Mac’s recordings : Everybody hurts by REM

Community Recordings Audio-Video Of You Playing
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I ve been practicing this one for a while now, it was time to do a recording
( and store the song away to start practicing something new )

Everybody hurts by Rem ( fingerstyle )

thats only the second song I ve been working in fingerstyle

In my opinion I rushed the last note , it should have had a softer touch to end it , but I did not want to re record everything just for 1 note since the rest of the song wasnt too bad :confused:
If I start looking for perfection , there’ll be no end to the number of recordings Ill do …

there are some power chords in this song , my archenemy !!! :sweat_smile:
I used a thumb pick , it helped me play the power chords part
first time Im using a thumb pick

V2 edited with Garage Band :slight_smile:

26 Likes
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Hi Deborah, that was very, very good. I didn’t see all your videos, but from what I remember, this is the best one. You sound very confident and in control, rhythm is spot on, changes are smooth. Power chords are accurate, probably a bit more distortion and more aggressive attack would be better there, but that is spliting hair. You should be proud, I look forward to seeing what you prepared for first timers open mic. :slightly_smiling_face:

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Deborah

Superb! Spot on timing and subtle dynamic variation on the step up / step down changes. Your playing really well with the thumb-pick too. Your guitar has a beautiful tone for this piece. Loved it!!

Brian

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Wow, this was really good! It’s a long song and it takes stamina to keep the picking nice and smooth the whole time and you’ve done just that!
And looking back over your last seveal videos - they are getting better and better, something is really falling into place for you, so keep up what you are doing! And now I’m joining Boris in looking forward to your openMic debut!

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I can only echo what others have said. I’m sure this is your best recording yet. I was learning this song a while ago (with a pick) and never got close to maintaining the consistency that you managed right through the song. Great job :clap:

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Very nice :slight_smile: , and perfectly played .

R.

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Hi Deborah,
Congratulations on your best video performance, :partying_face: :smiling_face_with_sunglasses:
Progress is (for most) what matters in the first years, well you have succeeded here.
Greetings

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thanks a lot everybody

I worked a lot on this one
I started practicing this song in March , so its 4 months of practice !
Im glad to know that my practice method is paying off :grinning_face:

[quote="Boris1565, post:2, topic:400171”]
Power chords are accurate, probably a bit more distortion and more aggressive attack would be better there, but that is spliting hair.
[/quote]

@Boris1565

you re right !
I feel the same thing but I absolutely dont know how to do it
I have the same issue on Heaven by Brian Adams …

Should I have done 2 videos and merge them ?
one for the rythm one for the power chords part ?

that part of why I hate power chords :sweat_smile:
I feel like Im missing something to make them sound right

[quote="beejay56, post:3, topic:400171”]
. Your guitar has a beautiful tone for this piece
[/quote]

@beejay56

thanks a lot !
As a matter of fact I almost broke my guitar before recording this video …
the strap came loose and my guitar fell …
I really feared Id broken it
I immediately bought strap locks yesterday evening

[quote="mattswain, post:5, topic:400171”]
maintaining the consistency that you managed right through the song.
[/quote]

@mattswain

I worked really hard to get this right ^^”
I never thought it would be so difficult to keep a steady sound

[quote="roger_holland, post:7, topic:400171”]
Progress is (for most) what matters in the first years, well you have succeeded here.
[/quote]

@roger_holland

thanks a lot
With this song , I feel like Im done with grade 2 about fingerstyle
next step : Greensleeves

[quote="MollyT, post:4, topic:400171”]
they are getting better and better, something is really falling into place for you,
[/quote]

@MollyT

thanks a lot !
I love your fingerstyle videos , I hope Ill be able to play as good as you one day

[quote="MollyT, post:4, topic:400171”]
And now I’m joining Boris in looking forward to your openMic debut!
[/quote]

Oh my … no pressure :rofl:

I think Ill play a 12 bar blues to wrap grade 2 module 13 and really start grade 3 after

Before you accuse me and Born under a bad sign are the 2 songs left in my practice that are ready to be recorded

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Well played and lovely tone, Deborah

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Great job, man that one brings up so distant memories but what a great song.

You did awesome with it love the walk ups and everything. :call_me_hand:t2:

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Well played, you can definitely tell the practice that went into that.

Power chords don’t sound as good when clean. You were also playing them two fingered. To thicken them up - add a bit of overdrive / distortion, and try adding the octave - third finger.

2 Likes
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Dial any high gain tone and then try them. That is the essence of power chords. High gain allows you even to palm mute the strings and still produce specific sound (grunt). For power chords, you need to experiment with sound a bit.

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@jkahn @Boris1565

[quote="jkahn, post:11, topic:400171”]
add a bit of overdrive / distortion,
[/quote]

Ok I change the question to : How ?

I can understand how to do it by recording the power chords part in another video but I dont see how to do it in a one take video like the one I did

the power chord is right after the last fingerstyle note , I dont have time to switch my blues driver pedal on ( I tried )
im really interested to learn how you d do it

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You can practice using the pedal separately at first. Slow down and try to step on the pedal at the right time. It’s a skill on its own to be able to quickly switch effects and quite a useful one. I often move my foot on top of the footswitch a bar or two in advance when I know I need to press it.

2 Likes
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In band settings there are usually two guitars and one can nicely prepare for crunchy part. If there is a single guitar, the switch is usually controlled either manually or automatically at back stage. So, sometimes it is very difficult to perfectly switch when you are on your own. You don’t have to play picked notes till the last one - skip last 2 or 3, hit the pedal and nicely come in time for power chords. That is totally ok. In time, you will develop the timing and feel for stomp, so you could try playing those last notes as well. Slow it down and practice. It is not easy, I hate this part as well and I am terrible at it. :slightly_smiling_face:

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[quote="Boris1565, post:15, topic:400171”]
In band settings there are usually two guitars and one can nicely prepare for crunchy part. If there is a single guitar, the switch is usually controlled either manually or automatically at back stage. So, sometimes it is very difficult to perfectly switch when you are on your own.
[/quote]

yeah thats what I thought thats why I thought recording the parts in different videos and mixing them after ( like twistor do ) would be a good solution

[quote="Boris1565, post:15, topic:400171”]
It is not easy, I hate this part as well and I am terrible at it. :slightly_smiling_face:
[/quote]

its clearly not easy to switch a pedal on and I dont think the original song was made to allow it :sweat_smile:

so now … I need to learn how to mix a video :open_mouth:

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If you’re struggling to hit the pedal in time - try playing the whole song just with a little bit of overdrive. It won’t have much impact on the gentle fingerpicked parts, and will be more noticeable when playing hard.

I reckon clean stuff sounds better with a small amount of overdrive anyway.

Works best with tube style overdrives rather than boss DS1/2 style distortion.

There is no need to mix two recordings for this kind of stuff IMHO - you can play it live style.

1 Like
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Wow, that was played with flawless timing - you were totally in the pocket Deborah - that is by far the hardest part of that kind of guitar accompaniment.

You mean like at 2:24 in the video?
For a studio recording, people may record the power chord parts separately, but for a live performance I’m sure they’d just kick on a pedal. Live performances are never perfect, even if you had to sacrifice the last fingerstyle note before the power chord, I bet it would sound fine.

2 Likes
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[quote="twistor59, post:18, topic:400171”]
even if you had to sacrifice the last fingerstyle note before the power chord, I bet it would sound fine.
[/quote]

@twistor59

thanks a lot ^^

Ill give it a try , just to see if I can do it

Im trying another song ( Heaven by Brian Adams ) it also has power chords in the middle of the song so Its a good practice to learn how to switch the pedal in time

but can you tell me what software you re using to mix videos ?
Id like to learn
Im used to edit pictures with Adobe for my work but never tried to edit videos before

mostly Id like to learn how to synchronise a video with a sound recording at the moment

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I normally record the video with a webcam, and the audio in my DAW (I use Reaper for that). Then putting the video back together with the audio I do in Lightworks (a free video editor). To be honest it’s quite hard work in Lightworks, I’m sure there are commercial tools which are easier to use. I’ve just stuck with Lightworks because I’ve spent so much time learning to use it, I don’t want to go through a new learning process!

I’ve heard DaVinci Resolve is good. If I were starting from scratch with video editing I’d probably try something like that.