Attempt at "Beautiful Day"

[theedgeu2]

YouTube - U2 Beautiful Day (Live from Slane Castle)

Well five years ago when I first started guitar I wanted to play this song so badly. I never thought I'd be able to learn it but skip forward to now and I've actually done it! The trickiest part was switching effects and getting the right sound. The one sound I was most concerned about before recording was the pitch shifted whammy part. For those of you who want to achieve this sound I suggest you buy a Whammy pedal, if you don't own one, and a good delay pedal. Line 6's DL4 is a nice buy. I used my M13 for all effects (not considering the Whammy though).

For that pitch shifted part I set the Whammy to 2+ Octaves and I had (from M13) Spring Reverb > Analog Delay > Screamer. The Delay was set to 440 ms with a heavy amount of repeats. In fact if you listen carefully you can hear the repeats tailing off for a good while. Screamer was set with a fair amount of drive. Not too heavy but you can tell there is some drive there.

Just wanted to share that with you guys. It's not difficult but before I figured it out it seemed like such a complex sound. Also I got my Explorer back from a set up!

 

[waynetravis]

Aces!

 

[mirrorballman]

Good job! Just a few comments:

1. The main riff isn't right, check out the tabs here or on the net. Also, personally I think the repeats on the delay shouldn't be more than 2 strong ones. Check out bootlegs before he starts the song, you hear 1-2 max!

2. The chorus sounds great, spot on! Your PU's are hot!

3. Not sure if the bridge needs that much delay, shouldn't be as strong as during the verse. Also, you play Em and then G the first time. Try "Em // D" and then the "Em // G // D" pattern that you did correctly, ending on an A.

I think you've completely nailed the chorus and outro, it's a pleasure to hear!

What Whammy do you have? WH-1 or the reissues?

Also, what are you using for the chorus? Just the screamer?! I've always wondered if Edge uses a fuzz for the chorus because it sounds extremely distorted. Sounds way too heavy for a distortion...or is it just the pickups?

 

[theedgeu2]

Good job! Just a few comments:

1. The main riff isn't right, check out the tabs here or on the net. Also, personally I think the repeats on the delay shouldn't be more than 2 strong ones. Check out bootlegs before he starts the song, you hear 1-2 max!

2. The chorus sounds great, spot on! Your PU's are hot!

3. Not sure if the bridge needs that much delay, shouldn't be as strong as during the verse. Also, you play Em and then G the first time. Try "Em // D" and then the "Em // G // D" pattern that you did correctly, ending on an A.

I think you've completely nailed the chorus and outro, it's a pleasure to hear!

What Whammy do you have? WH-1 or the reissues?

Also, what are you using for the chorus? Just the screamer?! I've always wondered if Edge uses a fuzz for the chorus because it sounds extremely distorted. Sounds way too heavy for a distortion...or is it just the pickups?

Thank you for the comments! Criticism can help a lot. I may adjust some things you mentioned and then re-upload again. I actually have no bootleg n which Beautiful Day is in the set oddly enough. Which show(s) would you'd recommend?

Delay wise I could have tapped it in and been right on the spot but I plugged in the 440 ms delay time instead. For the bridge part with the Whammy I also agree that there is too many repeats. I was thinking it would help the sound out a little. As for what Whammy I own, I have the WH4. I wish it could be the original but it's the re-issue.

Overdrive I used. For the big chorus sound I used a Line 6 Drive coming from my Line 6 M13. Why the L6 Drive? Screamer just didn't feel strong enough and I got huge gain from the L6 Drive. All I did was I just toyed around until I found a drive and a sound that sounded as close as possible. You can find the exact same drives in Line 6's DM4. For the part just before I cut on the Whammy I used Spring Reverb (Vox AC4 has no reverb) > Analog Delay w/ Mod > Screamer (TS9). I used two different drives throughout the song. Only for the chrorus and the bridge part. Screamer was also used for the part before the Whammy and during the part with the Whammy.

Also where is a tab on the site with the correct verse part? I can't find one anywhere that's got it right.

 

[mirrorballman]

I actually have no bootleg n which Beautiful Day is in the set oddly enough. Which show(s) would you'd recommend?

No boots of the last decade? Anyhow, I always thought this is a good reference, because you don't have any crowd noise: YouTube - U2 - Beautiful Day Live in London [HD - High Quality] BBC Rooftop

You can also hear that he doesn't have too many repeats on that.

Overdrive I used. For the big chorus sound I used a Line 6 Drive coming from my Line 6 M13. Why the L6 Drive? Screamer just didn't feel strong enough and I got huge gain from the L6 Drive. All I did was I just toyed around until I found a drive and a sound that sounded as close as possible. You can find the exact same drives in Line 6's DM4. For the part just before I cut on the Whammy I used Spring Reverb (Vox AC4 has no reverb) > Analog Delay w/ Mod > Screamer (TS9). I used two different drives throughout the song. Only for the chrorus and the bridge part. Screamer was also used for the part before the Whammy and during the part with the Whammy.

As said, that sounds great! I'd love to get the DM4 sometime...

Also where is a tab on the site with the correct verse part? I can't find one anywhere that's got it right.

I'm not home at the moment so I can't put down the tabs I've saved up, but just to give you a good idea:

E|-----------0------- 0-------------------0----------0---------------|
B|-----7--------7-------7----------7--------7----------7-------------|
G|--6----6---------7-------4----4----4--------6--6-------6----------|
D|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
A|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------------------------------|

The best is to always watch plenty of videos. In this, for instance, you have plenty of close-ups...you'll get the idea. I'm sure there are better ones...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q95rlezX96g

Edge obviously likes to mix this up, the Vertigo version has a nifty little add to it if you listen to the Chicago Version...I think he's back to the traditional Elevation Tour version nowadays.

Just play around and listen to some boots. That's much better than looking for tabs and infos, because unfortunately many out there are wrong (especially delay settings!).

 

[theedgeu2]

Thanks for all that mirrorballman! I've adjusted the delay settings and they're sounding great now! I'm about to go and test out the main verse part. And yep I've got no bootlegs of the past decade, except for a bootleg from the Raleigh show i attended in 2009. But with that one it's not really a clear boot. I was really searching for a soundboard bootleg. I'll rewatch the BBC rooftop one in a bit. That was a really cool little "gig". That little fill that he does, I can't figure that out to save my life. I guess it's just a matter of tinkering until you get everything right. It's only a matter of time.

 

[mirrorballman]

What I love/"hate" about Edge is that you can have alot of tabs but he adds so many small things to his live versions...maybe an open E String here an there, variations in his own tabs, a palm mute or other fills. It's what makes it near impossible to copy him. You need to watch and listen to some live versions to get it just like him, no tab will do. I find myself watching clips and noticing that he's sometimes palm muting a string or playing an open one to give it a thicker tone and I've been playing it different.

 

[theedgeu2]

It probably isn't much but what was wrong with the first try was getting to me and I wanted it to be a little closer to perfect. So I've cleaned it up a bit and taken the various bits of advice I've received and I am happy with it. I think I pretty much nailed it except for one tiny mistake in the first verse. Enjoy!

YouTube - U2 Beautiful Day (Cover #2/Cleaned Up)

 

[mirrorballman]

Sounds much better, especially the delay! Now the notes are really starting to gel. Great job and keep on posting your vids here, I really like checking out people's cover versions. Maybe I can get over myself and post some stuff someday as well. Sounds like a new year's resolution!

Forgot to mention this earlier: How's the AC4 workin' for you? I have one as well and think it's well worth the money, wouldn't give it up to save my life.

 

[theedgeu2]

Ah that would be awesome to see some of your covers. I'll keep posting them as I'm constantly learning new U2 songs and tweaking the covers. Not sure what I'll have in store next but it should be fun!

AC4 is working great! The best amp I've owned so far. And not to mention it is actually LOUD for its size. And as you said, I probably won't part with mine either. Even if I get an AC30 one day. It works great with effects and I love the chimey sound I get with it and some delay. First tube amp I've owned and I'll never go back to solid state. I've heard that some people's AC4s have died after not too long so I'm nervous of that happening. Had it since July and I use it everyday. I trust in it though.

 

[ultraviolet92]

thats really impressive man!! i loved it
my covers are coming soon where would i post them here?

 

[theedgeu2]

thats really impressive man!! i loved it
my covers are coming soon where would i post them here?

Thank you! and you can post them here: Interference Members - Post Your U2 Covers Here or you could start a new thread in Even Better Than The Real Thing ?? or do both! Can't wait to see them!

 

[ultraviolet92]

big help man cheers
hey man what delay set up/pedal do you use?
and youve got the explorer thats sick haha!

 

[theedgeu2]

big help man cheers
hey man what delay set up/pedal do you use?
and youve got the explorer thats sick haha!

Anytime! All of my effects, except for the Digitech Whammy, come from a Line 6 M13 Stompbox Modeler. For the delay I used an Analog with Modulation which is basically a Electro Harmonix Memeory Man, same delay that Edge used for this song I think. He has one anyway. Setup was pretty simple. Explorer > Whammy > M13 (modeling reverb, delay, and two different drives) > Vox AC4. I also mic'd the amp with an Shure SM57 and ran to a M Audio Fast Track Pro. I got some money for christmas so I hope to replace the FT Pro with a mixer and a good preamp. Got lots of decisions to make lol.

 

[Il_Go_Crazy]

Not my Covers but this guy is awesome check it out. there are many more from this guy check them out if you haven't seen his work!

YouTube - Electric Co - U2

 

[ultraviolet92]

Anytime! All of my effects, except for the Digitech Whammy, come from a Line 6 M13 Stompbox Modeler. For the delay I used an Analog with Modulation which is basically a Electro Harmonix Memeory Man, same delay that Edge used for this song I think. He has one anyway. Setup was pretty simple. Explorer > Whammy > M13 (modeling reverb, delay, and two different drives) > Vox AC4. I also mic'd the amp with an Shure SM57 and ran to a M Audio Fast Track Pro. I got some money for christmas so I hope to replace the FT Pro with a mixer and a good preamp. Got lots of decisions to make lol.

you certainly do!
thanks for your advice about the video

 

[LuckyNumber7]

Pretty awesome stuff, good job.