Chorus.fm Member Compilations - HALLOWEEN COMPILATION (Out now!) • Page 27

Going to be honest, I didn't actually mix with the intention for my song to be surfy, so everyone telling me it sounds surfy is a happy accident.

But thank you for the kind words @trevorshmevor !

 

@trevorshmevor thank you! Haha yeah, I thought it'd be more fun to make more upbeat. I have also been working on a lot of (original) songs that are very chill, almost Copeland esqe so wanted a break from the slow stuff. Vocals were fun because I've never tried to have any grit to my voice, so I just went wild and kept the totally raw one layer of vocals. Getting the flow down was incredibly difficult, and it's very rare I work with something as fast as 160bpm. But yeah. It was fun.

 

This compilation is super super super good! Everyone did a great job as always. It was nice to hear some songs I haven't heard in a while on this comp, like "You're So Last Summer," "Smooth," and "Ocean Avenue." I'll leave some individual track thoughts tomorrow, but I'll respond to the folks who've left feedback so far.

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@elemenohpe Thank you! I did put a lot of time into this cover, mostly just trying to get the guitar parts to sound close to what I wanted (I use an acoustic and record with my phone's mic into GarageBand, so you can imagine the frustrations there lol). I definitely wanted to show a bit more of vocal range on this one, so I'm glad you think it came out well!

I really liked your covers too! The "Smooth" cover it perfect, it brought me right back to being a kid and listening to that song on the radio with my family in our old Camry. Such a great job capturing every tone and the whole feeling of the song. The "Stay Out" cover was also really good. I hadn't heard that song before but I really enjoyed listening to your version for my first time!

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@trevorshmevor Thank you so much! Honestly those deeper parts are much closer to my speaking/typical singing voice, so that was the easy part haha. I've been working on the higher end of my range and pushing myself to just go for it, so I'm glad it sounds like I wasn't straining! And I'm glad folks are enjoying the feel of the song, I was a bit afraid of it being a bit too slow and it losing the summer vibe, but I'm glad it came through in the end.

I really dug your covers on this. The NFG cover was a perfect way to kick this thing off, and I love the way it sounds, it definitely has the raw punk vibe you wanted to keep in it. As for the T-Swift cover, I am not a huge fan of her music, but I really, really, really like this cover. Seriously, great job on both of your covers.

 

I just finished listening through this whole thing. I'll post my full review tomorrow, but initial thoughts:
- the "We Are Never Getting Back Together" is my favorite one. Damn!
- so many great song choices! I forgot how good "Under The Boardwalk" is.
- I wish we had gotten a track from Joan!

I cant wait til tomorrow when I can give everyone a thorough review because you all deserve it. Every cover on this puppy is great!

Thanks so much for contributing your talents to this and all the other comps we've done so far! For real. Doing these comps with you guys every month really makes me happy.

 

The love in this place is all warm and fuzzy

 

Thanks @elemenohpe and @trevorshmevor! Glad you guys enjoyed my cover.

I'm on vacation right now, so I won't be able to write up thoughts for a few days, but I'm enjoying this comp.

 

Haha hers is actually the voice I was loosely comparing that Dashboard cover to. Maybe my ears are just weird, but I feel like they've got a very similar timbre

 

1. @trevorshmevor - Intro (New Found Glory)
I thought this was the best opener for the comp. The beach sounds are great, and then the song just kicks in and rips your face off in a short and sweet kinda way. Such a good song too! I'm glad NFG made it onto this comp. An NFG comp would be fun to do one day...

2. @snaps - You Belong With Me (Taylor Swift)
One of my favorite T-Sweezy songs, and you guys did great with it! I love the bouncy energy on it.

3. @Things So Impossible & @DashboardProfessional - You're So Last Summer (Taking Back Sunday)
This was a really cool cover! I like how you guys handled the vocals, and I think this song works great as an acoustic song. Talented family right here!

4. @elemenohpe - Smooth (Santana & Rob Thomas)
When you said you were going to do this song, it kinda caught me off guard. It's not a song that I'd expect anyone here to do, but you nailed it! I know you said that you felt like you added too many bongos and stuff, but I thought it was perfect. It's crazy that you learned how to play the song from a video game, haha. Maybe I need to do that so I can learn how to play lead guitar better.

5. bradsonemanband - Ocean Avenue (Yellowcard)
So originally, I was going to do a full band cover of "My Own Worst Enemy" by Lit. I had all of the music recorded, but couldn't ever find time to do vocals until the due date, but when I tried to do them, my voice just wasn't working out for it. So I scrapped it, and started dinking around on my acoustic guitar to see if I could come up with anything for a different song. "Ocean Avenue" just kind of popped out immediately. I played through it once or twice and then hit record. I'm kinda bummed I wasn't able to finish my Lit cover, but I hope I did this one enough justice to make up for it.

6. @trevorshmevor - We Are Never Getting Back Together (Taylor Swift)
This is my favorite track on here! I have listened to it like 5 times already, haha. You killed it. Everything about it is rad! And the name drop to our Chorus comps made me smile like a dork.

7. @Craig Manning - Thunder Road (Bruce Springsteen)
Your voice! Gahhhh! To be honest, I don't know this song, but I got lost listening to your voice. I've told you that a million times already though so I'll stop gushing now, haha.

8. @InfiniteArms - Blood Red Summer (Coheed and Cambria)
I'll echo how the unintentional surfy vibe works great for this song. Sounds awesome!

9. @phillyfradet - Under The Boardwalk (The Drifters)
I always forget about this song and how good it is! You did it justice. I was bopping and singing along with it, and even after it was finished. The Drifters are so great. I'd love to do an Oldies compilation one day.

10. bradsonemanband - Blitzkrieg Bop (Ramones)
I did this song on the due date too. It came completely out of nowhere. I had a few shots of whiskey, was playing my guitar, and then decided to record a quick cover of it. I programmed the bass and drums while my friends and girlfriend were all watching Game of Thrones. I was sitting behind them with my headphones on, programming away! And then I went in my room after the show was over to record the vocals (which I don't like at all) but I didn't have time to really make them great. I'll probably re-record the vocals eventually. Haha, but either way, this was fun to play.

11. @Benjamin Lee - Off To The Races (Lana Del Rey)
I don't know Lana, but I really liked your cover! I like how dark it sounds. Did you play it in a low tuning? It sounds so dark and heavy. It's awesome.

12. @TedSchmosby - Warmth Of The Sun (Dashboard Confessional)
Ahhh good ol' Dashboard! This was a great summer acoustic song to cover. And like others have said, you've got the Chris Carrabba vocal to do it justice.

13. bradsonemanband - Sasha (Turnover)
I recorded this in one take on THIS recorder. I thought it would be kinda cool to record a track that way because I've never really used this tape recorder before. I didn't use any effects afterwards other than volume adjustment. So that's why the sound quality is kinda funky and you can hear the actual tape sounds and stuff. I'll probably record more covers like this here and there because I think I like the sound it captures.

14. @therookielot - Video Games (Lana Del Rey)
Once again, I don't know Lana at all, but I am starting to think I need to give her a shot because I like both of the Lana covers on here. Very cool cover! I like how you let the vocals be the main focus of the song by keeping the guitar kinda low in the background.

15. @elemenohpe - Stay Out (Hit The Lights)
This is one of my favorite HTL songs and I wanted it to be the last track on here because it kinda book ends the whole compilation. Starts off with that fast NFG song and then ends with the fast HTL song, with all sorts of different sounds and moods in between. This was a really fun cover and it made me realize that I haven't listened to this band in a REALLY long time. It's time to blow the dust off of it and give it another whirl because this is the perfect time to do so.


Once again, you guys all killed it and I am so stoked for the next compilation, whatever it may be. Doing this with you all is so much fun!

 

@bradsonemanband Thanks! Nah, it's all standard. I mixed in a way to makes it sound heavier than it really is. haha Also, Lana is nothing like the covers on here really, she's more pop with a lot of orchestral and noir stuff. I was just a little stir crazy and made it heavier. But if that sounds like something you'd like, definitely check her out.

 

Idk how you go about submitting news on the new site or I'd submit this haha

 

Haha, I submitted it this morning! For future reference though, at the bottom of the news page, there's a little button that says "Submit Tip." You just click that and go from there.

 

It's on the front page nowwww

 

fuck, i stopped getting notifications about posts in this thread and forgot to record a song. oh well. i'll be in for fall out boy or taking back sunday, if either of those win this time around.

 

Looks like Fall Out Boy is winning in the poll so far.

If you haven't voted yet, the link is on the first post of this thread.

 

When are you likely to call out the new album? I feel like if Fall Out Boy wins I may need to camp out in the thread to get the song I want.

 

I'll call it out on Friday morning.

 

Hopefully I am also well enough to do this one, I feel like I've only been 100% like 3 days out of the past 30.

I have some weird cough going on at the moment so when I sing I sound like prepubescent Brian Fallon.

 

Alright, finally getting to my thoughts on everyone's tracks. Here we go!

@trevorshmevor - "Intro" by NFG - Perfect song to have at the front of this comp. Like I said before, this has the true punk vibe you wanted to keep in the song, and it's just really well composed.

@snaps - "You Belong With Me" by Taylor Swift - I am admittedly not a huge Taylor Swift fan for the most part, but you do a really great job covering this song. All the layers, especially the dual vocals at some points, sound really great. Great job on this one!

@Things So Impossible & @DashboardProfessional - "You're So Last Summer" by TBS - You two are just too dang good at making music. This is such an awesome cover and it's one of my favorite TBS songs so that's a win-win for me. As it's been noted before, keeping true to Adam and John's parts makes this an even stronger track and works perfectly. Good job!

@elemenohpe - "Smooth" by Santana & Rob Thomas - As I said before, this is possibly the most nostalgic track on here for me, tied with "You're So Last Summer." Seriously, the singing, the guitar playing, the layering, the tones, everything is on point here. Awesome choice in fuzzing your vocals, it sounds super cool with the music.

@bradsonemanband - "Ocean Avenue" by Yellowcard - First of all, I love that you placed this song at this point of the comp, it helps the whole thing flow better. Secondly, this is such a good cover omg. I really like the choice to go acoustic and slow, it's feels super emotional and personal and that works really well for this song. Great first of three on this one! Lol

@trevorshmevor - "We Are Never Getting Back Together" by Taylor Swift - Again, I am not a fan of T-Swift, but holy moly, what a wonderful cover this is. How much fun did you have making this cover? I love your vocals on this a bunch, and the little monologue type thing in the bridge (especially the "like ever!!"). Also, this is just a straight up good pop punk song through and through. This is definitely one of my favorites on the comp.

@Craig Manning - "Thunder Road" by Bruce Springsteen - You know when someone does something so strong and amazing you just want to yell expletives at them because you don't know how to process your emotions properly? Is that just me? That's fine, but seriously, I love love love this cover. It's super simple and straightforward (in the best way) but it sounds professionally done and your singing is outstanding. Also, bonus points to anytime someone does a Springsteen song because we have the same birthday lmao.

@InfiniteArms - "Blood Red Summer" by Coheed and Cambria - Really good cover. This is one of my favorite Coheed songs, and you definitely do it justice. I like that you stick to a lower vocal register because it still works with the song. Also great guitar playing on this one.

phillyfradet - "Under the Boardwalk" by The Drifters - As soon as this comp was announced I wanted to go in one of two directions: either a Sublime song (I would have tried my hand at "Paddle Out" because it's about the town where I went to college) or an oldie, so I went with oldie since I don't cover many older songs. This was actually pretty frustrating at first, since I use an acoustic guitar and play into Garageband on my phone, so nothing was sounding the way I wanted at first, and I didn't want to end up with tones too similar to my Weezer cover, which is also why I slowed it down to go for that more chill vibe. Also, I really wanted to push myself by singing an octave higher than I usually do (to give you an idea, I typically sing in the register of the "under the boarwalks" in the chorus and can get about an octave lower than that). In the end though, I am really happy with this cover and with the vibe I achieved, and I'm glad others seem to like it too!

@bradsonemanband - "Blitzkrieg Bop" by The Ramones - I love that you did this the day we were supposed to submit this, because it doesn't sound rushed or anything like that. The compression of the instruments and the echo on your voice were both great choices. 2/2 so far!!

@Benjamin Lee - "Off to the Races" by Lana Del Rey - I actually haven't heard this song before, but this is a great song, everything about it is well done. There's something about your voice that kind of reminds me of old Conor Oberst (like "Collection of Songs" old) and I like that a lot. Great job!

@TedSchmosby - "Warmth of the Sun" by Dashboard Confessional - Such a strong, heartfelt acoustic cover. Your singing is on point and you definitely do Chris Carrabba proud. The bits of vocal layering was a great touch. Well done!

@bradsonemanband - "Sasha" by Turnover - Another song I haven't heard before, but I really like this song, another great acoustic cover on the comp. The tempo change toward the end was very well done, and your singing fits this kind of song really really well. Needless to say, 3 for 3, you get the hat trick, great job all-around!

@therookielot - "Video Games" by Lana Del Rey - This is definitely what I would call a smart cover of a song like this. Making your voice the focal point of the song, especially with the echo, and with the distant distorted guitar through the song, it comes together very well. The vocal layering and yells at the end were a great touch.

@elemenohpe - "Stay Out" by Hit the Lights - I hadn't heard this song either, but just like the others I hadn't heard before, you do a great job and I like it a lot. What a great way to end this comp, and it definitely has a good pop punk summer vibe throughout. Great job!!

All-in-all, this is a great comp, and I'm glad I could be a part of it. Everyone on here is super talented and y'all inspire me to do more with my own music, so thank you all for being great.

 

Thank you @phillyfradet! I'm stoked you like my last minute recordings on this, haha.

 

Oh also @bradsonemanband thank you for the kind words. I really wanted to do justice to such a classic song and I'm glad I achieved that in some way. Also if we do an oldies comp at some point I am 100% in for that.

 

I would absolutely love to do an oldies comp sometime! Let's definitely keep that idea in our back pocket for when it's time for a new mixtape comp.

 

@phillyfradet thank you! Haha I've always hated my voice, but thank you for that too! No one's ever complimented me on my voice before.

 

Current stats.

Individual song plays: ~1,185
Full downloads: 7

And the top songs are basically just the same as the tracklist. So people seem to be listening to it all in order, which is cool.

 

What's the next comp? I still haven't gotten on one of these and need to. Just been busy with originals.

 

A poll was posted a little bit back in the thread, Brad will be announcing the winner on Friday