Livin Thing (ELO Cover by Cian McGovern and Markno999)

This is probably the most ambitious cover I have attempted to date given the shear number of tracks and moving parts (about 74 tracks-don't know how they did it back in the 70's with only 24..) 

I did the backing track for it after reading a thread on the Techniques forum about ELO and Jeff Lynne.  Thought it would be cool to try to do one of their songs.  It became obvious after completing the instrumental track that vocals were needed.   Cian McGovern, (Whack) on the forum, agreed to do the vocal tracks, and actually the hardest part of the project.  I think he did a quite outstanding job on the the vocals and vocal harmonies.   We both kind of put our own spin on this and were by no means trying to do an exact copy.  Hope you enjoy.   Feedback and crits welcome..

http://www.soundclick.com...&q=hi&newref=1


Regards

great job all round chaps, musically is very well played and recorded, and Cian's vocals are as awesome as always.

You monsters!  I'm madly in love with this.  What an ambitious and magical portrait!  You miraculously captured the subject ... and demonstrated an extremely generous passion for the old innocent-Lynn psychedelia, vibe, song, and attended all the difficult details, faithfully.

You may recall I posted my monstrous ELO Sangri-la cover (a month ago, finally) ... so I really appreciate your success here (http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=9455871)!

Note: I love your spin-offs, crystal mix clarity, decreased vox verb, faithful portraiture, and hearty performances (my fav of Cian's).  I would feel ashamed and ridiculous to recommend any changes -- haha!

I would say you nailed it!  Fantastic job.  I haven't heard this song in years.  Great in all respects.

Everything about this production is excellent.  The mix is outstanding, the arrangement is really top notch.  And the instrumental and vocal performance is superb.  A fantastic job all around.

Love it!.......all but the flute sounding violin sample in the intro. Great vocals for sure!

Wow--this is incredible guys!!  :)  Unreal vocals and amazing playing and production.  Love it! 

Sorry for the delay in responding, am on a business trip for a few days and it has been pretty hectic.  Thanks everyone for the nice comments and taking the time to listen to the project.  

Ben - Thx for the comment, I will see if I can sparkle it up when I get back.

Mark - Thx for the listen, appreciate your comments.  I agree that Cian's vocals are awesome.   Quite amazing vocal performance.

James - Glad you liked it.   I have been putting more emphasis on drums and bass lately so glad you noticed the drums.   Superior Drummer is quite good.   Funny you mentioned about being true to the original.  This version is a little bit slower than the original.   I slowed it down a bit when I was doing the orchestration in the intro and forgot to change it back.   I think it sounds OK though at this speed.  Cian didn't need the double-tracking effect so I left it out;)

Philip - Glad you love it and appreciate your way with words.  Your review is much appreciated.   I missed your ELO post before but pretty cool stuff, I had a listen while typing through this....

Robby - Thx.  Like your latest very much as well. 

Bret - Thank you.  I hadn't ever actually thought about doing this song until reading a thread started by BitFlipper during one of his NAMM blogs.    I really miss this style music from the 60's and 70's so thought I would give it a try.

ThePogue - Thank you.   Had to play around to get that punch going on.   The chorus on this song particularly needs that punchy driving feel. 

Geno - Thanks so much to the comment.   I really have been working hard to produce better mixes and have learned a ton from others on this forums.   Of course, at the end of the day though, it is the vocal performance that really brings a song to life so have to credit Cian for pushing it over the top.

Herb - Thank you.   I actually used Ozone's Imaging on this song for the first time.   Started with the one of the Rock presets and tweaked it up a bit. 

Scott - I would expect that you would pick up on the short-comings of my Cello/Violin Samples.  Maybe you know someone that could play it???   Hint........

Mark - Thanks for the listen.

Janet - Thank you.   Glad you liked it.    I am waiting for your CD release with Rik... Is that happening for the Holidays?

Cian - Thanks again for the collab.  It was a real pleasure working with you and am so pleased with the finished result.  You are a real pro!!!!!


Regards

Love This.............. Big ELO fan.    You guy's did a great job.

Hadn't been here in awhile, glad I stop by.  
Enjoyed very much................ :)

Tim

Tim - Thanks for the listen.

Bob - Appreciate your comment.   It was a lot of fun doing this song.

Bravo.  Vocals are darn good, the productions is very well done.  A lot of work and well done.  Good orchestration and production.  Very cool and a lot of fun. 

Daryl

Pretty incredible job all around. There may be some details that differ from the original but it really does stand on it's own very well and It didn't make me want for the original at all while listening. Quite an accomplishment and very enjoyable.

Sounds like a lot of hard work!   Harmonies and strings sound excellent.  Nice job.

Wow, this is fantastic.  I was never a huge ELO fan but I can certainly appreciate the talent and hard work that went into this.

Great job from both of you.