Sam Tsui, Casey Breves Mash Up ‘Thinking Out Loud,’ ‘I’m Not the Only One’
Fans have been yearning for a mega love ballad collaboration between hit makers Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith, so YouTube singing sensation Sam Tsui partnered with Casey Breves to gift the world with the next best thing.
In a simple music video filmed in a living room adorned with Christmas lights, the 25-year-old flexes his vocals for Ed’s “Thinking Out Loud” while Casey simultaneously performs Sam’s “I’m Not the Only One.”
Samuel “Sam” Tsui (born May 2, 1989) is an American musician and internet celebrity who gained moderate fame on YouTube. He is known for covering songs by popular artists like Adele, Britney Spears, Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake and Bruno Mars, as well as some original songs, medleys, and mashups, along with his frequent collaborations with Kurt Hugo Schneider.
As of February 25, 2015, Tsui had 1.8 million subscribers.
~CASEY BREVES~
Casey Breves has performed across the United States, Europe, and Asia as both a classical and pop vocalist. He toured for three seasons with the Grammy Award-winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer — his first engagement after graduating from Yale University, where he was a member of the centennial class of the Whiffenpoofs.
He was a featured soloist in the world premiere of the oratorio A Melancholy Beauty at the Kennedy Center and Avery Fisher Hall, starred in The Fall of the House of Usher at the NYC Fringe Festival, sang the title role in Monteverdi’s Orfeo at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and appeared as the principal soloist in Too Hot to Handel: The Gospel Messiah with the Symphony Silicon Valley.
The longest-running, most successful partnership in the history of rock takes flight anew as Carlos Santana collaborates with the legendary Clive Davis on the brand new album Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time.
Working from the collective encyclopedic knowledge of rock possessed by the album’s producers, Carlos, Clive Davis, Howard Benson and Matt Serletic, a list of guitar-centric titles was devised and a Who’s Who of guest vocalists were invited to perform on every track alongside Carlos and his full-time band.
Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time
~~GALLERY~~
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Santana covers The Beatles’ ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’
In honor of George Harrison’s birthday, recent premiere and encore presentations of “The Night That Changed America: The Grammy’s Salute to The Beatles” featuring George Harrison’s composition of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps;” Carlos Santana decided to cover that same song on his 2010 album, Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time.
Santana’s sensual version features India Arie on vocals and Yo-Yo Ma on cello. Harrison’s album track from The White Album features Eric Clapton on guitar.
Indie and pop music reviewer blogger, Cory Zechmann of “Silence No Good,” had this to say about Santana’s cover version of the 1968 Beatles classic:
I’ve heard quite a few Beatles cover songs before, but this one really does George Harrison’s original justice. I’ve only listened to a couple tracks off Santana’s album, Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time, but his rendition of this classic takes it.
You can’t beat a Beatle’s song redone by a master guitar player + beautiful vocals by India Arie — oh, and some damn good cello playin’.”
“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” is a song written by George Harrison, first recorded by the Beatles in 1968 for their eponymous double album (also known as “the White Album”). The song features a lead guitar solo by Eric Clapton, although he was not formally credited on the album.
“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” is ranked at number 136 on Rolling Stone ’s “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”, number 7 on the magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time, and number 10 on its list of The Beatles 100 Greatest Songs.
In an online poll held by Guitar World magazine in February 2012, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” was voted the best of Harrison’s Beatle-era songs. In October 2008, Guitar World ranked Clapton’s playing at number 42 in its list of the “100 Greatest Guitar Solos”.
….. a hit for Meghan Trainor, a classic for my family and grandkids!
Scott Bradlee (born September 19, 1981) is an American musician, pianist, composer, and arranger. He is known for his viral videos on YouTube.
~Biography~
Bradlee was born on Long Island, New York, where he first fell in love with jazz at the age of 12 after hearing George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” for the first time. Bradlee became a successful performer, working in the New York jazz scene. Bradlee also served as music director for an interactive, off-Broadway theater experience called Sleep No More.
In looking for creative inspiration, Bradlee began reworking popular music as an exercise. In 2009, he released “Hello My Ragtime ’80’s”, in which he incorporated popular music from the 1980’s with ragtime-style piano. After playing and experimenting on stage at his regular gig at Robert Restaurant, Bradlee released the compilation Mashups by Candlelight. He would finally begin to gain popularity with his release of A Motown Tribute to Nickleback in 2012, a collaboration with local musicians which arranged Nickleback’s songs in the style of 1960’s style R&B music.
In 2013, Bradlee began to work more seriously on forming Postmodern Jukebox, a rotating group of musicians producing covers of pop songs in the styles of jazz, ragtime, and swing. The group broke out onto the public radar with their doo-wop cover of the Miley Cyrus song “We Can’t Stop“. Several artists have publicly noted their appreciation for the group’s work. As the viral surge grew, Bradlee was interviewed by news outlets such as NPR and also performed live on Good Morning America and Fuse.
The group capped off their meteoric year with a visit to Cosmopolitan Magazine’s New York office for a year end review of their work and popular songs from the year. Among the group’s prominent guest musicians are Dave Koz, who collaborated with them in a jazz covers of “Careless Whisper” and the Game of Thrones theme song, and Niia, who joined them for a “space jazz” version of “The End of the World”.
Postmodern Jukebox’s October 2013 collaboration with Puddles Pity Party on a cover of Lorde’s “Royals” generated particularly strong interest. As of September 2014, this video remained the second most popular on Bradlee’s YouTube channel with over 8.7 million hits.
To celebrate the last week of our European tour, we got some of the cast together to record this special version of one of our biggest covers – Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass,” in the style of PMJ ft. Kate Davis, of course. Not only does it feature vocalists Haley Reinhart, Morgan James, and Ariana Savalas rocking some Andrews Sisters- style harmonies, but it also features a sweet four hand bass solo by Casey Abrams and Adam Kubota.
Christmas is fast approaching. There are ten days left before the holiday is upon us. This has been quite the year. As it comes to an end, we hope that this new coming year be better in many aspects.
“It Is What It Is” will feature a special song every night as the countdown approaches.
Here is one of my favorite music performers.
The story behind the The Piano Guys’ Christmas Mormon Channel video
Celebrate the true meaning of Christmas and watch “O Come, Emmanuel” featuring ThePianoGuys, Jon Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nelson (piano/cello).
For each video The Piano Guys have produced, a spectacularly beautiful location is selected. But one location they remember as “incredible, spiritual, powerful.”
The Mormon Channel has released to YouTube “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel — Christmas Version,” a unique collaboration between the popular performing group and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
For this videotaping, The Piano Guys were allowed to film on the church’s three-acre Goshen, Utah, New Testament movie set, a recreation of ancient Jerusalem built for LDS Church productions.
“It was incredible. All of us were just blown away,” said Paul Anderson, one of the five Piano Guys and the group’s videographer. “Filming on the set was literally the highlight of my career. It was the coolest thing. I felt like I was in Jerusalem, in the Holy Land.”
Viewers of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel — Christmas Version” share the enthusiasm. In only a few days the video has been highly viewed and mention of the performance has been blazing through social media networks.
O come, O come, Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel That mourns in lonely exile here Until the Son of God appear Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free Thine own from Satan’s tyranny From depths of Hell Thy people save And give them victory o’er the grave Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer Our spirits by Thine advent here Disperse the gloomy clouds of night And death’s dark shadows put to flight. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Key of David, come, And open wide our heavenly home; Make safe the way that leads on high, And close the path to misery. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, O come, Thou Lord of might, Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai’s height, In ancient times did’st give the Law, In cloud, and majesty and awe. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel
The Piano Guys are an American musical group consisting of Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, Paul Anderson, and Al van der Beek.
They gained popularity through YouTube, where they posted piano and cello renditions of popular songs and classical music. Schmidt and Nelson’s music is accompanied by professional-quality videos shot and edited by Paul Anderson.
Paul Anderson owned a piano shop in St. George, Utah. He met musician Jon Schmidt as the latter walked in to ask if he could practice there for an upcoming concert.Months later, Paul Anderson and Tel Stewart (then just for fun) started making videos together with Jon Schmidt. It was not too long after that they did their first collaboration with Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, and Al Van Der Beek as the studio and music technician.
After the five of them started collaborating the group really started to take off, producing a music video each week and posting it to YouTube.
~~Success~~
Several of the group’s YouTube videos have over 20 million views, while all of them have over 750,000. As of February 2014, The Piano Guys’ YouTube channel has over 345 million total video views and about 2,500,000 subscribers.
As we began our arrangement of One Direction’s “Story of My Life” we wanted it to feel like each note of the music was a word in a vivid story being told. When writing a song sometimes you just need a little spark. That catalyst came from a piece of classical music — one that had such a “storybook feel” to it that we gleaned inspiration from it: Saint-Saëns’ “Aquarium” from his Suite “Carnival of the Animals.”
It’s an incredibly beautiful and transportive piece.
When we were finished we all stepped back and listened as objectively as we could, imagining what sort of story was being told in order to identify the best places to film. What happened surprised us all. The story itself took over.
It was like film score — but in reverse … more here:
~~Credits~~
“Story of My Life” – One Direction – written by Jamie Scott, Julian C. Bunetta, John Henry Ryan, Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik James Horan
Published by BMG Platinum Songs, Universal, EMI Blackwood, & Downtown DMP
Arrangement produced by Steven Sharp Nelson
Arrangement written by Al van der Beek & Steven Sharp Nelson
Mixed & mastered by Al van der Beek at TPG Studios in Utah
Performed by
Jon Schmidt: Piano
Steven Sharp Nelson: Electric & acoustic cellos, cello-percussion, percussion
Al van der Beek: Vocals, percussion
~~One Direction – Story of My Life~~
~~Published on Nov 3, 2013~~
The new album Midnight Memories featuring Story of My Life!
The Piano Guys are an American musical group consisting of Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, Paul Anderson, and Al van der Beek.
They gained popularity through YouTube, where they posted piano and cello renditions of popular songs and classical music. Schmidt and Nelson’s music is accompanied by professional-quality videos shot and edited by Paul Anderson.
Paul Anderson owned a piano shop in St. George, Utah. He met musician Jon Schmidt as the latter walked in to ask if he could practice there for an upcoming concert.Months later, Paul Anderson and Tel Stewart (then just for fun) started making videos together with Jon Schmidt. It was not too long after that they did their first collaboration with Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, and Al Van Der Beek as the studio and music technician.
After the five of them started collaborating the group really started to take off, producing a music video each week and posting it to YouTube.
~~Success~~
Several of the group’s YouTube videos have over 20 million views, while all of them have over 750,000. As of February 2014, The Piano Guys’ YouTube channel has over 345 million total video views and about 2,500,000 subscribers.
“OUR VISION IS TO CREATE MUSIC AND VIDEOS THAT INSPIRE & UPLIFT. WHATEVER WE DO, WE PUT OUR HEART AND SOULS INTO EVERY NOTE AND FRAME.”
The Piano Guys 2 is the third studio album by American musical group The Piano Guys. It was released on May 7, 2013, by Portrait (a division of Sony Masterworks). The album made its chart début at number 38 on the US Billboard 200.
The deluxe version of The Piano Guys 2 comes with a DVD featuring 11 music videos.
Today we are featuring “Can’t Help Falling in Love” from their second CD with a major record label.
Jon Schmidt (born 1966) is an Americanpianist currently residing in Bountiful, Utah. He describes his style as “New AgeClassical.” He was born to German immigrants who acquainted him with the works of such composers as Beethoven, Mozart, and Chopin. He began songwriting at age 11. To date, he has released eight albums and seven piano books containing transcriptions of original arrangements.
His work is often described as New Age music with pop elements of hook and melody.His works were also featured on sample discs for the IomegaHipzip Digital Audio Player with the pieces “Sacred Ground”, “All of Me”, and “Waterfall”.
Jon fell in love with this song when he heard the reggae cover by UB40, one of his favorite bands. His arranging style often reflects the influence of the classical music and training with which he was raised.
These two elements collide in this arrangement.
(Think Beethoven meets UB40 with a little tounge-in-cheek thrown in for fun).
Writers: Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, George David Weiss
Publisher: Gladys Music
Arranged by Jon Schmidt
~~UB40 – CAN’T HELP FALLING IN LOVE- LYRICS~~
~~Published on May 5, 2013~~
UB40-CAN’T HELP FALLING IN LOVE”, sound recording administered by: EMI
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.
The Piano Guys are an American musical group consisting of Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, Paul Anderson, and Al van der Beek.
They gained popularity through YouTube, where they posted piano and cello renditions of popular songs and classical music. Schmidt and Nelson’s music is accompanied by professional-quality videos shot and edited by Paul Anderson.
Paul Anderson owned a piano shop in St. George, Utah. He met musician Jon Schmidt as the latter walked in to ask if he could practice there for an upcoming concert.Months later, Paul Anderson and Tel Stewart (then just for fun) started making videos together with Jon Schmidt. It was not too long after that they did their first collaboration with Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, and Al Van Der Beek as the studio and music technician. After the five of them started collaborating the group really started to take off, producing a music video each week and posting it to YouTube.
~~Success~~
Several of the group’s YouTube videos have over 20 million views, while all of them have over 750,000. As of February 2014, The Piano Guys’ YouTube channel has over 345 million total video views and about 2,500,000 subscribers.
“OUR VISION IS TO CREATE MUSIC AND VIDEOS THAT INSPIRE & UPLIFT. WHATEVER WE DO, WE PUT OUR HEART AND SOULS INTO EVERY NOTE AND FRAME.”
The Piano Guys 2 is the third studio album by American musical group The Piano Guys. It was released on May 7, 2013, by Portrait (a division of Sony Masterworks). The album made its chart début at number 38 on the US Billboard 200.
The deluxe version of The Piano Guys 2 comes with a DVD featuring 11 music videos.
Today we are featuring “Me and my Cello – Happy Together” from their second CD with a major record label.
Steven Sharp Nelson (born 1977) is a pioneer in “cello-percussion”—an alternative performance method that combines traditional, lyrical cello techniques with unconventional pizzicato and percussive technique. He was born and still resides in Salt Lake City, Utah. He began studying cello at age 8, percussion at age 12 and guitar at age 17. He has invented a new method of playing the cello that combines elements learned from each of these instruments.
Nelson’s true cello career began when he was 15. He was recruited by Peter Breinholt to arrange string parts and perform with Breinholt’s band, Big Parade. Since then he has recorded on over 100 different albums ranging from folk & bluegrass to hip hop.
He has also made his way as a solo artist. His first album Sacred Cello (2006) was atop the Billboard Charts. He has since two more solo albums that have also received significant acclaim (Tender Mercies, 2008 and Christmas Cello, 2010).
~~Me and My Cello – Happy Together (Turtles) Cello Cover~~
ThePianoGuys
~~Published on Mar 30, 2012~~
Many people ask why Steve is SO HAPPY when he plays the cello. We followed him around with our cameras on his day off. We think we now understand why.
**NO INSTRUMENTS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS VIDEO**
We used a “stunt” cello for these scenes just in case — and we were really careful out of respect for the instrument. After all the filming, “Jackie” (named after Jackie Chan since he does all his own stunts) only had one minor scratch inflicted by a shopping cart (this proves the saying that statistically there are more shopping cart accidents than sky diving accidents).
~~Story behind the song~~
This music video was one of our very first ideas as ThePianoGuys.
It originated when we were filming “The Cello Song” the first project that Steven Sharp Nelson, Al van der Beek, Tel Stewart, and Paul Anderson did together (which is also the first time they all MET!)
As we were finishing the all-night film session, we starting talking about the many “uses” of the cello and before we knew it we were laughing about how funny it would be to make a movie about “cello bonding” — spending quality time with the cello. We didn’t feel like we could ever get away with making this video, but we just couldn’t help ourselves. For a while Al and Steve tried to write an arrangement of two Bob Marley tunes for the background of the video.
It wasn’t flowing, so the project was abandoned for several months. Since the making of “Cello Wars” we haven’t really had the opportunity to throw “funny” at our audience. And to be honest, we’ve missed it. We all love to laugh — especially at ourselves. It keeps the pressure of producing videos every other week bearable. We revisited this concept, but this time with a new tune — the Turtles “So Happy Together.” It fit perfectly. We ended up with a lot more scenes than we could use—some of which we were sad we couldn’t fit it. Maybe we’ll make an “extended version” one day.
“This video is dedicated to all of my music teachers that taught me to have FUN with music — to let it live and breathe rather than insist it be dead and dissected. As for my other music teachers that didn’t teach me to have fun. I’ll try to make a video for you some other time.”
~~Steven Sharp Nelson~~
~~The Turtles – Happy Together – 1967~~
~~Uploaded on Aug 31, 2011~~
“Happy Together” is a 1967 song from The Turtles‘ album of the same name. Released in February 1967, the song knocked The Beatles‘ “Penny Lane” out of the number one slot for three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. It was the group’s only chart-topper. “Happy Together” reached #12 on the UK Singles Chart in April 1967. The song was written by Garry Bonner and Alan Gordon, former members of a band known as The Magicians. The song had been rejected a dozen times before it was offered to The Turtles, and the demo acetate was worn out.
The Piano Guys are an American musical group consisting of Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, Paul Anderson, and Al van der Beek.
They gained popularity through YouTube, where they posted piano and cello renditions of popular songs and classical music. Schmidt and Nelson’s music is accompanied by professional-quality videos shot and edited by Paul Anderson.
Paul Anderson owned a piano shop in St. George, Utah. He met musician Jon Schmidt as the latter walked in to ask if he could practice there for an upcoming concert.Months later, Paul Anderson and Tel Stewart (then just for fun) started making videos together with Jon Schmidt. It was not too long after that they did their first collaboration with Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, and Al Van Der Beek as the studio and music technician. After the five of them started collaborating the group really started to take off, producing a music video each week and posting it to YouTube.
~~Success~~
Several of the group’s YouTube videos have over 20 million views, while all of them have over 750,000. As of February 2014, The Piano Guys’ YouTube channel has over 345 million total video views and about 2,500,000 subscribers.
“OUR VISION IS TO CREATE MUSIC AND VIDEOS THAT INSPIRE & UPLIFT. WHATEVER WE DO, WE PUT OUR HEART AND SOULS INTO EVERY NOTE AND FRAME.”
The Piano Guys 2 is the third studio album by American musical group The Piano Guys. It was released on May 7, 2013, by Portrait (a division of Sony Masterworks). The album made its chart début at number 38 on the US Billboard 200.
The deluxe version of The Piano Guys 2 comes with a DVD featuring 11 music videos.
Today we are featuring “Waterfall” from their second CD with a major record label.
Jon Schmidt (born 1966) is an Americanpianist currently residing in Bountiful, Utah. He describes his style as “New AgeClassical.” He was born to German immigrants who acquainted him with the works of such composers as Beethoven, Mozart, and Chopin. He began songwriting at age 11. To date, he has released eight albums and seven piano books containing transcriptions of original arrangements.
His work is often described as New Age music with pop elements of hook and melody.His works were also featured on sample discs for the IomegaHipzip Digital Audio Player with the pieces “Sacred Ground”, “All of Me”, and “Waterfall”.
Steven Sharp Nelson (born 1977) is a pioneer in “cello-percussion”—an alternative performance method that combines traditional, lyrical cello techniques with unconventional pizzicato and percussive technique. He was born and still resides in Salt Lake City, Utah. He began studying cello at age 8, percussion at age 12 and guitar at age 17. He has invented a new method of playing the cello that combines elements learned from each of these instruments.
Nelson’s true cello career began when he was 15. He was recruited by Peter Breinholt to arrange string parts and perform with Breinholt’s band, Big Parade. Since then he has recorded on over 100 different albums ranging from folk & bluegrass to hip hop.
He has also made his way as a solo artist. His first album Sacred Cello (2006) was atop the Billboard Charts. He has since two more solo albums that have also received significant acclaim (Tender Mercies, 2008 and Christmas Cello, 2010).
~~Waterfall (Jon Schmidt Original)~~
~~ThePianoGuys~~
~~Published on Jun 13, 2012~~
Written when he was 17, “Waterfall” is like an old friend to Jon. It
got him the cutest girl in his high school, made him the life of many
parties, and has been a big hit with pianists and piano teachers
alike. Jon says that in high school it was proof that chics dig even
ugly guys with skills.
This tune has significant
meaning to Jon and all of us at ThePianoGuys because It played a
pivotal role in convincing Jon to commit to a full-time career as a
pianist. An earlier video of Waterfall was done as a pre-TPG
experiment. This version is ThePianoGuys’ official video release.
The Piano Guys are an American musical group consisting of Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, Paul Anderson, and Al van der Beek.
They gained popularity through YouTube, where they posted piano and cello renditions of popular songs and classical music. Schmidt and Nelson’s music is accompanied by professional-quality videos shot and edited by Paul Anderson.
Paul Anderson owned a piano shop in St. George, Utah. He met musician Jon Schmidt as the latter walked in to ask if he could practice there for an upcoming concert.Months later, Paul Anderson and Tel Stewart (then just for fun) started making videos together with Jon Schmidt. It was not too long after that they did their first collaboration with Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, and Al Van Der Beek as the studio and music technician. After the five of them started collaborating the group really started to take off, producing a music video each week and posting it to YouTube.
~~Success~~
Several of the group’s YouTube videos have over 20 million views, while all of them have over 750,000. As of February 2014, The Piano Guys’ YouTube channel has over 345 million total video views and about 2,500,000 subscribers.
“OUR VISION IS TO CREATE MUSIC AND VIDEOS THAT INSPIRE & UPLIFT. WHATEVER WE DO, WE PUT OUR HEART AND SOULS INTO EVERY NOTE AND FRAME.”
The Piano Guys 2 is the third studio album by American musical group The Piano Guys. It was released on May 7, 2013, by Portrait (a division of Sony Masterworks). The album made its chart début at number 38 on the US Billboard 200.
The deluxe version of The Piano Guys 2 comes with a DVD featuring 11 music videos.
Today we are featuring “Berlin” from their second CD with a major record label.
~~Berlin – Original song for 12 cellos (and a kick drum)~~
ThePianoGuys
~~Published on Apr 10, 2013~~
ALL THE SOUNDS YOU HEAR WERE CREATED BY 105 CELLO TRACKS
~(and a kick drum)~
Filmed all on location in Berlin, Germany
~~Story behind the music and the video~~
What do Bach, Beethoven, Strauss, Brahms, Schumann and many more of the world’s greatest classical composers have in common?
They are all from Germany!
While we were on tour there we wanted to drink in Germany’s musical genius. It was an amazing experience. We had a chance to tour Europe twice in the same month. Prior to our first trip we had been brewing an original tune.
We wanted to write a cello “hook” that could grab people and that could be looped throughout the tune. We then started building more cello loops and moments with unprecedented sounds from the acoustic (wood) cello, carbon fiber, steel, and electric cellos. When the dust settled we had four minutes of layered, edgy, sort-of dubstep-with-a-U2-influenced goody-bag — on the electric cello loops we used some of the same cool delay effects and chord style of legend guitarists such as The Edge, Ewan Dobson, Buckethead and Yngwie Malmsteen.
We were excited but a little unsettled and we couldn’t figure out why. It was incomplete. We then left to Germany. We had some incredible adventures while we traveled and performed there. Upon return we had a week between our two Europe trips and we were determined to finish the song. Al and Steve were a little discouraged after having put so much work into a song and feeling good about it, and yet not knowing exactly what it needed.
This is a good moment to say again how grateful we are for our supportive families. They are the true “Behind the Scenes” of ThePianoGuys that make everything possible and give us the happiness we draw our inspiration from. If it weren’t for Rachel (Al’s wife) and Julie (Steve’s wife) this song would have failed. They gave us the encouragement and the ideas we needed to sprint the last mile.
We had one day to finish it up.
That morning inspiration struck Al and Steve at the same time in different places — we still have the iPhone voice memo recordings (recorded at less than an hour apart) that we used to sing the capstone melodies that came to us. When we met at the studio we simultaneously announced we had the melody the song needed — only to find out that the song needed BOTH melodies — separately in different places and then together as a duet at the end of the song.
As we listened to the final product we couldn’t help but feel the picturesque classical vibe mixed with a pop/dubstep vibe was an abstract depiction of what we felt as traveled through and performed in Berlin.
We decided just days before we were to board the plane again that the song would be called “Berlin” and that we should film it while we were in the city — a place so richly steeped in classical heritage, history, and vitality. Filming in front of its incredible landmarks was such an unforgettable experience.
The Piano Guys are an American musical group consisting of Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, Paul Anderson, and Al van der Beek.
They gained popularity through YouTube, where they posted piano and cello renditions of popular songs and classical music. Schmidt and Nelson’s music is accompanied by professional-quality videos shot and edited by Paul Anderson.
Paul Anderson owned a piano shop in St. George, Utah. He met musician Jon Schmidt as the latter walked in to ask if he could practice there for an upcoming concert.Months later, Paul Anderson and Tel Stewart (then just for fun) started making videos together with Jon Schmidt. It was not too long after that they did their first collaboration with Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, and Al Van Der Beek as the studio and music technician. After the five of them started collaborating the group really started to take off, producing a music video each week and posting it to YouTube.
~~Success~~
Several of the group’s YouTube videos have over 20 million views, while all of them have over 750,000. As of February 2014, The Piano Guys’ YouTube channel has over 345 million total video views and about 2,500,000 subscribers.
“OUR VISION IS TO CREATE MUSIC AND VIDEOS THAT INSPIRE & UPLIFT. WHATEVER WE DO, WE PUT OUR HEART AND SOULS INTO EVERY NOTE AND FRAME.”
The Piano Guys 2 is the third studio album by American musical group The Piano Guys. It was released on May 7, 2013, by Portrait (a division of Sony Masterworks). The album made its chart début at number 38 on the US Billboard 200.
The deluxe version of The Piano Guys 2 comes with a DVD featuring 11 music videos.
Today we are featuring “Mission Impossible – Featuring Lindsey Stirling” from their second CD with a major record label.
~~Mission Impossible (Piano/Cello/Violin) ft. Lindsey Stirling~~
ThePianoGuys
ALL THE SOUNDS YOU HEAR WERE CREATED BY THE INSTRUMENTS SHOWN
~~Story behind the song~~
It was May of 2011 … a few days after Lindsey Stirling and ThePianoGuys had each filmed their first official YouTube videos (“Spontaneous Me” and “Michael Meets Mozart”). Lindsey and Steven Sharp Nelson (cello guy) shared the stage at a concert. After the show they talked enthusiastically about a YouTube collaboration down the road.
A year and a half and a million fan requests later and it’s finally here! We love Lindsey Stirling! It feels like we’re family — we started on YouTube around the same time, we “grew up” in the same place, we all LOVE what we do and we’re all REALLY good dancers … except for ThePianoGuys.
We chose the theme from “Mission: Impossible” because we thought it would be a great music video to “be ourselves” in — to play off each other, throw in some special effects, a couple “stunts,” and some slapstick! The concept for the song and video began with spy gadgets — we wanted all of them to be string instrument parts! Then how would we pair up graceful, pro-dancer Lindsey and not-so-graceful Steve?
It was simple. Steve had to carry around his own chair! Then the graceful/not-so-graceful thing contrasted beautifully! When Jon Schmidt (Piano Guy) was cast as the “villain” and donned an eye patch we knew we were on to something…
THANK YOU to Stephen Wade Auto for serving as our last minute filming location when all others fell through! They were so nice to us and let us film in their place all through the night and they saved us on the repeling scene!
We ALL are connected through MUSIC!!
~~Mission Impossible – Lindsey Stirling and the Piano Guys (Funny Version)~~
~~Success~~
%20(2013)%20SONGSARA.NET/The%20Piano%20Guys3.png)
It Is What It Is 