Cover Lover - Match #1
Dec 28th, 2007 by Derrick Fung
I’m the type of person that could spend hours and hours on YouTube watching people’s covers of songs. Some of them are flawless, and some of them are just…well…let’s just say they’re better off taking their video off YouTube. I’ve always wanted to create a ‘battle of the covers’ on the blog, so here’s the first entry of it. Essentially, it’ll be a weekly contest, where I’ll be posting two people/bands doing the cover of the same song. Viewers, you must vote on who you think wins, based on:
- Technical Ability: Did they play all the right notes, and were they on key?
- Star Potential: Can you see them actually making it big?
- Quality of their recording: Was it rushed, or did they put time into it?
- Replication of the Song: How close is it to the original?
This week on Cover Lover (the new name of the weekly contest 
) we have two individuals battling it out. I will post the original song below, followed by the two people’s rendition of the song. Viewers, please vote on who you think deserves to win through the contest. I’m going to try to come up with some big prizes for voting, but since it’s the first week, here’s your incentive. Every Vote (comment) counts as ONE entry. I will choose 5 entries, and the winner will receive some awesome sheet music. Good luck!
This week’s song: John Mayer - Heart of Life
Competitors - Contestant 1
Competitors - Contestant 2
It is really close between the two of them. The only way to really say which is better is on lots of small technicalities.
Technical Ability: Both did not really miss any notes and if so, very few. Contestant 1 did not have all of the notes while whistling in key but contestant 2 had some very small mistakes in the guitar playing that the first one did not have. With singing, contestant 2 was better. He has an over all smoother voice that is much better at hitting the high range notes, which he full voiced (in comparison to contestant 1 who false setto, although he did sound pretty good doing it). The chorus is really where contestant 1 sounds the best when it comes to singing, other times he sounds like he is in pain, which would be okay but it is not the idea that is trying to be conveyed. Then with the humming/whistling, both of them had main notes that were not out of key, from what i can hear, but also not parts of the chords. And one final note for technical ability, contestant 1 add many little things to the guitar part that really made that aspect of his recording fantastic. It also made contestant 2’s guitar part sound a bit empty in comparison.
Star potential: I do not really think that this is a good enough indication of somebody’s potential to “make it big” partially because this strictly shows their abilities to play guitar and sing but not much else. Also if you look at who actually “makes it,” true talent in any or even every aspect is either not enough or not what people are looking to listen to. That being said, if I had to choose between the two of them, I would have to say the contestant 1 on nothing more than a gut feeling. He also looks remotely like Dave Matthews.
Quality of Recording: I’ll take this one in multiple aspects. With literal recording, contestant one was better. Having a boom mike for the guitar and vocals makes a huge difference in sound quality, although the levels for the vocals should have been higher. Going to what I think you actually meant by quality of recording, the time and effort put in by both of them is obvious. Both of them knew the song very well. The fact that they can sing and play that guitar part is proof enough.
Replication of the Song: I’ll start with the thing that stood out the most to me: tempo. Contestant 2 took it at a much faster speed. Mayer’s studio recording is at about 88 BPM while he took it at about 102 BPM. He also doesn’t hold a consistent tempo: at about 1:50, he noticeably speeds up. I am not saying that he needed to have it at the exact tempo. Contestant 1 had the tempo correct though. It wasn’t exactly like Mayer but it was at the general speed it was meant to take: not rushed, but still fast enough that the syncopated notes still provided drive to the piece (which contestant 2 had too much of). Contestant 1 took many, many more liberties in his recording, adding to the guitar part and changing some of the vocals. With the guitar part, it was great, but in the case of the vocals I think he did too much. There is not really much to say about contestant 2. Excluding the tempo, he strictly stayed to the piece.
Wow I wrote an essay for that… Anyway, although it was close, I my final choice would have to be contestant 1.
Well, I don’t have quite enough time to write something like what Eric wrote, but for me it was quite simple.
The techinical abilities of both were very similar, and of high quality, occasional slowness from C1 (contestant 1) I think puts C2 ahead for this one.
Star Potential : C1 reminded me of David Gray, and his voice was great for the song. C2, I thought did not have that ‘X Factor’ that would make him big, his voice was just slightly too high.
Recording Quality : Instantly the mike put C1 ahead of C2, although, like Eric said, both these guys put quite a bit of time into making this.
Replication of the Song : Being a cover artist myself, I love slightly altering the actual song, which is was C1 did. C2 played it very much like John Mayer (in this video at least) so I don’t know which one is really better.
But overall, the massive difference in star quality meant that C1 ran away with the victory.
First off, as a new user, I’d like to leave my comments of appreciation- I’ve been looking for something like this for years, and I think you’ve done a great job with it. Question- if we have some stuff that we’d be willing to let you post, what should we do? Drop me an email, if you would, I’ve got a ton of stuff that I’ve gotten from a few other places that I think some people might be interested in. Also, just a suggestion- I think it’d be cool to get a little viewer participation going in this contest in more of the sense of having it be viewers’ covers that we vote on. I don’t know if that’s what you’re already doing, but you might also put like the concept of a pre-decided song with it, like release the sheets to something, and give like a week or two for people to get a cover up on YouTube or whatever, and send a link or whatever to you, and have you pick the two finalists from that pool. Just a suggestion, cause I always personally enjoy a friendly competition of “Who ca learn this piece and reproduce it the best within two weeks” or whatever you wanna call it, plus I’d appreciate the opportunity, as it would make me a better auditioner, since that’s what you have to do at auditions frequently, not to mention it would improve sight-reading abilities and so much more. Again, just an idea.
As for the covers, I’ll leave a warning now to any reading this that I know this will end up being very long. You have been warned.
Technical Ability: As a pianist/vocalist I can only comment on the guitar playing by what I heard. I heard the notes sounding right for both contestants, and I think that both of them are clearly able to reproduce the guitar part well enough. I will comment on the vocals, though- Contestant 1 sounded much less comfortable. I have no doubt he can hit all the proper notes, but he’s not used to doing it. John often throughs in the little float-y high notes in to his melodies, and sounds very good because he’s confident in that range of his voice, and he’s not afraid to just up and hit those. Contestant 2 was obviously much more comfortable in that range, as he really spent the whole song in either his high voice, or just he has a naturally higher voice(more likely). It is necessary to mention the occasional dragging from Contestant 1, and the higher-tempo with occasional rushing of Contestant 2. In my mind they kind of cancel each other out as far as who was better or worse, since I’m also a drummer I can’t stand either. In the end, I have to say that in my opinion Contestant 2 came across as better able to play the notes, and more confident in his ability to hit them as well.
Star Potential: I think this is kind of a tough category to judge, because of differing opinions on what it means to “make it big”. I think I can see both of them becoming professional musicians with equal ease- they both have talent and atleast enough of an ability to learn and the discipline to practice to reproduce a song like this which(although I can’t say for sure) I can’t imagine is too terribly easy of a song, atleast in the guitar, and I know isn’t the easiest for vocals, much less the two together. However, I view them in different lights. I think with current trends and society’s current idea of stars and fame in the music industry, I agree that Contestant 1 seems much more likely to wind up seeling out a show of “The Contestant 1 Band” if you will. I see his as a star leading his own band that makes tons of money and is wildly famous, and everyone knows his face, etc. Contestant 2 I think would be the other guitarist in his band. He’ll also be disgustingly wealthy, but he won’t have teenage girls swarming his house or people getting his name tattooed on there arms in a heart or whatever. Along with that, though, I think Contestant 2 would wind up being a more widely used studio artist whenever he’s not with “The Contestant 1 Band”, which would in turn I think potentially make him more prolific and wealthy as well as technically “bigger” although in a much more “behind-the-scenes” type of way. As a vocalist, I think it would wind up the same way, Contestant 1’s less-trained, kind of rougher sounding voice(looking beyond his occasional tendency to be a bit flat, and discomfort in using his head-voice) would be more popular in popular music, but Contestant 2 would be a back-up vocalist that would make a lot of money I think. In the end, I can’t tell you who will make it big, mostly because I don’t know what exactly you want by “making it big.” Some would say what I’ve said for Contestant 1 would be “making it big” but in my eye, I’d almost rather be in Contestant 2’s shoes.
Recording Quality: The obvious kicker in this category has to be Contestant 1’s actual use of mics. I do think he should have turned up his vocals a bit, but that’s probably a side-effect of his discomfort with those high-range notes, and the vocals could have used just a little EQ as well, but that’s getting very very nit-picky. Contestant 2, though, I think did quite well with what he had/used. Not everyone can afford to have mics and recording equipment, which is something that I don’t think should have an effect on their judgement in this category. Of course Contestant 1’s recording wounded more professional and “better” though I don’t want to use that word, but Contestant 2 really produced a very good recording with what he used. I assume he used nothing more than the camcorder mic, which would inherently have a flat pick-up level, which means that he knew to keep the accompaniment down and to bring out his vocal melody more, which is a really professional level thing to do, and I thought contestant 2 did a very good job of it. Unfortunately, we don’t get the opportunity to know if Contestant 1 did that or not, because of his use of microphones, especially a pretty nice condensor mic that he used on his guitar that had to have phantom power to operate, thus requiring atleast a pre-amp of some sort, in my opinion, we much assume that he could, and thus did tweak his sound, whether it be that he turned the accompaniment up, or his vocals down, or both it is likely that he changed the levels of his two instruments from their natural sound. In a certain sense, this is very professional, too, as that’s often how some professionals create the same sense/feeling of Accompaniment down, Melody up, but that (atleast in my opinion) is just the sign of someone with money as opposed to someone with the ability to do it himself, as a concious musician. Overall winner for recording quality? Again- ambiguous, yes C1 sounded like it was in a studio, but for what he had, I think C2 utilized it and did the proper things musically to make the best recording his gear could.
Replication of the song: Both guys played the same notes John did (for the most part). Vocally was the only area that I really noticed difference (thought I admit that there could have been changes in the guitar part that I just couldn’t/didn’t hear because I naturally listen more to the vocal lines as a vocalist, whereas a guitarist could easily pick them out) and of course it was the ends of the song that varied the most. The hummed/whistled bridge had some variations, but I thought that both contestants varied, and wound up either hitting notes that didn’t belong, or hitting notes that did belong alright just a little flat, or just hitting notes that made you think “where’d that come from?” I will admit that I didn’t like the whistling very much, partially because of the sound of whistling, partially because it put that whole part in a different range from the original, and partially because of the above mentioned strange notes that came out of it. Contestant 2’s humming I thought sounded much better and more natural, and more like the original, obviously, even though he also kinda added some flair to the lines, and similarly wound up with some interesting notes. Tempo was also a factor, of course, but both succeeded in overall keeping it at a pretty steady tempo. Yes, that tempo was faster for C2, an dhe kinda had a tendency to rush through some of the chorus, but he kept that faster tempo pretty even and consistent through the song as a whole. The tempo was slower for C1, and he also had some tendencies to drag during the parts between verses and chorus, but looking at the song as a whol he did a pretty good job keeping tempo relatively even and steady. I think both contestants did a fine job on this cover.
In the end, I must say that I will depart the current norm and go with Contestant 2 for the winner. I think Contestant 1 did a really awesome, and praise-worthy job, but I think the biggest thing was those float-y head-voice notes that C1 just wasn’t comfortable with. Also the musicality in C2’s recording and how he voiced the two parts well relative to each other gained points with me that I just couldn’t give to C1 not because he didn’t do it, as he well could have, but because we can’t know if he did it or not because he didn’t give us that chance to hear his natural, un-altered, “unplugged” sound.
Applause for both performers, though. Great renditions of an exceptional song.
For those that made it this far- I warned you…and this is my edited version…
Contestant #1. That’s all I have to say. Hands down.
Wow thank you all for the comments thus far.
Jim - your idea about having viewers submit their covers is something I’ve been thinking about for a while, and will definately put that into action in the VERY near future (hopefully sometime in January). Do you have any suggestions of some songs?
[…] Lover Match #1 (http://www.themusicblogger.com/cover-lover-match-1/): Do you like watching people play songs on YouTube? Do you enjoy criticizing them, because you […]
Technical Ability: I thought both contestants did an overall pretty good job. Contestant 2 seemed more comfortable with that range of notes and made it seem that it was easier for him to hit them than the first.
Also i must adress the tempo situation. Sometimes they rushed sometimes they dragged as my friend would say you have to find the happy medium know as the beat.
Star Potential: I dont think i can see either of them making it big. They just dont seem have the wow factor.
Quality of their recording: It was good they both put some obvious time and effort into it. Neither of them sounded bad. I liked that contestant 1 had the mics. It made his sound quality better than the second guy.
Replication of the Song: Contestant one changed some stuff but thats not all that bad he maybe wanted to make it his own. The humming and whistling not up to par though. With a part like that people will remeber it so preform the whole part perefectly.
With that im going with Contastant 2 because he seemed to prefrom the song with ease.
Technical ability: I think both contestants seemed pretty good. I think that contestant 2’s voice was more comfortable with the notes sung and for the most part they played the right notes.
Star potential: I think although they were both pretty good it’s hard to tell thier star potnetial from just these videos. You would have to see thier own work to know for sure.
Quality of the song: Contestant 1 had much better sound quality but they both had actual video cameras and a quiet space to work. I think contestant 2 would have done better with some mics.
Replication of the song: I think although contestant 2 sounded better with the notes that Contestant 1 I think Contestant 1 made a better replica becauce he had better sound, hit all/most of the notes, and he also sounded more like John Mayer. Contestant 2 did well but he had sort of a nasal tone at times which was very un-Mayer like.
Overall I’d go with Contestant 1
I’m a huge John Mayer fan so it’s hard for me to hear anyone else play one of his songs without it sounding mediocre to begin with.
That being said, I think both contestants are good musicians in their own rights.
They both have decent technical abilities both vocally and instrumentally, but still need a little work. The recording quailty is pretty good for youtube submissions on each part, but the 1st contestant’s is slightly better. You can’t really judge star quality from their videos, but if you did I’d have to say that neither had it. They don’t engage the audience in any way. As far as song replication goes, I like to hear covers that are a little different from the original. Otherwise why cover it in the first place? More than likely you are not going to be better than the original so make it your own. Neither of them did this for me, but both did stay pretty true to the original.
All in all I applaud their bravery in tackling a great musicians work. I think contestant #1 gets my pick in the end.
Tech: Both were pretty good… they both made a few mistakes but passed it off pretty well. Contestant 2 has a better voice and he sang it the song with more confidence, like he was more used to singing.
Star Potential: I would go with contestant two. Voice is something that’s pretty important.
Quality of the Song: One thing that contestant two missed was the mikes. And so, contestant one had better sound quality.
Replication: Contestant one was a little bit closer to the actual song than contestant two and maybe sounded a little bit more like John Mayer than contestant two.
But, I think Contestant two did a better job.
I think they both did really good… I can’t really decide which one was best… #1 has the advantage of having real microphones to make him sound better… #2 is playing through the mic of the camera, so it doesn’t sound as good… I really think #1 sings a lot more like John Mayer… They both play the guitar very well… If I had to choose, it would be #1…
Contestant #1 is my vote. No question.
Contestant 1 didn’t seem to have any feeling in his voice. His technical abilities are ifne just work on your voice.
Contestant 2 more comfortable with his voice, a little flat at times.
Tie!
I love music, and i kno alot onli bein in da 10th grade…but these two were both great and it’s pretty hard to decide…but i love Neyo’s music and i wish i had free piano sheet music so i can practice and sharpen up my skills.
Whew, well………it’s hard to decide. Both contestants were nowhere near the ability of John Mayer. Being a John Mayer cover guy myself, it’s hard as heck to try to make one’s voice sound like his.
Contestant #1: messed up a little– hardly noticeable– on the last phrase of the second verse. Oh well, it happens, but as a musician there is no room for mistakes. The singing was a little forced without adequate breath support throughout.
Contestant #2: rushed a little bit and the slap rhythm was just a tad inconsistent. Good voice tone, but not very good for this style. Same as C#1, singing was forced and the breathing apparatus needs to be more relaxed.
That being said, I don’t mean to say that either contestant is bad, I was only asked to put in my two cents. They are both pretty well versed in the ways of the six string, but they both need to work on their singing a lot. They were on key for the most part………..I don’t see either of them going anywhere in the near future, however, there is much potential.
Anyway, I guess my decision is contestant #1 only because his recording was of better quality. Though his mic placement was a little questionable. If I could pick John’s video, I would.
I would def have to go with contestant #1…hands down!!
they’re both good… i like contestant 1 better but contestant 2 has better singing… if i had to choose… i would pick contestant 1
I think it should be said, first of all, that both contestants did a terrific job, and are both very talented. However, I think, overall, contestant one performed a better cover.
First, as someone else mentioned, his tempo was much closer to that played by John Mayer. His voice also seemed to fit the music better than the second contestant (who’s voice, while nice, didn’t seem to go along with the music in the same way that John’s did in the original piece). I could see both contestants “making it big”, but I think the second contestant definitely seemed more comfortable than the first, who never looked up throughout the entire performance.
I’ll have to say contestant 1, he has a great voice for this song.
Hmm… its hard to decide. Contestant 1 is the better guitar player, but Contestant 2 has quite good potential when it comes to singing. But if you are looking for the best at playing this song, Contestant 1 would have to get my vote.
wow well what can I say both are very very good in their own unique ways…. the only difference to me would be their technical abilities… for their voice hmmm i guess contestant number 1 but not really and for contestant 2 he sounded nice when he sings higher up…. so really its a tie… in my opinion one wasn’t better than the other
I felt that both of them did well with the guitar, but I also feel that neither of them did too well with the singing. i think they had the music right, but their voices were not for me. number 2 had more of a sweet smooth voice while number 1 i feel forced the lyrics out. but that is just my opinion. i don’t think that i could do any better, actually i would be worse, but it just wasn’t for me.
Contestant 1 was the better guitar player, and contestant 2 was the better singer, so if you put them together you would have a pretty decent video. also, i felt that contestant 1 was rushing the song a little bit.
So in conclusion, they both have their strengths and their weaknesses, and you can’t judge people on being who they are, so i feel that it is a tie.
Yeah, I think that really there’s no limitations on what song the cover is, you could consider doing almost like themes, so that maybe this month or however often you do it it’s like something more pop, like John Mayer or something like that, and then next time it could be more classical, like the Josh Groban, or like from a musical like the Phantom/HSM/Rent stuff.
Personally I also am a huge fan of John Mayer, and also Ben Folds, but I’m always interested in getting some new tunes to play.
I felt that both of them did well with the guitar, but I also feel that neither of them did too well with the singing. i think they had the music right, but their voices were not for me. number 2 had more of a sweet smooth voice while number 1 i feel forced the lyrics out. but that is just my opinion. i don’t think that i could do any better, actually i would be worse, but it just wasn’t for me.
Contestant 1 was the better guitar player, and contestant 2 was the better singer, so if you put them together you would have a pretty decent video. also, i felt that contestant 1 was rushing the song a little bit.
So in conclusion, they both have their strengths and their weaknesses, and you can’t judge people on being who they are, so i feel that it is a tie.
Technical Ability: I think both of them were really close - both could hit the notes on the guitar and vocally. Just a little critic on the guiter - #1 I could hear your fingers sliding the strings, and that sounds good every once in a while, but not constantly, so try to clean it up a bit. #2 - I could hardly hear your beautiful guitar over the beat-thumping. This song in particular kind of sounds better with #1 better because he seemed a little more compatible and comfortable with the song.
Star Potential: I’d have to say either of them could make it big if they tried, but it seemed as though #2’s only goal was to sounds JUST LIKE John Mayer, and I liked how #1 put a little originality into it with his whistling - that was cute. He just stands out a little more in my mind as star potential.
Recording quality: Both contestants seemed equally prepared and clear.
Replication of the song: You could tell both were trying, and I think it was just slightly too forced in each - it should have been more natural… but if I had to choose one that sounded most like the original, it would have to be the FIRST - his vocals were so close
I would say that Contestant #2 gave a little more heart and personality to the song like John Mayer does, so I’d go with him.
But don’t get me wrong, Contestand #1 was pretty good too, I just liked C2 better.
[…] to overwhelming response from Cover Lover Match #1, a cover of John Mayer’s Heart of Life, I’m going to post more of this special […]
Oh gosh I love John Mayer! These two contestants both did pretty good… but both were not in the same key as the original!
I have to say competitor 1 have got the sensualness of the song, while the competitor 2 is too metric in the beginning.
You go competitor one!
C2’s tapping is so disturbing. but i like his humming.