It was the first day of Spring 2017, I was on my way to Oded Kahn’s studio and found myself wondering: in the ten years I’d been playing and recording music, I always tried to be as prepared for a studio session as I could be. Studio time can be expensive, but more importantly: I didn’t want to let people wait because I hadn’t practiced enough. And I especially didn’t want footage of that sticking around on YouTube. So why did I say yes to the 'Off-the-cuff'-session I was heading to?
You can imagine I arrived a bit nervous for this session. Playing a song I didn’t know in front of three cameras and studio equipment? No way. But still I was curious for the experience: what happens if different artists start improvising on the same chords and lyrics? As a songwriting teacher - I started an academy for songwriters in 2012 - as a writer and musician, but also as a music lover, I'm very interested in projects like Oded’s. So, I decided to give it a go and accept the challenge.
At the studio I picked a song name from a list, and worked my way through the chords and lyrics Oded gave me. It felt like writing a brand new song, and in a way it was. Or wasn’t it? The song I played already existed, and right after Oded pressed the record-button, my self-doubt started. What would the band that wrote this song think of me? Would they hate me for not doing their song justice by changing it completely? But I can’t help doing that, because I never heard it. So it's not my fault, right? And there’s a row of cameras in front of me, while I don’t really know what I’m doing!
Then, after half an hour, we were done. It felt like one of my most intimate activities - writing a song – that had been filmed and could be uploaded to YouTube any minute. It felt scary. If it weren't for the fact I hadn’t been writing a song at all. I had tried to guess what a song would sound like, as an experiment. Well, a confusing experience it was.
At the moment I’m mostly curious. What will other versions of this song sound like? How did other artists make up their versions? And what did they think of it?
I can’t wait to find out.
Channah
Chris
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Having had some pleasant e-mail contact, I was pretty sure this was going to be a fun experience.
As it turned out, there was indeed very little stress involved. It all went basically as I had expected it to go, having enough faith in my own abilities that I would be able to do something, regardless of quality.
With two main parameters decided (harmony and lyrics), and no particular ambition to create anything brilliant (as I wouldn't be able to use any of it anyway), the whole process was quite painless. While the messing around with cameras and tablets was a bit distracting, in the end it helped more than it hurt.
I think being left completely alone would have just made it harder to commit to choices. It was clear that there was little time to work something out, which helped shut down the internal critic enough to put together something workable. I do wonder if the experiment might become even more interesting if one were to leave out another element. To give only a set of chords or a lyric.
Eva
Not long ago I was in the studio with Oded and joined his special project wherein Singer Songwriters have to create (in 10min!) a cover version for a song they've never heard or seen before. After I recorded my cover, we listened to the original song. The result was surprising! Once i get the recording you can hear it for yourself. I'm very happy to have participated in this project!
Freek
Ok, here's my attempt at trying to describe the experience
Initially it was strange choosing a tune that involves none of the usual subjective elements that are associated with creativity.
When it came to the recording itself it was strange trying to ad-lib the rhyming pattern and phrasing to a song that I had no reference points for. It was an interesting process, but it was also rather frustrating.
In retrospect I would like to try it again and maybe create something a little more polished, but that's me being a perfectionist.
Jacob
I really liked the idea! Curious about the end result of everyone. I think if I had just a little more time I would have done a better job though. But I really look forward to any upcoming project Oded has in mind and happy to participate again!
Off The Cuff was fun! When looking at all the possible covers it took a while to find one where I could relate enough to the lyrics to be able to sing it. I finally found a song with one repetitive line about being lonely. This is fundamentally what most of my own songs have been about so I felt right at home singing it. I was quite surprised when I heard the techno beats of the original after recording my version. I guess this is what makes Off The Cuff such a nice project, you just get the chords and lyrics and the interpretation is completely individual. In my case I took lyrics about being lonely and made it somewhat self pitying and reflective, a kind of stay at home and dwell on things approach to loneliness. Marshmello on the other hand wrote a dance track, which I guess means when they are lonely they go straight to the club and dance. Their approach is probably better!
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Jesse
Lieke
My fingers didn’t seem to find their right place on the neck of my guitar, but when the lyric started rolling on the tablet i felt the natural rhythm of the song that came to me. I experienced the song melancholic as the first line came out of my mouth. ‘If i were a swan, I’d be gone’. I saw myself drifting away from normal day life and look at it as an outcast. The lyrics also felt romantic as the line ‘And if i were a good man’ came across. But mostly the dramatic touch of the song made me sing monotone throughout the whole song. I felt like i should put more accents in it, but was satisfied with the version as the song went along.
When the song was over the lyrics still raised some question in my head. I liked the song but didn’t understand it. By singing it the song also felt a bit like mine, so my interpretation of it became the meaning.
Louisa
Doing a cover of a song I never heard before was a strange, but great experience. I felt really unsure in the beginning and tried to think of how the artist would have liked me to sing the song. As I went on playing it, I more and more forgot about the artists intention and tried to integrate my own feelings into the lyrics and music. The hardest thing to do was getting the phrasing into a constant rhythm and developing a whole new melody. I learnt a lot from this project and it really enhanced my creativity. Thank you Oded!