Cerulean Jade Update 10-23-2012

(An old picture of Steven working on Dream Maze)

I hope everyone has had a chance to hear Steven and my cover song "Someone Like You" on Youtube; we're so close to getting 200 views.  I can't remember how fast it took "Payphone" to hit that mark, but Payphone is inching closer to 1,000.  That's exciting!

We've decided that our next major song is going to be original, complete with a snazzy music video.  We're hoping to have two original songs out by the end of the year.  The first, an Electric Pop style song, is a definite.  The second is a more jazz/pop like song I wrote a little while back that just happens to be my Grandma's favorite song I've written.  The second is going to be interesting, because even though there's a jazz influence, we're going to have the base of the arrangement be the guitalele/ukalele.  Thing is, these are new instruments to the both of us!  So I'm working through the chords now.

And to help me get comfortable with the guitalele I'm doing a Jason Mraz cover song to "Living in the Moment."  I picked that song for two reasons: one, it helps me learn the instrument, and two, the lyrics are helping me stay focused!  It's a great song.

Also, Steven, Robbie (my brother who just got home from his mission), and I are going to start a movie review web series!  We're all obsessed with going to, and then analyzing, movies.  My brother Robbie is getting his degree in Digital Media: T.V. and Film from UVU.  Steven got his degree in Digital Media: Gaming and Animation.  So movies are something we're all passionate about.  It's going to be a lot of fun.  

Sarah

Behind the Scenes on "Someone Like You"

Yesterday my brother Steven and I posted a cover of Adele's "Someone Like You" on Youtube. And, in the same fashion as "Payphone," a Maroon 5 cover we did a couple months ago, we put an electronic twist to the arrangement, in good ol' Cerulean Jade style.

Several months ago we considered doing a cover of this song, but changed our minds. In all honesty the song is super depressive. It's a song about a girl who can't move on and is lamenting over a failed romance. Of course, as a girl I understand the sentiment; us women are expert at over analyzing relationships, much to our detriment. And so, when Steven and I were originally working on "Someone Like You" we switched to a more upbeat song. Of course the romantic lamenting is ever present in "Payphone" as well, only it's a little more happy about it.

One day I was talking to my Mom, and she recommended doing a cover of "Someone Like You." After some thought I realized a second go was in order.

From our "Payphone" experience, Steven decided to start working on an electronic track for the arrangement instead of focusing on the piano. The tone automatically changed. Then, as I was working on the characterization, I realized that by singing it differently the song took on a new meaning.

Instead of this song being "I still love you! Notice me!!" it becomes "Yeah, you gave me up. Who says this fling of yours will last." I wanted:

"I hate to turn up out of the blue, uninvited
But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it
I had hoped you'd see my face and that you'd be reminded
That for me, it isn't over."

To not mean the girl is desperate, but instead shows up to taunt. "For me, it isn't over" means "life, for me, will continue to go on. This isn't the end."

"Don't forget me, I begged, I remember you said
Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead"


Turns into "Don't forget me, remember what you lost. You'll end up hurting, not me."

I hope you all have given the new cover a listen, and that you enjoyed it. Stay tuned for more music!

Sarah



Poem: Don't Quit

(At Zion this past year)

I came across a poem that perfectly reflects my experience with the cover song "Payphone."  I've had it a long time, but haven't read it in years.  I wish I knew who wrote it, but I'm glad we have these wonderful words.

"Don't Quit"

"When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit, 

Rest, if you must, but don't you quit.

"Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow--
You may succeed with another blow.

"Success is failure turned inside out--
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit--
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit."

~ Author Unknown

There's a fourth verse to this poem, but I've gotten so use to it this way, that the extra verse feels weird to me.  I love these words, and I wish to thank whoever wrote them, as they've been such a great help.

Have a great Sunday

Sarah

Payphone: Behind the Scenes of Cerulean Jade's latest Cover Song

Payphones in Santa Barbara

On June 19, a month ago, I promised the "Payphone" cover Steven and I was working on would be released that week, but it wasn't until this week we finally got it up. 

When I first found out about the song, I was browsing the Billboard Music website, checking out new songs for cover ideas.  The clean, rap version of Maroon 5's "Payphone" was doing very well, and I instantly fell in love with it and convinced Steven we needed to do this song.  Everything was going well with the Steven's arrangement and recording went smoothly, so on June 22 I went to bed while Steven was mastering the song.  

That morning he uploaded the song privately on Youtube, I gave it a listen, and knew there was no way we could make that version public.  The problem?  The vocals were so loud that the arrangement was dwarfed.  It was impossible to hear what made the music unique.  Unfortunately I didn't know anything about mastering to help, and Steven was stressed, having stayed up all night, and having obligations to his friends wedding (he was a groomsman) that's where his mind was, and needed to be.  But that night Steven was so warn out and stressed that he got really sick.  It was a very low point for both of us, and we needed to distance ourselves from the song and figure things out.  A break was needed.  

My Grandpa had suffered a heart-attack, he's doing better now, but my Mom was in California helping him, and since she didn't have a car to get back to Utah, Steven and I drove down to help her out.  We spent that week providing a service to both my Mom and Grandfather.  

When we got back we were ready to tackle the project again, but we still were having a hard time, and I was at a loss to how I could help.  Then earlier this week Steven was ready to throw in the towel and pay one of his friends to master the song.  In my gut I knew we couldn't do that, and Mom and I went down again to listen to the latest stage of the master.  Between the three of us we took the song bit by bit, and offered comments "Can you turn the voice down?"  "That instrument, yeah that one, it's too loud" "You're going to turn that instrument up?  Oh wait, that's a little muddy" "Make the voice flat" "Up the piano, it might balance the sound" etc.  By the end, and after trying the song on many players, we were finally happy with the finished product, and knew it was something we could all be proud of.

Originally the video was going to be just Steven and I singing, the studio shot with us behind the mike, and that was it.  Nothing more.  But if you've seen the video you know that's not what we ended up with.  A couple mornings ago I realized how cool it would be to show the music in action with screen shots, so Steven set out to figure out the best way to achieve that.  And then he decided it would be fun to do behind the scenes video as well.  This worried me, because of time, but we decided that taking a couple more days was worth it.  We dug up some video we taped while working on the song, and then shot new video with us outside and next to the piano.  Overall I loved the affect, and the added material makes for a video that's more fun to watch.    

This was such a learning curve!  But I'm glad for it.  The video is better then it would have been a month ago.  And I learned a lot too.  I may not know how to master, but I can learn, and it's a skill I can, and should, develop.  Technology scares me.  I'm afraid of messing up, not learning the software properly, etc, but this fear is only holding me back.  There's a lot more I could be doing.  

Steven and I learned the most important lesson.  Never give up!  Never quit.  If you keep at it, you can solve the problems that are plaguing you.  

And we learned more about ourselves as artist and what we're capable of.  That knowledge is invaluable.   

If you haven't seen the video you can watch it by clicking on these words. 

Have a great day,

Sarah

The Cover Paypohone is Online!!

Finally, after a month of waiting, I'm ready to announce that Cerulean Jade's Cover of "Payphone" is now on Youtube.  I'm so happy!  And I'm so proud of the work my brother Steven and I have done.  This has been quite a learning process, one we gained much from.  And I hope our music will continue to get better.

It's interesting and fun doing covers, but the experience we gain will only add to the original songs we're working on.  

Hope you had fun watching the video:0)
Sarah