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Project 2 Task 1: Section B

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"A Friend (James Taylor cover)"

The first song I've chosen to analyze and compare to the cover version is: "Carole King - You've Got A Friend (James Taylor cover)"

Carole King and James Taylor know each other personally and have performed "You've Got A Friend" together live in 2010 during their Troubadour Reunion Tour

Original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlDI4g5ab1g
Cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEkIou3WFnM


Original by Carole King
Cover by James Taylor
Key Signature
E minor
F# minor
Genre/Style
Soft Rock
Folk Rock, Soft Rock
Tempo (BPM)
85
92
Recording Date
1971
1971
Release Date
1971
1971
Producer
Lou Adler
Peter Asher
Arrangement/Structure
Intro (4 Bars)
Verse 1 (8 Bars)
Pre Chorus (8 Bars) Chorus (16 Bars)
Bridge (2 Bars)
Verse 2 (8 Bars)
Pre Chorus 2 (8 Bars) Chorus (16 Bars)
Middle 8 (10 Bars)
Chorus 3 (16 Bars)
Outro (16 Bars)
Intro (4 Bars)
Verse 1 (8 Bars)
Pre Chorus (8 Bars) Chorus (16 Bars)
Bridge (2 Bars)
Verse 2 (8 Bars)
Pre Chorus 2 (8 Bars) Chorus (16 Bars)
Middle 8 (10 Bars)
Chorus 3 (16 Bars)
Outro (16 Bars)
Instrumentation
Piano
Acoustic Guitar
Acoustic Bass
Lead Vocal
Woodblock acting as a snare in the first 8 bars of the chorus
Two Acoustic Guitars
Percussion
Acoustic drum kit
Lead Vocal
Background singers
(1 female, 1 male)
Bass
Small String ensemble
Popularity
Won a Grammy for “Song Of The Year”
Won a Grammy for “Best Male Vocal Performance”, reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 4 on the UK Singles Chart
Time Signature
4/4
4/4
Run Length
5:15
4:26
Production
  • Bass and Guitar are panned to the left
  • Piano is panned to the right
  • Tape hiss in the background
  • The vocal sounds rather dry and only lightly processed
  • Two Guitars are panned left and right
  • Tape hiss in the background
  • percussion is panned to the left, Background vocal doing harmonies in some parts of the second chorus,
  • Very clean sound, well balanced and mixed
  • Bass is centered
Performance
  • Danny Kortchmar and Joni Mitchell performed in both versions of the song
  • The guitar player plucks the strings
  • The vocalist sings rather casually and not that powerful
  • The bass is playing alongside the melody and really ads groove to the track
  • Danny Kortchmar and Joni Mitchell performed in both versions of the song
  • The performance of the vocalist is very powerful and emotional
  • The piano player increases the velocity when he hits the keys right before the chorus to build tension
  • The vocalist makes use of vibrato on long notes

"Grizzly Bear - Will Calls (Diplo Remix)"

The second song I've decided to choose is "Grizzly Bear - Will Calls (Diplo Remix)"
This is an Alternative song reworked into an EDM track by Diplo. He used some interesting production techniques like vocal chops to create a lead melody in the chorus while maintaining a certain simplicity throughout the entire song to not overwhelm the listener.
Original: https://soundcloud.com/grizzlybearband/will-calls-marfa-demo
Cover/Remix: https://soundcloud.com/diplo/will-calls-diplo-remix


Original by Grizzly Bear
Cover by Diplo
Key Signature
D major
D major
Genre/Style
Alternative
Electronic, EDM
Tempo (BPM)
Tempo until 1:45 is about 58 bpm and after 1:45, when the chorus starts, it increases and goes up to 115 bpm. After the chorus, it goes back down to 58 bpm.
The tempo changes again in the second chorus and goes back down after the chorus finishes until the song ends.
150
Recording Date
2012
2014
Release Date
2012
2014
Producer
Chris Taylor
Diplo (Wesley Pentz)
Arrangement/Structure
Intro 5 Bars
Verse 1, 20 Bars
Chorus 1, 16 Bars
Break, 4 Bars
Verse 2, 22 Bars
Chorus 2, 24 Bars
Break 18 Bars
Outro 10 Bars
Intro 8 Bars
Verse 16 Bars
Pre-chorus 16 Bars
Chorus 1, 16 Bars
Pre-chorus 16 Bars
Chorus 2, 16 Bars
Break 8 Bars
Bridge 27 Bars
Chorus 3, 22 Bars
Outro 8 Bars
Instrumentation
Percussion
Acoustic Drum Kit
Synth pad with a lot of distortion
Bass
Lead vocal
2x Electric guitars
Distorted background vocal (same singer, double track recording)
Saxophone
Jazz drum kit
Synth 1 (intro)
Percussion
Vocals
Sampled drums
Synth 2 (supersaw)
Vocal chops
Synth 3 comes on every time the snare hits in the chorus
Crash
Hi-hats
Sub bass
Popularity
The original has 417.000 plays on Grizzly Bears official SoundCloud and 316.000 views on their official YouTube channel.

So if you compare both of them Diplo’s remix is much more popular than the original.
Diplo’s remix has over 9.11 Million plays on his personal Soundcloud page and another 2.54 Million plays on Grizzly Bears Soundcloud page. The song has racked up another 4.1 Million plays on Youtube.
Time Signature
4/4
4/4
Run Length
6:51
4:06
Production
  • A lot of distortion and reverb was used to process the background layer of the vocals
  • The recording sounds a lot older than it is and has a kind of dirty sound to it
  • The kick is very dominant in mix and sounds like it has some kind of vinyl crackle on it
  • The guitar is in the back of the mix and often plays a couple of note in the verses then fades away again
  • In the chorus, the instruments sound very distant as if you were standing at the back of a venue and the sound has to travel through the room first till it gets to your ears. This effect has been created with reverb and delay and probably they actually placed the microphones further away from the instruments
  • The recording style is quite unique and it really sounds as if you were in the room with the band
  • Diplo has sped up the vocals and given the track more of a drive and forward momentum by adding a percussive groove playing quavers
  • On top of that, he introduces a steady kick and snare pattern, the kick playing on the first note of the bar and the snare on the third giving the song a half time feel
  • In the chorus, he changes everything up by replacing the vocal lead with vocal chops playing a catchy melody
  • He then adds a synth underneath in the second part of the chorus to keep the listener interested
  • The synth is a basic supersaw made out of 2-3 saw-wave oscillators that have been detuned and side chained to the kick
  • Another very interesting element which he brings in in the chorus is a synth hit on every third note which reinforces the snare and gives it more of an impact at the same time adding something melodically interesting



"Yung Lean - Gatorade (prod. Yung Gud) (Lido Cover)"

The third and last cover I analyzed is a song called Gatorade produced by Yung Gud with the rapper Yung Lean rapping on it which was covered by Lido. Yung Gud and Yung Lean are both from Sweden and do some rather avant-garde things musically and fashion wise which they are often criticized for but they have a solid fanbase and were able to start a big trend and underground movement which has gained worldwide traction on the internet.

Lido re-imagined the track and completely stripped it down using mainly a piano and his processed vocals to create a very contrasting version of the song.

Original: https://soundcloud.com/yung-lean-doer/gatorade-hitech-taste-prod
Cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEN-M7y8cFk

Original by Yung Lean
Cover by Lido
Key Signature
B major
B major
Genre/Style
Cloud Rap, Vaporwave, Rap
Acoustic Rap
Tempo (BPM)
120
123
Recording Date
2013
2013/2014
Release Date
2013
2013/2014
Producer
Yung Gud
Lido
Arrangement/Structure
Intro 6 Bars
Chorus 16 Bars
Verse 1, 16 Bars
Breakdown 8 Bars
Chorus 16 Bars
Stripdown 2 Bars
Verse 2 16 Bars
Chorus variation 6 Bars
Outro 4 Bars then fadeout
Intro (Free tempo) 16 Seconds
Chorus 16 Bars
Verse 1, 16 Bars
Breakdown 8 Bars
Chorus 16 Bars
Outro 8 Bars

Instrumentation
Supersaw synth which is slightly detuned
Sampled drums (kick snare, hi hat, percussion)
Synth playing an arpeggio
Whitenoise effects
Vocal cuts in the background
Piano
Heavily processed Vocals
Strings
Riser (sample)
Bass
Vocals
Popularity
1.56 Million plays on Soundcloud and almost 2.8 Million plays on youtube and these plays are recorded solely on the official sites of Yung Lean.

Not nearly as popular, 170.000 thousand views on youtube on an unofficial channel, 112.000 views on soundcloud.
The cover by Lido has however been used in multiple  
Time Signature
4/4
4/4
Run Length
3:19
2:28
Production
  • A bandpass filter is utilized in the intro, which gives makes it sound as if the sound is coming from a telephone or a bad speaker, and opened through automation
  • A lot of chopped vocal effects are used in the background to make the backing track more interesting
  • The vocals are double tracked, heavily processed with eq, reverb and auto tune and often pitched up or down throughout the track
  • The drums are halftime and give the track that very laidback chilled out yet still dancy vibe
  • A lot of the percussion one shots are panned slightly
  • At the end of the track where it fades out, the same bandpass filter as in the intro is applied to the whole mix
  • The Piano sounds like it was recorded live
  • The vocal has two layers at 0:48, the main vocal + a higher vocal which is pitched up by an octave
  • At 1:22 the high vocal layer gets replaced by a lower layer which is pitched down by an octave
  • The vocal has been processed with a lot of reverb
  • It also sounds like the vocal has a little bit of autotune on it



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