Strange & Beautiful (I'll Put a Spell On You)
October 18, 2013 2:27 AM
My second Request Raffle challenge submission: a soulful song played on an out-of-tune piano!
So firstly, I wasn't planning to do this - I've been trying to allocate it to someone, but not many folk have access to a properly out-of-tune piano... neither do I, normally, but I was in a friend's place at the weekend and found this poor old beast that's only been used as a prop since it became unplayable.
OR SO THEY THOUGHT. Ha. It's a rush-job, recorded with my iphone on the music-stand, hence the shitty vocal and awkward playing, as I only had 5 minutes in which to do it. But I chose this song because the original is so pretty but SUPER processed, so I thought it would be funny to turn it around and see if it still worked.
So firstly, I wasn't planning to do this - I've been trying to allocate it to someone, but not many folk have access to a properly out-of-tune piano... neither do I, normally, but I was in a friend's place at the weekend and found this poor old beast that's only been used as a prop since it became unplayable.
OR SO THEY THOUGHT. Ha. It's a rush-job, recorded with my iphone on the music-stand, hence the shitty vocal and awkward playing, as I only had 5 minutes in which to do it. But I chose this song because the original is so pretty but SUPER processed, so I thought it would be funny to turn it around and see if it still worked.
posted by greenish (13 comments total) 32 users marked this as a favorite
Excellent! Definitely nothing wrong with the vocals or the recording quality to my ears. Piano sounds pleasantly unhealthy, great contrast with the singing.
posted by comealongpole at 3:10 PM on October 18, 2013
posted by comealongpole at 3:10 PM on October 18, 2013
Yeah, very neat how it ends up all tied together regardless of intonation. I really like those final chords, actually.
posted by ignignokt at 7:03 PM on October 18, 2013
posted by ignignokt at 7:03 PM on October 18, 2013
So great.
Your vocals are fantastic and they just emphasize the contrast with the old piano in such a brilliant way.
I love this song because it raises kind of a cool thing: a lot of us have these old pianos; (we have a shitty old one in our house, my mom and dad have one in theirs)...you look at craigslist and people are putting their old pianos on the curb...it's kind of a shame that people just want to get rid of them. It's a drag to keep them in tune but man, they have such personality. I just love hearing recordings like this.
A cool challenge would be to hear recordings from peoples' old pianos; ancient and dirty and just how they are. Before they all get trashed.
posted by chococat at 11:06 PM on October 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
Your vocals are fantastic and they just emphasize the contrast with the old piano in such a brilliant way.
I love this song because it raises kind of a cool thing: a lot of us have these old pianos; (we have a shitty old one in our house, my mom and dad have one in theirs)...you look at craigslist and people are putting their old pianos on the curb...it's kind of a shame that people just want to get rid of them. It's a drag to keep them in tune but man, they have such personality. I just love hearing recordings like this.
A cool challenge would be to hear recordings from peoples' old pianos; ancient and dirty and just how they are. Before they all get trashed.
posted by chococat at 11:06 PM on October 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
Wow thanks guys. I really rushed this so all I can hear are the bits that make me think oooh I'd have overdubbed that! but I think I've been saved by the sheer ear-grinding awesomeness of a nicely out-of-tune piano :)
posted by greenish at 8:32 AM on October 21, 2013
posted by greenish at 8:32 AM on October 21, 2013
Excellent job. This is way cooler than the original, imo. Also, That's a heck of a recording for an iphone.
posted by TheNegativeInfluence at 6:19 PM on October 21, 2013
posted by TheNegativeInfluence at 6:19 PM on October 21, 2013
Oh man this is so good!
posted by TwoWordReview at 12:47 PM on November 1, 2013
posted by TwoWordReview at 12:47 PM on November 1, 2013
Wow! This is great.
posted by Roger Dodger at 6:43 AM on November 2, 2013
posted by Roger Dodger at 6:43 AM on November 2, 2013
hence the shitty vocal and awkward playing
I would love to hear more shitty vocals and awkward playing. That was beautiful.
posted by emilyw at 11:02 AM on November 2, 2013 [2 favorites]
I would love to hear more shitty vocals and awkward playing. That was beautiful.
posted by emilyw at 11:02 AM on November 2, 2013 [2 favorites]
I like this a lot. A LOT.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 5:28 AM on November 12, 2013
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 5:28 AM on November 12, 2013
Oh sweet! That's sounds so awesome; it was exactly what I had in mind!
posted by rubah at 11:13 PM on February 22, 2014
posted by rubah at 11:13 PM on February 22, 2014
God, this is gorgeous. The piano is obviously super out of tune but with the pedals deployed like that it sounds almost intentional, like there's a chorus pedal on it or something. And I love your voice - the vocals are amazing.
posted by en forme de poire at 8:43 PM on January 19, 2015
posted by en forme de poire at 8:43 PM on January 19, 2015
I like your version far better than the original. And out-of-tune pianos are the best (even though I get mine tuned once a year).
posted by not_on_display at 8:52 PM on March 24, 2016
posted by not_on_display at 8:52 PM on March 24, 2016
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My grandmother recently passed and left an even-worse wreck of an old piano in the living room. We're trying to figure out how to dispose of it, but I might call a tuner first and see if it can be made playable again, because it always had really great action, and I'd really like to keep it (not that I have anywhere to put it right now, but that's another story altogether).
posted by uncleozzy at 7:19 AM on October 18, 2013