Tom Petty - Into the great wide open- v1.2
Video & comments: https://youtu.be/N492CHw8Z-c
Recording sheets and details: link
Recorded: Apr-May 2018; Mar-Apr 2020
Backing tracks: link
This version replaces Tom Petty - Into the great wide open - v1.0 and contains a new vocals track, a new shaker track and a rerecorded organ riff from the middle of the first verse. Additionally, the track was remixed and mastered while the video was recreated with PowerDirector.
The remixing includes: vocals pitch correction with Autotune, re-panning of tracks to make them more audible, new compression plugins, volume automation to enhance sections (e.g. make the guitars more audible). Mastering was done with Ozone 9.
I recreated the video because with Movie Studio rendering took 40+ minutes while PowerDirector rendered the same videos in 4 minutes. The effort was however rather laborious and I will keep the Movie Studio project instead for other songs' version releases.
I thought this will be a simple song. Then I started decomposing it and ended up recording 4 different types of guitars. Then the rest :-)
Lead guitar
For the intro and solo I couldn't find an accurate tab. Since they are short, I just found my own patterns. I used only the Em pentatonic shape at the 12th fret. A few slides and bends and it sounds convincing.
Rhythm guitar
The arpeggio on a Telecaster gives the song the typical Tom Petty feel. It also complements well the acoustic rhythm.
Acoustic rhythm
This is present throughout the song. The Em / EmMaj7 / Em7/ Em6 chord progression is a perfect example of how changing a single note from a chord makes it sound totally different.
12 string guitar fills
I needed something powerful for the second part of the first verse and the buildup to the chorus sections - and the chorus of course. A 12 string sounded the closest to the original recording. Not a real 12 string of course, but a Variax emulation.
Vocals
An older recording with its own problems. Will definitely need to rerecord it once my voice gets more timbre and will sound less than a screaming dog :-)
Bass
Figured out a simple pattern where I was playing the root notes of the chord progression. Nothing fancy. I just started taking bass lessons.
Drums
Tried being close to the original recording. There's groove in there that I was searching for. I did not match the tone of the drums though as it should have been more vintage. Maybe I'll rerecord it at some point.
Keyboard bed
This supports the overall song providing a sound "wall" that gives the mood of the song.
Organ riff
A last minute addition towards the end of the first verse. Despite being only a two chords section, I felt it being an important addition.