Video & comments: https://youtu.be/8ZW0mhoFipg
Recording sheets and details: link
Recorded between Mar-Apr 2018
Backing tracks: link (Audacity project)
When I started the lead guitar lessons this was the first song my teacher and I worked on, right after we spent quite some time on the G major, pentatonic and blues scales.
It wasn't an easy song to start with given that the lead guitar is driving all of it. Yet it's an amazingly beautiful song. So I practiced it a lot and, after a few months, when I got to a passable proficiency, I built the song around it.
It drives the whole song. I'm not aware of any other popular song where the guitar plays a more important role.
The volume pedal also plays an important role in getting those weeping notes that just fade in. I bought a pedal (Line 6) and practiced a new way of working with the guitar: roll the volume completely down with the pedal, strum the note harder than usual, slightly before it's supposed to start and then fade in the volume. Then magic follows :-) Of course, I didn't get all the fades from the original recording but I felt that I got to a good start.
A good range overlap made things easier but I had to work on the many other parts: timbre, cadence, accent etc. For the first time I got to read and properly understand the lyrics. I don't normally pay too much attention to the lyrics of a song, just the melodic progression of the vocals and some of its highlights (chorus plus others here and there). My focus is usually on the other instruments.
This version is a rerecord of the first vocals where I tried more closely matching Knopfler's timbre.
Found a convincing bass line then simplified it. After reducing the mistakes to an acceptable level I called it a job done.
An easy drum line with the bass drum and the snare rim making up most of it. Subtle and effective, it was a pleasure recording it.
Went back to the Vintage Organs pack that I previously used for Time. A used a new one this time: Classic Rock / Basic Rock 2.
In the first verse there are too few instruments around (no bass, no drums) and you can't just go with the lead guitar and vocals. Similarly to the original, I made use of an accordion. Mine was a sample (Sonokinetik Accordion) that I found talked about in the Native Instruments forums.