Nirvana ‘Unplugged’ Studio Cover Project

Nirvana ‘Unplugged’ Studio Cover Project: “The Man Who Sold the World”. JS has completed an ambitious studio cover of Nirvana’s legendary MTV Unplugged performance of “The Man Who Sold the World” (originally written by David Bowie). The project began with JS, a devoted fan of the iconic 90s MTV Unplugged sessions, wanting to learn this particular song. What started as a standard practice piece quickly transformed into a comprehensive studio production.

Working with the original isolated tracks (stems), JS chose to preserve Kurt Cobain’s iconic vocal performance and Dave Grohl’s atmospheric drumming, using these as the structure for the cover. This decision allowed the project to maintain a direct connection to the original recording while showcasing JS’s own instrumental capabilities. JS demonstrated impressive technical ability by re-recording all guitar parts, including rhythm guitar, lead guitar, and bass.

The project presented a valuable learning opportunity, as JS had to master two new scale runs— C major and F major—in order to accurately perform the chorus sections on both guitar and bass. Tone selection and sound design were given special focus, with JS tones that mirror the original Unplugged performance. This involved exploring various guitar sounds to discover which best captured the song’s emotional character and complemented the project’s vision. Lastly the mixing process, with JS making creative decisions around EQ, compression, volume levels, and panning to blend the newly recorded instruments with the preserved original stems.