Hurt - Johnny Cash cover by JK

Ok, here’s another video. Hurt by Johnny Cash - originally by Nine Inch Nails. Admittedly I’ve listened to a lot more NiN than Cash.

Feedback welcomed, positive and constructive criticism.

Edit: In hindsight and watching again, I should have posted it without singing… Sorry about the singing…

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Nice! :smiley: Really powerful tune - well played! Enjoyed listening thanks! :smiley:

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Thanks for checking it out @grayal.

Enjoyed that , feel you made it your own

Are you using a scarlet focusrite ? How do you like to record , is there any reverb on the vocals. Getting a good sound

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Sounding good! This is a very challenging song. I wonder how it would sound if you backed off the mic and increased the gain a bit. I can’t imaging being able to match Cash note for note. His range is far too deep for me. You’re pretty close.

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Sounding smashing JK!!!
I can kind of get the sense that you have been influenced more by Trent Reznor than Johnny cash :rofl:

Cool take on it, made it your own :raised_hands:t2:

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Glad you enjoyed it Lewis.

Yep, I’m using a Scarlett 2i2. Guitar is running off it’s pickup system - piezo & internal mic.

I recorded into Ableton Live, the free version that comes with the Scarlett. After recording I added a space effect called compressed room with reverb to vocal and guitar and also added classical compression to vocals.

I tried the reverb settings but they were way too much of an effect for me. I’m sure there are better settings to use, I just googled a bit and experimented.

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Thanks for listening. I’ve heard your singing Dan, it’s much better than mine, I’m sure your rendition would be more accurate! When you say increased the gain, do you mean add some distortion to the guitar?

Thanks Trond! Trent has been a steady part of my collection since the days of CDs, Cash, I think I know 2 or 3 songs! He is a legend though, and his rendition of Hurt is one of the greatest songs of all time IMHO.

Hehehe… i discovered Cash late in life. A catalog well worth checking out JK.
He has another one from Trent Reznor aswell… 13
A pretty awsome song, check it out :grin:

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I’ll have to!

That was fab JK! It really fitted the key of your voice, so far the best performance from your arsenal no nits from me here! And sound quality was ace, bravo!

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Thanks Adrian. I couldn’t do the vocal melody properly unfortunately, a real struggle point for me. But the actual range is fine.

Hardest part of this song on guitar is switching from strumming back to pick raking, the G to Am transition.

It’s not an easy song to okay overall so you deserve pat on the back for this one. And haven’t spotted you struggling with changes too much which means you did a fine good job :wink:

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Adrian, I forgot to say: thank you. Always appreciate your feedback.

The ones where I missed the chorus to verse transition are in the windows recycle bin :joy:

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I thought your voice really suited the song. You did a great job on both the playing and singing.

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Bravo, great job, JK. I first heard the song and desired to play it listening to Cash’s rendition. I’ve tried NiN and it did nothing for me personally, perhaps a ‘what I grew up with thing’.

Your performance and production are both bang on. Of course my ear and musical memory are such that I am unlikely to ever pick anybody out for being either a little off pitch or not singing the original melody … I make ‘melodies’ and phrasing my own. Your vocal was musical, easy on the ear.

So keep rocking on and look forward to any of these songs you share at the upcoming OM.

As for recording. You may want to experiment with a production trick I used at one point. You can duplicate your vocal track in Ableton. Then perhaps nudge the copy ever so slightly out of sync with the other. Can’t say how to do it in Ableton, but I am talking out of sync by 20-30ms.

Then add reverb and delay effects to the copy. You can tweak the settings to taste. I’d aim for something not too drastic but still more than I’d use if the track was the solo vocal. Then I drop the level to zero and slowly bring it up to the point where it makes the overall sound better, that I notice a difference if a I mute the duplicate, but not to such a level that it sounds obviously processed. What it does, I think, is bring the natural sound of a room more into the vocal, makes it a little richer and fuller.

Just some ideas you may want to play with. But note this is just a little extra production polish, not corrective action.

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Thanks James, you’re too kind mate. Glad you had a listen.

Thanks David, appreciate the feedback and tips. I’m pretty new to recording, and I try something a bit different each time. So far it’s all been laying down 1 or 2 tracks (guitar and vocals split) at the same time and very minor tweaks. I’ll have to try the vocal track technique you suggest, some great advice. Thanks.

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That was super JK. Great picking and strumming. The key of the song suited your voice really well. You caught the Cash vibe which is the version I’m familiar with. Well done.

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