A music video featuring Bernadette Joolen on cello, accordion and vocals, playing the song by the Beach Boys!
Maybe it is because I grew up in a large noisy family that I have always been able to find solace, comfort and inspiration in solitude, and in the tiniest of spaces...my room. These spaces always had a special resonance for me. So, to honor the space where I do all my work now—where I write my stories, books, poems, blogs, and make my little films that I call my Yellow Room Productions (because the room is yellow, see?!)—I took four photos and posted them to my MySpace page, in an album I called, In My Room.
Well, I hadn't really meant to make this video, but I found those photos kind of delicious myself, so sometimes I would visit my own page for a look... And every time I opened the album, a song would come to my head. (Well, of course you can guess which one.) And you probably also know that when an idea persistently nags at you and will not go away, well, then you have to do something... So I poked around YouTube to find the song, and found that someone in Chile had posted a beautiful old a capella version from the Red Skelton show. I sat at the piano and ran through the song a few times till I found my vocal range... I poked around till the chords sounded right... And then I thought, Good then, I am done! (I was sure that would be enough to satisfy me.) But, oh no, it's never enough! (And it's not really like I have the time.) But once a silly ball starts rolling...
You are are so nice to come by and see this, my only 7th or 8th video. But, oh, mama mama mama mia! I have to admit, this project was too hard for me. I had a very complex scheme in mind, of weaving and layering accordion and cello verses and choruses. So I carefully recorded it all in bits and pieces—the cello bits straight into the camera, and the accordion and vocals with an amp and mic... Which was, of course, my first mistake. (Because the sound quality was completely different!) And so my grand layering scheme went straight out the window, and suddenly, I had to figure out a new way to weave the bits that I hadn't planned for, which meant I didn't always have what I needed, or the necessary bridges to connect the pieces. Not that they matched up anyway, because I made 2 other silly mistakes...
One was, I needed to tune my cello to my accordion, right? (Because you cannot tune an accordion!) So I recorded my accordion "A" onto my cellphone and tuned my cello to that, even though my son said, Mama! That won't necessarily work, because the cellphone might not get it right! Which, of course, (little brat), it didn't. But necessity is the mother of invention, and I was therefore led to discover the Pitchshifter and semitones, which was a lovely thing. (I have learned most all of this by mistakes!)
My other silly error was that, in recording all my bits and pieces, I thought, well, I know there is some professional way to make sure they all match (besides the tuning). But who knew how?? I didn't, and my sound crew, (me, and me and, well, me) didn't know either. So I thought, no problem. I'll bet on songs I like, I have an internal meter, and I'll bet I always play them at the same tempo. (Well, since I never make any money with this stuff, maybe you can bet too, and I can have some fun!) Did I always play them at the same tempo??
(Oh, shutup!! Who asked you??!!)
Okay, so there were a few problems... (The main one still being, I need to learn to separate my vocals from my accordion for a better quality of sound.) But other than that, I think you still might like my selftaught homegrown folkart effort anyway. I have the most willing and available actress and study subject at my disposal. She never goes on strike or demands more wages, or, in fact, any wages at all. She seems quite literate and is past the age of having pimples and things. And she even does dishes and laundry and cooks for me. (Which is what I am making her go do now, since these were all neglected for this little film.)
I hope you enjoy. The song, In My Room, sung most famously by the Beach Boys, is a sweet sweet song, and Brian Wilson was lovely to write it. It describes, so well especially, the solace I was always able to find in my room in younger years. So I'm glad it simply wouldn't leave my head. And I finally found an excuse to play my cello for you! (Which I haven't done, really, in decades! Which is especially surprising since I am only 25 years old.) Thanks again for coming by!--bernadette...
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The Beach Boys - In my Roomby SidJustice17,015 views
That was quite a Hodge-Podge but it all worked. Loved the cello and especially the spoken word.
buskerbuoy 2 years ago
thanks, buskerbuoy.=) i learned some better tricks in later videos!! ciao, bernadette...
BernadetteJoolen 2 years ago
Inspirational Bernadette. You are most talented and the sincerity flows through your music. The great Irish poet W.B. Yeats wrote a poem called "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" (just a few miles from my home!) where he wished to live far from the strain and strife of the world: "For I shall have some peace there". we all have our haven - our "room", our "isle".
Thank you for sharing with us.
Greetings from Ireland,
Terry
terrygrif 2 years ago
I will have to look up that beautiful poem. Thank you so much, Terry, for your kind words. A spring greeting from Seattle!~~bernadette...
BernadetteJoolen 2 years ago
Your soul is limpid!
calenda62 2 years ago
Giuliana, it's you! Now I know three Giuliana's.=) Thank you for your sweet poetic compliment!~~bernadette...
BernadetteJoolen 2 years ago