I recently acquired a Focusrite Scarlett audio interface, which came with an into level copy of Ableton Live. This really opens up the possibilities for recording. I've wanted to record a cover of this song but could never make it work as a solo cover.
I like to try and find some new angle on the original and I wanted to learn more about recording, so I assigned myself the task of recording this song, but copying the production of another song. I chose "Low Light Buddy Buddy of Mine" by Iron and Wine.
https://youtu.be/NunpNdA1SLs
This takes the song away from the loop Elvis uses and gives it something of an arc that builds toward the end. Obviously I didn't get to the level of Iron and WIne, but you can hear the influence in the overall quietness of the mix ,the intro with just bass and drums, the swells from the accordion and strings. I really tried to copy the vocal effects (with little success).
I started by building a drum loop and blocking out the song in the session view of Ableton. Then added the bass and chords using the built in electric piano sound. I think they call it 'Cheap Electro' but it's really one of the best Rhodes sounds I've heard. Then added some string sounds, which I got by using a string synth and putting a ton of reverb on it. The song was nearly finished before I started recording on camera. The plan was to replace the MIDI tracks with live ones.
For the video, I set up a camera with a feed from the Scarlett, same as my headphones. So the audio on the camera was everything except the part I was recording. I couldn't manage multiple takes, so I just had to delete on the spot if I didn't like a take or stop recording if I thought it was good. I didn't have the time or storage to evaluate multiple takes, or edit the good parts out of several. So each of those 4 shots is just one 7+ minute shot.
As I recorded each take I played along with the MIDI driven track and turned off any tracks that were distracting. I also had a bongo track through the whole thing used as a metronome. I recorded the acoustic guitar first, then the electric and vocals in the same take. Then the accordion. Drums were last.
In the final audio mix I left in the Rhodes sound and a little bit of the strings. Everything else was replaced with the live audio. I used that audio track to sync the 4 videos in a multicam sequence in Adobe Premiere Pro CC‎. There was enough audio in each of the videos that the software was able to synch them up.
To get the clip with all four shots, I used filters to scale each shot to 50% and offset them into the four corners. Then exported that as a video and added it as a clip to the original multicam sequence.
Final edit was done by clicking on the clips in the multicam editor while it played. I'm a real beginner at editing, so there are some bad cuts, like cutting to the acoustic right when the electric comes in. I think I was trying to get the part with the dog walking through and wasn't listening to the audio. I didn't really notice that until after uploading.
Hope you enjoy and I hope to have the time and gumption to do this again.
