What I've Breathed (Sia/Linkin Park/Jordin Sparks/Leona Lewis)
(Video contains mature content)
Download MP3: http://tinyurl.com/ycp9k8x
Notes: I should probably mention that Sia's Breathe Me is one of my all-time favorite vocal performances from any artist and, as a big Six Feet Under fan, the song has a lot of additional special meaning for me. As a result, using it in an audio mashup feels a bit like drawing a moustache on the Mona Lisa. This, coupled with the fact that the song has already been remixed twice right on the original album with iffy results, made me feel like the only way it would be worth attempting would be if I could find some totally unique approach that would also not utterly destroy the tone of what, for many Sia fans, is something almost sacred.
When I discovered that a number of high profile a capella groups had covered the song over the years, I started to wonder what a mashup using only a capella tracks might sound like. The notion of the songs working together to promote a message about the state of the world wasn't really intentional at the beginning. I just tend to pick songs that sound like they might click and then try to find interesting opportunities for the lyrics to talk to each other. After seeing the Linkin Park video, however, and realizing the direction it was going, I actually did go back to the audio and correct one or two vocal choices that were creating some inconsistency.
So most of the heavy lifting here is being done by the University of Pennsylvania's Off the Beat, one of the sickest (and most prolific) a capella groups on the planet. I've been lucky enough to hear Sia perform Breathe Me live twice, once from about 10 feet away, and I was absolutely blown away by how deadly accurate OTB soloist, Donna Budica's performance was. The insane backing vocal arrangement is the only thing I've ever heard that holds a candle to the orchestral scoring from the original track. Please consider supporting these amazing men and women by checking out their other music.
Linkin Park's Chester Bennington, Jordin Sparks and Leona Lewis have created some of my favorite mainstream vocal performances from the past few years and it was exciting to explore the endless permutations around fitting these four tracks together. Breathe Me is so dense that, without access to OTB's unmixed masters, I ended up having to say no to a lot of possibilities in order to keep the song from overloading. But ultimately, saying no is what keeps any creative project from taking forever I suppose. Hope you enjoy it!
~Gryph
Track Listing:
Breathe Me (Sia, performed by Off the Beat)
What I've Done (Linkin Park)
No Air (Jordin Sparks)
Bleeding Love (Leona Lewis)
Completed: Saturday, March 20th, 2010
Prep Time: ~3hrs
Mashup Creation: ~15 hrs
Video Editing: ~8 hrs
Software Used: Sony Acid Pro 7, Atomix Virtual DJ (Audio), Sony Vegas Pro 8 (Video)
Support the Artists:
Sia
Purchase: http://tinyurl.com/yznm8s7
Website: http://www.siamusic.net
Off the Beat
Purchase: http://tinyurl.com/yambhnn
Website: http://offthebeat.net
Linkin Park
Purchase: http://tinyurl.com/yay9o4q
Website: http://linkinpark.com
Jordin Sparks
Purchase: http://tinyurl.com/ygxj3me
Website: http://www.jordinsparks.com
Leona Lewis
Purchase: http://tinyurl.com/yjf97wo
Website: http://www.leonalewismusic.co.uk