The Only Exception - Paramore (SOTW#10)

[Mr Fixit eh]

Well, I promised variety, didn't I! I've loved this song by Paramore since I first heard it a year ago, so I'm bringing it as song-of-the-week #10 -yeah.

It's a challenge for me vocally, I had to modify the bridge slightly to manage the high end. The lowest notes are a strain, but I don't think the listener can tell.

I'm bringing out my MXL 770 condenser mic for the first time and I'm mixing the vocals and guitar input in my Audiogram6 A/I. I think this achieves a better balance between vocal and strings. Let me know what you think.

As always, feedback for improvement is most welcome - want to keep getting better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3y2Bkuzj30k



Steve

[freedomfarm]

That's a great song . . . It's on my "to-do" list, someday . . .
It's interesting to hear your rainsong. Nice job on it. It's a bit tough to do songs written for high voiced females, but they are some of my favorites.

[kscobie8]

Very nice, Steve. You're coming right along with this SOTW thing. Are you finding the weeks move by faster when you're deep into a new song every week? I sure did! Your setlist is really beginning to grow now, too.

Thanks for sharing. I can see you're becoming more and more relaxed in each song.


Bel isi,
-kyle

[Ranger1964]

Nice job Steve. My only comment is that the vocals seem a tad "tense" as if you are pronouncing the words instead of "singing them freely". Things loosen up a bit in the second verse. I wonder if that bit of tension on the range of this song made you a tad more tense than usual. Well done on a challenging song!

[Bob1131]

What a great song, Steve. I wasn't familiar with it so I looked it up and I really like the story and lyrics. You did a good job on this with only a couple of places needing a little more work. There was a noticeable hesitation going to the Bm in the bridge but practice will smooth that out in time. The recording quality seems better in this one, so I think you are finding all the right settings for your environment. Keep them coming!

[shawlie]

Very nice! The song suits you well, I think - and you give it a nice delivery. The chorus as you do it is great, fine part!

The mix - to me, much better and the best one so far. Vocals are clear and guitar does not over-power them. It all comes out as a much better whole, and is more relaxed sounding.

The Bm part is a little slow to change, but as Bob says, it only takes practice. Or different shape, of course - like the top 4 or 5 strings - but seems like the barre will soon be much easier and faster.

[Mr Fixit eh]

Originally Posted by freedomfarm

That's a great song . . . It's on my "to-do" list, someday . . .
It's interesting to hear your rainsong. Nice job on it. It's a bit tough to do songs written for high voiced females, but they are some of my favorites.

Hi Steve,

Thanks for listening. It was a fun song to cover and certainly challenging to cover the range. Interestingly enough, I had to bring it up a bit because Ms Wilson sings it in a lower key than I can manage.

When you do your version, make sure you post it - I'd like to see it.

Steve

[Mr Fixit eh]

Originally Posted by kscobie8

Very nice, Steve. You're coming right along with this SOTW thing. Are you finding the weeks move by faster when you're deep into a new song every week? I sure did! Your setlist is really beginning to grow now, too.

Thanks for sharing. I can see you're becoming more and more relaxed in each song.


Bel isi,
-kyle

Hi Kyle,

Thanks for the encouragement. I've found this SOTW thing to be a bit of an emotional rollercoaster - sometimes feels really good, when you get a song or effect right; sometimes bad, when you just can't get something right (like the mix). This week it's been great to see a little break through in getting a better mix.

I would certainly say that there's never a dull moment around the house these weeks. Another interesting phenomenon is how the upcoming months are shortening up - I've developed a project list of songs and roughly scheduled them up until about June. I feel like June is just around the corner, I how can I possibly have enough time.

I must say that this SOTW project has done more to expand my musicianship in 10 weeks than any other thing I've done since I picked up the guitar 5 years ago

Steve

[millerzj]

My kids turned me on to Paramore, they played some of their tunes around the house and I actually became a bit of an admirer of their simple but heartfelt style. While not great musicians they have a knack of writing terrific songs. You do a good job on this little cover, and convey the mood of the song well. Good luck doing a song a week...big undertaking. Thanks for sharing.........

[noledog]

Steve I love Paramore too and it was very cool of you to share your rendition with us. Tough vox as Haley Williams has a killer range but you did good bro!

Very cool guitar and playin too and dude the brim your sportin' is stylin' bro!

Mr. Fix bringin' the mad trim, hip styles with the current tunage!!!

noledog

[Steve Berger]

Hey Steve - I'm pretty out of touch so I'm not familiar with the Paramores or that song, but I really did enjoy your rendition. My only 'constructive' comment would be that it seemed as if the strumming felt a bit 'robotic' . . . but that may be how it was intended so as to be true to the original. Regardless, good job!

[Mr Fixit eh]

Originally Posted by Ranger1964

Nice job Steve. My only comment is that the vocals seem a tad "tense" as if you are pronouncing the words instead of "singing them freely". Things loosen up a bit in the second verse. I wonder if that bit of tension on the range of this song made you a tad more tense than usual. Well done on a challenging song!

Thanks for listening, Roy.

Yeah, that is an interesting observation. As I listened again, I noticed what you mean. It probably is a result of focusing more on the mechanics and less on the emotion of the song.

Thanks much for the feedback.

Steve

[Mr Fixit eh]

Originally Posted by shawlie

Very nice! The song suits you well, I think - and you give it a nice delivery. The chorus as you do it is great, fine part!

The mix - to me, much better and the best one so far. Vocals are clear and guitar does not over-power them. It all comes out as a much better whole, and is more relaxed sounding.

The Bm part is a little slow to change, but as Bob says, it only takes practice. Or different shape, of course - like the top 4 or 5 strings - but seems like the barre will soon be much easier and faster.

Hi Shawlie,

Yes, the change to Bm is embarrassing, but after umpteen takes, when I finally got every thing else in the realm of Ok, I figured I'd better get on with it I think it will be a fun process to re-record these songs after I've practiced a bit more and taken into account all the wonderful feedback.

I was pleased to get a better mix on this one - finally. But it was indeed worth the battle.

Thanks for listening.

STeve

[richnrbq]

Great, great song, Steve. Thanks for sharing it and cool choice for SOTW. I agree that the mix is right on and I think you bring the song across really well. I like the vocal and you handle the range well.

My only advice after hearing the original would be to capture a little more of the swing in this 3/4 tune. You can do this by hitting the one a little harder and letting the 2 and 3 beats brush in a little more quietly. Part of accenting the one comes from hitting the root of the chord a little harder on the one then the rest of the chord on the 2 and 3.

Great job and great song. Thanks!

Rich

[Jeremy]

I've never followed Paramore so I don't know the original, but it sounds pretty nice. Any constructive criticism I could offer has already been covered in other posts, so I'll just say that overall you pulled this one off well.