Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 35

Thread: MJ's Beatles project, Rubber Souls

  1. #1

    MJ's Beatles project, Rubber Souls

    Thought y'all might get a kick out of these (if you haven't already seen them - P.S. We're available for weddings and large parties [sans orchestra]). Just fyi, the keys and backing singer guy on the left is Jon Stubbs of Hamster Theatre. FWIW, most of the orchestrations were transcribed and scored by me, of which I'm pretty proud, having never done anything like that before.

    https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=...-7oOjLEL4nPMGA

  2. #2
    Some more.....

    Across the Universe
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FvfEI_jGLd0

    Live & Let Die (I know, not Beatles....but the singer insisted...)
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cBp3YJ0fSBU

  3. #3
    Member Top Cat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2018
    Location
    N of Clearwater, Florida
    Posts
    3,007
    Very well done, that's great. Jon has great vocals, however for me, his voice doesn't suit doing Beatles covers.
    I really like your orchestrations you transcribed and scored, not an easy task.
    Thanks for posting these.
    Soundcloud page: Richard Hermans, musical meanderings https://soundcloud.com/precipice YouTube: [https://www.youtube.com/@richardhermans4457

  4. #4
    Member since March 2004 mozo-pg's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    9,688
    Colour me fully impressed, with vocals and deeply engaging instrumental aspects of the music! Well done!

  5. #5
    Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Derby, Vermont
    Posts
    236
    Saturday Sunshine ~

    Yeah! Orchestrations... like the one on Penny Lane. VERY nicely done and the path taken after lyric 'clean machine' ...just awesome.

    Carry On
    Chris Buckley

  6. #6
    Really nice. I think his singing suits it perfectly fine. No need to pick it apart.
    "The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by winkersnufs View Post
    Saturday Sunshine ~

    Yeah! Orchestrations... like the one on Penny Lane. VERY nicely done and the path taken after lyric 'clean machine' ...just awesome.

    Carry On
    Chris Buckley
    Thanks! In truth, all I did was score what's there on the original recording (to the best of my ability to hear), with some added doubling of some parts like, for instance, the strings basically doubling the piano part in the last verse and chorus. Having all those players, we tried to utilize as many as we could while staying true to the original parts. No new notes injected. When you do that it starts to get "Las Vegassy."

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Top Cat View Post
    Very well done, that's great. Jon has great vocals, however for me, his voice doesn't suit doing Beatles covers.
    I really like your orchestrations you transcribed and scored, not an easy task.
    Thanks for posting these.
    Thanks. As I said above, the mission was to create scores that sounded as much as possible like the priginals, with the players that we had. Rarely did Geroge Martin use a full orchestra, so we had to be careful. I gaiely pleased with it, though. And I'm very happy if it passes muster with you guys. Re the singer, you must mean the lead singer, Mike Massé (Jon is the backing singer playing the Kurzweil). Believe me, unless one has massive resources, Massé is as good as we could possibly hope to get for this project. He loves the Beatles, knows all the material, including piano and acoustic guitar parts, and is a perfectionist stickler....like me. And he does make an effort, when he can, to emulate McCartney's and Lennon's vocal styles. I mean, those guys were/are some of the greatest rock singers of all time.

  9. #9
    I've always enjoyed you guys. Greatly musical and very robust versions of the tunes. Hard rockin' grooves and fine vocals. I love the orchestrations too. Nicely done, brother. Bravo
    And the code is a play, a play is a song, a song is a film, a film is a dance...

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Polypet View Post
    I've always enjoyed you guys. Greatly musical and very robust versions of the tunes. Hard rockin' grooves and fine vocals. I love the orchestrations too. Nicely done, brother. Bravo
    Ah now....

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Top Cat View Post
    I really like your orchestrations you transcribed and scored, not an easy task.
    Do you know Mike's primary vehicle, the legendary Thinking Plague? He can transcribe stuff for right.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

  12. #12
    Member Top Cat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2018
    Location
    N of Clearwater, Florida
    Posts
    3,007
    Quote Originally Posted by ronmac View Post
    Really nice. I think his singing suits it perfectly fine. No need to pick it apart.
    what Ron? it's how I feel, sorry. It's not picking it apart, I think his vocals are too high for the parts, which to me give the songs a different feel that I don't care for.
    It doesn't make him or the music bad, just a personal preference and I don't understand why you would criticize me for that.

    I was being honest, and I think it's important for performers/musicians to hear all viewpoints, not just the good stuff.

    Quote Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor View Post
    Do you know Mike's primary vehicle, the legendary Thinking Plague? He can transcribe stuff for right.
    I did not know that, thank you, I'll check them out.
    Last edited by Top Cat; 12-09-2018 at 08:44 AM.
    Soundcloud page: Richard Hermans, musical meanderings https://soundcloud.com/precipice YouTube: [https://www.youtube.com/@richardhermans4457

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Top Cat View Post
    what Ron? it's how I feel, sorry. It's not picking it apart, I think his vocals are too high for the parts, which to me give the songs a different feel that I don't care for.
    It doesn't make him or the music bad, just a personal preference and I don't understand why you would criticize me for that.

    I was being honest, and I think it's important for performers/musicians to hear all viewpoints, not just the good stuff.
    I wasn't criticizing you. I was merely stating that I see no reason to pick it apart. If people need carbon copies, that's up to them. Some of the best covers are those which are most unlike the originals.
    "The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"

  14. #14
    Member Top Cat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2018
    Location
    N of Clearwater, Florida
    Posts
    3,007
    well it was natural to assume you were referring to my comment since I was the only one who posted anything at all negative.

    As far as carbon copies I'm far from locked into that, it's just for my listening to the songs, his vocals just didn't fit for me. And I did note he had a great voice.
    For example, I happen to like Danny Elfman's Beatles cover with Oingo Boingo of I am the Walrus. And I could site more examples of covers done by different vocals of Beatles songs or other bands that I like. Or Genesis covers, etc.

    Were I tearing down the performance, arrangement and stating the vocals are horrible, then yes, I agree, I don't like that kind of negativity.

    At any rate, we differ, and that's what makes the wheels on the bus go round and round round and round.
    Soundcloud page: Richard Hermans, musical meanderings https://soundcloud.com/precipice YouTube: [https://www.youtube.com/@richardhermans4457

  15. #15
    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Westchester, NY
    Posts
    16,529
    Quote Originally Posted by MJ-Plagued View Post
    Some more.....

    Across the Universe
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FvfEI_jGLd0

    Live & Let Die (I know, not Beatles....but the singer insisted...)
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cBp3YJ0fSBU
    These are both great! I think the singer does a great job. It looks, though, like the playlist in the first post has been removed.

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Top Cat View Post
    well it was natural to assume you were referring to my comment since I was the only one who posted anything at all negative.

    As far as carbon copies I'm far from locked into that, it's just for my listening to the songs, his vocals just didn't fit for me. And I did note he had a great voice.
    For example, I happen to like Danny Elfman's Beatles cover with Oingo Boingo of I am the Walrus. And I could site more examples of covers done by different vocals of Beatles songs or other bands that I like. Or Genesis covers, etc.

    Were I tearing down the performance, arrangement and stating the vocals are horrible, then yes, I agree, I don't like that kind of negativity.

    At any rate, we differ, and that's what makes the wheels on the bus go round and round round and round.
    Bro, you are WAAAY over-reacting to one comment. This place is notorious for picking apart such things. While you were the only one to offer any criticism (or whatever you want to call it) at that point (which is your right to do so), I was merely making a general statement. Consider it more of a pre-emptive strike for what could have followed by those who feel things need to remain pure for some silly selfish reason.

    If I wanted to direct it at you, I would have quoted you.

    Let's move on, okay?
    "The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"

  17. #17
    Member Top Cat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2018
    Location
    N of Clearwater, Florida
    Posts
    3,007
    Quote Originally Posted by ronmac View Post
    Let's move on, okay?
    I already did.
    Soundcloud page: Richard Hermans, musical meanderings https://soundcloud.com/precipice YouTube: [https://www.youtube.com/@richardhermans4457

  18. #18
    Member Guitarplyrjvb's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Northeast Pennsylvania USA
    Posts
    1,114
    Love it! The vocalist is great, too! I listened to Let it Be and really enjoyed the string arrangement replacing the Spector choir.

  19. #19
    Member nosebone's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Stamford, Ct.
    Posts
    1,528
    Really nice! thx
    no tunes, no dynamics, no nosebone

  20. #20
    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Westchester, NY
    Posts
    16,529
    I didn't know the poster was Mike Johnson either. It's easy to forget to try to decipher a poster's member name! But, anyway, cool that it's you Mike. You don't know me, but I certainly am familiar with a lot of your music, and love it!

  21. #21
    Member Top Cat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2018
    Location
    N of Clearwater, Florida
    Posts
    3,007
    Quote Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor View Post
    Do you know Mike's primary vehicle, the legendary Thinking Plague? He can transcribe stuff for right.
    I checked out some of their music, and while I'm not a big fan of avante garde music, the level of musicanship, writing and performance is excellent.
    I can see where Mike's arranging for Thinking Plague prepared him for this new endeavor, and I bet although challenging, it was very rewarding on a personal level.

    And Bob Drake is the white polar bear guy member here, right? I checked out some of his stuff some time ago, and I thought it was very very good.
    Soundcloud page: Richard Hermans, musical meanderings https://soundcloud.com/precipice YouTube: [https://www.youtube.com/@richardhermans4457

  22. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by Top Cat View Post
    And Bob Drake is the white polar bear guy member here, right?
    Yupz.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

  23. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by Guitarplyrjvb View Post
    Love it! The vocalist is great, too! I listened to Let it Be and really enjoyed the string arrangement replacing the Spector choir.
    Glad you like. The only available "choir" was Jon and me....and we could have done it a little better. But I added winds and strings to compensate.

  24. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    I didn't know the poster was Mike Johnson either. It's easy to forget to try to decipher a poster's member name! But, anyway, cool that it's you Mike. You don't know me, but I certainly am familiar with a lot of your music, and love it!
    Well, way cool. Thanks JKL.

  25. #25
    Hey Mikey, say hi to Jon for me! I didn't realise he was singing or otherwsie taking part. Very cool indeed
    And the code is a play, a play is a song, a song is a film, a film is a dance...

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •