3 ounces of Joy - Original song with tour of Maui

[breezybellows]

Let my me and my accordion take you on a magical tour of Maui.

I wrote this song three years ago and like most other songs I write, I didn't finish it. We visited Hawaii last winter and I took some shots of the scenery there. I planned to use that footage for one of my original songs. Yesterday I took this as an excuse to finish the song.

I named this song 3 ounces of Joy. Usually my original tunes are all sad and dark. I wanted to write something cheerful. Although I wanted this to be a very bright and happy tune, it did have shades of darkness in it. My original intention of writing a happy song was like three ounces of Joy that brightened up the song. Just like this song, our lives are filled with all sorts of emotions. I hope we can all find three ounces of joy to fight all the darkness around us.

Original Composition recorded, produced and performed by Breezy Bellows.
Equipment used: Bugari Evo Digital accordion.
Thanks to Michael Bridge for the user programs that I used in this song.
Video Footage shot at following locations in Maui, Hawaii

Honolua Bay
Bamboo Forest
Twin Falls
Shots of the island from a whale watching cruise in the Pacific Ocean.

 

[Walker]

Wonderful work! Thank you for sharing it. You are a very gifted musician & composer.

 

[debra]

Interesting timing to come up with this song just now when Maui is suffering from devastating forest fires.
Let's hope they conquer the fires soon!

 

[breezybellows]

Interesting timing to come up with this song just now when Maui is suffering from devastating forest fires.
Let's hope they conquer the fires soon!

I just read that a few minutes ago after I published the video. Hope they recover soon.

 

[losthobos]

Superb....almost mistook you for Yann Tiersen for a while ..

 

[Tom]

Cool, nice one Breezy! I like the echo effect going on.

 

[JerryPH]

Very nice composition, That's a gift you should endeavor to feed, not many can do that!

 

[breezybellows]

Cool, nice one Breezy! I like the echo effect going on.

I purchased user programs from Michael Bridge. I like it a lot. I use it a lot these days.

 

[breezybellows]

Superb....almost mistook you for Yann Tiersen for a while ..

That's a great compliment!

 

[breezybellows]

Very nice composition, That's a gift you should endeavor to feed, not many can do that!

Thank you Jerry. I love making songs. I wish I could write lyrics as well. I've only had lyrics once before. I find that much more tedious than making instrumentals.
This is my playlist of original compositions:

 

[JerryPH]

A few comments to help, if I may:

Point #1: Never forget the "raison d'etre" for the video. If you are displaying a family trip/vacation, remove the performing accordion. If you are playing a song to share with fellow accordionists, place the focus on YOU and the music... you are the star of the show, not your backgrounds, though they are pretty.

- Introduce the name of the song/artist/etc, and get that title off and keep it off until you are completed playing. No need to keep it there throughout the video nor are the location names necessary, they are completely unimportant to you performing your song. As an industry agreed rule, titles never exceed much over 10 seconds in general except for the possibility of the ending credits.

- The greenscreen needs a lot of cleaning up, your frame/accordion needs to be clearly chiseled and separate from the background and visible in there, not ghosting out.

- Watch your motion. You often move as much as 50% left or right out of the frame, leaving half your face/accordion in awkward manners, that can be distracting/disconcerting for the people watching. Waterfalls are nice... seeing you play your song song is nicer.

- Speaking of water falls... never let the background tracks compete with your song unless it is meant to be an integral of your song.

- Top of your head is often cut off (one of my pet peeves when done incorrectly... lol)

- White keyboard is over exposed, not sure if that's a result of the post processing or lighting

- Take the time to closely sync your hands to the music. At the 1:56 mark you are off enough that the sound comes 1-2 seconds before you press the buttons to make the sounds. This takes away a lot from the realism of the performance (another one of my pet peeves... lol)

- If you are adding secondary multitracks, don't lower your accordion volume that is playing the melody to make it easier to hear the secondary instrument as a shared solo... bring up the volume of the 2nd instrument to an equal level.

- Watch the amount you zoom in... never sacrifice picture quality for a "closeup". If your background is clearer and your hands/body/accordion are blurring and/or pixelating, that's the sign you are pushing things too far.

Don't get discouraged. I've been doing multitracking since the 80s on tapes and reel-to-reels and now a digital mixing console. I've also spent a lot of time working to get my green screen technique down (I think my first one was about 5 years ago? ), and I've just recently gotten to a place where I am finally starting to get satisfied with that aspect and I am still constantly learning. I wish my accordion playing was at the same level... lol

 

[breezybellows]

A few comments to help, if I may:

Point #1: Never forget the "raison d'etre" for the video. If you are displaying a family trip/vacation, remove the performing accordion. If you are playing a song to share with fellow accordionists, place the focus on YOU and the music... you are the star of the show, not your backgrounds, though they are pretty.

- Introduce the name of the song/artist/etc, and get that title off and keep it off until you are completed playing. No need to keep it there throughout the video nor are the location names necessary, they are completely unimportant to you performing your song. As an industry agreed rule, titles never exceed much over 10 seconds in general except for the possibility of the ending credits.

- The greenscreen needs a lot of cleaning up, your frame/accordion needs to be clearly chiseled and separate from the background and visible in there, not ghosting out.

- Watch your motion. You often move as much as 50% left or right out of the frame, leaving half your face/accordion in awkward manners, that can be distracting/disconcerting for the people watching. Waterfalls are nice... seeing you play your song song is nicer.

- Speaking of water falls... never let the background tracks compete with your song unless it is meant to be an integral of your song.

- Top of your head is often cut off (one of my pet peeves when done incorrectly... lol)

- White keyboard is over exposed, not sure if that's a result of the post processing or lighting

- Take the time to closely sync your hands to the music. At the 1:56 mark you are off enough that the sound comes 1-2 seconds before you press the buttons to make the sounds. This takes away a lot from the realism of the performance (another one of my pet peeves... lol)

- If you are adding secondary multitracks, don't lower your accordion volume that is playing the melody to make it easier to hear the secondary instrument as a shared solo... bring up the volume of the 2nd instrument to an equal level.

- Watch the amount you zoom in... never sacrifice picture quality for a "closeup". If your background is clearer and your hands/body/accordion are blurring and/or pixelating, that's the sign you are pushing things too far.

Don't get discouraged. I've been doing multitracking since the 80s on tapes and reel-to-reels and now a digital mixing console. I've also spent a lot of time working to get my green screen technique down (I think my first one was about 5 years ago? ), and I've just recently gotten to a place where I am finally starting to get satisfied with that aspect and I am still constantly learning. I wish my accordion playing was at the same level... lol

Those are excellent points! Hopefully I'll learn to incorporate the improvements. My biggest challenge right now is time. I'm really bad at doing things in multiple sessions. If I don't finish everything (recording, coming, editing) in one sitting, I might not come back to it anytime soon. I made the first recording of this song the years ago and it was just sitting there unfinished.

Green screen is hard. I prefer making videos in outdoor locations. But that's even more work. I wish I had a little more time.

 

[JerryPH]

My biggest challenge right now is time.
Green screen is hard. I prefer making videos in outdoor locations. But that's even more work.

Green screen isn't hard... PROPER green screen is a complete bear and a real challenge that requires more than usual hardware and advanced editing knowledge... and time... lots of time. I easily have 500+ test videos of 30-60 seconds clips on my network server!

I wish I had a little more time.

Welcome to my life. I work 10.5 hours a day minimum and on the days off, it's all about catching up with the chores inside and outside the home as well as taking care of my family. I've dropped all hobbies (*that* needs to change very soon!), and still don't have more than maybe 30 minutes of free time per day, and when that 30 minutes comes around, I am just too tired to pick up the accordion. I don't play anywhere near as much as I'd need and want to. I think the last time I played I made the last video (about a month ago?) Well... technically 2 years to my retirement, maybe then.