So I've done a reading of my poem in my own voice, now I decided to do a reading in an English accent. I am an American anglophile who has been obsessed since the age of 5 and was fortunate enough to spend three months in England last year. I revealed in my who am I that I do accents and CreatiffMotiff requested that I do a RECord in an accent so here you are. I read all seven Harry Potters to my sister mastering all the actors voices. For inspiration for this, I'm also a huge Jane Austen fan, have read all the books, and have seen way too many versions of them. Enjoy!

Re-edited video (8 Oct 2012): http://www.hitrecord.org/records/981312

RP did a great job with his edit, so I took the chance to try something different.

Used split screens because I thought it would be interesting to see Joe's video feed, the screen and the filming process simultaneously, together with the audience's perspective. Left the most awesome segment as straight cuts because such awesomeness does not need further embellishment.

The syncing was tough though, and rendering time sucks... Though the biggest pain in the ass is file format and exporting. T.T

Couldn't be at the event, but I'm so glad I got to edit such a great performance. =D

Dans un bois solitaire, composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It's one of two songs he composed in French, and it's a deliberate imitation of a French chanson. I recorded this one day when my nephews were over, so you can hear them a bit in the background at the beginning. Anyway, it's something of a small triumph for me as learning this piece took a lot of work. Even when casually composed, Mozart's pieces are still challenging.

Very dope beat, Thank you Matt for the space...Kenneth Masters Is fresh.

A small video of me hurling insults at the Turnip Man.

This was made as a contribution to the Turnip Man short film based on Metaphorest's poem!

there was a little girl

who liked to follow birds

not to capture or contain

just friendship was her aim

to share secrets of secrets

and sit snugly on her head

to keep all warm and cozy

until her time for bed.

                                         almost all eyes open

almost all eyes open

Eskapuria's Tiny Stories colored result looked so much like postage stamps, I thought we should have some of em!

almost all eyes open

According to Project Gutenberg, the copyright for this great short story by PKD has not been renewed.

Full text here: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/31516

Anyone interested in providing an alternate voice to read the extracts from the book?

There is a language barrier here but I think you can tell how excited this couple was to be in our presence again.  I needed to go through this for my own growth. 

Duane

Dedicated to the masses affected by the storm on the East Side of the United States

Mister Pomfrey was a crotchety old man who just wanted to be left alone.
He traveled as far away from people as he could and built himself a home.
Atop a hill and surrounded by water, his house was not easy to find,
This ensured he no longer had solicitors (which he abhorred), no visitors of any kind!
With an inviting red door, and friendly blue drapes, a person would never guess,
That contrarily, inside lived a very uninviting man who offered nothing but nastiness.
The dilapidated fence and unclimbable hill, were more to the old man’s liking,
For no one could reach his house and come to bother him unless they were swimming and hiking!
To the old grouch’s dismay though, right next to his house, was a beautiful apple tree,
“Who needs apples? Or beauty?” he grumbled, “May it wither and die” he thought hopefully.
But despite the neglect, and the old man’s bad intent, the tree continued to bloom,
It’s lush green leaves and shiny red apples a stark contrast to the old man’s gloom.
The grumpy old man wondered why the annoying tree’s beauty could not be destroyed,
So he spied on the tree all day into night and to his surprise he spotted a young boy,
Who swam across the water and scaled the hill, with a bucket of water tied to his back,
Stealthily he approached the apple tree, watered it, then removed shears from his sack.
The old man watched in furious amazement as the boy started to prune the tree.
The boy then picked some apples, put them in his sack, and scaled down the hill carefully.
Despite his anger and outrage, the old man quietly followed the boy so he could see,
Where he came from and where he went and then he would scold him for his treachery!
The boy landed at the bottom, then crossed the lake and walked to a threadbare tent.
A woman came out, followed by a little girl, and they looked at the boy’s sack with intent.
They each took an apple, then huddled for warmth, as they hungrily ate their food.
The old man watched while feeling quite strange, he could not understand his new mood.
He hurried back to the isolation of his house, and pondered the odd turn of events.
Instead of anger and outrage though, he felt something new, could it be “benevolent”?
The following night, the young boy emerged at the top of the hill and went towards the tree.
The little boy frowned, for the ground was already moist, and the branches clipped efficiently.
To the boy's surprise, a loaf of bread and a chunk of cheese were sitting at the base of the tree,
On top of some blankets, and surrounded by fresh picked apples that looked very ripe and juicy.
Unsure of his apparent good fortune, though, he hurriedly stuffed the items into his sack.
And he could have swore he saw the friendly blue drapes move when he furtively glanced back.
Inside the house, the crotchety Mister Pomfrey let the curtains fall back into place,
And for the first time in as long as he could remember, he felt an unfamiliar smile crack his face.

with wings down...

just a quickie REmix to keep me on my toes*

*wings!! 

Scared Chels is scared? No lie, this is the reaction I have if Stephen King's IT comes on the television screen.

I am using solarpower's orig picture. It's a great capture!  Amazingly chilling to the spine.... I love that in the original, a hint of green is shown giving this "erie" feeling. Typically, if I were to remix something like this.... a B&W version would complete a "chilling lonely" vibe. But in this particular picture, something changed my mind. The tomb stones gave away that this is an old grave yard that our grandmothers visited as a young women to give respects to family members. So why not capture this image as if taken from that time? So with a touch of film grain and adjusted coloring...there is the remix. Unfortunately, the "frozen" effect to the willowtree is somewhat lost, but it seemed to be a little worth it in this case because immediately gazing upon this picture imagined stories rush to my mind of untold stories.

Thank you Solarpower.

No No NO i'm afraid of heights!!!!

Dark times in day grows flowers in gray

I really enjoyed making this fun lil song! The ending is my favorite :P Enjoy!

"We all have a favourite blanket we like to snuggle up in."

Music by TheWayTimMoves 

Lyrics by DianeFT

Vocals by me :)

These are my recommendations for this week.

Happy sunday everyone!!!! :o)

1. "Patterns & Prayers" (Lizziemackie)

2. "Wonderful Chaos" (xobreexo23)

3. "Suicide Store (V.2)" (Danah)

4. "Theory of Unnatural Law" (IAMAHEARTBREAKBEAT)

5. "Disconnected" (Megsy)

6. "Balcony View" (MzLaDoza)

7. "The Grieving Otter (Twitter Tales)" (Day Glo)

8. "Proctor Ray BeatnStems" (theboxsets)

9. "REmix Latyrx" (cloudycloud)

10. "Time & Space" (ceelum)

Some mirrors and the like down in Newport, RI.

needed a bit of a break from Joe V Copyright-Bots. fun as that is, I wanted a little bit of whimsy in my day. :)

also it feels like ages since I ruined a pen in one picture.

Just some random feelings put together into this picture...

hooray, part 2!

in which there is DRAMA, ANTICIPATION, GLASSES, and RUNNING. and abuse of forced perspective

herr, those glasses just get goofier the more times I draw them. :'D

(joe, I'm sorry I made you look like hipster!Superman)

A long melancholish song.  It picks up a bit into it (but not much, lol).  Maybe good as a soundtrack song?  I don't really sing but open to even lyrics or spoken word over it?

BTW, sorry poorer quality recordings - only used drum track, pc mic, acoustic guitar, and a very jenky old keyboard (thrift store one).  :)

A puzzle-pieced mix of several beautifully-colored versions of Wirrow's illustration, literally stitched together. I only wish more of the colors and textures came through in the scan..

Just a very simple little video/slideshow of my poem for mirtle's series of drawings. It could be a lot more awesome with even some simple animation? <3

This one has been sitting on the shelf for a few.  I think it was hiding from me. 

95 BPM

I love this brilliant meta-mirtle match-up for the "all eyes open" series, and just had to remix it.

pretty simple really

I couldn't help myself...last one...I'm off to bed...lol;)

A song inspired by Lula's wonderful drawing and the message it contains.

I'mma also dedicate this one to Brittany, cos it's her birthday and she is wonderful ^__^ <3

If you don't go you don't see

if you don't see you don't share

if you don't share you don't love

if you don't love you don't go

Eyes cast down, crooked frown

Spent my life in maybe town

Thinking and hoping I forgot to live

Felt so empty I forgot to give

Brush off the clouds and start again

Gotta see the rainbow through the rain

Instead of wishing I'll wish on me

Open up my heart to possibility

So let's turn it around now

If you go you see

If you see you share

If you share you love

If you love you go

:D

there's gonna be another break over the next few days since I have to, you know, work and all. which means I can't spend all day watching Top Gear and making ridiculous things.

<3

Title from a line in: All Eyes Open by Metaphorest

As soon as I read Sarah's poem, I immediately had this sound in my head. I hope it does both her words and Mirtle's story justice.

I'd love to see it grow...

OK, I may need Metaphoresian help with this one - I got "personpaw" as a verb, meaning "give," from ntheon's "Sonnets from the Metaphoresian" (resourced below) and figured adding "re-" would make it "return" or "give back." "Leaftome" I made up because I couldn't find an existing Metaphoresian word for book - can you think of any better choices? If so, I've saved my psd file and can make a new version!

At any rate, it seemed using normal English was NOT the way to go.

for those who want a slightly more groomed visage at the fall formal.

I love the last old postcard that Bloemy share with us at Hitrecord and I also love the last mirtle's drawings, so I decide to do something with all this amazing records, I hope you like it guys!

Title by Moonbug:)

Me: Guitar

Matt DiGiovanna: Saxophone/Composition (http://www.mattdigiovanna.com)

Mike Lockwood: Drums (http://mikelockwood.tumblr.com)

the universal gears shifting into motion...

this kinda makes me want to cry... it's like looking into the deep eyes of the universe... i feel as if i cannot take credit for making this, for surely it was some higher power that did.

That's an old one (I made it in april) but I thought I share it here too. I hope you like it! :)

A friend needed something quirky for a short of his.  This is what came out.

Just a quick sketch for Day Glo's cool Twitter Tale.

I loved May McDonough's 'Riverside' upon watching fajigajiga's animated short 'The Anglerpod'. Inspired by the short and this sultry melody, I had it in my head that if there was ever going to be a music vid for this number, it was gonna be 'noir-y', even though I haven't the faintest what that actually means.

Hence this record -> lust, love, betrayal, and death. Lots of black (it's noir, non?)

I realise for someone pretty green to this (my first fully-edited vid...with plot), I might have been too ambitious with the editing and plot. If it's all a convoluted mess to you (like I suspect it is), please shoot me a comment and I'll add the plot details in the record. That said, I would be so happy if someone used this vid as a springboard to better the storytelling or incorporate other themes.

PS: Did I mention how much I love 'Riverside'? :)

EDIT: I'm going to include the details of the 'plot' under the cut here, but I encourage you to watch the vid without reading it first to form your own interpretation. Once you're done you can compare it to mine and decide on how it can be better remixed (to yours or mine). Now no interpretation is wrong, mine is just one of them :)

Also, do share with me your interpretations! I'd love to hear them!

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Plot: 

2 guys walk into a bar. They are attracted to the sultry woman over there (songstress-?). They pursue her. She lets them. She strings both of them along. They eventually find out. One goes on a drunken rampage and eventually dies in a car crash. The other goes into depression and drowns himself. Yup.

It sounds silly when put like that, but the reason why there is an undercurrent of sensuality and danger is because I wanted her to be the femme fatale. The maneater. A dangerous woman who eats men for breakfast. And when I started exploring the idea of predator and prey; the idea that she was consciously manipulating these men...I thought it would be pretty neat if it were a movie and she was watching it with a smirk on her face. Works too if she was actually singing the song the whole time. Hence the last shot, the snippets of rolling film and dusty light streaks throughout the vid, the close-ups of the lips, and instruments/band clips.

I'm aware it's a pretty ambitious plot. It was a challenge coz the resources are all very different. But if you enjoyed it all the same, I'm a happy duck :)

It should be no surprise that a kid who writes sad songs about loneliness, anger, fear, and disgust was picked on in high school.

It should also be no surprise that i just wrapped this fucker up in reverb. Gotta have me noize.

I would like to thank Rob for his wonderful additions (handclaps, vox, bass). Sarah sent me some stems...but they wouldn't download and I couldn't catch her before she took her vacation...so hopefully we can add those in later.

I hope you enjoy?

my dad told me there'd be kids like you

i always chose the popular girls

with some belief i could change their world

and here you came along to knock me down a few pegs

i was small; i was weak

my high school future looked so bleak

and you just had to push me in front of the class

i don't know why i kept going back

and enduring the embarrassments

i guess i'm just too dumb to understand

you were threatened by my intelligence

my dad told me i had to fight back kids like you

and you were twice my size

what was i to do?

Every Saturday I would sit, curled up in the family den watching cartoons. It was the only room with a television, and saturday mornings were my favorite. It was the only day I'd actually wake up early just so I could catch my favorite shows, wishing that I could be part of their worlds.

I always wanted to be a hero, never the princess. I never saw the point in wanting to be saved.

It was because those adventures were a lot closer to me than just epic fairytales. In my household, my mother was the damsel-in-distress that I swore I wanted to protect. My father was the villain. Unfortunately, being an eight year old standing up to a man in his 40s, I was powerless. I could only wrap myself up in dreams.

Those saturday mornings were very dear to me. The problem was, my father, would want the television to himself. I'd get there extra early and lock the door just to I could catch the precious glimpses of those happy endings, ones I couldn't muster with my own abilities.

I'd only get a few moments before my father would force his way in, knife in hand, to chase me out of the room. 

When I could find a phone I'd beg my mother to take me away from there, to not leave me alone with him. She'd rush home and it always escalated. He's never really hurt me, at least until I was older. But he'd hurt her.

And they'd fight about everything and anything. She'd yell at him for stealing money, for attacking me, he'd yell at her for not making him dinner. There were too many nights at the hospital, too many times where I was asked to lie.

Even as a young thing, it was hard for my to rationalize the situation. I'd always ask her why she would never let me me call the police, she wouldn't let me save her. Too many times I'd question,

"Why can't I call 911?" 

"They'd take your father away."She'd reply.

I thought that would've been a good thing. My mistake. I grew sick of it. Another day, another fight I'd try to block out and pretend wasn't happening.

One day, I gave up trying to deal. I packed my backpack with my favorite books, a toothbrush, a few bucks, my favorite stuffed kitten and a few pairs of clothes. Before heading out the door, I handcrafted a note for my mother and taped it to the fridge. Like any hero, I was going to go on an adventure, a quest away from where I was trapped, to mature and come back one day when I was stronger.

The note informed my parents that I was moving to NYC - where else would you go when you're trying to start a new life? I planned to find my aunt in the city, and told them that I was going to find a job suitable for an 8 year old, hopefully someone that would understand my situation, and that I would be fine and safe and return home when they got their acts together. 

Well one could imagine how much the note reassured my mother. Before I got very far, a very familiar car pulled up beside me. As far as I could walk, my mother's car went faster than my legs did and she caught me before I even got close to the train station. 

She picked me up by the arm, worried as hell and dragged me into her car.

My parents sat me down in the den. Furious, they screamed at me for being so irresponsible, for making them worry. I was at least happy that they were yelling at me for once and not at each other.

It didn't last long. My plan had failed. But I wasn't ready to give up. If I was truly stuck in that house for at least ten more years, I had to do something.

In the loudest voice my tiny body could muster I yelled,

"GO TO YOUR ROOMS!" 

My parents stared blankly at me. And for good reason. I could only gather that they must've been so stunned that they, well, actually listen. Like puppies with their tails between their legs my mother and father went to their respective bedrooms and shut the doors behind themselves.

I leaned back into the couch, admittedly satisfied with myself, confused but delighted. There was no need for the tv. I appreciated the silence.

"The stars. They like diamonds."

Something random from today. 

I combined the view from Joe’s camera with Dr. Gory’s shots from that Seattle show. I wanted to edit something longer but I'm short of time so I put it on the site for you to play with. Although I think it’s quite working on its own.

Two ladies who've made some wonderful collabrative as well as individual records

Well, SandyNgu did some great new additions to the chibirecorder's family, so I decide to create two new records, this is the first one, and it's about the hitrecorders walking around the world!!! I hope you all like this! huugs guys!

This is a quick, rough, off-the-cuff cover of Sarah's brilliant tune (brilliant, I say!!!) titled, funnily enough, "Ant on a Rock".

I can imagine there being, if there is not already, a RECovers project here at HitRECord. But that's just me.

This is one of my more epic songs. Also one of the first songs I created on garageband. A tribute to the rainy weather. I'm so happy I have a macbook pro now.

this beautiful dutch 'tent' is one of the most beautiful venues I've been in, not least because of this gorgeous roof! apparently the speigeltent is one of two of it's kind in the whole world.

RECorded by SParra at the same party where i RECorded the fire footage

(literally handmade;))

Clapping hands, snapping fingers, a few regular hits on the chest and the thighs - here goes my tiny contribution to The Um Song :)

this is where we live. best let them sleep.

He has talent, he has fame, he has money, he has brains...but even RegularJOE can't do it alone!

Ever since I saw MzLaDoza's "Balcony View" photo taken at SF hR ATM, I loved the way the flashes looked like stars. At hitRECord, the stars are in the audience as much as on the stage!

Please feel free to play with this more, or to re-do it with different REsources. My point was just to get some hitRECorders in there, along with some teafaerie magic and a little help from on high.

If you're not in here and you want to be, you know what to do: REmix! Please let me know if you see something I missed in my REsources. (Lots of the hitRECorders in here are in "Frame 8" so might not be resourced here individually.)

I might re-do this if I can ever open Lawrie Brewster's zip file!

I know this is too late, and there were so many amazing BlackBook RECs that I didn't know what to do. This one is just for fun, and I got the idea mostly from mirtle's "the beard folk" and I seriously want to put the beard on everything ;)

A bunch of pics to show more WIP with Turnip Head - we're just about there now, just maybe a few days to the first version of the movie! Then i look forward to getting some remixes of elements and additional bits put in!

Oh and if you don't know much about the wee film - check out the resources, there is a storyboard vid that will give you an idea of how turnip head life goes (based on the awesome metaphorst story)

Hope you like - and MUAH!

I had such a happy birthday, and had the overwhelming urge to write a little ditty to try and express how happy you guys make me all. So it's kind a little lullaby. For you. ^__^ <3

Time has come to say goodnight

All my secrets wash away

Gazing back on the way I've come

Guided by your love and light

Sweeping footprints in the sky

Show me that I'm not alone

Hands on shoulders hands on hearts

Hands like wings helping me fly

Make me paper boats and planes

Colour my daytimes with the rain

Keep me safe and keep me close

For you are the one I love the most

Hours passing like a stream

And still I find myself to be

Strong and running, like a sail

Riding the waves towards my dream

Don't forget me, don't lose sight

Remember now for you and I

Each minute counts, each second's gold

And both our lives will soon take flight

Make me paper boats and planes

Colour my daytimes with the rain

Keep me safe and keep me close

For you are the one I love the most

Thank you darling, thank you dear,

Thank you for always keeping me near

Thank you for me and thank you for you

Thank you for loving me, loving me true.

Make me paper boats and planes

Colour my daytimes with the rain

Keep me safe and keep me close

For you are the one I love the most

decided to create my very own cosmos in photoshop :D please download & view in high quality (1280 x 800) for full cosmic experience. <3 the stars are kinda hard to see in this preview.

Am I that crazy? Or can you see the heartshape too?

sometimes she’d drop a stitch or two

in a hurry to get her winter blanket ready.

Wow. I really felt like I was at the movies with this one. Shout out to Wirrow and Metaphorest for such an awesome story, and to Joe for such a cinematic reading. This underscore is done after the Prokofiev Peter and Wolf tradition with solo clarinet representing Hevn, and the solo cello representing Urth... synth for story spirits, and the orchestra for everything else. Do enjoy this. ...and ANIMATE, ANIMATE!... either animate or do it like Spike Jonze's "Where the Wild Things Are".

...also shout out Kittypimms for the Stained Glass video, whcih not only introduced me to Joe's reading and the Hevn story, but gave me a great mountain visual... 

.... can you imagine dreams ACTUALLY paiting in the most abstract-colorful way?

All those complete shapeless thoughts and feelings evolving into colors and shapes.. and changing the person that you are in real life... and even afecting the real world... and interacting/affecting other people's dreams.

I painted this trying to portray my feelings and thoughts.

Makes any sense? 

A pencil sketch of the main man himself - Morgan from the MMM2 short film and possibly the final "main" part of "something bigger" I have in mind of doing

Even though Morgan is the main character of the story, I decided to draw him last because I couldn't decide what expression to draw him in.  As I recall Joe mentioned that we couldn't use any commercial photos of him in our work, that severely limits the amount of reference images I could use.  Even though I went through pile of images and videos of Joe on this site I still couldn't find the expression I want. Then came the wonderful photos from the Blackbook collaboration in which I found (what I thought would be) the perfect one to "Morgan-fied"!

Sorry boss, I didn't exactly draw you in your most dashing look... *digs a hole and hides*

Inspired by yes-you-am's cool logo animation I decided to try my hand at stop motion and hand stitched the hitrecord logo.