For Reverend Green

A simple cover of a song from Animal Collective's newest album, which MetaFilter greeted with a great deal of enthusiasm. I was kind of reluctant to upload this one, because there are some things about the singing that I don't like (mostly timing and range), but I'm curious to hear what you guys think of it.

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posted by revfitz (7 comments total)

Oh, and pitch. Almost forgot about the pitch. That's sort of a function of the range though.
posted by revfitz at 1:13 AM on September 26, 2007

Ah, this is one of my favorites off their new album and I think you did a good job replicating it. The vocals on AC songs are one of the amazing things about the band. It doesn't seem like Avey Tare has a great range, but he does*. That said, I think you do a good job of the notes in your range, but the skipping up octaves, not so much. Please don't take that harshly since I'm not sure I could do it (you do a great job of the backing vocals, though). Also, I think I like the tremolo guitars on the original more.

Anyway, the reason the post on AC didn't go well is twofold: 1) it was a crap post and 2) there are very few here with musical tastes that aren't conservative... or at least the most vocal ones about music.

Thanks for sharing the song.

*of course, since I've been listening to them since Danse Manatee, which is when I saw them, it's pretty easy to see where they're going to go. It's still great, though. You can't really change how your voice(s) work(s).
posted by sleepy pete at 9:06 AM on September 26, 2007

I think the singing is fine for this kind of thing. The octave jumping fits the style. You're kind of pushing your chest voice up to sing the "to the next" part when you could use more head voice there. If you're not sure how to do that, you can drive up to Boston and hook up with a voice student at one of the music schools there (New England Conservatory, Boston Conservatory, Longy School of Music, Berklee, etc.). Look for someone who has some experience in pop, jazz, or experimental music (they're the least snooty, and won't try to convert you to the "if it's not opera, it's not music" camp).

The timing in the vocals is fine, but the bass drum (or whatever it is thumping back there) sounds like it's just beating randomly. I think you should redo that to follow the vocals.

Also, while you're at it -- : ) -- add some more guitar or other instruments!

Looking forward to more stuff!
posted by strangeguitars at 3:59 PM on September 26, 2007

Thanks, guys.

I did the chest voice thing somewhat on purpose. It doesn't sound that great since it's pushing at the top of my range, but I still preferred it to my weak falsetto. I'm still pretty unclear on the relationship between "head voice" and "falsetto," but if there's a way to switch register without messing up the tone I'd be interested to learn more about it.

The drum thing is actually the same (sort of unusual) basic beat as the original song, but I might not have played it with enough energy to make the rhythm come through correctly.
posted by revfitz at 4:32 PM on September 26, 2007

Falsetto and head voice are mostly the same. Trained singers can mix the head voice and the chest voice together, so when singing higher and higher there seems to be no "break" between them. But it takes training. If you could get someone to demonstrate this to you, you could start playing around with that area of your voice.
posted by strangeguitars at 8:35 PM on September 26, 2007

i dig your voice
posted by es_de_bah at 4:43 PM on October 2, 2007

Dude, that was awesome. Not perfect, but it doesn't have to be. Especially with music like this. It doesn't abide by traditional aesthetic principles, relying more heavily on dissonance and the ability to convey emotion. Based on the little that I know about actually singing and performing music, that song (or virtually anything I've heard by the Animal Collective) seems like it would be incredibly difficult to cover.
posted by towelmonkey at 8:49 PM on October 2, 2007