Sometimes people ask how long it takes me to make a mashup for my YouTube channel.
I've had a little trouble answering because there are a few steps. I have to come up with the idea of combining two or three songs with the same theme, throw them together, tweak them, practice them, and then find the time to record them.
But I think I have a minimum answer now of start to finish: one week.
Last week I was thinking about how it would be nice to do a mashup with a nice calm Chopin piece. But then I thought, what if I did it with an upbeat Chopin song instead?
So I started playing the Minute Waltz and realized Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam could possibly work with that. But what if there was one that worked better? I opened up my big Chopin book and right on the first page was his Grand Valse Brilliante, better known as the Flamingo song at our house thanks to Sesame Street.
And bam! They worked together so well! And Jim and John let me practice! So within a few minutes I had a skeleton of what I wanted. Over the next week I found a few minutes here and there to practice, and by Saturday I figured I ought to just throw the whole thing together (it was hard enough that either I had to do it then or practice it for another month to get all the tricky spots) while everyone was playing outside.
So here you go.
A few interesting side notes;
I've had a little trouble answering because there are a few steps. I have to come up with the idea of combining two or three songs with the same theme, throw them together, tweak them, practice them, and then find the time to record them.
But I think I have a minimum answer now of start to finish: one week.
Last week I was thinking about how it would be nice to do a mashup with a nice calm Chopin piece. But then I thought, what if I did it with an upbeat Chopin song instead?
So I started playing the Minute Waltz and realized Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam could possibly work with that. But what if there was one that worked better? I opened up my big Chopin book and right on the first page was his Grand Valse Brilliante, better known as the Flamingo song at our house thanks to Sesame Street.
And bam! They worked together so well! And Jim and John let me practice! So within a few minutes I had a skeleton of what I wanted. Over the next week I found a few minutes here and there to practice, and by Saturday I figured I ought to just throw the whole thing together (it was hard enough that either I had to do it then or practice it for another month to get all the tricky spots) while everyone was playing outside.
So here you go.
A few interesting side notes;
- It is sort of fitting that I was able to play this piece with my cute Sunbeam and his cute friends in mind, because the first time I really tried to play Grand Valse Brilliante was right before he was born. Over the next almost 4 years, I've practiced it here and there, which was a huge help to me this week.
- I have played the real song through just a handful of times. It takes a lot of stamina for me. The first time I played it through was for our Airbnb hosts in Paris. I'm not sure how that happened, and I still wish I had picked something else to play. Ha.
- This was one of the few times I wish I had a real piano with real action and better dynamics. Someday . . .
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