Super Sunday

We're putting YOU in the drivers seat!

Moderators: admin, mdc, TAXIstaff

User avatar
Zaychi
Committed Musician
Committed Musician
Posts: 518
Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2020 8:09 am
Gender: Male
Location: Netherlands
Contact:

Super Sunday

Post by Zaychi » Thu Sep 02, 2021 1:17 pm

There have been like a dozen listings with Billie Eilish' "Bad Guy" as a reference over the past few months... here's my shot at catering for one of those. What do you guys think?

https://soundcloud.com/zaychi/super-sun ... tu0F2Md7un

markanthony
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 23
Joined: Sun Aug 15, 2021 3:55 pm
Gender: Male
Contact:

Re: Super Sunday

Post by markanthony » Thu Sep 02, 2021 2:33 pm

I guess depending on the listing, this might be too close to the reference. I'm new here, so just my humble opinion (and a big fan of Billie so I hear a lot her stuff over and over).

User avatar
irthlingz
Committed Musician
Committed Musician
Posts: 764
Joined: Tue May 26, 2020 5:22 pm
Location: Orcas Island, WA
Contact:

Re: Super Sunday

Post by irthlingz » Thu Sep 02, 2021 7:09 pm

It could be right in that "really really close but not a copy" zone that they might be looking for, Zaychi. One possible suggestion is to have a section where the vocal and some percussion continue but the bass stops, like in Bad Guy 1:30-1:43. Just to give the ears a rest from the bass.

Bad Guy

===
Michael & Sharon

User avatar
DouglasKnight
Committed Musician
Committed Musician
Posts: 596
Joined: Fri Aug 20, 2021 7:09 pm
Gender: Male
Contact:

Re: Super Sunday

Post by DouglasKnight » Thu Sep 02, 2021 9:01 pm

Wow, nice work! Seems right on target, so good luck!

User avatar
cosmicdolphin
Serious Musician
Serious Musician
Posts: 4450
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2010 1:46 pm
Gender: Male
Contact:

Re: Super Sunday

Post by cosmicdolphin » Fri Sep 03, 2021 1:33 am

It's tough to do song that's like another song but not so close you get into legal trouble

You've captured some of the vibe although I think the bass programming is not quite slinky enough ...it sounds a bit like it stumbles in places and the kick drum sample is the wrong one, it's too flappy and not deep enough where it counts...as though it came off a cheap casio keyboard...clicks are good.

There are places where your vocals go out of tune so I think you need to get to work with some tuning software. Or maybe you did already and it's moved them to a note that's not in the scale ?

At 1.49 something sounds out of time..maybe the percussion part but it throws the whole thing off

The fake guitar at 2.00 is really out of context for this type of song

Overall I think you've mimicked a lot of the production elements quite well and these things are a good learning exercise. I think it's a different enough to not get you into trouble but I feel like it's not really catchy or engaging enough for someone to want to use it in a production.

Mark

User avatar
Zaychi
Committed Musician
Committed Musician
Posts: 518
Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2020 8:09 am
Gender: Male
Location: Netherlands
Contact:

Re: Super Sunday

Post by Zaychi » Fri Sep 03, 2021 11:43 am

Thanks guys! I consider "possibly too close to the original" a compliment in this case!
the kick drum sample is the wrong one, it's too flappy and not deep enough where it counts...as though it came off a cheap casio keyboard...
That one was actually borrowed from Dua Lipa's "Physical"... a top-notch production! Funny how something like that can apparently turn completely around when used in a different style song and sound like a Casio. I'll take your advice though and play around with deeper sounds a bit, cause Bad Guy kick is indeed much deeper... though it felt a bit muffled to me, and I tried going for a clearer sound.
There are places where your vocals go out of tune so I think you need to get to work with some tuning software. Or maybe you did already and it's moved them to a note that's not in the scale ?
It was indeed melodyned and the app says all notes are in the correct place... but of course, the pitch drift within the note as it is sung makes the "perfect position" according to the app not always the right one musically. It would be very helpful if you could point out the particular places where it sounds off-pitch to you, I could reduce the drift in some places and take the loss of character as a price!
At 1.49 something sounds out of time..maybe the percussion part but it throws the whole thing off
Yeah I hear what you mean now... can't put my finger on it yet though, the structure seems to be OK and the same as elsewhere, but you're absolutely right that something is off. It may even be the vocal coming in just after that, it seems a bit late. I'll dig deeper on this one.
Overall I think you've mimicked a lot of the production elements quite well and these things are a good learning exercise. I think it's a different enough to not get you into trouble but I feel like it's not really catchy or engaging enough for someone to want to use it in a production.
Lol, well I'll take my chances on that... when I first heard "Bad Guy" I liked it (well except for the 808 part at the end), but never would have believed it was going to be a huge hit!

Again, thanks for the review!

Jur.

User avatar
cosmicdolphin
Serious Musician
Serious Musician
Posts: 4450
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2010 1:46 pm
Gender: Male
Contact:

Re: Super Sunday

Post by cosmicdolphin » Fri Sep 03, 2021 12:49 pm

Zaychi wrote:
Fri Sep 03, 2021 11:43 am
It was indeed melodyned and the app says all notes are in the correct place... but of course, the pitch drift within the note as it is sung makes the "perfect position" according to the app not always the right one musically. It would be very helpful if you could point out the particular places where it sounds off-pitch to you, I could reduce the drift in some places and take the loss of character as a price!
Print lyrics and I will highlight

User avatar
Zaychi
Committed Musician
Committed Musician
Posts: 518
Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2020 8:09 am
Gender: Male
Location: Netherlands
Contact:

Re: Super Sunday

Post by Zaychi » Fri Sep 03, 2021 1:04 pm

Thanks!

dry white wine twtgs
yeah I'm fine twtgs
I don't mind twtgs
she is mine

take a ride, twtgs
second right, that's where she goes
hold on tight, twtgs
bright white light
---------------------
Super sunday for a week now
it is getting out of hand
but I still don't really see how
this is gonna end
---------------------
(do you) want a piece, twtgs
get some grease, twtgs
I love sleaze, twtgs
tease me please

don't be dumb, twtgs
gonna come, that's where she goes
big bang drum, twtgs
yummie yum
---------------------
Super sunday for a week now
it is getting out of hand
but I still don't really see how
this is gonna end
---------------------
(lets) go again, twtgs
helping hand, that's what she lends
yes we can, twtgs
there's my man

omg twtgs
wannabe, that's what she says
on my knees, twtgs
play with me
---------------------
Super sunday for a week now
it is getting out of hand
but I still don't really see how
this is gonna end
---------------------

User avatar
cosmicdolphin
Serious Musician
Serious Musician
Posts: 4450
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2010 1:46 pm
Gender: Male
Contact:

Re: Super Sunday

Post by cosmicdolphin » Fri Sep 03, 2021 1:22 pm

dry white wine twtgs
yeah I'm fine twtgs
I don't mind twtgs ..( harmony sounds off )
she is mine

take a ride,twtgs ..( something sounds off here it might not be the vocal, check everything matches harmonically using a simple piano chord or something )
second right, that's where she goes
hold on tight, twtgs ( again, cold be the harmony )
bright white light
---------------------
Super sunday for a week now
it is getting out of hand
but I still don't really see how
this is gonna end ( sort of droops off pitch )


I'll stop there because it's fairly similar for the rest of the song.

Now I've listened more closely there's a lot of harmonic issues going on which need sorting. In a song there's a relationship between chords, melody and harmony that need to all be working together for us not to feel that something is " off "

I think what you need to do is work through it systematically to weed out all the places where things are clashing. It's usually easier to play/program the basic song chords and then check each track one at a time against the chords and you'll hear any problems more easily. At the moment I think some of the harmony vocals are off -some of them sound like they may be auto generated so maybe it's not doing the right thing.

Mark

User avatar
Zaychi
Committed Musician
Committed Musician
Posts: 518
Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2020 8:09 am
Gender: Male
Location: Netherlands
Contact:

Re: Super Sunday

Post by Zaychi » Fri Sep 03, 2021 1:55 pm

Heh, I guess what you're hearing then is as it is intended... there's few straight harmonic tritones in this progression. Here's the chords:

Verse:
Gdim
Gdim
Gdim
Gm
Gdim
Gsus4 (G-C-D)
G#6 (G#-C-D#-F)
Gdim

Chorus:
Gm-Gdim 3x
A#
G#

many of these are not in the instrumental, they are only in the vocal harmonies (though some chord notes are sometimes omitted completely).

Piano chords included is here:
https://soundcloud.com/zaychi/super-sun ... p6W4FCCt47

I know you're going to tell me now that sync music is supposed to be simple and easy... and yeah I know, in a way. Then again, sometimes supes are looking for something outside the beaten track, and this is the kind of stuff I enjoy making... so I try to find compromises!

No harmonies were autogenerated.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 29 guests