Broken Wheel (skelp version)

Having used my current DAW for the last 3 years, and spending countless hours re-recording tracks that were too slow, I finally discover that it does have a varispeed function. Just how fucking dumb is that.......?

This is now in the key of......errr........H?? No such key, huh? Well baby, there is now....

Oh, and speeding things up very usefully disguises slight but irritating vocal wobbles when attempting to hold long notes.

(Get Flash to see the track player.)
posted by MajorDundee (7 comments total)

Wow, that is strange... I would not have been able to tell if you hadn't said. I would have just thought you rerecorded it. Is this happening in a lot of popular music without people realizing it?

Still a sweet song, either speed. You hold long notes very well without the speed up.
posted by Corduroy at 12:07 PM on November 11

Ha - I had exactly the same thought after I did this man. I sat there and thought "hang on a minute - just how many lightning-fast guitar solos I've heard have benefitted from a little tweak on the ol' varispeed knob??" Interesting...........
posted by MajorDundee at 12:18 PM on November 11

I really like this. Your voice is an instrument you know just fine.
posted by bearwife at 5:17 PM on November 11

Wow, this is so great. How did I miss this the first time?
I can't decide which version I like better. This one's a bit peppier; amazing what a slight shift can do. It's what, 8 seconds shorter than the first version?
But the song itself is really nice. You've managed to subtly capture and incorporate some of the good bits of '70's era Fleetwood Mac/Supertramp kind of stuff while keeping it fresh and you.
Love it.
posted by chococat at 7:22 PM on November 11

Oh, and:
hang on a minute - just how many lightning-fast guitar solos I've heard have benefitted from a little tweak on the ol' varispeed knob??
1:20.
posted by chococat at 7:34 PM on November 11

Thanks all - and, yup, I take your point re The Beatles chococat. Funny that when you listen to it conscious of varispeed it does sound kind of obvious!

For those who may have wondered, "skelp" is a lowland Scots dialect word (think Robert Burns) meaning "smack". Obviously not of the H variety - although given the Glaswegian predeliction for that particular recreational drug the word could, I guess, enjoy a sinister renaissance.....
posted by MajorDundee at 12:34 PM on November 12

I missed this the first time round, too; I've been in and out lately. That solo is blistering! You know, in an acoustic way. Really nice track.

And, as to varispeed: I recorded a quick-and-dirty cover of "A Hard Day's Night" maybe 10 years ago, when I was first experimenting with digital recording. Got to the solo and said, well, the only way I'm going to do this properly is to play it at half speed. Little did I know.
posted by uncleozzy at 5:44 AM on November 13