Rather bold of me to take this on I think but I thought it would be fun to try!
I heard this song in a local Chinese Restaurant one night and commented to my wife that I quite liked this guys sound (unlike most other Chinese pop I get subjected to LOL ) She subsequently enquired with the waiter as to who it was.
Anyway long story short, I had a bit of time to spare so I looked the song up and decided to see if I could do a version of itā¦ modelled on the original. Kind of ironic I guess that my first cover song Iāve ever recorded myself singing is in Chinese! While Iām familiar with a good number of the words, actually singing the Mandarin proved to be extraordinarily difficultā¦ breathing and phrasing in that language was really quite a challenge I found.
So, an initial mix where Iāve aimed for a fairly FX-rich approach on the vocal - though Iām not entirely happy with the result so far
My wife has always thought I was a dreadful singer and much prefers it when I donāt! But this moved her to tears. I have a general understanding about what Iām singing but obviously not with the same cultural depth and meaning that she gets from it. She now thinks I should always sing in Chinese! (thatās not gonna happen!)
This raises an interesting question though - is ones perception of someones singing ability directly linked to the meaning they derive from the words being sung? And if so, if she fully understood the lyrics of all the other songs I do in English would she like my singing more?? Hmmmā¦
Hi Ian- nice work as usual, although perhaps I agree that you could ease up on the vocal effects.
With regard to your āinteresting questionā- The music I like listening too usually includes a lot of the Gaelic language. I canāt speak a single word of Gaelic but I love listening to it being sung. And the accompanying melodies and harmonies convey as much meaning to me as the lyrics themselves.
Prime example - āAilein Dunnā by Capercaille. This song moved me so much that I ended up using an on line translator to figure out what the lyrics meant. And the tune fitted them perfectly.
Anyhows- congrats on your first cover, especially in another language.
Wow. Not bad at all Mr Rushton. I like the vocal processing, I think itās nigh perfect for this style. Not keen on the drums as usual Not enough impact on the snare. Are you using brushes there?
Great stuff
Cheers
Phil
Nice, Ian. I can see why you were drawn to this song, since itās not that far off, stylistically, from what you normally do. I think the vocal sounds fine, delivery-wise, and with the effect. Itās an appropriately simple production and I think you served the song well. My only nits are some of those errant(to me) hihat and ride hits
on the outro (3:09, 3:12, 3:16, etc)
Perhaps some titillating pillow talk in Chinese would pay you some big dividends.
Thanks
I checked out āAilein Dunnā by Capercaille by the way - beautiful. I used to listen to a lot of Celtic stuff years ago, obvious bands like Clannad etc.
Cheers Iāll no doubt have this one under the āmicroscopeā again for another round of fine-tuning.
Thanks!
Cheers Phil. I know Iāll never win you over with my drum choices so I aint even gonna try! No brushes were harmed in the making of this track
Yeahā¦ I guess soā¦ both progression and melody feel familiar.
Ok, will check those.
Donāt worry, got that sorted years ago ā¦and this song certainly proved a shagworthy effort.
Thatās pretty cool, singing in Chinese. I think it sounds good, and I like the effect on the voice. I also like the acoustic guitar. Do you play the same thing on left side and right side, I couldnāt tell?
bold for sure but you pulled it off bigtime, excellent job on the vocal work. couldnāt help thinking maybe some kind of chinese instrument in there somewhere might have worked. I liked the moogish synth add to.
well baked!
My only experience with Western interpretation of Chinese art is Mahlerās setting of Chinese poems in his Das Leid von der Erde. That being a late-romantic piece (albeit a masterpiece) itās festooned with pentatonics and other oriental accoutrements. Pentatonics prevail in this piece, too (I assume from the original) but Iām glad that otherwise youāve made it your own!
Youāre not missing much as far as contemorary Chinese pop goes! I find it, as a general statement, to be far too sanitised and insipid for my tastes. But that said, I have been exposed to a few artists that I can comfortably listen to without any overt signs of nausea Xu Wei, who originally performed this one, I can tolerate for the most part.
ā¦and absolutely ALL of the Canto-pop crap that
is produced here in Da Kong. Taiwanese artists are better singers and far more imaginative, but
a dangerous percentage of them, too, are pretty much saccharine in a sack.
Here, if itās pink, sweet, airbrushed and soft-focussed (musically and visually) itās a hit.
Andā¦ I did discover Cui Jian, who has a a worthy amount of credibilityā¦ considered something of a pioneer of Chinese (political) Rock back in the 80ās.
Here, with the Stones is worth a look:
And, Iāve been in recent years been āsubjectedā to some of those that have modelled themself on him, some of which I also find reasonably palatable. Dao Lang is an example, and while some of his stuff is a bit too āmandopopā for my tastes, some other songs really are quite tasteful I thought.
While Iām familiar with a good number of the words, actually singing the Mandarin proved to be extraordinarily difficultā¦ breathing and phrasing in that language was really quite a challenge I found.
But this moved her to tears. I have a general understanding about what Iām singing but obviously not with the same cultural depth and meaning that she gets from it. She now thinks I should always sing in Chinese! 
(thatās not gonna happen!)
Easy enough to retrack.
