I play all the instruments and sing. It was quite challenging because the original includes Indian instruments (tabla, tambura, dilruba and sitar) and classical instruments (cellos and violins).
My goal was to recreate the essence of the song and the original arrangement using the instruments I have at hand: electric and acoustic guitars, congas and bongos. This is how I recreated each instrument:
- tabla: I used congas and bongos - see my previous post Within You Without You - Tabla patterns
- tambura: I used an eBow on acoustic guitar and the Echoplex to create a loop of the drone - see my previous post Within You Without You - recreating the tambura sound
- dilruba: I used a Fender Strat, finger picked (eBow for long sustained notes) - see my previous post
Within You Without You - Practicing dilruba solo
- sitar: Fender Strat
- cellos and violins: eBow on Fender Strat for long sustained notes, finger picking for fast runs
- harp: Ovation acoustic guitar
In each case I try to imitate the phrasing of the original instrument, and use some effects (mostly EQ and compression) to enhance the sound. I am happy with the results for now. I am planning to work on a real video clip to go along with the music, and may also improve some tracks and the overall mix in the future. But for now you can listen to my cover of Within You Without you here (the video is just a screen capture of my Logic Pro project for the song):
Cheers,
Fabio
