NIRVANA Studio Multitracks - Territorial Pissings (Listening Session & Analysis) Kurt Cobain 

Kurt and Nirvana's whole thing was an "F you" to perfection and expectation and was the beauty of the Grunge movement. I'd love to see it more often in modern acts.

Great video. Really brought out what I admire about Kurt Cobain. He didn't follow trends, and he was confident in his sound, and what resonated with his heart when it came to creating music

About the end bit. I've never looked at it like this. I always thought Kurt just had the ability to record it like that in the studio because he could. But he never replicated it live like this. So you are prob correct in what you are saying. It was a take, what his voice did on that particular take, it did, and luckily for us he kept it on the record. We have all tried replicating it with no success. But also ended up with no voice for a week or 2 after 🙈🙈🤣🤣

How to find own orginal/authentic sound ?

The intro vocal is actually Krist, not Kurt. Great video as always!

Kurt's voice was (still is) so powerful! It inspired me to sing that way when I was a teenager. But today I can't do this anymore... not without becoming voiceless for a week.

Kurt plugged directly into the soundboard on this one literally. And into all of our sarcasm, anger, fun, energy, and empathy at the same time. Just because you're paranoid, don't mean they're not after you.

Kurt's voice still gives me chills. The man embodied rock music.

I like to think of Kurt's screaming technique as crying baby style. Uncontrolled, untethered, and done with pure purpose.

If you can get your hands Hairspray Queen with all the tracks separated thatd be so cool. His voice goes so high throughout the verses and need to hear just the vocal track. Itd be so cool

This track analysis is a perfect example of how good of a job Butch Vig did with the sound mixing. How do you even make this distorted guitar riff sound so clean lol

There’s no way Kurt could’ve sang like that and kept it up until today without serious problems. We’ll obviously never know for sure since he didn’t choose to live long enough to find out, but compared to someone like Chris Cornell his vocal production wasn’t healthy or controlled. Look at Wes Scantlin from Puddle of Mudd and the way his voice sounds, because he started a band right after Nevermind because he obviously idolized Kurt, and he tried to sing like him. At this point he’s a perfect case study for why singing like that is a bad idea in the long term, because his voice is shot and he will likely need surgery if he hasn’t already had it done, and he has been singing the same way as Kurt for almost as long, less maybe 5-6 years give or take. Kurt would have likely had troubles at an even younger age because Nirvana likely played more shows per year on average than Puddle of Mudd at their peak, and likely would have continued to do it for much longer. If you’re going to sing like that for the album, then you had better have a way to half-assed fake it live, or your voice and your career are going to be short lived. If you hear your voice crack and squeak it’s the sound of dry vocal chords strained until they are so tight that there isn’t enough pressure behind your breath to push through them anymore. Which means right up until it stopped it was the most intense straining and friction between then that you could possibly put them through. It sounds cool, but you’re doing damage. It’s the vocal equivalent of what the guys from Jackass did to their bodies and as cool as that was in your 20’s, it gets rough as you get older because you can’t keep it up at that level.

Nirvana songs and Kurt's personality is a constant fight between opposites I believe. These songs have soft vs. heavy guitar parts, soft legato singing vs. aggressive percussive phrasing, sweet folk chords with a clashing 4th added vs. tritone and semitone metal chord progressions all in one song. That adds to the dynamics and excitement. His attitude both sharpens the corners but his melodies also make you flow around these sharp edges. The listening experience is like watching a fair sports game, both parties fight relentlessly and there is a tie in the end.

At my very first gig, with my very first band in 1993, we finished our show with a cover of this beast! It was in a village hall and lads out of the crowd had been around the back and found a load of old panto props. We had nutters in wigs and even two lads in a panto horse costume hammering around the stage. Madness. Great times!

Man, there's no attitude... There 's guts that sums up everything. What you're hardly working to explain is that Kurt just speaks his truth 100% every time he recorded a song. No calculation. Great video btw ;)

small correction: actually john lennon didn't dislike double tracking, he did it because he didn't like how his natural voice sounded

Chris, I can’t emphasize enough the positive effect your content has had on my life. From going through your course, working with you one on one in a few lessons and these videos about the vocal break and the importance of becoming a character as appose to being “ right”: You have single-handily brought me from being ready to give up on pursing music to having complete confidence in my voice and embracing it’s “ flaws” and leaning into them! Thank you so much!

It's PAIN. Pain is the only reason why grunge is the way grunge is. For Kurt, Eddie, Chris (and to some extent also Nu Metal performers like Korn and Linkin) to sing that way, they must have gone through so much hatred, loathing, suffering (and all other negative emotion) that it reflects in the performance.

Just play the section between 09:50 - 10:07 while the family is casually hanging out in the house. This is golden!

I've listened to this song probably hundreds of times in life and every single time, Kurt makes me laugh at the end. It's just perfect nonsense chaos.

He formed his own genuine style and artistic agenda, never swaying from that path. The raw unfiltered expression was balanced with precise stylistic control and hard work. I recall in one interview he said something like "that's just how we like art" when asked about his lyrics that used fun wordplay and expression ("mosquito, my libido" etc).

There is nothing precise about krists bass playing lol

I'm a hardcore Nirvana fan and I play Nirvana covers on my other channel, but I think you could had did a better song from the nevermind album, In Bloom, Come as You are, Lithium, smells like teen spirit or drain you. Those were the best ones on that album IMO.

the guitars of this song were plugged directly on the mixer, no mic on cabs and amps as old punk recordings, this is why they sound so different from the other tracks on Nevermind 😜

"Being imperfectly you is Inspiring" best thing ive heard on the Internet since the dawn of music in my life. This is where I'll be when I need vocal lessons and learning techniques.Nirvana was my first love in Music at such a young age of 10, now years later, that Trio and Kurts songs drive the sound that i have created today. From Memory 2022 will be the beginning of a new bliss of Music for our Elder, Grown and youth of Yesteryear and Last today. See you there.

Oohhh chris,..ur videos getting better and better i guess,.minimum,.at least their have always same quali...!!!! This time fabulous,..the way u put the song apart,.each Soundtrack analyzing,..i mean not just lyrics,.u put every second apart,.fantastic,.it is cosy,..and satisfiying to watch u,really,.music is my blood,.I love to deal with it. To think about it. Music not only consuming it, but to understand. No even more to be able to understand what happens there. And to see that a plenty of people do it too,.just grand!!!! Thanx 4 ur Engagements,..regards,chris ( -> my name is Christian,.so chris greets chris 👊😉),

To this day I don't think anyone can match Kurt's voice. His music will stand for generations I believe.

I'm trying really hard to free my voice but i cant produce any squeaky or genuinely high pitched sounds. My voice just doesn't produce any sound after a certain point. This is frustrating because when i was 18 i could get to whistle pitch and now i cant even get into the 5th octave

I bought your course back in 2020 and tbh, i paused at some point in the first section of it and never went back but have been meaning to go back and continue the course. Seeing this motivated me again (as lack of motivation remains an issue, possibly from depression). I mimicked the sigh method or whatever to get to my vocal break and found that, from there, i'm able to open up the door to getting that raspy tone on my voice. It's not a scream or heavy distortion, but sometimes a good rasp is what i'm looking for when recording punk vocals. You have a way of helping us understand things much better than many others try to put it. I'm going to follow up with the course and hopefully breakthrough to unleash that punk rock powerhouse inside of me haha thank you for dropping these gems

14:40 vocal health alternative opinion 15:50 voice cracking

This is possibly Nirvana's best song?.....pure punk attitude, reminds me of stiff little fingers

Kareokeed this song years ago at a friend's house during a party. I sure wish they had been recording it because I friggin nailed it. People there were freaking out! ( In a good way) my voice was a bit rough afterwards so I did little red riding hood by sam sham and the Pharos as an encore. Territorial pissings was also the first song I ever covered in my first band circa 1998😆 that laid back attitude and not really screaming so much as just letting the emotion out has always been kinda easy for me. This one is definitely hard on the ol' throat box tho

I think what people miss about Kurt is that he idolized singers like Johnny Rotten and Henry Rollins. Nirvana was a punk rock band. Everybody knows he loved the Beatles and other pop bands too, but if you want to get a sound like his you need to study the punk bands that influenced him.

At first, I didn't think it was a good choice of a song (and I'm a massive Nirvana fan), cause you know, 3 power chords and Kurt just letting all out, but I'm happy I was wrong :)

In the 90s this sounded very organic and right.. Well off course there was a moment when this sounded like unusual, but it didnt take too long to adopt. While i think your video was great and i value your thoughts on this I think it is quite depressing even that now people need coaching to express their freedom to do whatever they think they feel is right thing to do. If that makes any sense. This was pushing the boundaries and that's why it was revolutionary or evolutionary. Plain safe will not be. So yeah, you're doing a service to people who are used to modern way of working, endless amount of takes, copypaste and pitch correction.

What many miss is they where pretty much punkers.

Did Kurt learn to sing like this or did he just sing like this it's his natural style, you say about a lot of modern music lacks this it's because they are learning to sing like this learning to be perfect, a lot of stuff now people want to be famous. Listen to Bill Hick new kids on the block rant he has it perfect

all that you said its true, buts there one thing people dont think about it, if kurt was still alive he would had to stop from singing that way because is vocal chords would be damaged really fast. dont get me wrong, is voice is something else, but in some point in life he had to take some other procedures on is voice. Take Chino from Deftones, he had the same problem, he had to make a surgery in his vocal chords because of the screams over the years, and is voice suffered so much and now he can't sing the same tones the fans were used to.

I have the attitude, just not the talent. That's why all my songs sound like shit but I don't care. rofl

i think it's kinda funny how people like you trying to find words for the expressions within this record, that lives from the emotional, unperfect and totally fucked up attitude. i mean, i love your videos, your arcitects voice analysis helped me a lot and learning more about technique could not be bad at any time but if you don't have that attitude, you never can reproduce sounds like kurt is doing on all the nirvana records. if there is no punk attitude, you can't do punk music. this is the simple thing. that doesn't mean that you can't do punk music but you first have to learn how to give a fuck what people say, you have to learn to feel the cheapness, the bad, the fucked up and hurtful stuff. great video anyway!

Can you do another Nirvana video and talk about the vocal harmonies between Kurt and Dave? Amazing harmonies on the studio versions of ‘In Bloom’ and ‘On a Plain’ or live ‘Polly’ almost everything from MTV unplugged but especially ‘All Apologies’

i would lovo tosee how this voice was record (the chains compressore etc.) its so dynamic but limited and constant in the same way ... I need to know

its always amazed me at how sloppy bass can be in isolation... i notice it on the deftones older tracks too with Chi Cheng. And Krist here is very sloppy, his metering with his picking is pretty far off a lot of the time but when its in the mix it actually adds to it.

This guy’s neighbors probably think he’s either being murdered or he’s having the time of his life.

Chris could you do a in-depth video of Anthony Green's voice from Circa Survive sometime. I'm learning a lot from your videos keep them up!

Pretty sure Kurt plugged his guitar directly into the soundboard for this one song…..

4:40 Would have been nice to see what the guitar and bass sound like together without drums

I like this break down. Very cool. I hear this played live in 1993. That is the year I saw Nirvana in concert . They were doing their "In Utero tour. But they played all of their best songs. Kurt has no problem maintaining his vocal. Just like on the album. Amazing. BEST CONCERT EVER!

This is a super cool episode Chris. I have a similar approach to my vocals. Partly from what I have learned from you and partly from listening to these guys, and also Chris Cornell a lot. Once I decided I didn't care what anyone thinks I began to improve. It would be way cool to see how someone like yourself would analyze one of my recent songs, "Last Goodbye" or "Broken" would be good examples because I purposely push my voice well beyond in some verses. Anyway, thanks for all the great info and providing stellar content for all of us 👍👍🙏🙏🎸🎶🎵

Comment for da algorithm Streak count: 246

My favorite multitrack yet! Throughout the choruses, his voice keeps cracking into a higher note and you can sort of hear the technique he has for his screams.. To me it seems he sort of drops onto the note from the top and then settles into the fullness of the scream... "Vocal Bombs" lol.. They certainly had an impact. Great video, Chris! 🔥

This breakdown of the grunge era early 90's reckless abandon attitude, which Nirvana and Kurt embodied, is so well articulated! Completely agree that the imperfections and incidental nuances create such character that is missing from today's music. Really hope it comes back in a new form someday. Love what you do, keep up the great work. Subbed.

man, would be really cool if you do one of this multitracks videos with some Cannibal Corpse songs. dont know if its possible, but would be amazing

where tf do u find these??

Hi Chris. I think this is my first comment on your channel but have watched many of your vids and love them. I especially love your Nirvana, Chris Cornell and Pearl Jam content. (I guess that gives you an idea of my age... lol). I would love for you to do a reaction video of Pearl Jam's Jeremy. I think it would be fun for you to do it on their uncensored video because I believe the emotion in Eddie's voice is so tied in to meaning of the song and that is so well embodied in that video. He is so into the role that even his appearance is different than anywhere else (in my opinion). Secondly, in regards to doing Kurt "the right way"... I wonder (and only wonder because I have 0 knowledge) if there is a physiological component to this. I wonder this because when I do karaoke for a full night, my voice actually hurts less doing Nirvana (at full tilt) than many "clean" songs. Anyway, I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Maybe this is just because I've been "singing" Nirvana for years that my voice is used to doing that as opposed to those "cleaner" songs. Again, thanks for your fun and instructive videos Chris. I wish you well!

Butch told kurt they were re takes. Kurt refused to do layered guitar tracks

I always wonder where do you get all these multitracks

This will be a great video as always, i love these videos, thx for making them

Great video, have you checked soundgarden’s birth ritual isolated vocals?

Holy shit get rid of the distracting audio of your music in the intro. It's so unneccesary when you're already providing such good info about the actual important stuff

That is a punk rock attitude toward vocals...

Hi is there anywher I can find thes stems online thanks..

Man, thanks for these videos, I make trap music, it's not rock,but this videos help me a lot to get more ideas,and you helped me improve my vocals as well, much appreciated

Your Channel is so refreshing. You're right. So much of what is out their vocal wise is just over safe and sanitized. Even when it comes to vocalists that are more "technical" than this, we're still missing a lot of this kind of feel and vulnerability in a lot of cases. What's worse is that I'm sure their are vocalists who do this naturally due to their influences and what not but the producer is auto tuning the nuance and humanity right out of the mix in so many cases. At least if you're self producing you can call the shots on that and choose the more expressive route.

It's funny hearing you scream Kurt-ishly, because you approach it with such thought-out technique. I'm fairly certain the last thing on his mind was technique at the time. Great videos!

couldn't agree more

I was listening to nirvana lately...several years passed since i hear anything from them and instantly thought of you hearing kurt singing, the cracking in between the screams, it was in front of me all along. I can safely sing as i wanted as a teen because of you, i crack myself and bang all those songs like the first time that i hear them and it was amazing to be able to sing and scream without losing my voice for a day like years before.

Vocal distortion was all in Kurt's pipes.

One of my all time favorite songs again. Big thanks!

Your channel rocks Chris

They used a much better mic and kurt was far away

If I were a singer I would definitely seek your counsel. Singing unabashedly, making your audience really feel something is an amazing gift ❤ But it’s a quick way to limit the amount of shows one can do. With training (and hopefully talent ;) you can sing like that more often and much longer xo

Love this

Cobain had aggression and raspiness, Lennon had nasality and clarity.

Hey Chris, I feel that I have a good distortion head voice but can’t seem to get that “scream” distortion sound when I try to use my chest voice. Probably a technique thing lol. Kurt didn’t seem to care about that stuff haha

I like how you're trying to explain this to people. It's interesting, remember that music and your voice are a primal thing, built into your genes from many tens of thousands of years before even the idea of some man christ development. A little gravel on your vocals is a thing it's true, it's all there for screaming our hearts desire. Kurt definitely had a big talent for song writing and you can't teach his vocals. They're unique, you need your own vocals which, shouting and screaming without great songs or talent will destroy your lovely ungravelly vocal chords?!

It is goofy, it is silly, when I first listened to that song intently with headphones when I was 13, I died laughing! I must've listened to it 5 more times and it easily became of my favorite songs for years. He was a silly guy. See, at @14:57 Chris laughed too! But I never doubted the sincerity of 'mission self destruct'

yeah dude...it's called PUNK...

I’m sure Kurt got that guitar tone by plugging straight into the desk.

it's so jubilant! I don't know why but it makes me think of Black Francis who uses this way, and this convey a great communicative jubilation (example: "Distance Equals Rate Times Time") You really surprise me when you started "singing" ... (this is the first time I see one of your videos) ... then in good French that I am, I tell you : quel bel organe !!! 😉

It only sounds good when kurt does it

Kurt sang a warm up take and then warned Butch that he was going to "do only 1 take of this". Butch said he took that to mean that Kurt was going to blow out his voice for the day on this one take, which is exactly what happened. I do wish that Kurt had had some sort of professional instruction as to how to keep his throat working early on in his career, right after the '89 European tour would have been perfect because he struggled with sickness and his throat towards the end of that tour especially. But I think he thought that was all bullshit and "not punkrock" to take care of your voice. Nirvana's final concert in Munich has Kurt's last throat blowout, he starts alright but halfway thru it starts to break in a painful and ugly sounding way and according to Pat Smear, Kurt deliberately kept pushing it so that he could cancel the tour. The last 3rd of the set is hard to listen to. He was diagnosed with the flu and laryngitis afterwards and told not to sing for 6 months and learn how to sing properly. We all know what ended up happening 😢

Nirvana was punk rock first, labeled grunge by the media, but they were essentially a punk band through and through.

If I recall correctly, Kurt ran the guitar straight into the mixing board for this track, which probably has a lot to do with the insane buzzsaw guitar tone. I believe John Lennon did the same thing on "Revolution", hence the similarly "broken" guitar fuzz tone on that track. I have to wonder if that's how Kurt got the idea in the first place.

it's always been an expression of unapologetic exhaustive frustration layered with great rock and roll music. to me it's up there with cherub rock for one of the greatest rock riffs or songs. love the stamp on it at the end !

Guitar tone is mix of a real amp and a RAT distortion pedal connected straight to a mixer/desk. if I remember correctly, Kurt wanted to go all on desk, but it sounded too harsh. Kurt wanted a punk sound, he got it.

If your studying kurts voice study tom warrior from celtic frost one his biggest influences and its NOT the opposite of good its AMAZING. who cares about perfection, its about aggression!

Foo Fighters In Your Honor!!

I think the reason why Kurt's voice was "cool", as this guy says, is because kurt didn't give a shit of what that cost him. If you need to analyze a "safe way" to get that sound will result in an inauthentic boring emotionless nothing. Art is beautiful when you can feel that passion of someone who puts it above everything. That can lead to tragedy, pain, and sometimes endless bliss. Fear will eventually get us all, but there's no coincidence in my mind that artists greatest works are when then are most young and fearless. They give that to us so we don't have to go thru it ourselves

9:52 is everything alright?

Those are some very Husker Du-sounding guitars right there.

Chris, is there anyways we could get a Crossfade vocal tutorial or a multi track breakdown? I think Ed Sloan's vocals are very underrated and I can't find any material showing how he gets his vocals. My guess is a lot of doubling and modulation.

Kurt DI'd his guitar direct to board for this song which is why it sounds the way it does. There may have been a mic'd amp in there somewhere but the guitar highest in the mix is the DI'd guitar into the Neve console. Also, Krist singing at the beginning of the song was sang into guitar pick ups. #factoids lol

This song taught me alot growing up about what actually qualifies as a song. 3 chords and raw emotion no matter what you sound like, let it out!!!

Your free videos are so help full that i am looking forward to buying your courses. I have enrolled for the "discover your voice" course but i am facing issues with the payment. My card is being declined and am not at all aware with the reason...

Hey Chris, thanks for noticing and loving my previous comment. I am somewhat of a Nirvana mega nerd and you probably won't find anyone who has read or learned more about Nirvana, including some of their recording tricks and methods than me. lol. If i can help with any of these Nirvana breakdowns let me know. I am also a guitarist and a home recorder. :D

All I want is to finish my home studio (vocal booth), so I can try and sing without the fear of my neighbors listening... I can't stand singing "stuck" anymore and worried if I'm bothering someone :) Kurt's vocals will be my guide

I’m no singer and no Kurt but as someone whose rly taken a deep dive into grunge in the last 2 years im so fucking happy to say when I do sing I take major inspiration from Kurt I’ve never been shy abo my voice dying, shrieking, or bleeding and it really took this video to open my eyes just how similarly I sing to Kurt. FUCKING AWESOME

4:11 if i’m not mistaken, this is chiefly a pro co rat plugged straight into the desk. Allegedly, Butch Vig hated this, and generally hated that kurt used distortion pedals at all

Those AKG cans are great