nathondetroit

Got #4! Yay song connections...

Hey Guys, This is Nathon, AKA the guy behind the Car Kids parody:) Unfortunately, this topic is a bit more serious. I never intended on writing this post, or even having something to share from last Sunday. But by pure chance, by 12-year-old nephew captured a video of me singing "Us Against The World" at my grandmothers funeral. Rather than being offensive, I was actually surprised to see that the video did a decent job of capturing the moment. As always, these occasions never come at a good time, and the whole decision to sing was last minute. When I heard news of my grandmothers passing, singing this song helped me deal with those feelings, and thats why I chose to sing it that day. My reason for sharing this video is very simple. I know there are many musicians here who will face the same decision that I did: "Is singing Coldplay at a funeral appropriate?" Having the opportunity to honor someone's life is quite a daunting responsibility. For me, the lyrics of "Us Against The World" seemed very uplifting. Based on the reaction, I feel I made the right choice. If I can help one person with this video, then it will be worth it. I simply leave this video/thread for anybody to search for in the future. Thanks, ND P.S. Although you can hear me, nobody is seen in this video because the camera was respectfully pointed down. http://youtu.be/3c5qHsEAL-c

Any "Up With The Birds" track connections in this issue? Perhaps taking back the punch I threw???

Love at first sight.

Just as a side note, I think its always important to realize that even Chris doesn't take himself seriously. WE all know how brilliant he/the band is, but when it comes to live performances there are always a handful of goofy mistakes. Especially in the acoustic parts. Just listen to Chris and Jonny do their duet gig for "Little Noise Sessions". In the case of this piano version of "Us Against the World", we probably would have never heard it if there wasn't a charity gig. It was probably put together quickly, and most likely included some improvisation on the spot. Anytime you do a cover, I would never get caught up with getting everything note-for-note. The most important thing is to have a firm understanding of the song, and bring it to life in a new way. Heck, even when Coldplay do covers they sound completely different. [billie Jean!?!] Transcribing all of the notes and rhythms from that night would be quite a daunting task, and would take up MUCH more space than a single forum post. (If someone is up to the challenge, I would also be eternally grateful though!). My advice would be, if you can sit down at the piano and make beautiful music, I wouldn't stress about anything else. Chris wouldn't either:)

Latest thoughts/summary/predictions as of issue #3:

Great news for Coldplayers worldwide, this makes the comic way more accessible!

Wow it's taken a long time to figure out that whole xylobrites thing! I remember the forum thread in 2011 thinking it was the album name! I think in July 2011 I signed one of my Oracle questions as "Mr. Xylobryte" trying to be smart/funny...

Good luck, can't wait to see the pics

Whatever full color you do for the background, will have the most "dampening" effect on your guitar's sound. Writing won't make much of a difference. For this reason, I would suggest only doing the front edge of the guitar. For my Baby Taylor guitar, I patched everything up super careful and did two thin layers of spray paint. I couldn't hear any difference in sound. You'll see there's poster puddy around the silver tuning pegs, so that the guitar has a clean look when its done. It started off as a chalkboard experiment, but that got messy. So it slowly turned into a collage of Coldplay and my own lyrics... Don't be afraid to experiment a bit. Most of my instruments are constantly changing, with new colors and lyrics depending on my tastes/writing style...

Indeed, that version was amazing! There was a whole lot of variation as well, and I'd definitely love to see someone do a cover and/or tutorial on the specific chords/voicings on the piano:) iSwin did a great job summarizing the song. If you're interested in hearing how it sounds with those simplified chords, I did a cover a couple weeks ago: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc12s0YIX2Y]Coldplay - Us Against The World (Electric Piano Cover) - YouTube[/ame] I did not attempt the "solo" section which is basically chords with the left hand and a repetition of the notes "GCBCG…GCBCG" in the right hand. Johnny's guitar bit on the album.

Oh this sucks I can't wait for Issue 3 to arrive! By the way, any huge discoveries or links to the album yet? I guess the most exciting parts will be 'The Break Up' (POC) and whatever Up With The Birds is about… perhaps 'renewal' is a good word? Some sort of goodbye into the sunset where Mylo is looking forward to his future...

Hey Guys, This might belong in the Parachutes forum, but since there are many keys players here, I could use some help! This has been driving me nuts... Where and when is there Rhodes piano on the Parachutes album? Does is just get lost in the mix of electric guitar/bass? Thanks! ND

Album vs. Live Keep in mind this thread is about Chris' live piano setup. In the studio, I'm sure most if not all the piano sounds come from real pianos. There are various interviews on the web showing the band's studio at different stages in their career, and you'll often see yamaha uprights with microphones set up. On a separate note, for anybody who owns a Nord keyboard, I just contributed to a thread on their forums talking about getting a Coldplay sound using those instruments:) http://tinyurl.com/d8u8o6u

Yep, got that email and still haven't received any of the comics. Thank goodness I grabbed a comicon 1st issue on ebay lol!

Those photo's are straight off Rik's website, so I doubt he would go through the trouble of photoshopping such a low-res image. I'm sure the band had many walls with different track names/symbols as the album was being created:) In the Live 2012 ebook Chris even had Car Kids and Up With The Birds on the original Glastonbury setlist! Oh how they change their minds...

Happy Birthday Mr. Xyloto… While studying abroad in Germany last fall, I remember assembling all the live tracks (including bootlegs of Princess of China and Up in flames) and trying to decipher the story while waiting for my Pop-Up album. I had twenty minutes before a lecture when I realized the album had leaked, and frantically clicked through countless adds and surveys until I found the right download link. I ran home after class, loaded up my ipod, and took a bike ride through the beautiful city of Freiburg. Surely a semester I'll never forget.

A casual lunch, sometime in 2013... Noel Gallagher asks,"Hey Chris, what's up with all this comic nonsense? Don't you think good music should stand alone without all the frills?" Chris Martin, "Yeah, that's a pretty good point. We actually tested out a few new songs before revealing the story, it's an album called 'Coldplay Live 2012'. It's hard to tell, but I think some of the fans were into it."

Wow, absolutely incredible!

Haha okay… REALLY cute.

Just curious, is there anyone who doesn't love the Paradise video? Don't get me wrong, I think its cute that the Chris and Matt went out and improvised a goofy elephant bit. But after an entire summer of revealing MX songs live, I really wanted a video that explained something about the album. Musically, Paradise is a cool song. Lyrically, the song has no depth. "A girl wishes her life was better". And then a video about a dancing elephant. How do some fans think this is their best video yet? Like I said, cute. Not brilliant.

Nice find! AT Comic Con they gave us a few titles... Issue 1- "Color is Crime" Issue 2- "Cover Up" Issue 3- "Another World" Issue 4- "Up with the Birds" Perhaps if Issue 4 is about UWTB, then the other titles might allude to songs as well.

"You belong with me, not swallowed in the sea." Mylo Xyloto/ Great Expectations: Under the ocean By a whale swallowed whole Swallowed me / us whole Pure poetry in motion We're both down here Losing control Sellotaping my soul Totally random, but this is awesome how it fits perfect with UATW. "Fly up to the surface and start again."

Some people dislike how MX was "mixed" or "produced" given that most songs are quite busy in terms of layering synths with the guitar/bass/piano/drums. Indeed, some moments feel like a "wall of sound". After seeing this video, It's clearer what the band was aiming for. MX is both a soundtrack and rock album. On the surface, there are a handful of pop songs. Dig a little deeper, and you feel the soundscapes, interludes, and narrative of the album. For HLH, I always felt the intensity and rush of the exploding dynamics of the song. Watching this video gives that artistic enthusiasm a back story. I think thats pretty cool. Like others have said, If Coldplay wants to cash out on something, there are much better options. Stadium shows without expensive xylobands, greatest hits records, charging for LRLRL… not $5 comics. They're doing this because they want to tell a story and they want to push their music further.

Nice work. Just curious, what tuning did you use? I always just strum this in standard, but I know Chris used CADGBD on the album...