The Big Gundown Cover : Guitar Track

Previous Post :
Making Of : The Big Gundown - Ennio Morricone Tribute

The song is build around the opening guitar theme so it will be the first thing i'm going to record. We will discuss two things concerning this track :

1. Getting the line correctly
2. Getting the sound right

1. Getting the line correctly

When you listen to the guitar introduction, it's easy to think it's a very straightforward line that should not pose any difficulty to get quickly. As it is often the case with Morricone's music, it always sounds simple on the surface until you go deeper and find some hidden level of complexity either in the timing or in the partition. That's a big part of Morricone's genius in my opinion : making easy listening music and simple idea through subtle musical complexity. That's why you will sometimes hear people covering the man without taking care of some little details and so they deliver an interpretation that doesn't sound quite "right".

And it's exactly what happen here if you're not listening carefully.

Indeed, my first reflexe was to pick the axe and play what looked to be a simple figure on the open A string that would go like this :

|-----------------|--------------------|
|-----------------|--------------------|
|-----------------|--------------------|
|-----------------|--------------------|
|-0-2-0-3-0-5-0-3-|-0-2-0-3-0-5-0-3----|
|-----------------|--------------------|


|-----------------|-----------------|--------------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|--------------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|--------------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|--------------------|
|-0-2-0-3-0-5-0-7-|-0-5-0-7-0-5-0-3-|-0-5-0-7-0-5-0-3----|
|-----------------|-----------------|--------------------|

Watch the video of this : Wrong Interpretation

Sounds good isn'it ? And quick to get ! I was happy with this and ready to record the line and be able to move to something else after. Then, a more carefull comparison with the original revealed it all wrong in bars 4 and 5.

So I picked up the axe again and after some struggle I figured it out correctly like this :

|-----------------|--------------------|
|-----------------|--------------------|
|-----------------|--------------------|
|-----------------|--------------------|
|-0-2-0-3-0-5-0-3-|-0-2-0-3-0-5-0-3----|
|-----------------|--------------------|

|-----------------|-----------------|--------------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|--------------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|--------------------|
|---------------2-|---0---2---0-----|-------2------------|
|-0-2-0-3-0-5-0---|-3---3---3---0-3-|-0-5-2---3-5-0-3----|
|-----------------|-----------------|--------------------|

Now that's better ! You can see the difference is the ostinato being no longer play with the open A but rather from the C in bar 4 which bring a little bit more challenge to perform. Close inspection of the bar 5 also reveal you a change from an easy A-D-A-E-A-D-A-C to A-D-B-E-C-D-A-C !

This sequence is reapeated another time when the drums and brasses begins and it's then transposed to E, then up to A and up to E. It ends abrutly half of the last bar. Here is the complete tablature. You may note again a little subtlility : each 5 bars pattern ends differently before it moves up to the next.

|-----------------|--------------------|
|-----------------|--------------------|
|-----------------|--------------------|
|-----------------|--------------------|
|-0-2-0-3-0-5-0-3-|-0-2-0-3-0-5-0-3----|
|-----------------|--------------------|

|-----------------|-----------------|--------------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|--------------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|--------------------|
|---------------2-|---0---2---0-----|-------2------------|
|-0-2-0-3-0-5-0---|-3---3---3---0-3-|-0-5-2---3-5-0-3----|
|-----------------|-----------------|--------------------|

|-----------------|--------------------|
|-----------------|--------------------|
|-----------------|--------------------|
|-----------------|--------------------|
|-0-2-0-3-0-5-0-3-|-0-2-0-3-0-5-0-3----|
|-----------------|--------------------|

|-----------------|-----------------|---------------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|---------------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|---------------------|
|---------------2-|---0---2---0-----|-------2---9-7-------|
|-0-2-0-3-0-5-0---|-3---3---3---0-3-|-0-5-2---3-----10----|
|-----------------|-----------------|---------------------|

|-------------------|----------------------|
|-------------------|----------------------|
|-------------------|----------------------|
|------------7------|------------7---------|
|-7-9-7-10-7---7-10-|-7-9-7-10-7---7-10----|
|-------------------|----------------------|

|------------------|---------------------|-----------------------|
|------------------|---------------------|-----------------------|
|------------------|---------------------|-----------------------|
|------------7---9-|----7----9----7------|---7--------9----10----|
|-7-9-7-10-7---7---|-10---10---10---7-10-|-7---9-10-7---10-------|
|------------------|---------------------|-----------------------|

|-------------------|----------------------|
|-------------------|----------------------|
|------------7------|------------7---------|
|-7-9-7-10-7---7-10-|-7-9-7-10-7---7-10----|
|-------------------|----------------------|
|-------------------|----------------------|

|------------------|---------------------|----------------------|
|------------------|---------------------|----------------------|
|------------7---9-|----7----9----7------|---7---9-9-11-9-12----|
|-7-9-7-10-7---7---|-10---10---10---7-10-|-7---9----------------|
|------------------|---------------------|----------------------|
|------------------|---------------------|----------------------|

|---------------------|------------------------|
|-------------10------|-------------10---------|
|-9-11-9-12-9----9-12-|-9-11-9-12-9----9-12----|
|---------------------|------------------------|
|---------------------|------------------------|
|---------------------|------------------------|

|---------------------|------------|----|
|-------------10---12-|----10------|----|
|-9-11-9-12-9----9----|-12----12---|----|
|---------------------|------------|----|
|---------------------|------------|----|
|---------------------|------------|----|

Now watch the right interpretation

Never as easy at it  first looks...

2. Getting the sound right

First thing that you may notice when listening to the song is the very plucky nature of the guitar sound. I'm not sure but it sounds to me like it's an acoustic guitar miked and amplified with some amount of spring reverb. However, I'll choose to play it on the electric guitar and I will work a sound with Ik Multimedia's virtual amp Amplitube a little more saturated, to get a bit more agressivity to the theme. I will be careful to play with my right hand very close to the bridge where the strings are more tensed so it will gives a plucky sound.

Next post : Piano track
Please note that I don't have any real musical scholarship and that english is not my first langage. Please, kindly indicate me the mistakes I could have made, especially the ones that prevent you from sleeping. :)