Kevin Rudolf: Let it Rock - VIOLIN + VIOLA COVER (split scr) video free download

Kevin Rudolf (feat Lil Wayne): Let it Rock - VIOLIN + VIOLA COVER

The 6th in my continuing series of classicalized popular music. It was done by request, this time the first request was courtesy of "akkatty". As with all my covers, my tendency is to play the first verse straight, an exact imitation of the original song, so you don't see the good stuff till half way through or so.

The performance was experimental for me, in that I never tried to play with myself before. To do this video, I listened to the original song (seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh3gGQfyVyw ) and by ear wrote out a sheet music score, then arranged it as a violin viola duet, and then performed it. I recorded each part separately, first the viola, then the violin. I was able to sync up and mix the 2 parts on my computer with a sound wave editor. To do the split screen, I used AviSynth (scripting based video editing and effects utility) in combination with VirtualDubMod (a free video editing utility) to sync up and render the two videos into a single split screen video. The sound then had to be synced to the 2 videos playing simultaneously.

Other technical notes: My camera is an old piece of junk which doesn't even record sound without static and many glitchy effects, so the sound was recorded separately on my computer using a cheap $5 microphone, same one I use for VIOP chat when playing online mutltiplayer 1st person shooter games, sadly it is better than my camera.

Other musical performance notes: tuning was a difficulty not fully resolved. That was not just in the playing of the parts with all the doublstops and octaves, especially for the viola, but also in trying to get the two separately recorded parts to match in pitch.

For those that do not know what a viola is, its basically like the violin but bigger and lower sounding. It plays 5 notes or about half an octave lower than a violin, on the notes it shares with violin the viola sounds deeper, and it reads a different clef (alto) for its sheet music. Description of a viola for violinists: "A big honkin violin, missing the E string at the top of the range and gaining a C string at the bottom of the range and reads a funny looking clef". Also, in a survival situation, the viola would be preferred, as it burns longer. The viola in this video (left side frame) is just a Knilling student model, 17 inch.

Lastly: For those who have seen my other violin covers, I would like some feedback. My prior videos all included a recording of the original song playing in the background. This new one is all me. Should I continue in this style, where I play the piece completely myself without the original recording playing in the background? Should I stick to violin only covers? Or should I mix it up (probably what Ill do) and do whatever?