Safe in the Sky - Acoustic Instrumental Cover by Daryll Evan

Lee Osborne ft. Roxanne Emery - Safe in the Sky

Here's another cover of mine; and it's a bit more different than the first one I did. This time, it's an uplifting trance track, while the previous was a progressive one. I know it's not really a popular genre but it's the kind of music I've been listening to for the past few years and it's what gives me inspiration. Basically, a trance track has higher tempo/bpm than a progressive one. It starts with a monotonous intro then as it progresses, the melody is introduced. The breakdown part is where it gets heavier but at the same time inducing that uplifting feel.  Vocals are of course a plus factor but some still could stand alone and be a good track. 

 

Anyway, this was my second project for the summer and I chose this song entitled "Safe in the Sky" which is produced by Lee Osborne and with vocals by Roxanne Emery. There are actually 5 other uplifting songs by Roxanne Emery on my playlist that I love but I chose this one first. After I finished my previous cover, I did not have a concrete idea of what was next. Although I have a list of songs for me to take on, I had to consider which was most achievable. That depends on the chord progression of the song; I'm most familiar with F-C-Am-G so it's what I've always been using. 

Like I always do, I listened to the original mix of the song for me to somehow dissect it, know the elements, and familiarize with the structure. It was more challenging since it's structure was far more complex than a pop or progressive song. I had to write it down so I could take it on by parts.

It's the first time I've done this and I admit it's not the perfect way to translate my envisioned sound into text. I always mention that I only play by ear and that I can't read/write notes. Anyway, it still was helpful for me to know how many repetitions of a certain pattern I had to do for every part. The previous cover was less sophisticated so I just did everything mentally. 

This project was so challenging that I almost wanted not to continue it. I have already shot a few clips for the rhythm part, then I kind of lost momentum when I kept making mistakes. It was not easy for me to cope up with the tempo. I almost opted for a slower version instead - almost similar with the first one; but I realized it didn't sound good. I realized it was best to preserve that trance element brought by the tempo, as well as its wonderful complexity. I also want to avoid being too repetitive; as much as possible, I must have a different approach to every song that I take on.  

I wasn't really feeling motivated because I barely had ideas for this cover to take shape. I tried to continue shooting but strange enough that I did not enjoy it; I felt rather obliged than driven. As someone who is kind of a perfectionist, I did not want to fall short from the standard that I have set. I needed to have ideas but there were none. On that moment, it was  pointless for me to continue so I thought of giving myself a break.

Two days later, I opened the project file and gave it a listen and realized that what I started wasn't really far off from what I imagined it to be. The other day, I thought of deleting it, thinking there was no way to finish it; but now I felt relief that I left it as it was. I found the motivation to continue and as I worked, the ideas arrived out of spontaneity. In two days, I managed to produce the rhythm and lead clips. Although there were some clips I had to re-shoot, it wasn't really that burdensome since I had set my focus on my goal. Simultaneously recording and arranging the clips was like constructing the puzzle pieces and putting them together. It's something I enjoy doing, and seeing the end product is just the greater consequence of it. Hearing the clips harmonizing together and achieving the complexity I wanted to replicate makes me feel contented. Once all these fell into place, I decided to apply modifications on some of the audio clips. I played the project through speakers and I noticed the bass drowned out all the other elements so I had to do something to reduce it. I don't really know much on audio editing but with the help of the internet, I was able to solve the problem. 

I didn't really have much trouble on rendering except that the video was almost 5 mins so it took an hour to produce the final video file but of course it was worth the wait. I've uploaded it and right now it has very little views; but that's fine by me. I guess I just have to leave it there and wait. Anyway, as I've mentioned, there are 5 other trance tracks with Roxanne Emery vocals that I'd like to do as well. I hope in the future I could work on them; but right now I have a long list and I still have to think consider a lot of things. For the last weeks of summer, let's see what I can  come up with.

Update: I have successfully interacted with the producer, Lee Osborne and it's great to hear feedback from him.

This Time - Acoustic Instrumental Cover by Daryll Evan

Nic Chagall ft. Jonathan Mendelsohn - This Time

Hi, it's been a while since I uploaded a full cover video, 4 years actually; so right now, I am really happy to have produced something new. More than a month ago, I posted an audio clip of my cover on the same song. From the previous post, I explained on how I discovered the song and why I chose it. I've also said I wanted to make a complete cover since what I made was barely half-done. Recently, I got a webcam and it's video and audio quality are quite good so I did not have any hesitation to start shooting. I listened to the song again to familiarize with the progression and the lyrics. I realized that my chord progression from my earlier version was wrong so I changed it to suit to the correct one. With this change, it was easier to play the rhythm part. Unlike my previous one, I opted for the original arrangement of the song and I took out that part I made up.

There was not really much problem in shooting the video since the webcam doesn't run out of battery and it was easier and more efficient to use for recording. However, the background noise from the laptop is noticeable and other sounds as well (birds, chickens, etc) but I think it's not that bad anyway. I was recording and editing simultaneously to make sure the audio  clips were synchronized. On the drop part, I decided to overlay lead tracks just to not make it sound bare. Before this,I didn't have any experience in doing my own leads so it's just actually improvisation. I've worked on the project for 4 days and used only Sony Vegas to put everything together. Apparently, I still have to shoot by parts since I'm so error-prone that I find it impossible to do a one-take shot. By this way, it's also easier to arrange the audio tracks. On the fourth day of working with this project,  I was already done with it; but my next problem was on rendering. The problem with Vegas is that when you render the project as it is (same format from the video clips used), the file size is ridiculously large and takes too long to render. I searched on the internet on the best file type and found out that mp4  would be the best. The quality is preserved with minimal size, and I read it's also a good option for uploading to the internet.

When I was uploading the video, it was kind of nostalgic for me since for the past three years, I have been wanting to do this - to produce my music based from the kind of music that inspired me to do so. Right now I don't have much views but I know I have to give it some time. It doesn't really mean that I would just stop on this one, I'll surely give another try to keep myself going. It's what I love to do, and that's enough to fuel my persistence.

Anyway, I've reached out to  the artists themselves through Facebook and Twitter and luckily, I got a favorite from the vocalist, Jonathan Mendelsohn himself; and I think that's already an assurance that he's seen it.