My Thoughts on Cover Songs
George Kuruvilla 
posted
I just wrote my thoughts on Cover songs on my blog . Would be great to hear what everyone thinks. Do participate in the conversation and post your comments on the blog.
Posted on January 01, 2010
Replies
George Kuruvilla said
Neil,
Can you post your reply on the blog itself?
http://blog.gkuruvilla.org/?p=508
-George
Do listen to my uploads
Subbu said
Good one George…….as long as the’keeping the original flavor’(which in itself id highly subjective)is understood by the renderer from a listener’s perspective,I am fine with this argument……But when that is not understood fully the results disappoint…….as has been with the majority of cases in general…….despite all other parameters being of excellent quality,the cover falls short of listeners expectation ……and in covers which are hugely popular(by definition,a psycho acoustic affiliation has already been established with a large number of listeners)9/10 times the ‘change,the improvisations’ fail to register,kind a connect with the listener…….This may be my view,purely.
Regards,
Subbu.
-————————————————————
Straight From the heart, Always
Ramya Harish said
When you sing a cover of a song, one sure thing is that you cannot satisfy everyone. Some would prefer it to be technically perfect n some would expect to be very expressive, So the challenge lies in striking a balance. And improvisations, it shows your creative take on the song if its really good. If those variations flow naturally and blend with the song and adds beauty to it, then they are very much appreciable. But at times when they tend to change the mood, or very deliberate or very much deviating from the song, we cannot really enjoy them rather feel why not sing it just like the original. So I guess we should be very careful while improvising not to spoil the flavor/mood of the song.
My recent covers:
Nenjukkulle innar endru
Janina Janina
Kadhal Oviyam with MuraliV
Dhoore Kizhakudhikum with Kumaran
Kadhal kavidhaigal with Joseph
Thendral dhaan with Kumaran
Cheers:)
Ramya
George Kuruvilla said
Dear friends,
First of all thank you for all the feedback on my blog. It turned out to be a good discussion. It was interesting for me to go through all the input. Some points made were worth pointing out:
1. Meera said “artists never ending strive to imitate the voice as in the original” – Very good point Meera. Even if we want to sound like the original, i think imitating a voice is going to far and prone to failure in most cases. It is better to just sing with our natural voice in my opinion.
2. Subbu said that in most cases “a psycho acoustic affiliation has already been established with a large number of listeners)9/10 times the ‘change,the improvisations’ fail to register” (Subbu) – Once again a great point. I have noticed that if I listen to a cover before the original, I tend not to connect with the original sometimes and vice versa. But I can also say that sometimes, I might have listened to an original a 100 times and love it, but then I listen to a cover and it totally takes over. The song that I have posted by Kris Allen is a fine example. So the bottomline is that if the improvisations are good and the arrangement is different, it is bound to touch the heart.
3. Sudha felt that “listeners are entitled to forming their own judgements of how the song finally sounds to them.” – Absolutely agree :) Thats what gives us the variety and diversity we need.
4. Tara expressed that “somehow I tend to copy the mood/expressions and singing and cant think beyond when it comes to singing covers. I see more room for creativity when singing originals… Dont think thats wrong either.” – I feel that another important reason why people tend to cover songs like the orignal is because the original is a benchmark for them to see how well they have done. So for instance in Tara’s case, the original registers in her head, she tries to reproduce and can very easily judge how well she has done. With improvisations, its much harder to judge if something worked or not.
Even though one sings a cover like an original, he/she can still appreciate improvisations found in other covers, which is true in Tara’s case as she appreciates originality in general.
5. Mythri stated that improvisation “introduces that bit of curiosity from beginning till the end of the song to see how aesthetically a particular sangati has been modified…” – Very very true. When I listen to a cover, I am constantly looking for changes and seeing how the singer made the song his own. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesnt.
6. Kumar said “I think expectation of the listening audience varies and it is not easy to satisfy everybody. Some songs are remembered and liked for subtle nuances and if these are not reproduced the audience is dissapointed and as you rightly said it could be easily perceived as inability of the singer. This is especially true with oldies and classical based songs that have been heard by audience over and over.” – Excellent point! I think oldies are the hardest to improvise on as most listeners of oldies are pretty opinionated and have fixed notions on the nuances of the song. When they see the subtleties missing, they are disappointed. And this is definitely true for some newer songs too, but not as much as the oldies :) I know from experience as I tried to cover Tere Mere Milan :)
Kumar also makes another excellent point that “there is no one right approach here and I think the singer should deliver what he/she believes in and it will reach the ‘right’ audience.” – I COULDNT AGREE MORE !
-George
Do listen to my uploads
Venki said
I am no music expert by any stretch of imagination, but who could resist giving an opinion……
I tend to agree with the comment that there is really no single rule for this (or for anything, for that matter).
Within the confines of certain technical norms perhaps (like not being off-key for example), I think freedom to twist the song any which way one likes, may give birth to interesting variations. Of course not all improvs will be liked by all or even many, but unless folks take risks and try out one will never know.
While listening to pure imitation (or the closest deal) is fun, and perhaps typically attempted by ‘casual’ singers , I feel it doesn’t serve much purpose since we might as well listen to the original then. I think when listening to the covers, an ‘open attitude’ may help instead of having a set of expectations. The injection of variations, be it relating to tune, tempo etc., or even mood (like in Tamil movies same song sung at happy and sad times!), may bring out the personality of the singer as well potray the original in a different light.
In short, freedom is the essence of creativity and variety is the spice of life ;-))
I think I have rambled enough…
Regards
Venki
Music Maketh the Mood
Ibolya Horváthné orbán -back to work but hope to sing soon! said
I agree with Venki!All of us are here led by the joy of singing.Most if us are not professional trained and songs have the flavour of tasting something new (like Neil said).Important is the feeling we can give,motivation and presentation of the song,and ,of course …propper musicality!
Music has no boundaries !
Ibolya
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Neil Swanson..(collaborations welcomed.singers wanted)
said
WHENEVER i do a cover song or remakes as they
used to b called, all these new terms i have
learned from muziboo…AT any rate…i have
several freinds who r professionals in the
music business . i know even the people in
the group SURVIVOR. EYE OF THE TIRGER.ROCKY
THEME. AND THE BUCKINGHAMS AN OLD 60 S GROUP.
LOCAL ARTIST S FROM THE CHICAGO AREA.
AT ANY RATE. they have always preached to me.
when doing a remake as i call them one must
keep the original flavor of the origianl song
however though , adding a new twist. as i try
to demonstate with what i do on my instumentals
Ask your self if u were doing a song like ONLY
TIME BY ENYA OR A BEATLE SONG CAN T BUY ME LOVE
why would someone want to buy the orignal version. again since the groups originally who
sang it . had hits.with them.that s why the
group TRANSIBIAN ORCHRESTRA IS SO POPULAR.
as the have taken songs to a new height….
That s why in my song ANGELS WE HAVE HEARD ON
HIGH. i followed TSO…but still did my own style…of the christmas classic…………….
one can not b afraid to make a new statement with music. if people are going to like it
re cover versions …try adding some spices
and flavorings. like cooking. one must experiment with recipe s to develop their own
style.of music…and that s why i like george s
music so much . his own style but refreshing.
Well that s my thought s for now . again on my
songs any collaborations. re singing or singers
r welcomed i will even change the song to suit
your needs. u may contact me at………………
GODSHELPER33@ATT.NET
AS alwys in CHRIST NEIL SWANSON
NEIL SWANSON
Plese listen to my latest songs…like…
Love Me Tender
EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE
JAMBAYLA
Angels we have heard on high
Unchained Melody
Only Time
MovieMaker
Retrurn to Sender ELvis COVER
ICantHelpfallinginlove
Angels Calling
OYE COMO VA
Phantom of the Opera
Without god in our lives all of this joy
of music would not b possible
For those who need help in karoke music
or mixing .i would b glad to help very
shortly i will have software that can re
move any vocals from any song for KAROKE
purposes
Music is the Voice of the Universe and God