talent, and a good production more often than not requires one person's ear to be 'in charge'. To create a great song, whether for your own band or someone else, takes the same afforementioned skilled musicians to make it happen.
All that to say-Neither is more or less valid than the other.
On the flipside of things, if there were no original bands, then there would be no material to cover. If Bill Hailey, Chuck Berry and Bo Didley weren't brave enough to innovate a new sound, we would all still be listening to, and covering, Rosemary Clooney and Pat Boone.
Case in point-a band must have good musicians to be good at all. The real good cover bands are as good as they are because each member still had to learn their craft, to understand the fundamentals of their chosen instrument, and develop the feel of playing both by themselves and with a band. If it were easy, wouldn't everybody do it?
To the original artists/musicians, songwritting is an incredible talent, and a good production more often than not requires one person's ear to be 'in charge'. To create a great song, whether for your own band or someone else, takes the same afforementioned skilled musicians to make it happen.
All that to say-Neither is more or less valid than the other.
One thing is, it takes a good band/musical crew to make the music part of a song good.
It takes a good songwriter to make the lyrics/melody part good.
If either are lacking, you don't get very good songs.
I love to use the Waters/Gilmore team as an example. Waters writes brilliant lyrics, and often great melodies. But Gilmore complained that on "The Wall," he brought a bunch of songs that all sounded more or less the same. Let's just take Dave's claim at face value, and say that's what happened.
Gilmore used his musical skills to beef up the arrangements, and add some depth to the music.
It's very difficult to write as a band. .05% of bands actually write really great songs. The other 99.95% write a mixture of mediocre and just plain bad music the world would be better off without.
I consider myself a "not bad" songwriter. Not bad in the sense that I'm better than a lot of other dreck I hear. Not great in the sense that I don't feel I live up to the level of the artists I cover.
If you have something to say, then SAY IT! Play original music. Push for it to get heard. Make it your life's goal.
But don't assume you're saying anything worth hearing. All you can do is put it out there. Once you do that, it is for others to judge. And those others could be tone deaf, stupid, shallow, or whatever.
That's why I think it's so funny when someone says a band/artist/song that has moved millions is "overrated."
Seriously?
Millions of people, across varying levels of age, race, social background, and musical taste were moved by this song, and you feel you can bash it?
Guess again.
It takes a good songwriter to make the lyrics/melody part good.
If either are lacking, you don't get very good songs.
I love to use the Waters/Gilmore team as an example. Waters writes brilliant lyrics, and often great melodies. But Gilmore complained that on "The Wall," he brought a bunch of songs that all sounded more or less the same. Let's just take Dave's claim at face value, and say that's what happened.
Gilmore used his musical skills to beef up the arrangements, and add some depth to the music.
It's very difficult to write as a band. .05% of bands actually write really great songs. The other 99.95% write a mixture of mediocre and just plain bad music the world would be better off without.
I consider myself a "not bad" songwriter. Not bad in the sense that I'm better than a lot of other dreck I hear. Not great in the sense that I don't feel I live up to the level of the artists I cover.
If you have something to say, then SAY IT! Play original music. Push for it to get heard. Make it your life's goal.
But don't assume you're saying anything worth hearing. All you can do is put it out there. Once you do that, it is for others to judge. And those others could be tone deaf, stupid, shallow, or whatever.
That's why I think it's so funny when someone says a band/artist/song that has moved millions is "overrated."
Seriously?
Millions of people, across varying levels of age, race, social background, and musical taste were moved by this song, and you feel you can bash it?
Guess again.
The perception of any song can change over time depending on who's listening to it and their age.
A lot of the songs I liked when they first came out (60's and 70's) no longer have the same impact on me when I listen to them. I still like the song........but I no longer like the way it was done.
As I listen to many my brain takes over and starts "updating it" to what I would like to hear.
As an example:- "Sherry" by The Four Seasons.
I have noodled with this in my home studio many a time and I have it the way I want to hear it.....which I enjoy.
It doesn't sound like theirs (except in words/melody) and it
isn't trying to imitate their sound.....(I don't like their sound anymore).
tempo is about the same ( I may be older but that doesn't mean I like slow music....just the opposite...I generally like fast stuff better).
Just about everything I do at home these days is a cover of something (taking a break from doing my own material)
None of my covers imitate the original work as it was done then....because I don't like the way it was done then anymore........
Take "Layla" for example.......I didn't like the original Clapton version much....and I liked the unplugged version even less.....but I do like the song itself..........solution:- rework it to something I like.
The Beatle song "Martha My Dear".....I actually like some of the YouTube piano covers of this better than I like the Beatle version....(although I liked the Beatle original for years...somehow now the arrangement seems a tad contrived in places).
A lot of the songs I liked when they first came out (60's and 70's) no longer have the same impact on me when I listen to them. I still like the song........but I no longer like the way it was done.
As I listen to many my brain takes over and starts "updating it" to what I would like to hear.
As an example:- "Sherry" by The Four Seasons.
I have noodled with this in my home studio many a time and I have it the way I want to hear it.....which I enjoy.
It doesn't sound like theirs (except in words/melody) and it
isn't trying to imitate their sound.....(I don't like their sound anymore).
tempo is about the same ( I may be older but that doesn't mean I like slow music....just the opposite...I generally like fast stuff better).
Just about everything I do at home these days is a cover of something (taking a break from doing my own material)
None of my covers imitate the original work as it was done then....because I don't like the way it was done then anymore........
Take "Layla" for example.......I didn't like the original Clapton version much....and I liked the unplugged version even less.....but I do like the song itself..........solution:- rework it to something I like.
The Beatle song "Martha My Dear".....I actually like some of the YouTube piano covers of this better than I like the Beatle version....(although I liked the Beatle original for years...somehow now the arrangement seems a tad contrived in places).
"It's very difficult to write as a band. .05% of bands actually write really great songs. The other 99.95% write a mixture of mediocre and just plain bad music the world would be better off without."
This^ is for cover bands.
Go to a place like Portland, Atlanta, Athens, New York, Austin anywhere that has a thriving original music scene and spend some time digging into that scene. It can truly be an eye opening experience. You'll rethink your entire reasons justifying your life as a musician.
I don't look down on anybody because I do not consider myself above anybody.
I do however do not care for cover bands and more so the fans of the cover scene. There is nothing there for me.
But I have not listened to the radio in years because they do not play anything new that really appeals to me. There has been a few college stations that I like but only because they expose me to new music. Never been a fan of mainstream and Grammys mean nothing to me as the same for the rock'n roll hall of fame.
I do know that it is easier to do something when it has already been done. This can apply in just about everything.
This^ is for cover bands.
Go to a place like Portland, Atlanta, Athens, New York, Austin anywhere that has a thriving original music scene and spend some time digging into that scene. It can truly be an eye opening experience. You'll rethink your entire reasons justifying your life as a musician.
I don't look down on anybody because I do not consider myself above anybody.
I do however do not care for cover bands and more so the fans of the cover scene. There is nothing there for me.
But I have not listened to the radio in years because they do not play anything new that really appeals to me. There has been a few college stations that I like but only because they expose me to new music. Never been a fan of mainstream and Grammys mean nothing to me as the same for the rock'n roll hall of fame.
I do know that it is easier to do something when it has already been done. This can apply in just about everything.
It amazes me as to how many musicians there are out there that can technically play an instrument fairly well.....but totally lack in creative inspiration.
They can play all kinds of covers......and do a not-so-bad job.....but they cannot put their fingers on the "zeitgeist" of the times. Or maybe their idea of the "zeitgeist" of the times is what you hear when they play.
Maybe it's because they want to "fit in" and sound like everybody else........I don't know.
Times are always changing and they say art reflects life...
So far most of what I'm hearing these days isn't reflecting anything I feel much musically.
It plain and simply just "doesn't have it" in many cases.
Listen to "Spain" by Chick Correa.....or a "Love Supreme" by Coltrane......(sure ...that's jazz...but still)......
There is no "musical revolution" right now......
There are 'genres'...........all blindly groping for something that they can put a name on.........cashing in on the gullibility of the young.
Lots of musicians.......but few geniuses.........
They can play all kinds of covers......and do a not-so-bad job.....but they cannot put their fingers on the "zeitgeist" of the times. Or maybe their idea of the "zeitgeist" of the times is what you hear when they play.
Maybe it's because they want to "fit in" and sound like everybody else........I don't know.
Times are always changing and they say art reflects life...
So far most of what I'm hearing these days isn't reflecting anything I feel much musically.
It plain and simply just "doesn't have it" in many cases.
Listen to "Spain" by Chick Correa.....or a "Love Supreme" by Coltrane......(sure ...that's jazz...but still)......
There is no "musical revolution" right now......
There are 'genres'...........all blindly groping for something that they can put a name on.........cashing in on the gullibility of the young.
Lots of musicians.......but few geniuses.........
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