​

This section is designed as a tutorial for creating your own cover of Children. But you don't need to follow all of these steps if you don't want to because I've included all the files I created at the bottom of this page. You are welcome to use them in your own project, subject to the conditions in the Copyright section at the end of this page.

​

Here is the process I went through. It isn't meant to be the definitive "this is what you should do", it is simply the steps that I took. Use what you find helpful and ignore the rest :)

 

I watched this demonstration video using GarageBand on iPhone (free software). I thought it was very cool and although it isn’t a tutorial, I followed it as closely as I could to re-create some of the initial tracks using GarageBand. I then imported the GarageBand file into Logic Pro on my Mac. There is also a version of Logic Pro on the iPad. Logic is not free but in my opinion it is value for money. If you'd prefer to use free software then GarageBand is free on the Mac/iPad/iPhone or I found Traktion Waveform to be pretty good on the PC.

​

Initially I listened to a section of the original song on YouTube and then tried to recreate it in Logic Pro. This was rather clunky, having to switch windows, so I used a program called Snap Downloader to save the audio as a WAV file and imported it as an audio track to my project. I could then more easily reference it. 

 

I repeatedly listened to this track to determine which musical elements I still needed to create. By having this track within Logic Pro I could quickly listen to a section, recreate it and then play them together listening for anything that sounded off.

​

The original is over 4 minutes long and I wanted something closer to 3 minutes, so I cut out a section towards the end of the song.  

​

The piano track is the hero of this song and I wanted to make it as good as possible. The original GarageBand song only played a few bars, so I needed to play the rest and then tidy it up. I taught myself the Children piano melody using the HD Piano tutorial Part 1 and I later bought the music arrangement from MusicNotes.com. Children is in the key of F minor at 137 Beats Per Minute (BPM). The piano track I created only uses the melody (using only the right hand).

​

My piano playing is not currently at the point when I can play the track through from start to end so I recreated it a few bars at a time, copying duplicates where possible to save time (the melody repeats). When recording my playing into Logic Pro I have the same problem as most piano students in that I don't play the note at exactly the right time. Luckily Logic Pro can fix this for me (as can any Digital Audio Workstation software) by using the Quantize feature, which adjusts the notes to be exactly on the beat. In some instances, I needed to manually adjust the position of the note until I was happy with the result (in Logic you select the region of the track and press the 'e' key to edit). 

​

From bars 61 to 71 the original song uses a new synth sound to replace the piano. I decided to use a piano instead and to add a violin playing the same notes. I was very happy with the result. 

​

I wanted to improve my guitar track. I can’t play the guitar so I selected an acoustic guitar virtual instrument and played the notes on my keyboard (in F minor) which I thought sounded similar to the original. 

​

The result is a shorter version of the original with my own take on the music. 

​

I hope you find this interesting and perhaps helpful with your own music.

​

 

If you'd like to play the cover song on your piano with a backing track:

​

  Music Score for Piano (PDF)

​

  Backing Track (includes all tracks except for the piano) (MP3) 6MB

​

​

​

​