My cover of "The Grudge"

[SterileEyes]

I'm not about to get into what I think the song means....but I record cover songs in my garage when I have free time, and here's my latest one. I know Tool fans worship them like gods, as they should, so I truly hope this doesn't offend anyone. I consider it a fine effort though.

http://www.myspace.com/sterileeyes1

Click the link, it should play automatically. There are also covers by Alice In Chains, System of a Down, and STP at the moment.

A couple disclaimers:

1 - I am not Maynard, I'm aware of this. I gave it my best shot.

2 - The drums are one take on a five piece kit...so I'm not gonna have the 'Danny Carey immaculate drum sound' but again, I tried my best.

Hope you enjoy...feel free to download, comment, and share with others if you like! :)

Jeff
22, Los Angeles

[hateAliases]

nice work man!

[#Notion]

Hahaha not bad...

[undeniable dilemma]

Sounds good.

Edit: GODDAMN FUCKING AMAZING! The drums sound great. The ALice In Chains Cover sounds great. I want to hear some original work. Please upload those, man.

[Mofu]

haha awesome! Your guitar sounds like a shit without effect but song is fine : )

[Wingedson]

I'm not about to get into what I think the song means....but I record cover songs in my garage when I have free time, and here's my latest one. I know Tool fans worship them like gods, as they should, so I truly hope this doesn't offend anyone. I consider it a fine effort though.

http://www.myspace.com/sterileeyes1

Click the link, it should play automatically. There are also covers by Alice In Chains, System of a Down, and STP at the moment.

A couple disclaimers:

1 - I am not Maynard, I'm aware of this. I gave it my best shot.

2 - The drums are one take on a five piece kit...so I'm not gonna have the 'Danny Carey immaculate drum sound' but again, I tried my best.

Hope you enjoy...feel free to download, comment, and share with others if you like! :)

Jeff
22, Los Angeles



What kind of vocal effects processor are you using?

[jazz]

good job, sterile. especially on the drum part at the end.

[SterileEyes]

Thank you to everyone who has responded. I posted a note in the 'creativity' section also, so at the risk of repeating myself, I am touched by how nice/sincere everyone has been. A sincere 'thank you' to everyone who took 9 minutes out of their day to listen to my garage demo :)

Re: vocal effects processor - my recording setup is pretty simple actually. An old Carvin P.A. head plugs direct into my 10-year-old Roland Digital 8 track. The vocal 'effects' are just some reverb from the P.A. and an E.Q. that's built into the Roland. The delay effects on the vocal tracks were also from the Roland, I just did trial and error until everything was in sync. Everything is 'live' though, no post-production, adding effects after the fact, computer editing or anything like that. Hope that answers the question.

Cheers, can't wait for 10,000 Days!
Jeff

[rezn0r]

this is fucking incredible, i'm glad i took the time to check this out. keep it up. i'm talking about all of your songs, but the grudge is what attracted me.

[tiryth]

Good work man - i make remixes and stuff (dunno why that relevant really) id love to do tool but i dunno if i'm allowed to actually host it up on myspace - hm? - anyway, my stuff is http://www.myspace.com/faaipdeoiad

[magnolia]

Nicely done.

[third_eye77]

Great Job, man!! Especially for nailing all 4 instruments. Very impressive drumming!

[Lost]

Well I know this is old but I just thought I'd give you my support. That's some kick arse work there man. Hope you get somewhere with it. We need some new artists out there. Too much generic crap.

[MacFoley]

really, i am impressed with the grudge cover!

[Insanekat]

Holy shit that's awesome! Great work! *claps* Do you mind if I keep it on my comp and also let my boyfriend hear it? I think he'd love it too.

[tbrent21]

Nine minutes well spent. Keep up the good work.

[The-Patient]

great work man.

[OGT from back in the day]

the instruments are really incredible but u need to work on the vocals

[SterileEyes]

the instruments are really incredible but u need to work on the vocals

Yeah man, can't say I disagree.

I've been playing instruments for 12 years now (since I was 10), and just started taking my singing seriously 2 or 3 years ago. It'll get there I hope. Maynard's a tough singer to tackle, esp with all the effects/vocal processing on the album version...and the scream. Glad you liked the rest though.

[SterileEyes]

How come there's only two topics allowed in the thread for this song?

I'm bumping this just in case anyone's interested that hasn't heard it, it's been a year or so.

[Stenrose]

Very nice cover. Considered this is a one man job, as far as I understand, its very great work. Wish I had a similar commitment to musicianship and could create such a skillfull cover on my own.

[aenima19]

I'm not about to get into what I think the song means....but I record cover songs in my garage when I have free time, and here's my latest one. I know Tool fans worship them like gods, as they should, so I truly hope this doesn't offend anyone. I consider it a fine effort though.

http://www.myspace.com/sterileeyes1

Click the link, it should play automatically. There are also covers by Alice In Chains, System of a Down, and STP at the moment.

A couple disclaimers:

1 - I am not Maynard, I'm aware of this. I gave it my best shot.

2 - The drums are one take on a five piece kit...so I'm not gonna have the 'Danny Carey immaculate drum sound' but again, I tried my best.

Hope you enjoy...feel free to download, comment, and share with others if you like! :)

Jeff
22, Los Angeles

hey jeff not a bad attempt man... couple of things maybe id change... distort ur voice less... ur voice isnt bad dont be afraid to sing it out...but a couple of parts i would try to sing on a lower note tho... not a bad job

[aenima19]

this song imo is simply about how pointless it is to hold grudges and we should turn them into "gold" such as friendships

[Angel on the Sideline]

Jeff:

Kudos man. Great effort. Keep it up.

[TOOL_Rules]

Wow Jeff!! That was friggin good, man. Can't believe I haven't heard your cover of The Grudge before today, but it was well worth the listen. Stumbled on it through the latest silly Fecal Brothers thread. Thanks to the person that posted the link to this thread. That is a seriously good one-man cover of a VERY difficult song. I play drums and all of that instrumentation was pretty damn good. Very impressed. And GREAT scream at the end. Do another TOOL song and post it. Glad to hear anyone that can play TOOL. It takes balls and ability.....

[Wolfman's Imaginary Band]

the instruments are really incredible but u need to work on the vocals

oh fuck yea Jeff. Never stop, you've done an amazing job on what I've heard. I think your voice is better than you think, comprende? It'll only get better, and I'm sure it has by now. Question: Your scream at the end, is that all one take?

[SterileEyes]

oh fuck yea Jeff. Never stop, you've done an amazing job on what I've heard. I think your voice is better than you think, comprende? It'll only get better, and I'm sure it has by now. Question: Your scream at the end, is that all one take?

Man, when I was recording this thing last year I kept thinking Tool fans would hear this and rip on me for imitating art. You guys have made me really happy, thank you.

Yes, the scream is one take/one track. It took 8 tries...the first few were aborted/just to get the sound levels and stuff set right, then I let it rip a couple of times until I could hold one long enough without slipping.

At the time I lived in a backyard guest house in L.A. where a sweet 85 year old lady lived (did all the vocals, the beer keg bashing at the end, and the scream in that little room). I'm really glad she didn't hear that.

Seriously, thanks to everyone for listening.

P.S. Regarding vocals - the GN'R cover on my page is from this March if you want to hear some more recent singing I've done. The Grudge was recorded probably a year beforehand.

[Wolfman's Imaginary Band]

[QUOTE=SterileEyes;2240580]
Yes, the scream is one take/one track. It took 8 tries...the first few were aborted/just to get the sound levels and stuff set right, then I let it rip a couple of times until I could hold one long enough without slipping.
QUOTE]

it is very nice friend, I've yet to hold one that long, I'll try tomorrow

[Angel on the Sideline]

Hey, Jeff:

I'd love to hear your AIC cover, which wasn't on your page. Can you link it up for us?

[ego_mos_perceptum]

Very impressive man. Respect.

[wearethestories]

awesome.


very very good.


just heard it today, and I was incredibly impressed.

[Shiver Me Timber]

wow man.... pretty great.... the ending sounded fuckin incredible for not having the effects they have

one thing though... i listened to the grudge + others and i recommend you update your microphone or microphone effects box if you haven't already... it gets fuzzy at times

[miketh74]

This is definitely worth 9 minutes. The drums sound undeniably close.

Excellent work all around man. Great cover!!

:))

[miketh74]

you know what was really strange that band earshot...the singer in that band sounded just like a young maynard...

Believe it or not, I thought Earshot's song Get Away was Tool the first time I heard it. Just wanted to say I totally agree with you.

:)

[Rolo]

Impressive.....

I wouldn't ever dare to try and pick that song to cover at all.

I'm wondering if you are attempting to cover more Tool-songs?

[orangeisgoood]

not bad, not maynard.. but hey, it kicked ass. i liked the guitar. sounded like the real thing. i cant sing that good... :(

[Aganar]

Was pretty good until you started singing.

Instrumentation is solid. Vocals...not so much.

EDIT: Are you saying "Dadurn ascends"!?! I'm having a hard time believing that's an 'S'.

[mindstream]

lol...yeah, I heard "Dadurn" also.

You've got a nice voice, but I agree that your vocal style is out of place for this song...no edge to it.

Excellent job on the scream, and the instrumentation is awesome.

Nice job!

[SterileEyes]

Are you saying "Dadurn ascends"!?! I'm having a hard time believing that's an 'S'.


I am saying "Saturn Ascends". I'm recording on a 10 year old dinky 8 track, I guess it doesn't believe in picking up "s" sounds with the vocal setting that I have it on...Funny you should ask - I actually had that problem on the GN'R cover too, it kept coming out "I can't tell you he's the right one" instead of "I can't tell you she's the right one"...it's pretty annoying, I actually had to pronounce them extra hard on both covers and they still barely turned out.



I'm wondering if you are attempting to cover more Tool-songs?

No thanks, one 8.5 minute song with a 25 second scream is more than enough for one lifetime!

Unless of course someone wants to hook me up with 3 tickets to that stupid sold out L.A. Nokia Theatre show, then I'll do Third Eye and Jambi no questions asked!

[merkabah]

Nice work dude. Keep it up!

[Aganar]

PLYING OPEN MY THIRD EYE!
FRYING OPEN MY THIRD EYE!
CRYING OPEN MY THIRD EYE!

[orangeisgoood]

send the man some tickets!!! some of you have to be loaded/have some.

[miketh74]

Hey SterileEyes, which instrument intrigues you the most??

Was wondering if you started singing first?

[trey5winds]

Thank you to everyone who has responded. I posted a note in the 'creativity' section also, so at the risk of repeating myself, I am touched by how nice/sincere everyone has been. A sincere 'thank you' to everyone who took 9 minutes out of their day to listen to my garage demo :)

Re: vocal effects processor - my recording setup is pretty simple actually. An old Carvin P.A. head plugs direct into my 10-year-old Roland Digital 8 track. The vocal 'effects' are just some reverb from the P.A. and an E.Q. that's built into the Roland. The delay effects on the vocal tracks were also from the Roland, I just did trial and error until everything was in sync. Everything is 'live' though, no post-production, adding effects after the fact, computer editing or anything like that. Hope that answers the question.

Cheers, can't wait for 10,000 Days!
Jeff



Jeff -

Just happened to run across this thread, and saw this, so I took a listen.

One or two small, fine details aside (which may be a conflict with the audio - they put tons of tracks on these CDs nowadays), this thing is just about as dead, spot-on accurate as anyone outside of TOOL can make it. Especially considering you played everything! Very, very very good, indeed.

I do realise that not everything is perfectly accounted for but also realise that you may not have had the track room to put down everything. And the vocals weren't bad, either - you were very conscious of effects and layers and where they went into everything. The scream at the end wasn't bad, either - that's a long time to hold a note, if you're not using the magic of digital (Did you?).

Given the proper equipment and much more time, I'm sure that if you were to try this again, your second go would be much, much better. What's here though is pretty staggering already, especially in light of your lack of millions of dollars in studio equipment, instruments, and mixing and mastering technology.

I agree with one of the other responders on here - I'd like to hear your ORIGINAL stuff. How are you with that?

You have extremely good ears and a very fine sense of the overall view with very little of any audio prejudice that most musicians develop. As this was well over a year ago, I'm sure you've gotten even better since then, and would love to hear your own arrangements of TOOL songs - or, even better, your own.

Thanks for sharing this with us. This isn't the treasure, but provides a corner of the map. Follow the map, and you'll be well on your way.

Respectfully,
Trey5Winds

[Oneeye]

Man to have done all of that alone on the equipment listed, really really awesome bro. Your voice isn't really bad either but you should try and to user lower tones when doing Maynard. Your System Of a Down cover goes great with your voice that high pitch. But try and lower it a bit for Tool. Easier said than done and I can't sing at all so I'm very impressed but if you wanted honest feedback that's the only part that needs work. You did a great job, just try to sing in a deeper voice.

[SterileEyes]

Miketh,

I started taking singing seriously maybe 3 or 4 years ago and I've played guitar, drums, and bass for 12-13 years now.

I find them all intriguing for different reasons - singing because I still consider myself new to it and I like seeing what I can do with my voice range-wise (this may sound weird but lately I've been singing a lot of stuff by female artists - so long as the words are gender neutral!), with guitar lately I've been learning a lot of Steely Dan and studying jazz theory...and they're all intriguing to me as a writer, I can't say I prefer playing any instrument over the other when it comes to that.

Trey5Winds,

Thank you for the very encouraging message, that made my day.

First, as Rivek says, no, there was absolutely no 'digital trickery' on that scream. It took 8 tries and its one of the few vocal parts on that song that doesn't have reverb or doubling. Holding it that long wasn't the hard part...it was starting it with just the right attack and getting it recorded right without overloading the signal.

I recently got some new recording equipment and I will be purchasing new drums soon, so I have been thinking about recording a couple of covers to get all of my settings situated...so I might have to break down and do another Tool song (I have a couple in mind, I promise it won't be Sober or Stinkfist!) I personally wouldn't feel comfortable doing my own interpretation of Tool songs - I already worry about offending people trying to do them justice as they are! Besides, any creative energy I'm lucky enough to come across I should probably channel into my own music.

As far as original songs, I am...very frustrated with myself. I was raised in cover bands, when I started learning to play it was much more about learning songs as opposed to being creative...also, when I did start writing my own music it wasn't from the angle of being a singer, so I wrote a lot of really heavy angry music that wasn't exactly good for melody...but for what it was I think it had its moments.

I have written a lot of stuff...I recorded a 10 song album in 2003 with a singer and a drummer that I never did anything with (much heavier Pantera-style stuff, not really my style anymore)...I've finished maybe three or four songs in the last couple of years with vocals...and have dozens of ideas recorded that I never seem to progress on or finish. I think they're all really promising and original sounding, I don't know why I have such a hard time finishing them...I call it "Axl Rose syndrome"...I hope to 'find my voice' sooner or later, I definitely won't stop trying.

Anyway, sorry I took a while to respond...thanks again to everyone for their comments!

[Orbit]

That is a great cover. very well done. i also really like the bad habit cover!