Take on Me

[mandoguitar]

A cult song of the 80's, brought to success by the Norwegian band a-ha, in my arrangement for classical guitar. http://www.chitarrarte.it


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_62h1Onq2s

[EdHanrahan]

I never thought of that song as sounding Bach-like, but... It must be the big grin warping my thinking!

FWIW (and I'm a fair bit beyond the "MTV generation"), the original music video of that song was, IMHO, one of the best ever done. Basically film converted to (or drawn originally as?) pencil line drawings, highly animated. Makes me smile almost as much as your guitar playing!

[OldSausage]

You must have been hunting high and low for all those notes. But still you're living a boy's adventure tale with your guitar arrangements.

[pheffernan]

Are you suggesting that the sun only shines on t.v.?

[OldSausage]

There's no end to the lengths I'll go to.

[Timbofood]

After the last five days of rain, I am scared that the big bright thing in the sky is an evil thing!

A-Ha, pretty much their only hit wasn't it? I did enjoy the video, I sold art materials back then it sold quite a few people sketch pads and boxes of pencils after that came out.

[jaycat]

I don't see how you can play that well without the little dot markers to tell you where to put your fingers.

[G7MOF]

Unusual choice, but what a great arrangement!!!

[Bertram Henze]

I never thought of that song as sounding Bach-like

It's a natural connection - Mr Paravonian (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxkVQy7QLM) has to say a lot about that...

[Atlanta Mando Mike]

Wonderful arrangement and great playing. Not sure why it is posted on a mandolin site, or under general discussions as opposed to post videos of yourself though. Or at the very least why the title doesn't have a no mandolin content disclaimer.

[Lord of the Badgers]

No, Timbofood, not their only hit.... in the UK especially..

[EdHanrahan]

... Not sure why it is posted on a mandolin site, ...
Because it takes the discerning sophistication that mandolinists, as a group, bring to the table to appreciate the effort and artistry involved. If Guiseppe were on a guitar site, half the responses would be something like, "Yo! Ya need t' score a flanger an' run it thru a Marshall stack!"

Or, at least, I prefer to think so!

[Timbofood]

Sorry Badger, I just can't think of any others. Not my particular cup of tea but, I had roommates back then.

[GDAE]

That was killer...thanks for sharing it.

[Jstring]

Wow, Giuseppe.... I like all of your arrangements, but this is my favorite!
Reminds me of Evan Marshall's duo-style playing....

[Ken Waltham]

We always did that song in the classic rock band I was in. We had a wonderful female keyboard/vocalist, and she could nail it! Great tune, great fun to play. Your classical version is extraordinary.

[barry]

Thank you. I really enjoyed that. My wife watched it too. She said that was her favorite song in 8th grade.

[journeybear]

Not sure why it is posted on a mandolin site, or under general discussions as opposed to post videos of yourself though. Or at the very least why the title doesn't have a no mandolin content disclaimer.

These and related questions have come up before. He did start out posting here with some mandolin videos, but soon switched to his main instrument, apparently guitar - judging by the vast majority of his videos being of guitar, and only about 10% of mandolin, and also the name of his website. Bear in mind he is trying to attract traffic there, and hopefully sell some sheet music. In response to some complaints, several months ago he did post a few mandolin clips, but has since returned to form. He gets enough positive feedback here that he is encouraged to continue. And it's hard to take issue with with someone apparently sharing so much music for free without opening oneself for criticism. So it goes. I hope that's a satisfactory explanation of a moderately baffling situation. :confused:

[mandoguitar]

These and related questions have come up before. He did start out posting here with some mandolin videos, but soon switched to his main instrument, apparently guitar - judging by the vast majority of his videos being of guitar, and only about 10% of mandolin, and also the name of his website. Bear in mind he is trying to attract traffic there, and hopefully sell some sheet music. In response to some complaints, several months ago he did post a few mandolin clips, but has since returned to form. He gets enough positive feedback here that he is encouraged to continue. And it's hard to take issue with with someone apparently sharing so much music for free without opening oneself for criticism. So it goes. I hope that's a satisfactory explanation of a moderately baffling situation. :confused:

First of all I apologize for my bad English ...
I can not hope to sell music through this site by posting videos of guitar ... this is possible, if anything, when I post videos of mandolin.
So my purpose, in this forum, is not to sell music but simply the pleasure to get feedback! Which it is the main aim of every artist! I have written on other occasions that if my videos of classical guitar are not welcome in this forum I will stop publishing them ... however many appreciate my videos ... I personally believe that music has no borders and that, in any If, between the guitar and the mandolin there are many similarities ... but that's just my opinion. Thanks to all who appreciate my works, anyway.
Giuseppe Torrisi

[Andrew DeMarco]

Well, then, mandoguitar, that was awesome. Keep posting more:)

[vic-victor]

Quite a masterpiece of arrangement. Very difficult to play piece. Well done!

[Clinton Johnson]

Guitar? I thought that was a mandolin with a larger scale that he was holding:grin: sounding great man

[Dan Krhla]

Sounds great, keep posting! I personally enjoy seeing these! Maybe add "NO Mando Content" to your titles to keep the the complaints down?

[journeybear]

I have written on other occasions that if my videos of classical guitar are not welcome in this forum I will stop publishing them ... however many appreciate my videos ...

And so here we are. I just wish there were more videos of mandolin, since this is a mandolin site. Of course, other instruments are welcome here as well. Obviously. We are inclusive, not exclusive. Even banjos are welcome, with a bit of kidding. ;) It's just the overwhelming majority of these videos are of guitar, not mandolin, so it seems a bit odd. Now and then someone asks what's going on, and I'm trying to explain. This is just my opinion, and I appear to be in the minority, so take it as you wish.

[EdHanrahan]

Because it takes the discerning sophistication that mandolinists, as a group, bring to the table ...
So I intended that comment as obviously tongue-in-cheek, but the prior bunch of comments so strongly support it that I gotta say: You guys are great! And THANKS again to Scott and the moderators for keeping this herd of cats more-or-less in line!

[Tavy]

That brings back memories - great arrangement and playing!

[Bob Clark]

He may not be playing mandolin, but I really enjoy Giuseppe's posts. I sense that he is a kindred spirit with a bunch of us here and I would sure miss him if he were to stop posting. I appreciate his willingness to share his music with us. It often brightens my day.

[PH-Mando]

Giuseppe:

I play guitar and I am learning to play mandolin, so I enjoy your posts. Let's just call your guitar a large six string mandolin. Hope you post more soon.

[FLATROCK HILL]

First of all I apologize for my bad English ...

Giuseppe Torrisi

Personally, I don't really care which section you choose to post your videos. I figure it's up to the site owner and the moderators to worry about that and to assess your motives.

What I do know is that your guitar playing is better than my mandolin playing. And what you call your "bad English" is superior to my 'worser Italian'.

[Bertram Henze]

'worser Italian'.

I think that's "Italiano peggiore" :confused:

[Polecat]

He may not be playing mandolin, but I really enjoy Giuseppe's posts. I sense that he is a kindred spirit with a bunch of us here and I would sure miss him if he were to stop posting. I appreciate his willingness to share his music with us. It often brightens my day.

I echo these sentiments - I rarely post anything in Giuseppe's threads, because just writing "great arrangement, nice playing", which is usually my response to his videos, is not my style if I've nothing further to add.

As regards your English, Giuseppe, I find you clear and concise, which is more than can be said for the lyrics of "Take on me", they are approaching gibberish!

[mandoguitar]

Dear Friends,
I thank all those who have expressed appreciation for my videos and inviting to continue ... but I also thank all those who think that my videos, although beautiful, are not appropriate for this forum (and perhaps not have all wrongs). I thank them for their patience and tolerance. I also thank publicly Scott and all moderators of this forum. Greetings from Sicily! :)
Giuseppe

[boblang]

Basically film converted to (or drawn originally as?) pencil line drawings, highly animated.

It was done by Rotoscoping. The action is filmed and then projected onto a translucent screen. The artist directly draws directly over the projected image to reproduce the scene as a drawing. The whole process is repeated frame by frame. Sounds laborious but it's a lot quicker than producing a "traditional" animated cartoon. BTW, the girl was Bunty Bailey, who was a dancer in the dance group Hot Gossip.

Not a mandolin topic so apologies for the trivia!

[Bill Clements]

Dear Friends,
I thank all those who have expressed appreciation for my videos and inviting to continue ... but I also thank all those who think that my videos, although beautiful, are not appropriate for this forum (and perhaps not have all wrongs). I thank them for their patience and tolerance. I also thank publicly Scott and all moderators of this forum. Greetings from Sicily! :)
Giuseppe
You keep right on posting your music, Giuseppe.
I don't always acknowledge each one in writing, but I never miss a note. :)