Hey hey,
I've been pondering on the idea of trying to create my own acoustic mash-ups, and also considered the idea of artist medleys (this was inspired by Imogen Heap, there are so many bits of her songs that I'd love to put together - I sometimes sing one of her songs over another I'm listening to and it often works rather well).
Anywho, I began having a bit of a look on YouTube for artist medleys and I came across this rather good Taylor Swift one - arranged by Kurt Schneider, sung by Tiffany Alvord.
I think this is excellent. It helps that I recognise all the different snippets from the different songs. The video is really fun and well put together - also it was interesting to have a look at the other stuff on Kurt and Tiffanys' channels, they're both really talented - I've come across quite a few new artists/music producers etc. on YouTube which I think is really rather awesome :).
Someone else who I'd come across previously who has done a Taylor Swift Medley (and done it well) is Julia Sheer (ft. Tyler Ward) - this is an acoustic one, much more like the sort of medley I'd want to do (but with a piano). They've both got great voices, and the video is simple but it really cute. I've listened to quite a few of Julia Sheer's covers and original songs and I really like them - there are also links to few other good young artists on her page which I will hopefully have a look at at some point. But anyway, here's the Taylor Swift songs video:
Having vaguely browsed medleys, I started thinking about mash-ups a bit more and had a bit of a browse of them. I found a whole lot of mash-ups, some good, some not so good, but here are a few that I rather liked.
This first one is a Kelly Clarkson/Coldplay ('My Life Would Suck Without You'/'In My Place') mash-up which I think is good, in some bits it borders on uncomfortable clashy, but I think it just manages to stay on the right side of that line.
There's actually another Kelly Clarkson/Coldplay mash-up that I liked, using the same Coldplay song, but 'Behind These Hazel Eyes' from Kelly Clarkson, I kind of prefer that one, though it's more of a Kelly Clarkson remix (not sure it actually uses anything but the background music of 'In My Place'). However that one has just got a still image as the video so I thought I'd put this one up instead, for something a bit more interesting.
This next one is a Queen/Outkast ('We Will Rock You'/'Hey Ya!') mash-up that is good fun - very upbeat and boppy :). Plus, it amuses me because I remember when 'Hey Ya!' was in the charts and loads of people at school were obsessed with it, lol - it's one of the three songs that reminds me ice skating discos, the other two are 'Where is the Love' by Black Eyed Peas and 'Hole in the Head' by Sugababes...
Right, this one is amazing :P - 'Sweet Home Alabama'/'Country Grammar' - I'd never heard the latter until after I heard this mash-up, and I have to say I think the mash-up is better than the original, lol.
This one is a Kylie/Moloko ('It's in Your Eyes'/'Sing it Back') mash-up which I think works really well, it's a bit of dance music fun :).
And lastly, this is a Gwen Stefani/Britney Spears ('What You Waiting For?'/'Toxic') mash-up - This is actually the first ever mash up that I heard - quite a while before mash-ups became really popular. I still think it's great :P.
So I'd better stop there, though if anyone comes across any really good mash-ups, please feel free to put them in a comment so I can have a look :).
Right, better go now, I need to go figure out how to reattach the legs of my piano to the piano itself... (having taken it away to uni minus the legs to preserve space)
I shall enlist the help of my dear father, who is probably napping...
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Sunday, June 06, 2010
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Piano Endeavours
I've been playing piano quite a bit recently, since I'm not really in uni anymore (thogh have been helping out my 3rd year buddy). It's kind of good that Phoebe (in the room next door) has gone home because I've been playing the piano rather loudly and singing quite loudly too, lol. Plus, I'm very repetitive if I find a song I love. Since yesterday that song has been 'You Got Me' by Colbie Caillat - I heard it the other day and fell in love with it so went in search of the the music for it - ended up just going with chords instead. I had to transpose them though as the chords I found were in D rather than G (the original key). So now I've done that I've been playing it rather a lot, lol. Here is the original version:
It occured to me the other day that it would make a decent mash-up with either 'Build Me Up Buttercup', so I might end up trying to create one at some point, lol.
Along with this I've been playing 'A Drop in the Ocean' by Ron Pope - I found the sheet music which someone had arranged and put online, though I need to adjust a few of the lines as they're not quite as they should be... I'll probably redo the whole thing on some blank score whenever I get around to it, this would also mean I could put the lyrics in as they're not written on the music and I keep forgetting them while I'm playing!
One song that I really want to learn is 'Time' by Chantal Kreviazuk - I heard it on a fanvid for something the other day and I absolutely loved it. I think I'd heard it a few times before but it was before it was before I started just playing whatever I felt like I think. I wanted to put up the actual music video on here but the embedding is disabled, so decided to put this video up because it's quite interesting and arty, and gives you something to look at while listening to the song, rather than the other video I found which just had a still image... Though I did notice that one of the lyrics is wrong, lol, it says 'I'm going to make this moment known' and it should say 'I'm going to make this moment mine'. But anywho, still an interesting video, lol.
I've also discovered a couple of piano covers of it - this one is beautiful, but is not the whole piece. I'd love to learn to play it like this but haven't found it anywhere and so far haven't bothered trying to learn it by ear as it sounds quite complicated (not necessarily the actual music, but sorting out the sounds in my head seems like it will be complicated...). Here is another piano cover, I love how she's put in drum beats with the piano - she's got the same piano as me! :) but I haven't really ever used any of the interesting features, lol. This version is in a different key but I think I might use this to figure out the piano patterns a bit more and then try and transpose it and make some alterations here and there... :)
It occured to me the other day that it would make a decent mash-up with either 'Build Me Up Buttercup', so I might end up trying to create one at some point, lol.
Along with this I've been playing 'A Drop in the Ocean' by Ron Pope - I found the sheet music which someone had arranged and put online, though I need to adjust a few of the lines as they're not quite as they should be... I'll probably redo the whole thing on some blank score whenever I get around to it, this would also mean I could put the lyrics in as they're not written on the music and I keep forgetting them while I'm playing!
One song that I really want to learn is 'Time' by Chantal Kreviazuk - I heard it on a fanvid for something the other day and I absolutely loved it. I think I'd heard it a few times before but it was before it was before I started just playing whatever I felt like I think. I wanted to put up the actual music video on here but the embedding is disabled, so decided to put this video up because it's quite interesting and arty, and gives you something to look at while listening to the song, rather than the other video I found which just had a still image... Though I did notice that one of the lyrics is wrong, lol, it says 'I'm going to make this moment known' and it should say 'I'm going to make this moment mine'. But anywho, still an interesting video, lol.
I've also discovered a couple of piano covers of it - this one is beautiful, but is not the whole piece. I'd love to learn to play it like this but haven't found it anywhere and so far haven't bothered trying to learn it by ear as it sounds quite complicated (not necessarily the actual music, but sorting out the sounds in my head seems like it will be complicated...). Here is another piano cover, I love how she's put in drum beats with the piano - she's got the same piano as me! :) but I haven't really ever used any of the interesting features, lol. This version is in a different key but I think I might use this to figure out the piano patterns a bit more and then try and transpose it and make some alterations here and there... :)
FlashForward
Well, I just watched the last episode of FlashForward. I've really loved the series, I think it was a very clever and interesting idea that was well executed and had lots of intrigue and excitement, and you really became attached to the characters.
I was so disappointed when I read that FlashForward has been discontinued, and now that I've watched the last episode I'm devastated that there couldn't be another series. I thought that the last episode was really interesting and I loved the little twists in it where things weren't necessarily quite as they seemed in the people's flashforwards.
It was a real cliffhanger - with the second flashforward occuring as the ending scene. This made it both really interesting and really frustrating. I personally like having more closure at the end of a series, though I'm assuming this episode was made with the intention of a second series. If it was made with the intention of a second series then I think it was perfect - there was a bit of closure (certain events happening as they did in the people's flashforwards) but there was also a few mysterious things thrown in (such as the flashforward featuring Charlie and when Janice was wheeled off by Lita wearing a QED ring) which make you want to watch the next series.
However, I'm still a bit disappointed in the end, because it doesn't feel like it's over - I find that quite exasperating and there is no way to way to curb the feeling and that makes it even more frustrating.
However, perhaps that is a wonderful thing about the series - that it has been left very open-ended and will be likely to provoke the imaginations of the viewers into creating their own continuing storylines in their heads and maybe creating closure in that way. Either way, you can't say it doesn't make you think - which has been a fantastic thing about the show all the way through, so despite the frustration, perhaps it was a suitable ending for it all.
I'm also more pleased about this because I've recently heard from people that the ending to 'Lost' was a complete disappointment and has made the series' feel like they were a bit pointless, and I certainly don't feel like that effect has occured with FlashForward. I've never actually watched Lost but it sounded really interesting and I did mean to watch it - the main thing I was intrigued with was the intricate detail and mystery which was raved about, which is the same thing that I love about FlashForward, however I'm glad I ended up watching this instead of Lost as I've found it a lot more satisfying! I may still watch some episodes of Lost at some point, I think that I'd still find it really interesting, it just might not feel as purposeful...
Anyway, better go now, just wanted to share that, lol.
But yes - FlashForward, definitely worth watching :).
Oh yes, just read this article about the last episode which I found quite amusing - the writer seems quite cynical/skeptical and at the bottom there is a list of unresolved issues from the program which were kind of funny. The skeptical comment towards the end about Keiko and Bryce's relationship really reminded me of something Carol would say... (it's a bit like comments made by various people about how Romeo and Juliet barely knew each other really, and Cecelia and Robbie's relationship in Atonement was all based on a shag in a library one time). But I like to hold on to the romance of it all, that's just my style, and I think it's nicer that way :).
Ooh, just found another article - this one sums up my opinion a bit better I think. Basically just expressing the 'huh?' element of the last episode...
I was so disappointed when I read that FlashForward has been discontinued, and now that I've watched the last episode I'm devastated that there couldn't be another series. I thought that the last episode was really interesting and I loved the little twists in it where things weren't necessarily quite as they seemed in the people's flashforwards.
It was a real cliffhanger - with the second flashforward occuring as the ending scene. This made it both really interesting and really frustrating. I personally like having more closure at the end of a series, though I'm assuming this episode was made with the intention of a second series. If it was made with the intention of a second series then I think it was perfect - there was a bit of closure (certain events happening as they did in the people's flashforwards) but there was also a few mysterious things thrown in (such as the flashforward featuring Charlie and when Janice was wheeled off by Lita wearing a QED ring) which make you want to watch the next series.
However, I'm still a bit disappointed in the end, because it doesn't feel like it's over - I find that quite exasperating and there is no way to way to curb the feeling and that makes it even more frustrating.
However, perhaps that is a wonderful thing about the series - that it has been left very open-ended and will be likely to provoke the imaginations of the viewers into creating their own continuing storylines in their heads and maybe creating closure in that way. Either way, you can't say it doesn't make you think - which has been a fantastic thing about the show all the way through, so despite the frustration, perhaps it was a suitable ending for it all.
I'm also more pleased about this because I've recently heard from people that the ending to 'Lost' was a complete disappointment and has made the series' feel like they were a bit pointless, and I certainly don't feel like that effect has occured with FlashForward. I've never actually watched Lost but it sounded really interesting and I did mean to watch it - the main thing I was intrigued with was the intricate detail and mystery which was raved about, which is the same thing that I love about FlashForward, however I'm glad I ended up watching this instead of Lost as I've found it a lot more satisfying! I may still watch some episodes of Lost at some point, I think that I'd still find it really interesting, it just might not feel as purposeful...
Anyway, better go now, just wanted to share that, lol.
But yes - FlashForward, definitely worth watching :).
Oh yes, just read this article about the last episode which I found quite amusing - the writer seems quite cynical/skeptical and at the bottom there is a list of unresolved issues from the program which were kind of funny. The skeptical comment towards the end about Keiko and Bryce's relationship really reminded me of something Carol would say... (it's a bit like comments made by various people about how Romeo and Juliet barely knew each other really, and Cecelia and Robbie's relationship in Atonement was all based on a shag in a library one time). But I like to hold on to the romance of it all, that's just my style, and I think it's nicer that way :).
Ooh, just found another article - this one sums up my opinion a bit better I think. Basically just expressing the 'huh?' element of the last episode...
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