Cover of "The Passenger" by Iggy Pop
Performed by Jan Schonander

The Passenger was one of the 1st songs I recorded and published on Soundcloud. It was interesting for me to see what it would sound like 3 years later with different equipment and some better understanding of audio engineering. Below a link to my original upload (I will take this down eventually). 
https://soundcloud.com/thegats/the-passenger?in=thegats/sets/the-passenger/

Here are the main differences:

1. Replayed the piano on my Korg SV-1 instead of my 30 year old Roland Digital piano. Most importantly, in the 1st recording the only way I could record was running my piano through a guitar amplifier and from there a USB link into my computer. Today I connect my Korg into a Scarlet 2i4 and from there to my computer.

2. Resang using a AKG Condenser Mic through the Scarlett instead of through a nondescript USB Mic with an integrated amplifier. Little detail: the input volume at which I recorded was at most half the the input volume vs the 1st recording.

3. In the 1st recording I used a heavy dose of modulation delay whereas nowadays I use none of that and aim for a much more natural sound with some reverb and a little echo. I have also stopped the fairly massive equalization of my voice that I used to apply.

3. Post-reprocessed the organ (and a few extra bars) to get a much wider and swirly sound using a Logic Pro X effect called Ringshift.

4. Applied some reverb to the drums to get a fuller sound

5. In the original recording (GarageBand) I bounced the track with massive output volume with a lot of clipping and then uploaded to SC - basically I had no idea what I was doing. For this newer recording (Logic Pro X) I made sure the output  was around -8dB before applying some compression at a ratio of 2.5:1 and adjusting the release and attack to taste before bouncing and importing into Izotope OZONE for mastering. OZONE is a whole world itself and I am still learning to control all the variables. For this track I used a preset called "Adaptive Dynamics" and the main manual change I made was to allow the output volume to peak at -0.1dB.

I remember Justin (of GrevusAnjl) writing that in the beginning we all suck, and 3 years later I can only agree. The good part is that we can all learn and I hope this recording demonstrates this point. 

If you made it this far, thanks very much for listening and reading, and if you've never really payed any attention to the lyrics to this song, they're pretty good and pretty serious.

The Passenger

Thanks for visiting. This is a retro eclectic music mix with a strong keyboard base.  Looming influences from among others Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Lou Reed & Jon Lord. The songs are mostly about the human condition.

I am always looking for a guitar player that wants to collaborate. Would be fun to find a real drummer also.

A Gat is a cat in Catalan - it all makes sense if you’re me.

To all of you likers and reposters that don't listen - what's the point?

The Passenger

TheGat(s)