A Synthv cover of "Daisy Bell" By Harry Dacre, an 1892 song that is quite important to computer history as the first song sung by a vocal synthesizer.

[Kevin] Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built For Two) [SynthV Cover]

This week's SynthV cover is of the 1925 song "Yes, Sir, That's My Baby" with music by Walter Donaldson and lyrics by Gus Kahn. This was a fun song to work on while also experimenting with instrumental accompaniment techniques.

[Kevin] Yes, Sir, That's My Baby [SynthV Cover]

I recently came across the Natalie voicebank and found that her voice would be great for singing standards. To test that out, here's Natalie with the 1918 classic "After You've Gone" with music by Turner Layton and lyrics by Henry Creamer.

[Natalie] After You've Gone [SynthV Cover]

This week's cover is of the song "Yes! We Have No Bananas" by Frank Silver and Irving Cohn. I did an instrumental cover of this song some time ago, but I made a SynthV vocal version featuring Kevin (with Natalie and Mai appearing briefly at the end) since I realized this song was turning 100 this year, this week in particular since according to the 1923 Copyright Catalog, it was published on March 23, 1923. 

The original sheet music has eight extra lyrics for the chorus and I was originally going to use all of them, but I decided to just include the last one after the main song since the line "This song isn't pretty, but it's still a ditty, That grows on you day by day" stood out to me. Silver and Cohn certainly weren't wrong there since the song's still known a full century later.

[Kevin] Yes! We Have No Bananas [SynthV Cover]

Today's SynthV cover features Kevin singing the 1905 song "In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree", music by Egbert Van Alstyne and lyrics by Harry Williams.

The original sheet music for this song happened to have a quartet arrangement by Theodore Westman, so I used that for the final chorus with Natalie in the tenor role and ASTERIAN in the baritone and bass roles. I'll certainly try more quartet arrangements going forward.

In The Shade Of The Old Apple Tree [SynthV Cover]

Today's cover is of the Japanese song Kōjō no Tsuki (The Moon over the Ruined Castle), written in 1901 by Rentarō Taki and Bansui Doi. This was an attempt to make a quartet arrangement with Synth V Kasane Teto as lead, Mai as tenor, Kevin as baritone, and ASTERIAN as bass.

Kōjō no Tsuki (The Moon over the Ruined Castle) [SynthV Cover]

A SynthV cover featuring ASTERIAN singing the 1926 classic "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" by Lou Handman and Roy Turk. I did another cover of this a few months ago, though I had to remove the spoken recitation. With SynthV's rap update out now of beta, I figured it was a good chance to revisit this song with the recitation in its full original form.

Are You Lonesome Tonight? [SynthV Cover]

A SynthV cover featuring SOLARIA singing the Irving Berlin classic "Blue Skies" which was written in 1926 and published in 1927. I've been meaning to cover this song in some form since January and finally got around to it.

Blue Skies [SynthV Cover]

A SynthV cover featuring ASTERIAN singing the 1919 song "Old Fashioned Garden", the first major hit for songwriter Cole Porter.

Old Fashioned Garden [SynthV Cover]

A SynthV cover featuring ANRI Arcane singing Irving Berlin's 1924 song "What'll I Do?", one of his most enduring classics.

What'll I Do? [SynthV Cover]

Listening to a Frimomen cover of "They Can't Take That Away From Me" the other day inspired me to use him to cover another song by the Gershwins and the one I chose (at least this time) was their 1924 song "Fascinating Rhythm".

Fascinating Rhythm [SynthV Cover]

A digital instrumental cover of the 1923 song by Frank Silver (1896-1960) and Irving Cohn (1898-1961) using a guitar and ocarina VST.

Yes We Have No Bananas (ocarina and guitar instrumental)

A digital instrumental cover of the 1911 song "Alexander's Ragtime Band" by Irving Berlin (1888-1989).

Alexander's Ragtime Band (ocarina and guitar instrumental)

A digital instrumental cover of the original version of the Australian bush ballad "Waltzing Matilda", with the melody by Christina Macpherson (1864–1936) first published in 1903.

Waltzing Matilda - chiptune cover

A digital instrumental cover of the holiday classic to bring in the holiday season. This track is based on the original 1857 version by James Lord Pierpont (1822-1893).

Songs of the Winter Holidays Volume 1

Jingle Bells (Original Version) - chiptune cover

A digital instrumental cover of the holiday classic by James Lord Pierpont (1822-1893) to bring in the holiday season.

Jingle Bells - chiptune cover

A digital instrumental cover of the classic holiday song "Up On The Housetop" based on the melody as it was originally written in 1864 by Benjamin Hanby (1833-1867).

This was made in OpenMPT with the Genny vst.

Up On The Housetop - chiptune cover

A digital instrumental of the classic carol "Here We Come A-caroling", also known as "Here We Come A-wassailing", which dates back to at least the middle of the 19th century. The original composer of the song is unknown.

This track was made in OpenMPT with the Genny VST.

Here We Come A-caroling - chiptune cover

A digital instrumental of the classic holiday carol which is based on hymn by Isaac Watts (1678-1748). The melody known today was arranged in 1839 by Lowell Mason (1792-1872), which itself was based on the piece "Antioch" which was composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

This track was made in OpenMPT with the Genny VST.

Joy To The World - chiptune cover

A digital instrumental cover of the classic holiday carol which dates back to around the middle of the 18th century.

This track was made in OpenMPT with the Genny VST.

God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen - chiptune cover

A digital instrumental cover of the classic holiday carol that was first published in 1780. This particular version is from around 1882.

This track was made in OpenMPT with the Genny VST.

Twelve Days Of Christmas (1882 Version) - chiptune cover

A digital instrumental cover of the song to bring in the new year. The song started out as a poem written by Robert Burns (1759-1796) in 1788 with the music coming from a traditional folk tune.

This track was made in OpenMPT with the Genny VST.

Auld Lang Syne - chiptune cover

A digital instrumental cover of the 1924 hit that was composed by Isham Jones (1894-1956) and written by Gus Kahn (1886-1941). This song, which has appeared in movies such as "Casablanca" and "When Harry Met Sally" is one of the now many works that is now public domain in the United States.

This track was made in OpenMPT with the Samsara Ocarina and Keyzone Classic VST.

It Had To Be You (ocarina and piano instrumental)

A chiptune instrumental cover of the song "All Alone" by Irving Berlin (1888-1989), which was first published in 1924.

This track was made in OpenMPT with the Genny VST.

All Alone (chiptune cover)

A digital instrumental cover of the song "Lazy" by Irving Berlin (1888-1989), which was first published in 1924 and has been covered by many artists over the years.

Lazy (ocarina and synth instrumental)

A digital instrumental cover of a 1907 song that was composed by Mike Nicholson. The lyrics for the song were written by Irving Berlin (1888-1989) and was the first published song he worked on, helping to launch a career that would span several decades.

Marie From Sunny Italy (Ocarina and Synth instrumental)

A digital instrumental cover of the 1906 march "Antoinette" that was composed by the legendary ragtime composer, Scott Joplin (1868-1917).

Antoinette (synth instrumental)

A digital instrumental cover of the 1917 "Smile and Show Your Dimple" by Irving Berlin, which would later become the basis for his later 1933 song, "Easter Parade".

Smile And Show Your Dimple (Ocarina and Synth instrumental)

A digital instrumental cover of the song "Good Morning to All" which was composed by Mildred Hill (1859-1916) with lyrics by her sister Patty Hill (1868-1946) and published in 1893 in a book titled, "Song Stories for the Kindergarten." Also included is the more well known version, "Happy Birthday to You."

Good Morning To All and Happy Birthday (ocarina and synth instrumental)

A digital instrumental cover of the 1902 classical guitar piece "Gran Vals" by Spanish composer Francisco Tárrega (1852-1909). A slightly modified version of part of this piece is well known as the Nokia ringtone.

Gran Vals (synth instrumental)

I am an occasional musician who mostly works with digital instruments with physical ones on occasion. My main focus at the moment is on vocal synth and instrumental covers of songs that have entered the public domain in the U.S.

Popular tracks by Digital Vintage Music