Just For Fun - Neat Videos

[BigJon]

Hah! Love the Techno Jeep

Would you participate in a virtual choir? Composer Eric Whitacre thinks it's a pretty cool idea. This is a beautiful song and an amazing achievement, but I hear a lot of digital artifacts that detract from the listening experience. He's done it twice and he's doing it again.

[BigJon]

Does your heavy metal have far too much guitar and bass? How about a heavy metal band that does away with them and replaces them with . . . . . . . . . . human voices! They are called Van Canto, a German band singing in English. They work with a drummer, so they are not a true a Capella group, but they do have this interesting song they did without the drummer that sounds kinda Celtic. The female lead singer (darn cute) even drops an operatic bit in the middle. They need to learn a little stagecraft if they want to do opera though. Rakkatakka indeed, and there will always be a Germany.

[Haggis@wk]

[shudder icon]

Story here

[jamiebk]

Well...I like octopus and squid for that matter (usually sauted), but this looks sickening. What an artery clogger. Ugh

[Haggis@wk]

world air traffic for a day pretty cool

[Shapley]

Pretty cool! Intereting how America empties out mid-day. Also interesting to see the steady stream through Dubai.

[dai bread]

Nifty. America empties out and Europe fills up amazingly.

[jamiebk]

You're gonna love this one....hang in there to the end; it's only 2 minutes: http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=48625

[Haggis@wk]

What would You Tube be without [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GhT4xMG-dM]bored insane Icelandic snowmobilers?[/url] If you tell me your heart wasn't in your mouth on the second one......

[jamiebk]

What would You Tube be without [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GhT4xMG-dM]bored insane Icelandic snowmobilers?[/url] If you tell me your heart wasn't in your mouth on the second one......

I surely thought that the guy was going to back-slide. sheesh

[Haggis@wk]

I surely thought that the guy was going to back-slide. sheesh

I had to watch it a coupla times because I thought it might have been doctored, you know fall back the first time, make it the second time splice, etc. But I'm certain that was all in one go. Besides had he fallen I don't think he would have been healthy enough for another run!! fantastic.

[jamiebk]

Well, speaking of Bach's toccata and fugue, here is a clever little video that uses a bar graph as a visualization of what is going on on the various organ registers. 8-1/2 minutes. Not the best rendering of the piece, but for all of us "visual" people out there (Selma...this is you.) here is something to tease a couple spots in your brain simultaneously: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipzR9bhei_o&feature=fvw

[BigJon]

psssst Jamie, check out he first post in this thread, second link:

Here are some videos I've discovered recently that I've been playing over and over again. First is a cool visual representation of some famous classical works. I'll let them speak for themselves. Bach's Little Fugue, Toccata and Fugue and Organ Trio Sonata. My kids and I love watching the Toccata and Fugue over and over again. It's not Animusic, but it it is fascinating. Here is the guy's website. Check out the Tapper.

Next is a neoclassical cello piece. I love the first part, the second part is just OK, but it is the video editing that sets these apart. The piece is supposed to be a daydream, and the editing helps set the mood. The editing is done by a young video composing genius from Norway named Lasse Gjertsen. If you've ever seen his videos called Hyperactive or Amateur where he filmed himself making individual notes of a musical piece then edited them together to make everything happen in time, you know he has a great sense of humor and timing.

The last is just an interesting take on Mozart on the electric bass. The kid is no virtuoso yet, but he shows potential and has a lot of fun with it.

Welcome to two years ago . . .

[jamiebk]

Ha! I guess you beat me to it by a couple of year! Who knew? (guess you did!)

[BigJon]

Those videos really were the genesis of this thread, that's why I remember them so well.

[analog]

Interesting. And very enjoyable.

in the spirit of things done exceedingly well,
I've searched Youtube for years now for Nana Mouskouri's "High Noon".
it finally showed up as background for a video (with some exotic aircraft ???)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSe9DdmZb-I

[dai bread]

Unusual that the video stopped well before the song. I presume the idea was to give people something to look at while listening, but you'd think the compiler would have put another clip in to match the length of the music.

Oddly enough, Nana Mouskouri, a Greek, sings the best versions of British folk songs I've ever heard. I have an old vinyl of them. She doesn't drown them in operatic vocalising and orchestras the way some people do. She just sings the songs, in the most expressive way, with little accompaniment.

[analog]

Unusual that the video stopped well before the song.

I wondered about that too.

Then i happened to think - i remember the day AirForce announced they were retiring the SR71.
We fellows at work, all old enough to remember the day Frances Powers was shot down in his U2 which event spawned the SR71, unanimously speculated "Gee i wonder what they have to replace it?"
.... A Google revealed this thing is higher and faster....Could be stranger than fiction.

As to Nana Mouskouri -

I stumbled into a concert once in Montreal. She sang for two hours, only breaks were the few seconds between songs. Seemed to make no difference whether she sang in English, Greek, Italian or French the audience was hypnotized. I walked out a changed man.
A perfect voice perfectly administered... takes a good recording engineer to capture her ability. That particular Youtube piece does not sound good over my computer speakers. If you find her CD of Hits from the Movies, that's last cut on it,,, it'll show off your main system's ability to reproduce voice. (well you'll need some Anonymous 4 too..)

a.

[dai bread]

I wasn't all that impressed with the singing, but then it was an internet download, and I don't expect quality from them. A lot is lost in compression, transmission over several thousand kilometres of wire, (I'm reasonably sure it's not optical cable) and then decompression. That's why I don't buy from iTunes. If I want a piece of music, I buy the CD from Amazon. And if you want to know why I don't buy locally, it's because Amazon give good service and THEY HAVE AUDITION TRACKS on their website.

I might add that on the vinyl I have of the British folk songs, Nana Mouskouri sounds excellent.

[analog]

I wasn't all that impressed with the singing, but then it was an internet download, and I don't expect quality from them.

agreed. That clip wasn't good quality i could tell even on my computer speakers.

I have several of her CD's and the quality of recording varies. The one i mentioned has quite good sound .


I may try Amazon again. My one transaction there was awful. It took them months to deliver what they said was in stock, Fiedler's "Pops Roundup " CD, and i've not been back...

I might add that on the vinyl I have of the British folk songs, Nana Mouskouri sounds excellent.

At that concert i was astonished - she's like a machine, pronouncing every syllable of the lyrics with perfect clarity and timing.
I felt as if i'd witnessed something supernatural.
Time flies, that was about 1985.

sigh.

a.