Lessons from Ripping Off Johnny Cash

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[joelonsdale]

"Less is more" is the eternal lesson we seem never to learn!

[toddpukanecz]

Good catch on the vocal distortion. The story I read was that Rick Ruben had Johnny Cash record a bunch of tracks in Cash's living room to get a feel for what they wanted to do. Then they went in the studio and this was one of the tracks where the studio version didn't have the same impact so RR took the original tracks recorded at Cash's and added the rest of the production. So the distortion on the vocals might just be the mics and room they used for the demo track.

[TheK]

really cool insight! also, another video on how to record acoustic guitars, would be greatly appreciated. big like 👍🏻

[glb]

Takes me back to my old (emphasis on OLD) touring days, '70s & '80s. That's what we used to do. The gretest compliment we could get: "You guys sound just like the record!"

[jammer]

Johnny’s version of “Hurt” is brilliant! Just look at the # of views it has and the emotional reactions people (me too) have had listening to it. Yes, a great lesson of “less is more.” Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) who originally wrote the song said after he heard Johnny’s version he felt like he no longer owned it. He was overcome with emotion.

[windchimerainbow]

Taking notes as you speak...

Great idea for an exercise, but I can’t do. My setup can’t. My brain can. For now.

Excellent song choice. One of my all-time favorites. SO moving!

You’re a very exuberant person who basically is happy, optimistic, and wants others to be happy, too. Which would account for you overplaying. I used to be like that. Still am at times. But health/energy prevent. Except when I type or fiddle around on the keyboard... I overdo it. And worse. lol

Yes, Johnny was wonderful in how he wrote this. Yes, Less sometimes is More. Knowing when is the key.

For slow, emotional songs, I embrace the breaks and silences, my brain rests, absorbs, or reminisces. For faster, catchier ones, I would be more like you with my brain ticking all throughout.

I love how the piano pounds! pounds! pounds! and says so much with so little!

Wow! I never heard those two notes (flute/melotron/whatever) until you focused on it. I'll have to pay more attention next time I listen to the full song.

Yes, I have heard the distortion, and I got the feeling all of this was meant to create friction and dissonance, as much as melody, harmony, and overall beauty... to display his extreme emotional pain and regret, while still creating something people will WANT to listen to.

/end notes fwiw :D

[Jeronimo]

Great vid, always good to hear ‘less is more’ being confirmed. 🙏😎

[servicestuffs]

Great info and a great job on the cover, it sounds good!

[ronallen]

i just did this challenge and it was crazy hard. You are dead on, Joe. This is a great way to learn!

[tomw]

Did this with Mercy Me's " Even If " thinking there's not a whole lot going on... wrong lol. Ended up with six guitars, bass, piano, a keyboard playing pads, drums, claps, a bell, a reversed cymbal swell, 1st and 2ond violins, a viola, each with long, short and plucked voicings, a cello a double bass and a choir.

[DeltaWhiskeyBravo]

Another great lesson. Thanks to the man in plaid, Joe Gilder. And of course Johnny Cash.

[TheOfficialGameBoy]

This looks like a fun experiment I must try it soon to help with my mixing Thanks again for this video

[kevhag]

Hey Joe, awesome job. This style of sparse acoustic performance is where my music lives and breathes. The key takeaway for me from the vid (and the song which I've loved for years) is that silence is freakin' golden. It's the space he leaves in the verses that pulls us down into the heart of it all. Thanks mate, lots to take forward from this one

[gregtapevideo]

One thing I keep in mind when recording a keyboard wind instrument is to stay in it's natural range and remembering a performer has to breathe every now and then. It can help with ones phrasing. It took a bit to learn that!😆✌

[justmusic]

I recently copied a beat I had purchased from a beat maker, in order to modify a few things. I'm a lyricist and an just beginning to make my own instrumentals. I learn so much simply by reverse engineering it!
I love your explanations on this!

[NoviceNature]

Just some little unknown producer called Rick 😜

[loubandiera]

This was great Joe. I have learned so much by doing exactly what you talk about in this video. I'm pretty much a newbie to recording and mixing (if you don't count the 2-cassette-recorder multi-track song recordings I made back in my 20's - way before DAWs 😀). I've recorded a few covers where i tried to get as close to the original as possible with my barebones studio setup. I think they turned out good enough that I licensed them and put them up on streaming services.
I think everyone should try it. You are presented with so many challenges, and have to come up with creative solutions to getting the same sounds or effects without really knowing how the original sounds were achieved.

[HeddybossHDB]

Please kindly make a video on how to make vocals wider and thicker

[badmonkeymusicproductions]

It's such a great song. It stands on its own.. I think that's the point.... great songs, great arrangements dont need much.

[marshallshanklin]

Hey Joe, I appreciate this video, and myself have had someone challenge me to do a recorded cover. It was an amazing learning experience trying to replicate their tones ( guitars and mixes) for an early Cure song. I’m sure somebody has mentioned that Rick Rubin produced this JC song. I believe they recorded in Johnny’s living room, with a mic and a laptop. There’s videos of the process somewhere in YouTube land!