Attention (Charlie Puth) - Dan Bau Remix 27 - SoulGook Đàn Bầu cover #BestCoverEver

My entry for the #BestCoverEver contest, a “Dan Bau/Đàn Bầu“ cover of Charlie Puth’s “Attention“ with my Viet-inspired remix of the instrumental track. Đàn Bầu is a traditional Vietnamese one-string zither. Get it now on iTunes/Apple Music: And on Google Play: *** SUBSCRIBE for new videos: *** Parul and I produced, recorded, filmed, and edited this song and video all in one day to get it done in time for Ryan Seacrest’s new #BestCoverEver project. Then the next day, they decided to extend the deadline! But that’s okay, because I’m excited to see all the cool versions people come up with. Attention is one of Charlie Puth’s more straightforward songs, with looping bass, harmony, and drum parts that don’t deviate too much the whole time (it’s still quite an earworm though!). This was actually a huge advantage, because then I could mess with the instrumentation a little. With this remix, I decided that the instrumentation was going to tell a story. Like my “Swalla“ remix (), I wanted to switch out the original instruments for ones from Vietnamese and Chinese orchestras. However, UNLIKE that mix, I didn’t try to stick with just those instruments the whole time, but instead looked for ways to meld both traditional Vietnamese instruments and pop sounds like 808s, basses, synth pads, etc. So, the mix starts with a variation on the standard introductory improvisation in southern Vietnamese “đờn ca tài tử“ style, when the instruments suddenly take up the guitar part from Attention. All the instruments join in, taking up different parts. I kept the moment the bass comes back in identical to Charlie Puth’s original, to really play up the idea that these two sounds were colliding. Vietnamese fiddle in place of the background synths helps meld the sounds, and a combo of Chinese opera woodblocks and gongs with taiko drums in addition to a heavy club-style kick round out the mixed percussion section. The đàn bầu part mirrors Charlie Puth’s singing style more and more as the song progresses, though a keen ear may notice that I keep up the Vietnamese-style vibrato and inflections in many places to keep it fresh and play to the instrument’s strengths. We filmed this one at home and did a bit of a rush edit, but it turned out great. I actually uploaded a different file for the contest, but I took a few hours to clean up the both music and video production for the final version to be part of the Đàn Bầu Remix series. Enjoy! BLOG: FACEBOOK: TWITTER: EMAIL: soulgook [at] gmail [dot] com CREDITS ======= * Arrangement/Performance: Jason R. Nguyen * FIlming: Parul Patel