I've got the entire Queen II album in cover form, with the exception of "The March Of The Black Queen" and "Funny How Love Is". In scouring the internet to find covers of these, the best (in terms of audio quality) I've been able to find was a piano cover of "Black Queen."
And that got me thinking...
How hard would it be to get talented musicians to record parts of the song which could be mixed together? I thought it could never work, that the logistics and timing would be insurmountable, but then another idea hit me:
If each performer used the Queen album version as their guide, everyone's timing should be identical.
So, here's the plan: One person takes on one instrument. With the headphones so as not to leak the Queen guide track into the recording, the performer plays along with the Queen version, recording only their instrument. If you all use a CD copy of the album version as your guide, as I said before, the timing should be correct between performers. Once you record your part, post it on YouTube or send it to me (you can let us know it's done on this thread and we'll exchange emails). Once I have all the tracks, I can mix them together and lo, we'll have a fan-recorded version of The March Of The Black Queen, credited to everyone involved.
Guidelines:
#1) We must not hear the Queen recording in your own version (use a headset to listen to their guide). We can only use clean recordings of the instruments.
#2) Follow the Queen recording's timing, playing along to it (with headphones, as per Guideline #1). Try not to wing it because even the best performer can drift a little on their timing. Remember, this has to match up with the other recorded parts you're not hearing.
#3) Have some fun. It need not be a note-for-note performance, as long as the timing is right and the parts are faithful. Improv a little if you want to.
#4) We need all the different instruments, and if you're feeling ambitious, vocals too. Guitar, drums, bass and piano. If you play the flute or cello or xylophone or triangle, have at it as well, as long as you follow the Queen version so it synchs up. I can't guarantee your part will get used, but the more options we have, the better. I could even make a few different mixes or use part of your recording.
#5) Try to stick to the correct key, otherwise it might not sound good when mixed together.
I'm not a musician (I work in technical theatre, so I do know sound mixing and recording), so if anything I said does not make sense or is somehow flawed, let us know so we don't have a train wreck. Personally, I think this could work and I don't think it's been tried this way before.
Are you folks keen to give this a go?