🎬 Revisited Again: Counting On God

If there is one song I could dance to no matter the situation, it is this song Counting On God by Desperation Band. Discovered this song at a church camp back in 2012 and got myself hooked ever since. That was 10 years ago. I have been listening to this song for 10 whole years.

This song is so catchy that I covered it twice before. The first try was in 2017 with my Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster. The second try was in 2018 with my Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster. This third try should be my final cover of the song, unless somehow I manage to master the drum set.

The first two tries were just lead guitar. Since I wanna do one time good one, I did a 4-piece cover. And since I only have my Thinline Telecaster left, it doubles as lead and rhythm in this cover. However, I didn't just stick purely to lead and rhythm for each, I mixed them because it's easier for me on the fretboard.

In the top left of the video, I played "lead" guitar. To make things smooth at the lower frets, I only did lead guitar for the intro riff. The Fulltone OCD takes charge in this part to give the loud lead tone at the intro riff, while the Zvex Distortron took the helm in the chorus and bridge.

However, I didn't wanna put in too much distortion in the chording parts. What I liked about this song is the strumming pattern. Too much dirt will muddify the sound. Instead, I used a bigger reverb to let the sound ring out. Wanted to do open sounding chords in the bridge but also didn't wanna get in the way of the other guitar so I didn't. Worked out pretty well.

In the top right of the video, it was time for "rhythm" guitar. Except that I played a lead line with it during the chorus and bridge to complement the other guitar. I can distinctly hear the crunch during the verse so I swapped the settings on both my dirt pedals. Worked out pretty well too!

Cranked up the Distortron and lowered the OCD. Only turned on the OCD during the chorus and bridge (also added subtle quarter delay for the bridge palm mutes). Didn't use too much reverb because I wanted the sound to be at the front. But this part shouldn't outperform the power chords of the other guitar so I lowered this volume by 20%.

The bass guitar was always a hit or miss when it comes to covering songs for me. This time, however, I was one with the bass. I totally rocked with the groove of the song. My right fingers were just vibing all the way, it's insane!!!

I needed a warm sound to complement the guitars in the verse part, so I chose this preset. The bass parts are so distinct in the verse and the bridge!!! I never thought I would say this but, wow, the bass guitar is actually fun to play!!!

To be very very honest, there isn't a need for acoustic guitar, except at the last chorus where everyone else just stops playing. But being OCD, it's either two screens or four screens. So the last slot have to have the acoustic at the bottom right. 

Surprisingly, the acoustic guitar rang out pretty nicely with the strumming pattern too. Adjusted the EQ onboard my guitar before recording. I always hated the highs when playing with capo, but if I remove the highs, the sound will be muddy. So I increased the lows and mids instead. Worked out well!!!

Overall, it is a pretty fun song and I could even add two more electric guitar parts if I wanted! It's just so crazy what 4 chords can do in a song!!! But until I can master drums, this shall be it!!! Started my SAF career with this song, finally ended the same career with this song! Praise God!!!

Edwin Ang