To those that follow my blog, you will have probably seen Peponi (Paradise) done on top of a mountain…..well this one I felt I needed to share. Kung Fu Piano : Cello Ascends.
Quote from : The Piano Boys.
ALL THE SOUNDS YOU HEAR WERE CREATED BY THE CELLO, PIANO, AND ASIAN PERCUSSION
THE STORY:
Yes. That is the Great Wall of China. No. It’s not green screen.
Since ThePianoGuys began, it has been our impossible dream to put a grand piano on the Great Wall. People laughed at us when we said we were determined to do it. It is done. All of us at ThePianoGuys would like to dedicate this music video to the visionary behind it all and the man whose dream this has always been: Paul Anderson.
It is difficult to detail each of the many miracles that were stitched together in time turning this dream into actuality. Master Oogway, himself, said, “A destiny is not realized until we let go of the illusion of control.” To say we made this happen of our own accord would be to fall victim to this illusion. An invisible hand guided us, for which we are eternally grateful. This was a life-changing experience for us.
We’d like to thank the main players in this story that made it possible:
Our managers at DSW, David Simone and Winston Simone; Sony Masterworks, and especially to the woman that climbed every wall that stood between us and The Wall: Ivy Song.
When we found out we had been granted a permit to film on The Wall we were intimidated by the prospect of choosing what song to write. A pop song arrangement seemed irreverent! We talked about writing an original tune, but we wanted something more relevant. We’re big fans of the Kung Fu Panda movie series (and we’ve all got kids that love it too.) We had what we call a “chills up” moment as we listened to “Oogway Ascends” from the soundtrack. Steve was inspired to figure out how to create a sound on his custom electric cello (named Bruce Lee) that mimicked the Chinese fiddle (Erhu) and the plucked instrument, Guqin. As we often love to do we wanted to include a classical influence. There are over 30 million piano students in China. That’s more people than the entire population of Australia! It’s probably safe to say the great Polish pianist/composer Frédéric Chopin has more groupies in China than anywhere else. We had been working on an arrangement of his Prelude No. 20 (nicknamed “Chord” or “Funeral” Prelude). It fit the theme and the vibe of Oogway’s “Ascension” AWESOMELY (as Po would say). Between it all we wanted a bridge that sounded like a Kung Fu battle. Once the concept had solidified the song seemed to write itself.
We only had a day to film. Wow. Capture the epicness of the Great Wall in 12 hours or less? Add in the challenges of weather (lighting), limited equipment and crew, and, of course, the people climbing the wall – many were very nice and stayed back as we filmed, but we couldn’t keep everyone off which eliminated a lot of shots. We wished we could have done so much more, but we’re grateful for what we were able to do.
The portion of the Great Wall where we filmed is called “Huangyaguan.” It was originally built in 570 AD and rebuilt during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD). The Great Wall is over 8,000 Kilometers (5,000 miles) long. It can be seen from space. It is arguably the most iconic Wonder of the World. Our new dream is to put a piano and cello on ALL SEVEN WONDERS. Which one should we do next?
If you’ve read to the end of this description then you are unofficially inducted into ThePianoGuys Secret Kung Fu Inner Circle. Skadoosh!
http://thepianoguys.com/portfolio/kung-fu-piano-cello-ascends/
