Walk off the Earth

[Ben M]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... 9NF2edxy-M

[Manning]

A friend emailed me about this asking if it was performed live.

I said no, mainly because there is no way the guy on the right could get that sound by strumming the strings between the nut and the tuners. Plus the girl sounds close-mic'd and the guy in the middle (singing the chorus) sounds double-tracked.

Cool concept for a video nonetheless.

[Ben M]

Ha classic. I had the sound on the ipad down so low I didn't hear the clip in any detail.

[Manning]

If you like really clever video ideas, here's one of my faves by some random Japanese pop group:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfBlUQguvyw

And another fave video (which I first learned about when someone else posted it to Trock, can't remember who)

Hey Rosetta - Bandages
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja_Hkk9j2nM

[audioio]

And another fave video (which I first learned about when someone else posted it to Trock, can't remember who)

Hey Rosetta - Bandages
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja_Hkk9j2nM

That was me. I was surprised more people didn't comment on it at the time. But we're all busy and and recent posts have shown that you're more important than me, so maybe now!

[Manning]

I think you've confused "important" with "loud and irritating"

It's a fantastic song and video though, and I just can't understand why it hasn't garnered millions of views. For some reason the world insists on celebrating mediocrity and ignores talent.

[Djembe]

A friend emailed me about this asking if it was performed live.

I said no, mainly because there is no way the guy on the right could get that sound by strumming the strings between the nut and the tuners. Plus the girl sounds close-mic'd and the guy in the middle (singing the chorus) sounds double-tracked.

Sounds live to me. The plucking sound the guy on the right is making is feasible, the girl is fairly close to the mic on the left, and the guy singing the chorus is not double tracked.

Found this about the video:
"......the live video took 26 takes and 14 hours of filming to nail a mistake-free performance."
http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/video-walk-off-the-earths-gotye-cover-is-viral-sensation-524274

[Chris H]

I'm going to give it another listen as I thought I heard a cord change on the strum above the nut.

[Chris H]

Well, the jury is out.......the high strums at:
23
59
1.09
1.23
1.40
all are the same chord but the ones at 2.50 are in question.......
Bit of a long shot as it might be just the string 5 and 6 only for 2.50 where the others at 1.40 are 4,5,6, ??

[Manning]

My problem is, how did they get the notes behind the nut to tune to a chord? The only way I know to do that is to retune the guitar, at which point everything else goes out of tune.

Also I'm dubious on some of the girl's chord changes - there are a few occasions where they seem to lag behind the music.

I remain skeptical, but arguing about this is better than working

[Ben M]

The verse vocals are really up front considering the mics and positioning, chorus vox sound has a hint of dble tracking but not necessarily - it could be in his voice, if not he may have added a dble and mixed it right back. The flings and pizzicato above the nut seem fine for me. Downward flings and pizz up strokes.

After 26 takes with everyone huddled around the fret board like that you'd be ready for some 'me time', eh?
The guy singing the chorus looks like he wanted to shout "nailed it!" when they finished.

[Manning]

The flings and pizzicato above the nut seem fine for me. Downward flings and pizz up strokes.

Timing is not the issue, the tuning is what troubles me. The strings behind the nut simply do not sound like that when a guitar is normally tuned.

[Djembe]

Bear in mind the distance from the nut to machine head is not a standard length.
The tuning on your guitar at that point may differ from theirs.
Also the tuning on their guitar is not standard. e.g. the bottom E is tuned to A.

[Ben M]

Also the tuning on their guitar is not standard. e.g. the bottom E is tuned to A.

The song is in D so that makes sense seeing bass guy is starting on fret 5 with E tuned to A.

[Manning]

I accept that you could probably get one string to be in harmony with the other side of the nut through a process of experimentation.

But to do it for three strings, and then to have those three be in harmony with each other, on both sides of the nut? It seems absurdly unlikely. It would have to be designed this way, and I can't imagine any designer trying to achieve that. (They're also playing an Epiphone guitar which is pretty bog standard in its design.)

Still I have a collection of 18 various guitars at home, so I'm going to experiment with them to see if anything close to this can even be achieved. (OK, maybe not with the Steinbergers). I remain *extremely* skeptical though.

[Ben M]

Listen at 4.07 when they finish. Hear the knock on the guitar and the breathing?

Someone says "i think we got it"

[Djembe]

On my Martin D28, the A string above the nut is an A, and the D is a G.

[Manning]

What about the GB & E strings? Are they anywhere close to consonant?

But for the moment I still call shenanigans. If I was trying to make a video that looked live, I'd place a couple of "live sounding" effects in there. When I worked on sampler programming for a Janet Jackson tour back in 91, there were samples of her singing that had a "jolt" in them so as to match her dance moves.

Anyway, I'll still try this when I get home.

[Djembe]

G string is a B.
B string is a slightly sharp B
E string is a "plink"

[wez]

just had a look... there's no way that lead vocal was recorded with those mics. not even close. it's an overdub.

[wez]

same goes for the other vox... SM7 from 18 inches away getting THAT sound? and no spill? no.

listen to the close mic LDC sound when the girl sings the word 'over'. i mean come on.

and then there's the vocal editing. and the autotune. etc etc.

but hey it's cool, it's a nice trick visually, nice performance etc.

[rick]

you know i saw this weeks ago when they did it and watched all there other videos
i am given them 10/10 for sparking my interest and for having their own studio to do all that stuff
in
truley talented fellow , even if its all other people tunes

its recording.. its video.. its the internet and its entertainment !

who care if its live ..?

oh yes did i mention its free ..?

check out all their videos , they make lots of people with a studio look quite uncreative
myself being top of the list !

I don't mind a bit of bar raising .. its probably time

[Ben M]

Considering they posted this on YouTube 13 days ago its pretty amazing they've had almost 25,000,000 views.
Next week they're on Ellen Degeneres performing this cover 'live' and will probably eclipse that number in a matter of minutes.
I'm happy enough knowing that they are a talented bunch of muso's with some cool ideas rather than another celebrity going viral for another talentless boring video.

[Chris H]

My strat is in tune above the nut for when I play in Em......been using it for years as an option.
As an aside:
25,000,000 hits with no mention of the original composer and no royalties going his way................just imagine the money injected into the industry.

[Manning]

I checked all of my relevant guitars - one of them has two of the three notes in tune, but that was the best I could do.
(I didn't bother checking any of my guitars with in-line headstocks as the design is completely different.)

To be fair, the version I saw mentioned Gotye in the heading.

I'm no expert in this, but I believe YouTube distinguishes ad view revenue from music royalties. So despite the fact that the music is what led to the ad being viewed, there is no financial relationship between the two.

So as far as I can tell, YouTube would have paid out approximately $800 in royalties for those 25 million views. (www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/042211spins). Party at Gotye's house.

[Ausrock]

Sorry but I only just looked at this (without audio) which was interesting. Maybe it's the old cynic in me but based on the visuals all I could think of was what a bunch of ................No, I'll leave it at that as my opinion is just that, my opinion

That said, it kinda reminded me of the night my son and I took a neck each on our Jim Williams 6/12 d'ble neck for a jam.

[Ben M]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvviLGNy ... ata_player

I guess this answers the whole live or not thing.

[Djembe]

Now THAT was live.

[tunetown]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvviLGNydeg&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I guess this answers the whole live or not thing.

Ouch...!!!

[Manning]

Youtube is blocked at work... what am I missing?

(I can wait until I get home of course, but hey, I'm curious).