advait

Waiting Outside The Lines - Greyson Chance Cover

2010-12-18T11:46:00.001-08:00

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An (acoustic!) cover of Greyson Chance's official debut single and music video, Waiting Outside The Lines. Listen through headphones for lovely HQ stereo sound.

I thought I'd go back to the basics with this one - I filmed and recorded just a single take. So if I ever had a concert, this is pretty much how I'd be live.

Enjoy, enjoy, and please subscribe if you'd like to hear more!
Advait

Pray - Justin Bieber Cover

2010-12-16T11:03:00.001-08:00

So this song is doing the rounds, and I thought I'd do a cover! Pray, by Justin Bieber, from My World (Acoustic). Listen through headphones for HQ stereo sound.

Enjoy, and please subscribe if you'd like to hear more!
Advait
http://twitter.com/advaitsarkar
http://facebook.com/advaitsarkar
http://www.advaitsarkar.com

Firework & Halo MASHUP! Beyoncé meets Katy Perry

2010-12-10T09:58:00.001-08:00

An acoustic mashup cover of Katy Perry's "Firework" from her album "Teenage Dream" and Beyoncé's incredible "Halo" from "I Am... Sasha Fierce". I really love both songs, and I hope you enjoy listening to this! Listen through headphones for gorgeous HQ stereo sound.

Enjoy, and please subscribe if you'd like to hear more!
Advait
http://twitter.com/advaitsarkar
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http://www.advaitsarkar.com

YouTube - My Kind of Perfect - David Archuleta Cover | Advait

2010-10-08T10:51:00.001-07:00

A cover of "My Kind of Perfect", one of my favourite songs from David Archuleta's new album, "The Other Side of Down".
Enjoy!
Advait
http://www.facebook.com/advaitsarkar
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar
http://www.advaitsarkar.com

A cover of "My Kind of Perfect", one of my favourite songs from David Archuleta's new album, "The Other Side of Down".

Enjoy!
Advait
http://www.facebook.com/advaitsarkar
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar
http://www.advaitsarkar.com

Take Your Sweet Time - Jesse McCartney Cover | Advait

2010-09-17T09:37:00.001-07:00

A cover of Jesse McCartney's "Take Your Sweet Time". Listen through headphones for tender HQ stereo sound.

Enjoy, and please subscribe if you'd like to hear more!
Advait
http://twitter.com/advaitsarkar
http://facebook.com/advaitsarkar
http://www.advaitsarkar.com

Lyrics:
It isn't a crime to want
A little space to breathe
But you will be fine
The sun again will shine on you
Whatever you do

[Chorus]
Take your sweet, sweet time
I will be here when you change your mind
Take your sweet, sweet time
I will be here for you baby
Anytime

Imm feeling you pull away
'cause letting go isn't easy for me
But you'll never fly
With someone else's wings, I know
Wherever you go

[Repeat Chorus]

I will never stand in your way
Wherever your heart may lead you
I will love you the same
And I will be your comfort every day
Do you hear the words I say?

[Repeat Chorus]

Lips of an Angel - Hinder (Acoustic) Cover | Advait

2010-09-16T10:05:00.001-07:00

A cover of Hinder's power ballad "Lips of an Angel". I really admire (and am slightly envious of!) the incredible texture of Austin Winkler's voice, in comparison to which mine is relatively plain and uninteresting. But hey, it's a great song, and I had a lot of fun singing/playing it! Listen through headphones for succulent HQ stereo sound.

Enjoy, and please subscribe if you'd like to hear more!
Advait
http://facebook.com/advaitsarkar
http://twitter.com/advaitsarkar
http://www.advaitsarkar.com

Breakeven - The Script (Acoustic) Cover | Advait

2010-09-15T10:19:00.001-07:00

A slower, chilled-out acoustic cover of Breakeven by The Script. I heard about this song when Josh Groban tweeted about it some months back, so you can give him credit for making me do this cover! Listen through headphones for fresh HQ stereo sound.

Enjoy, and please subscribe if you'd like to hear more!
Advait
http://twitter.com/advaitsarkar
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http://www.advaitsarkar.com

Rihanna - Unfaithful Cover | Advait

2010-09-14T10:25:00.001-07:00

A cover of Rihanna's "Unfaithful". The original arrangement is possibly one of my favourite pop arrangements ever, but I still couldn't resist redoing it :) Listen through headphones for lush HQ stereo sound.

Enjoy, and please subscribe if you'd like to hear more!
Advait
http://twitter.com/advaitsarkar
http://facebook.com/advaitsarkar
http://advaitsarkar.com

Seasoning the Musical Soul - Fan Scene's Exclusive Interview with 'SoulPepper' Composer Advait Sarkar

Circle of Life - Lion King/Elton John Cover | Advait

2010-09-03T11:58:00.000-07:00

A cover of "Circle of Life". I merged the Lion King OST and Elton John versions because I didn't have the heart to leave any of these incredible lyrics out. Listen through headphones for HQ stereo sound.

Parts of my arrangement were inspired by the cover by Ellipsis (ellipsismusic) and the version sung on AGT by Hannibal Means. Thank you.

Enjoy!
Advait
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Advait/...
http://www.advaitsarkar.com

Lyrics:
Ingonyama nengw' enamabala [A lion and a leopard come to this open place]

[Chant repeats]

From the day we arrive on the planet
And blinking, step into the sun
There's more to be seen than can ever be seen
More to do than can ever be done

Some say eat or be eaten
Some say live and let live
But all are agreed as they join the stampede
You should never take more than you give

In the circle of life
It's the wheel of fortune
It's the leap of faith
It's the band of hope
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the circle, the circle of life

Some of us fall by the wayside
And some of us soar to the stars
And some of us sail through our troubles
And some have to live with the scars

There's far too much to take in here
More to find than can ever be found
But the sun rolling high through the sapphire sky
Keeps great and small on the endless round

It's the Circle of Life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the Circle
The Circle of Life

And can you feel the love tonight?

In the Circle
The Circle of Life

Seasoning the Musical Soul - Fan Scene's Exclusive Interview with 'SoulPepper' Composer Advait Sarkar

2010-09-01T06:37:00.000-07:00

A strange meeting a few months back with one of the main contributors for this website turned into a series of email exchanges that culminated in this rather entertaining interview! Thank you, Archuleta Fan Scene! (http://www.archuletafanscene.com)

Read the full interview here:

Tears in Heaven - Eric Clapton Cover | Advait

2010-08-30T08:28:00.000-07:00

A cover of "Tears In Heaven" by the legend Eric Clapton. Listen through headphones for HQ stereo sound. I had a lot of fun experimenting with alternate chord progressions :)

Love this song. If you've ever lost someone significant in your life, you'll know what it's all about.

Enjoy!
Advait
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar
http://www.advaitsarkar.com

If I Were A Boy - Beyoncé Cover | Advait

2010-08-21T09:18:00.000-07:00

Beyoncé's "If I Were A Boy" slowed down and served chilled. I always wondered how this would sound in a male baritone voice. Listen through headphones for icy fresh HQ stereo sound.

Enjoy!
Advait
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar
http://www.advaitsarkar.com

P.S. Some of my subscribers (otherwise known as the coolest people in the world) may have noticed that there are fewer cuts in the video this time. That's because it was sung in one take, a first for me, and hopefully a feat that I can now reproduce at will :)

The Percussionists' Duel | Advait

2010-08-19T13:39:00.000-07:00

Witness the fury as I battle myself on Tambourine and Djembe (an African drum). Who will emerge victorious in this drum duet? Me... or me? Listen through headphones for HQ stereo sound.

While this is hardly a 'composition', more a jam, it's still completely original :)

Enjoy!
Advait
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar
http://www.advaitsarkar.com

Invincible - Jesse McCartney Cover | Advait

2010-08-16T05:53:00.000-07:00

A cover of Jesse McCartney's devastatingly beautiful song "Invincible". Listen through headphones for sumptuous HQ stereo sound.

I find this song incredibly expressive - of love, agony, frustration, and helplessness.

Enjoy!
Advait
http://www.advaitsarkar.com
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar

P.S. Some of my older listeners may remember that I had already done this song earlier. I decided to redo it because a) I wasn't satisfied with the vocals, and b) It was not recorded with a proper microphone.

Lyrics:

I said don't do it babe
Said it ain't worth it babe
But you did it anyway
Four or five drinks and you were on your way

September 1st, 2003
It took the life right out of me
Hung up the phone
Raced out the door
Broken
Tried to believe that it wasn't true
But in my heart I always knew
being the life of the party would catch up to you
Your family was waiting and crying for three damn hours

[Chorus:]
I said don't do it babe
Said it ain't worth it babe
But you did it anyway
Four or five drinks and you were on your way
Everything's cool on the straight away
But you took that turn doing eighty-five in a thirty-five
Why babe?

Every time I'm home I pass that road
Driving alone and the street feels cold
Seeing your face yeah it's haunting me
My mind goes crazy tryin' to figure out
Just where you would be four years from now
And what you were thinking when the lights came down
Doctors were trying to save you for three damn hours

[Chorus]

Who ever said that life was fair
When you live without a care
When you're invincible
When you're invincible
When you're invincible
Who thinks about leaving when you're livin'

[Chorus]

Build A Bridge - Limp Bizkit Cover | Advait

2010-08-15T06:39:00.000-07:00

A cover of my favourite Limp Bizkit song, "Build A Bridge", from the "Results May Vary" album. Listen through headphones for HQ stereo sound.

I'm experimenting with capturing the actual footage of the recording, instead of recording the audio separately and subsequently doing a lip-sync. Thus everything you see in this video is live. If you have an opinion on this, please do let me know in the comment section :)

Advait
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar
http://www.advaitsarkar.com

P.S. I'm aware what the actual chords are, but I've changed them deliberately because I personally prefer these.

Lyrics:
Build a bridge to your mind
Takes me there everytime
Lay it all on the line
If there's a way
Build a bridge, make a path
Overlook the aftermath
Make my tears be your bath
If there's a way
Only if you'll take a ride
Go with me to the other side
[chorus]
Even though it's gonna crumble down
I'll keep building till you come around
Even though it's gonna fall apart, break my heart
I'll keep building 'till i die
Build a bridge of memories
Stretch it out overseas
To the end of the world
If there's a way
Build a bridge made of pain
Send my longing down the drain
Have no reasons to complain
If there's a way
Only if you'll take a ride
Go with me to the other side
[chorus]
Only if you'll take a ride
Go with me to the other side

Jana Gana Mana - Indian National Anthem | Advait

2010-08-10T00:26:00.000-07:00

The National Anthem of India - Jana Gana Mana, arranged and performed by Advait, filmed in the beautiful tea garden valleys of Munnar, Kerala, at the southernmost tip of India.

As Independence Day approaches, I am excited to share with you a new version of our National Anthem "Jana Gana Mana" or "Jan Gan Man", bringing a modern touch while still retaining elegance and dignity, as a tribute to the rich heritage and culture that I am proud to be part of.

Please share this video with your friends and relatives, send them an Independence Day greeting!

The first half of this video is live - which means that the video you see is the actual footage of me singing while recording. All the instruments you hear, piano, strings, bells, tabla, etc were arranged and performed by me.

Enjoy!
Advait
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar
http://www.advaitsarkar.com

Lyrics (composed and scored by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore):
Jana gaṇa mana adhināyaka jaya he
Bhārata bhāgya vidhātā
Punjāba Sind Gujarāṭa Marāṭhā
Drāviḍa Utkala Banga
Vindhya Himāchala Yamunā Gangā
Ucchala jaladhi taranga
Tava śubha nāme jāge
Tava śubha āśiṣa māge
Gāhe tava jaya gāthā
Jana gaṇa mangala dāyaka jaya he
Bhārata bhāgya vidhāta
Jaya he jaya he jaya he
Jaya jaya jaya jaya he!

English Translation:
Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people,
Dispenser of India's destiny.
Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sind,
Gujarat and Maratha,
Of the Dravida and Orissa and Bengal;
It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas,
mingles in the music of Jamuna and Ganges and is
chanted by the waves of the Indian Ocean.
They pray for thy blessings and sing thy praise.
The saving of all people waits in thy hand,
Thou dispenser of India's destiny.
Victory, victory, victory, Victory to thee.

Lyrics credit & further information on the National Anthem: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jana_Gan...

Boyce Avenue meets The Goo Goo Dolls - Broken Angel & Iris Medley/Mashup...

2010-08-04T14:18:00.000-07:00

A medley/mashup cover of "Broken Angel" by Boyce Avenue and "Iris" by The Goo Goo Dolls. Listen through headphones for rich HQ stereo sound.

I have always admired the story of Boyce Avenue's success on YouTube, and "Broken Angel" is an incredible song about the shadow of misery cast by abusive fathers.

I have a deep personal attachment to "Iris", for reasons that are too complex to go into here. It is one of the more important songs in my life. Originally part of the "City of Angels" soundtrack, "Iris" expresses Nicholas Cage's frustration at being unable to truly love Meg Ryan because he is an angel and she is still alive. If you're confused, go watch the movie, it's great.

By merging the songs together for this mashup/medley, I have rewoven the lyrics to tell the story of the abusive father who, years later, is racked with remorse and guilt at having deprived his daughter of a happy childhood, and would give anything to have a second chance at bringing her up.

Enjoy!
Advait
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar
http://www.advaitsarkar.com

Special credit to my granddad, who was somehow able to procure 50 candles at a moment's notice, and also credit to my amazing mum, who came home early from work to help me with the candle shot.

Boyce Avenue's Channel (On the off chance you didn't already know who they were): http://www.youtube.com/boyceavenue

Mashed-up Lyrics:

And I'd give up forever to touch you
Cause I know that you feel me somehow
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be
And I don't want to go home right now

And all I can taste is this moment
And all I can breathe is your life
Cause sooner or later it's over
I just don't want to miss you tonight

Oh broken angel
Were you sad when he crushed all your dreams?
Oh broken angel
Inside you're dying 'cause you can't believe
... oh you can't believe

And now you've grown up
With this notion that you were to blame
And you seem so strong sometimes
But I know that you still feel the same

As that little girl who shined like an angel
Even after his lazy heart put you through hell
I wish you could see that
Still you try to impress him
But he never will listen

And I don't want the world to see me
Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am

Oh broken angel
Were you sad when he crushed all your dreams?
Oh broken angel
Inside you're dying 'cause you can't believe
He would leave you alone
And leave you so cold
When you were his daughter
But the blood in your veins
As you carry his name
Turns thinner than water
You're just a broken angel

I don't want the world to see me
Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am

I just want you to know who I am x3

'Cause I left you alone
And left you so cold
When you were my daughter
But the blood in your veins
As you carry my name
Turns thinner than water
You're just a broken angel
Broken angel

Somewhere Over The Rainbow on Indian Bamboo Flute | Advait

2010-07-30T08:33:00.000-07:00

Somewhere Over The Rainbow from "The Wizard of Oz" played on an end-blown variant of the north Indian "bansuri" flute. Listen through headphones for crisp HQ stereo sound. I was just playing this for fun when I realised what a lovely cover video it would make.

Enjoy!
Advait
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar
http://www.advaitsarkar.com

P.S. When I'm holding the last note, I'm not chewing the flute. The chewing motions are the comical byproduct of a technique used to expel the last of the air from the lungs.

Lonely Stranger - Eric Clapton Unplugged Cover | Advait

2010-07-29T06:11:00.000-07:00

A cover of Eric Clapton's breathtakingly beautiful song "Lonely Stranger". Listen through headphones for sweet HQ stereo sound.

I fell in love with this song's unique and refreshing chord pattern the moment I heard it, and I've been waiting for an opportunity to cover it. So here it is, an acoustic, unplugged cover video of "Lonely Stranger".

Enjoy!
Advait
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar
http://www.advaitsarkar.com

P.S. Apologies for the video being a little pixellated, I have no idea how that happened.

P.P.S I initially had the djembe (the drum thing) brought in just to do the video for the "Lost" cover, but I loved the organic sound of that skin so much I decided to use it as percussion for this video.

Lost! - Coldplay Cover Collaboration | Stefan & Advait

2010-07-24T05:55:00.000-07:00

Stefan and I present a cover of Coldplay's "Lost?"! Listen through headphones for HQ stereo sound! Stefan's voice is just right for this song. I love how the internet enables people to work with other people all over the world. Twenty years ago, this would have been unimaginable.

Stefan's channel: http://www.youtube.com/stefanisgood

Enjoy!
Advait
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar
http://www.advaitsarkar.com

Metallica/Moody Blues: Nothing Else Matters, Nights in White Satin Mashu...

2010-07-20T00:06:00.000-07:00

A medley/mashup cover performance of Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" and "Nights in White Satin" by The Moody Blues. Listen through headphones for HQ stereo sound.

Enjoy!
Advait
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar
http://www.advaitsarkar.com

Mashed-up lyrics:
Nights in white satin, never reaching the end,
Letters I've written, never meaning to send.
Beauty I'd always missed with these eyes before.
Just what the truth is, I can't say anymore.

'Cause I love you, yes I love you, oh how I love you.

So close, no matter how far
Couldn't be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
and nothing else matters

Trust I seek and I find in you
Every day for us something new
Open mind for a different view
and nothing else matters

never cared for what they say
never cared for games they play
never cared for what they do
never cared for what they know
and I know 'Cause I love you, yes I love you, oh how I love you.

Alicia Keys meets Coldplay! Empire State of Mind & The Scientist Mashup/...

2010-07-17T07:41:00.000-07:00

A medley/mashup performance of Coldplay's "The Scientist" and "Empire State of Mind" by Alicia Keys and Jay-Z.

The first time I heard Empire State of Mind, the Coldplay's haunting words immediately popped into my head. "The Scientist" is a song that my friends and I know, love, and have performed several times. These songs fit together like hand and glove.

Enjoy!
Advait
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar
http://www.advaitsarkar.com

Mashed-up Lyrics:
Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry
You don't know how lovely you are
I had to find you, tell you I need you
Tell you I set you apart

Tell me your secrets and ask me your questions
Oh, let's go back to the start
Running in circles, coming up tails
Heads on a science apart

In New York,
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of,
There's nothing you can't do,
Now you're in New York,
these streets will make you feel brand new,
the lights will inspire you,
lets hear it for New York, New York, New York

Nobody said it was easy
It's such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be this hard
Oh, take me back to New York,
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of,
There's nothing you can't do,
Now you're in New York,
these streets will make you feel brand new,
the lights will inspire you,
lets hear it for New York, New York, New York

(Both together)
Oh ooh, ooh ooh ooh ooh
Ah ooh, ooh ooh ooh ooh
Oh ooh, ooh ooh ooh ooh
Oh ooh, ooh ooh ooh ooh

My Hands - David Archuleta Cover | Advait

2010-07-16T10:50:00.000-07:00

A cover of David Archuleta's incredible song "My Hands". Listen through headphones for delicious HQ stereo sound.

This has long been my favourite song of David's. I've always wanted to do a cover, but never had a vocalist. A few days back, I thought: what the heck, enough waiting, I'll sing it myself.

Though the video is (rather poorly) lip-synced, everything you hear and see was created and performed by me, down to the last note and pixel. I just wanted you guys to have something better to look at than a boring home studio backdrop made out of old sheets.

Enjoy!
Advait
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar
http://www.advaitsarkar.com

Wild Horses - Rolling Stones Cover | Advait

2010-07-13T03:03:00.000-07:00

A cover of Wild Horses by the Rolling Stones on piano/organ/other stuff.

The first version of this song I heard was Susan Boyle's, and I'd initially thought to cover that, but after listening to the original I realised I liked it far better. I even tried to sound a bit like Mick Jagger's unique scratchy voice. (You know, so that they wouldn't kick me to the curb)

This is my second "testing the waters" vocal cover, and if I continue getting positive feedback about my voice like I did for the previous one, I'll try and do vocal covers more frequently. Otherwise, I'll just stick to my instrumentals like the days of yore.

Enjoy!!
Advait
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar
http://www.advaitsarkar.com

Lyrics:

Childhood living is easy to do
The things you wanted I bought them for you
Graceless lady you know who I am
You know I can't let you slide through my hands

Wild horses couldn't drag me away
Wild, wild horses, couldn't drag me away

(Organ solo)

Wild horses couldn't drag me away
Wild, wild horses, couldn't drag me away

Wild horses couldn't drag me away
Wild, wild horses, we'll ride them some day

My Immortal - Evanescence Cover on Keyboard/Flute | Advait

2010-07-10T03:21:00.000-07:00

A cover of Evanescence's song "My Immortal" on piano and flute. And other stuff. This is a song I've known for years and a video I've wanted to do for a long time. I hope you enjoy it!

Advait
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar
http://www.advaitsarkar.com

Umbrella - Rihanna on Piano | Advait

2010-07-08T03:59:00.000-07:00

A piano (plus other stuff) cover of Rihanna's Umbrella. Yes, I'm well aware my hair looks like crap in this video. Thanks for watching!

Advait
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar
http://www.advaitsarkar.com

Phantom of the Opera - Think of Me on Piano | Advait

2010-07-07T01:03:00.000-07:00

A solo piano cover of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Think of Me" from The Phantom of the Opera.

Advait
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar
http://www.advaitsarkar.com

Invincible - Jesse McCartney Cover | Advait

2010-07-04T14:21:00.000-07:00

A cover of Jesse McCartney's devastatingly beautiful song "Invincible". Listen through headphones for sumptuous stereo.

...so I finally gave in to the pestering and did a vocal cover. My family/friends tell me I have a good voice. Of course I don't believe them, they're just being nice. I'm just a keyboardist, not a singer! But this particular song has such a bold narrative that a typical instrumental cover wouldn't do it justice. Please endure my voice and enjoy the spirit of the song!

Advait
http://www.advaitsarkar.com
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar

Also, yes, the video is synched, because I'm not yet comfortable being taped while singing (as I've never done it before). The piano video however is completely live, as usual.

Lyrics:

I said don't do it babe
Said it ain't worth it babe
But you did it anyway
Four or five drinks and you were on your way

September 1st, 2003
It took the life right out of me
Hung up the phone
Raced out the door
Broken
Tried to believe that it wasn't true
But in my heart I always knew
being the life of the party would catch up to you
Your family was waiting and crying for three damn hours

[Chorus:]
I said don't do it babe
Said it ain't worth it babe
But you did it anyway
Four or five drinks and you were on your way
Everything's cool on the straight away
But you took that turn doing eighty-five in a thirty-five
Why babe?

Every time I'm home I pass that road
Driving alone and the street feels cold
Seeing your face yeah it's haunting me
My mind goes crazy tryin' to figure out
Just where you would be four years from now
And what you were thinking when the lights came down
Doctors were trying to save you for three damn hours

[Chorus]

Who ever said that life was fair
When you live without a care
When you're invincible
When you're invincible
When you're invincible
Who thinks about leaving when you're livin'

[Chorus]

Something 'Bout Love - David Archuleta Piano Cover | Advait

2010-07-03T15:22:00.000-07:00

A solo piano cover of David Archuleta's "Something 'Bout Love".

Advait
http://www.advaitsarkar.com
http://www.twitter.com

Something 'Bout Love - David Archuleta Cover Collaboration! | Advait & M...

2010-07-02T21:03:00.000-07:00

Mia and I are extremely excited to share our collaboration cover of David Archuleta's newest single Something 'Bout Love! It features Mialani (TheMialani) on some splendid vocals and me on keyboards / flute / backup vocals.

Mia has very kindly agreed to let me keep this video exclusively on my channel, so if you subscribed to me after watching this video, don't forget to go to http://www.youtube.com/themialani and subscribe to her too.

As my friends know, I love reinterpreting popular works. I must say that working on "Something 'Bout Love" was probably the most fun I've ever had reinterpreting a song.

Listen through headphones for splendid stereo!
Enjoy!
Advait & Mia
http://www.advaitsarkar.com
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar
http://www.twitter.com/themialani

Home - Daughtry on Piano

2010-07-01T19:13:00.000-07:00

A piano cover of "Home" by Daughtry.

Advait
http://www.advaitsarkar.com
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar

Need You Now - Lady Antebellum on Piano | Advait

2010-06-30T02:25:00.000-07:00

What started out as a simple piano cover of Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now" turned into a gorgeous improvisation that will tug at the strings of your heart.

Advait
http://www.advaitsarkar.com
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar

If We Were A Movie - Miley Cyrus Solo Piano | Advait

2010-06-29T21:38:00.000-07:00

A solo piano cover of Miley Cyrus' "If We Were A Movie".

Advait
http://www.advaitsarkar.com
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar

Justin Bieber - Favorite Girl Arabian Version!!! | Advait

2010-06-29T11:42:00.000-07:00

"Favorite Girl" by Justin Bieber makes for a smoking hot arabian / middle eastern version! Wait for my synth solo at the end! Listen with headphones for sweet, sweet stereo sound. Played on flute and keyboards.

Hmmm... I wonder if we can get Justin to tweet this... it'd probably make my day. Heck, it might make my career. :)

Advait
http://www.advaitsarkar.com
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar

P.S. A special thank you to lord and master of the keyboard Jordan Rudess whose stunning performances have instilled in me a deep love and respect for the art of pitch bending.

Imagine - John Lennon on Solo Piano | Advait

2010-06-28T08:19:00.000-07:00

A solo piano cover of John Lennon's "Imagine". I've been playing this for three years now, and it never gets old.

After watching David Archuleta perform this on American Idol, I changed the way I play the "brotherhood of man" bit because I liked his way so much.

Advait
http://www.advaitsarkar.com
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar

Owl City meets Train - Fuzzy Blue Lights & Hey Soul Sister Medley/Mashup...

2010-06-28T04:36:00.000-07:00

Two songs by Train and Owl City come together for another incredibly fun medley / mashup. Great apart, great together.

Took me a while to arrange and record, but it was worth it!

Mashed up lyrics (so you can follow the tune):
If I could look across the country
From California to New Jersey
Then I would count the parks and lake resorts
And number all the jets and airports
All those rather dreary rain clouds still bother me
'Cause I look through the camera eyepiece and cannot see

Hey soul sister, ain't that Mr. Mister on the radio, stereo, the way you move ain't fair, you know!
Hey soul sister, I don't want to miss a single thing you do...tonight
Hey, hey, hey

If I was walking through a sad art gallery
And you were driving through the night
I'd feel rather alone and ill at ease
Beneath the brilliant showroom light
If I was flying on a plane above your town
And you were gazing at the sky
Somehow I'd feel intact and reassured
If you began to wave goodbye

Hey soul sister, ain't that Mr. Mister on the radio, stereo, the way you move ain't fair, you know!
Hey soul sister, I don't want to miss a single thing you do tonight,
Hey soul sister, I don't want to miss a single thing you do...tonight
Hey, hey, hey

Advait
http://www.advaitsarkar.com
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar

Paparazzi - Lady Gaga on Keyboard Orchestra! | Advait

2010-06-27T08:16:00.000-07:00

Gagafest part 3: A semi-classical arrangement of Lady Gaga's fresh hit "Paparazzi" played on a keyboard orchestra!

Advait
http://www.advaitsarkar.com
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar

Alejandro - Lady Gaga on Solo Piano | Advait

2010-06-27T08:15:00.000-07:00

Gagafest Part 2: I never thought a dance anthem like Alejandro would sound like this when played in gentle solo piano style. But here it is, a solo piano cover of Lady Gaga's new hit, Alejandro.

Advait
http://www.advaitsarkar.com
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar

Paparazzi - Lady Gaga on Piano | Advait

2010-06-27T08:14:00.000-07:00

Gagafest Part I: A solo piano cover of Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi".

Yes, I taped roses to the backdrop and put a bouquet in my breast pocket in the spirit of Gaga.

Advait
http://www.advaitsarkar.com
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar

Not A Very Good Liar - David Archuleta on Keyboard and Flute | Advait

2010-06-26T07:35:00.000-07:00

A cover of David's (new & still unreleased!) song "Not a Very Good Liar" on keyboard and flute. Listen through headphones for stereo goodness! :)

Thank you @jwipe for the idea of doing a NAVGL cover.
Thank you FansOfDavid.com and ArchuletaFanScene.com for posting my covers to your websites.

Advait
http://www.advaitsarkar.com
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar

Also, before you ask, here are the lyrics (based on a version from Archuleta Fan Scene) and chords I transcribed.
------
Lyrics:
A:{
You can tell me everything is perfect
Pretend splitting up with him felt right
No sign of reminiscing
Somehow you're not convincing
Why even try to hide it inside?
}

B:{
You say you're over him, tell me that you're fine
You know it doesn't work
Even when you smile, I don't believe you
You're not a very good liar

Said it doesn't hurt, that you never cry
You can tell yourself, go ahead deny
You know it's not true
You're not a very good liar

Oh, oh, oh, oooh
Oh, oh, oh, oooh
Oh, oh, oh, oooh
Not a very good liar
}

Inside you're falling apart but you keep it together
Telltale signs, does he keep you crying all night?
It's for the best, it keeps folks saying
Cause something better is out there waiting
But eyes don't lie, and I see it every time

Section B

C:{
Maybe it hurts too much to talk about
But you don't say nothing at all, no
But if you ever need someone to talk to
Then you know who to call
}

2 Bars Breakdown

Section B (repeats)

------
Chords:
A:
F/ C/ Am/ G/ x3
F/// Gsus4/ G/

B:
F/ C/ G/ Am/ x4
F/ C/ G/ Am/ x2 (I could have written x6 but this shows a structural separation)

C:
Bb/// F///
Am/// G///
Bb/// F///
Gsus4/// G///

Breakdown: F/ C/ G/ Am/ x2

Leaving on a Jet Plane - John Denver on Piano | Advait

2010-06-25T11:25:00.000-07:00

This started off as a piano cover of Leaving on a Jet Plane, but evolved into something deeper.

Advait
http://www.advaitsarkar.com
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar

River Flows In You / Bella's Lullaby - Yiruma - Reggae Version! | Advait

2010-06-25T02:27:00.000-07:00

Performance of a strange reggae version of Yiruma's popular piano song "River Flows In You".

I don't usually wear clothes like that. Also, the weird wobbly dancing the in the middle of the video might not be suitable for more sensitive viewers.

Advait
http://www.advaitsarkar.com
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar

Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton on Piano | Advait

2010-06-24T23:06:00.000-07:00

Simple homage to the magnificent Clapton - a piano/keyboard cover of "Wonderful Tonight".

This video is not like most of my other videos in the sense that I haven't significantly rearranged it or added more bits. I don't know why, maybe it's just because the song speaks so well in the form that it's currently in.

Advait
http://www.advaitsarkar.com
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar

Poker Face - Lady Gaga on Piano | Advait

2010-06-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am wearing a suit over a T-Shirt.

An acoustic piano cover of Lady Gaga's "Poker Face", much like the version by the cast of Glee.

Advait
http://www.advaitsarkar.com
http://www.twitter.com

Justin Bieber meets OneRepublic - Apologize and Eenie Meenie Medley/Mash...

2010-06-23T21:26:00.000-07:00

Two songs by Justin Bieber and OneRepublic (ft. Timbaland) come together for an incredibly fun medley / mashup.

Took me a while to arrange and record, but it was worth it!

Mashed up lyrics (so you can follow the tune):
I'm holding on your rope,
Got me ten feet off the ground
And I'm hearing what you say but I just can't make a sound
You tell me that you need me
Then you go and cut me down, but wait
You tell me that you're sorry
Didn't think I'd turn around, and say...

Can't make up your mind
Please don't waste my time
Not tryin' to rewind
I wish our hearts could come together as one

Cause shorty is a eenie meenie miney mo lova
Shorty is a eenie meenie miney mo lova
Shorty is a eenie meenie miney mo lova
Shorty is a eenie meenie miney mo lova

Let me show you what your missin'
Paradise
With me you're winning girl
You don't have to roll the dice

Tell me what you're really here for
Them other guys?
I can see right through ya

You seem like the type
To love em and leave em
And disappear right after the song.
So give me the night
To show you, hold you
Don't leave me out here dancin' alone

It's too late to apologize, it's too late
I said it's too late to apologize, it's too late
I said it's too late to apologize, yeah
I said it's too late to apologize, yeah

(both choruses together)
(breaks into improvisation)

Advait
http://www.advaitsarkar.com
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar

Numb - Linkin Park on Piano - Chillout/Funk | Advait

2010-06-23T21:25:00.001-07:00

A modern favourite in a fresh chillout / funk style. Well, fresh in my opinion :)

I've wanted to do this cover since the 8th grade. 5 years later, here's "Numb".

Advait
http://www.advaitsarkar.com
http://ww.twitter.com/advaitsarkar

Temporary Home - Carrie Underwood on Piano | Advait

2010-06-23T21:25:00.000-07:00

Piano / keyboard cover of Carrie Underwood's lovely song "Temporary Home".

Back story:
My fondest memories of exam week involve the taste of coffee and the country music on the alarm clock radio in the morning. As soon as I heard this song on the radio, I knew that it was Carrie and I knew a cover had to be made.

Thanks for listening!
Advait

P.S. I know the lighting completely fails, but there isn't enough light in my room and I'm trying to find a solution. Anyone have any suggestions? Obviously this setup isn't working.

http://www.advaitsarkar.com
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar

Somebody Out There - David Archuleta on Keyboard | Advait

2010-06-23T21:24:00.000-07:00

A keyboard cover of David Archuleta's "Somebody Out There".

So I realised that most people who currently subscribe to me are from David Archuleta's fan base, and that it's not fair of me to not do more covers of his.
So here's "Somebody Out There", a classic of our times. Enjoy!

Advait
http://www.advaitsarkar.com
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar

Halo - Beyoncé on Keyboard | Advait

2010-06-23T21:23:00.000-07:00

Just having a fun jam with Beyoncé.

This was completely improvised (except for Beyoncé's bit, of course). Also, the blurriness is not intentional. I think my swaying about confused my camera's autofocus. I'll leave that "feature" off for next time.

:)

Advait
http://www.advaitsarkar.com
http://www.twitter.com/advaitsarkar

Identity

2010-04-24T07:36:00.000-07:00

Beneath the fire lies the hearts
of falcons from the sky.
The laughing spring at midnight hides
the marble knight's reply.
The foolish error arrow shoots
a crisply lettered lie.
The landscape shouts into the wind
and whispers, silent, why.

Outside the sphere exist the spears
of Spartans long away.
The paper hand in shadow's weight
does crawl along the day.
The journal plain as unsound mind
is leaning in the fray.
The leather sighs of plaintive cries
in memories kept at bay.

Majestic is the beetle's womb
where all is not forgot.
The eye of many mountains in
a nightmare being sought.
The music of the garden in
the hands of merchants wrought.
The spiral disc of conscious void
where floats the orbit knot.

Cracked and green, brown and flat,
gives the living stone.
The black and simple velvet of
the blood in viking throne.
The angry fold of fortunes told
in jester's lowly moan.
The unbeliever in the roam
of trilling river lone.

2010 Core i7 MacBook Pro: The Definitive Review

2010-04-24T06:27:00.000-07:00

After what seemed like ages to some, Apple has finally relented and bestowed upon us a refresh, nay, update, of the MacBook Pro lineup.

It would be a sore, sore lie to say that this is no big deal.

I am one of those people for whom the computer is more of a prerequisite to survival than a tool. It is the first thing that I see/hear when I wake up, and the last thing I attend to before I go to bed. I spend anywhere between 3 and 8 hours a day at the computer. In my capacity as a student, I use the computer to do my homework assignments, take and organise notes, and study from the course material provided by my lecturers. In my capacity as a writer, I use the computer to sketch out my thoughts, organise my research, and of course, write. In my capacity as a web developer and programmer, I use the computer to develop and beta test websites, as well as code and maintain desktop applications using the IDEs Eclipse and NetBeans. As an amateur graphic designer, I spend time in Pixen and the GIMP toying around with shapes and effects. As a musician, I use the computer to record ideas in GarageBand and lay down the final tracks in Logic. Finally, as a casual user, I browse the internet extensively, and occasionally play some games. Suffice to say, the computer gets a lot of use, and varied use.

My previous computer was bought in May 2007. A late 2006 white plastic MacBook with a 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo processor, a single gigabyte of DDR RAM, and an 80 gigabyte hard disk drive. I immediately fell in love with it. For my limited use in those days, it was fantastic. Everything felt so zippy. I could be listening to music on iTunes and browsing the web at the same time. Fancy that.

Of course, my requirements soon blew far out of proportion and within 2 years, my old laptop could no longer perform to my satisfaction. Applications loaded slowly. Tabs opened slowly. MP3s encoded slowly. JavaScript performance in my browsers was (you guessed it) slow. Sometimes, I would even have to wait as much as five seconds before a click registered and a pull down menu activated. GarageBand could not handle more than 6 or 7 simultaneous tracks before choking up. I shuddered at the prospect of firing up OpenOffice, for fear of system-wide slowdowns and several minutes of spinny beachballiness. To top it all off, my fans stopped working altogether, and the CPU frequently reached temperatures as high as 95 degrees Celsius. The slightest smidge of flash on a webpage was enough to reduce my Mac into a spluttering, frame dropping fit, often with kernel panics ensuing. I simply stopped playing games because they either ran so poorly or I had to reduce the settings to such abysmally low levels that my elaborately constructed cities looked like a bunch of blocky lego pieces.

So it should come as no surprise to you that when the time came for an upgrade, my automatic reflex was to get a configuration that I was sure would be overkill for my current requirements. The model I ended up buying was a 15" MacBook Pro with a 2.66GHz Intel Core i7 Processor, 4GB DDR3 RAM, and 500GB hard drive. Needless to say, this was not a minor upgrade for me, neither in configuration, nor in price. I was prepared to cut corners and perhaps get an i5 variant, but common sense prevailed - when there exists something that gets as much use and is as integral to your life as my computer is to mine, you really don't want to compromise, even if that means spending a hundred pounds more.

So now that the unjustifiably long introduction is over, let's get on with the review.

Unboxing and First Impressions

I was pleasantly surprised at how small the box was. The 15" MacBook Pro's box was about half the volume of the box my 13" MacBook came in three years ago. It's a great move, aesthetically and environmentally. The minimalist packaging needed to be slit open in just one area. The box is quick to get to the point - no one really cares about the box, and no one really wants to fiddle with layers of shrink wrap, bubble wrap, free bag and god knows what else I've seen people take out of computer boxes.

The first thought that came to my mind when opening the laptop was that the screen was huge. Possibly because my eyes had adjusted to a 13" screen. I strongly suspected then that I would adjust to the 15" screen as well, and that the perceived hugeness would diminish over time, and that suspicion proved to be well-founded.

First boot was markedly slower than regular boot times, but much faster than I had expected it to be. When the display came to life, I realised just how much difference there is between LED and CFL backlighting. Instant full brightness is one of my favourite features, but more than that, this display seems to be able to handle a far greater range of brightnesses than what was possible with my MacBook, reaching both far dimmer and brighter levels. A pleasant update was smooth backlight level changing. In my old MacBook and in my dad's 2008 unibody MacBook, the display brightness controls on the keyboard would increase/decrease the screen brightness in fixed, quantised increments. In the new MacBook Pro, the controls are still used to achieve fixed levels of brightness, but a change in brightness is accomplished by a smooth fade to the desired brightness, rather than the choppy changes of old. The display is vivid and crisp, and at the very lowest brightnesses are great for reading for extended periods of time. The edge-to-edge glass cover on the display is very reflective, but since I mostly work indoors in controlled light environments, this is a non-issue. It is also fantastically easy to clean.

The unibody design, though far from new to the MacBook Pro, was a shocking departure from what I was used to. It is breathtakingly beautiful. The machine feels solid as a brick while appearing impossibly thin from the sides, thanks to the lovely bevelled edges. I have also noticed that the bevelled edges make it easier to lift the computer from a flat surface.The small touches like the now-you-see-it-now-you-don't sleep indicator, the smaller power button and the side-mounted battery indicator (praise the lord!) added to my general delight.

Hardware

The keyboard is, over all, a joy to type on. My main gripe is that the keys are a bit smooth, even slippery at times. My MacBook's keyboard had a dry, grainy texture to it that I loved. I hated that it took three minutes to get the keyboard dirty, but I loved the texture. At the expense of friction, the new MacBook Pro's keyboard is classier and possibly cleaner. This is the first backlit keyboard of any kind that I've owned, and I must say - it's amazing. No more bending the screen downards for a quick glimpse of the keyboard. At night I can finally turn off my retina scorching desk lamp while doing work.

The massive trackpad is great. It feels good to track on. It's very smooth and gets more resistive the more pressure you put on it. Eliminating the button was a good idea. It took me a while to get used to, because I had gotten into the habit of feeling for the border between the button and the trackpad to find my bearings. After a few days this issue resolved itself. Besides, I don't primarily use the trackpad anyway. With this iteration comes inertial scrolling, something Apple claims is a purely software change. Inertial scrolling is essentially scrolling with the flicking motions commonly used in the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad to navigate. It's a more intuitive way to scroll, and though the animation is a bit jerky at times, it's a good addition.

The speakers are much better than I expected them to be. At maximum volume, most of the songs in my iTunes library play loud enough to fill up a medium room and even make it difficult to converse. In my previous computer I used to use VLC's 400% volume setting just to get audio to play at acceptable levels. That is no longer necessary. The high range is very well represented - usually laptop speakers overplay the high frequencies and make songs sound like tinny sizzlefests. The mid range is also very meaty. The low range is surprisingly decent given the tiny cone size the subwoofer must have. Sure, you won't be using the MacBook Pro to power pumping House mixes at your parties, but for casual listening, the bass representation is adequate. Another thing worth noting is that the unibody construction allowed Apple to make a much finer speaker grille, so I can safely spill crumbs over the speakers without worrying about anything falling in. (This was just an example, please do not eat at the computer!)

I don't know what the megapixel rating of the iSight camera is, but I have been getting much clearer pictures with Photo Booth and the people I Skype with are able to notice an appreciable improvement in video quality. The fact that the iSight camera is placed behind the edge-to-edge glass display and not simply embedded in the bezel as with my old MacBook means that it is extremely simple to clean over the area to remove smudges/condensation/anything else that might be marring the picture quality.

The meager selection of ports is fine with me. Though some users will cry with desperation at the MacBook Pro's lack of USB ports, I for the most part manage fine with just 2. I have a Belkin USB hub for when I need more. One issue that sometimes crops up is the fact that the USB ports are placed so close together that an exceptionally fat dongle or flash drive in one of the ports will obscure the other, reducing the number of available ports to effectively one. This defect has been present in several generations of the MacBook Pro, and though it's not a deal breaker for me, I'm surprised that a company that's so obsessed with minute details could leave this glaring deficiency unattended. I'm particularly thrilled with the addition of the SD Card slot, because transferring pictures from my camera is something I hated to do because of the speed. Now, pulling images off the SD card is almost as fast as, if not faster than, an internal copy from my hard drive. I'm looking forward to filling up my iPhoto library with lots and lots of lovely pictures and videos now.

Wireless reception is a bit disappointing. I can actually pick up more wireless signal with my 2007 MacBook than I can with my 2010 MacBook Pro. I suspect this has to do with the plastic vs metallic enclosure, but I'm at the very edge of wireless coverage at college, and I've been forced to connect to the internet with a fat red ethernet cable since I've got this new system. Somehow I don't feel as mobile as I should.

Apple's claims of battery life have been inching upwards with every refresh, and this update is no exception. Their proud proclamation for this generation of 15" notebooks is "One charge. Nine hours". While I strongly suspect that this nine hour battery life can actually be achieved, you'd probably need to lower the display brightness to nearly zero, turn off wireless networking, eject any discs in the drive, and work solely on TextEdit to the exclusion of all else. That said, I am actually very impressed with the battery life of this unit. On my first field test (a day out in classes) where I had a few apps running, display at about 60% brightness and wireless turned on, I found that I could squeeze six hours of juice out of the battery. Had I lowered the brightness further and been more economic with multitasking, I could have managed over seven. Seven hours of battery life is quite excellent, and unparalleled in this class of machine. Apple's last measure to improve battery life was to exclude the easy battery removal mechanism and use the space saved to expand the battery. This time, the extra battery life comes from better power management in Intel's Core iX processor.

Finally, the hard drive, though a 5400 rpm drive like the one in my previous MacBook, seems to be much faster at file transfer. It finished copying over my fairly large iTunes library, 35GB in size, in a matter of minutes.

Performance

If you look at what I upgraded from, you'll notice that the machine is a quantum leap in computing power from the old MacBook. I have no benchmarks to offer you, just some information about what I have observed while using the computer in all sorts of ways over the last week.

Multitasking: It is possible to run lots of programs at once without experiencing any slowdown at once. With my old MacBook, I developed a subconscious mechanism of alt-tabbing and quitting programs whenever the computer became less than satisfactorily responsive. I have never had to do that here. I have some "staple" programs, ones that I need to keep always running for my workflow. These are iTunes (of course), Mail, iCal and Firefox (I am a die-hard Safari fan, but until I get vertical tabs, I'm going with the 'fox). On my old computer, these four programs would just about run acceptably. If I had to use something else, like OpenOffice or NetBeans, one or more of my "staple" applications would have to go. Firing up GarageBand meant that everything else had to be quit, else GarageBand wouldn't get enough memory allotted to it. On this machine, I can have Safari, Firefox, Mail, iCal, iTunes, NetBeans and OpenOffice open at the same time without missing a beat. It's app Nirvana.

Graphics: I've finally been able to get back into gaming again. Thanks to Apple's new seamless switching technology and updated discrete graphics card (NVidia GeForce GT 330M with 512MB of VRAM) I can run my favourite games at the highest settings with very playable frame rates at native resolution. Perhaps my taste in realtime strategy and city-building games goes easy on what most "hardcore" gamers would call a medium-grade graphics processor, but it works beautifully for me.

GarageBand: Garageband runs great on this machine. 16-20 simultaneous software instruments are a piece of cake for the computer. Export and mixdown times have vastly improved. I used to get a lot of lag recording midi over a usb-midi cable, but that is no longer the issue. The latency is barely noticeable. I can also have GarageBand running smoothly along with my other apps, which is like a gift from heaven.

General processor goodness: I've been working on a project that required me to encode a large number of mp3 files lately. Because of a glitch in the mp3 player, I had to re-encode about 24 mp3 files, but not before I had converted them from wav to aiff. When I saw the progress bar on my converter zoom past, I blinked for a second. At first, I thought it was the progress bar that usually said "preparing files", not the actual encode. Turns out the "preparing files" had already been past without me noticing, and it was encoding the mp3s at an unbelievable rate. The entire conversion process took less than 5 minutes, depriving me of the coffee break I would have taken had I been doing this on my old Mac.

Conclusion

Although at first glance the new MacBook Pro looks identical to the previous generation (with the possible exception of the MacBook Air style cylindrical MagSafe charger) the internals of the laptop are profoundly different. Owners of the previous generation may not have enough of an incentive to upgrade, but for anyone with a pre-unibody laptop, the new macs are excellent.

It works far better for all my work than I expected. It's great for writing, reading and developing, and not too shabby for games, although if you are looking for a dedicated gaming rig, it would do you good to look elsewhere. I adore the design. It is something I'm proud to take out of my backpack/briefcase and sit down to work at. The inertial scrolling makes browsing large documents and webpages more intuitive and pleasurable. The large, bright, instant-on screen is vivid and the perfect window into the OS and the internet.

I absolutely love the new Mac, and I'm looking forward to many hours of work and play at this lovely machine.

Yes or No

2010-04-23T08:35:00.000-07:00

These fitting days of lucid grays
have never ended drier.
The warrior sleeps, the wizard keeps
the seeker falling higher.

Fluid runs the bezel gem
in sparkle of the time.
Breathe the child, kiss the stone
and dance between the rhyme.

How the evil and the strong
helped the window shape.
Long the leaning fen light grew
and hung below his nape.

They took the fire, lit the eyes
of never hardened rapture.
And ever since, your Yes or No
has far outrun my capture.

Just Passing Time on a (Super Fun) beat!

2009-07-03T22:23:00.000-07:00

Hey there guys!

This video was inspired by one of my long time favourite YouTube musicians, Ronald Jenkees. I am absolutely in love with his song "Super-Fun" and I decided to cover it.

HOWEVER

When I was trying to recreate his beat on my computer, I sort of started fooling around and came up with my own super-fun beat! I did, however, opt to keep the chords from Super-Fun. Not that the chords are strikingly original, it's just that they ARE super fun!

Forgive my lame moves :) I know it's geeky but I'm a total geek for music!

I designed that biting, nasty, dirty, crunchy, driving lead sound from a mere sine wave myself, and I really like it.

Hope you guys enjoy yourselves!

~ Advait

Heal The World - A Piano Tribute to Michael Jackson

2009-06-30T08:05:00.000-07:00

Recent news of the legendary popstar's passing has moved me. I remember music lessons at my first school - in the music room there was this big poster of Michael's and I always wondered who it was...

Anyway, I'm rambling.

Heal The World has always been one of my favourite songs by Michael Jackson. I've performed it with a couple of choirs before and it seems only natural that my modest tribute to the man comes in this form. I hope I've been able to do justice to such a great work.

Hope you like it!

God, It's Been Long.

2009-06-09T13:35:00.000-07:00

Dear readers,

I sincerely apologize for not writing a single post in nearly half a year. In the run up to my exams and subsequently, I really haven't been able to write a single damn thing. I hope you'll forgive me.

In any case, I've redesigned the website, check it out: www.AdvaitSarkar.com

And I'm also planning a couple of new videos for YouTube!

More content coming soon, hang in there, guys!

Cambridge University: “Yes, Advait. We want you.”

2009-01-30T02:05:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it? Neither can I!
Let me tell you the story.

As part of the information that Cambridge had sent me along with my interview offer, there was a little file that specified the important dates for applicants. The final university-wide deadline for posting decisions to applicants living outside the EU was the 2nd of January.

On the 2nd of January, I eagerly logged in to UCAS’s “track” to find a whole lot of nothing waiting for me there.

???

I called my friends who’d also gone for an interview with me. They hadn’t received any updates either. Feeling reassured because I knew I wasn’t alone, I took a stab at Cambridge’s website to try and see if they could disambiguate their statement. It soon became clear that by “posting” they meant exactly that: sending by POST. Snail mail. Hmmm… interesting.

I bided my time for a couple of days before I heard from one of my friends… he’d received his letter in the mail and had been pooled (a euphemism for ‘waitlisted’). The other friend hadn’t received anything yet. I anxiously called school – I’d notified Cambridge that I’d like them to send my decision letter to my school address – they had received a letter in my name. I quickly called my mom and asked her to send the chauffeur over to school to pick up the letter. Sweating cold sweat like a pig in Antarctica (poor analogy, my apologies), I waited.

I soon got a call from my mom: the letter was from the University of Bristol.

Wow. Big whoop.

I already knew that I’d gotten into Bristol, Edinburgh, Manchester and Birmingham because they’d taken all of three weeks after I submitted my app to accept. The letter was probably some confirmation.

I emailed my college admissions director, asking her to fax the decision to the school. She said they already had – twice, but she’d do it again. I must have emailed her at least three times, pestering her to resend it. I quickly stopped because I realized that spamming your college is not a very bright idea. She finally got back to me saying that she’d mail it again, because perhaps it’d gotten lost in the post.

My other friend received her letter shortly after the “Bristol Letdown”. She hadn’t quite made it. Can you possibly imagine my nerves at this point? Garrh!

On the morning of the 9th of January, I overslept. My grandfather screaming at me from downstairs woke me up: “You’ve got a phone call from school… pick up the phone!”

In a semi-groggy state I reached for the receiver. “Hello, Advait here.”
The man at the other end was Mr. Sam, the very friendly receptionist at school.

“Advait, I have here a letter for you from Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Would you like me to read it out?”

I bolted upright. “Go right ahead sir.”

I could hear rustling as he fiddled with the seal on the envelope, then a soft rip as he slit it open. Finally, with a soft swoosh, he slid out the letter.

THE LETTER!!!

He read: “Dear Advait, we have now considered your application for admission to read for a BA Honours degree in Computer Science. I am writing to tell you that –”

And then the blasted cell phone rang. I could hear the little piece of plastic humming away in cheesy monophonic glory on the other end of the line.
Keeping me conveniently on hold, Mr. Sam the very friendly receptionist at school proceeded to pick up the cell phone and start a conversation with whoever was on the other end.

At this point I was peeing with anxiety. I wouldn’t have been surprised to look down and see the floor of my room being obscured by my own, you know, that.

“To tell you that –”

Tell me what, darn it? I wished so hard for that dirty little cell phone to spontaneously combust that after what seemed like ages, Mr. Sam the very friendly receptionist at school finally finished his little chat.

“Ah, Advait. Where were we? Right.
I am pleased to be able to tell you that we have decided to offer you a place for October 2009.”

Not much of the letter after that made its way into my head. I guess you can imagine why.

I later learnt that my condition is 42 points in the IB with 7,7,6 in higher level – if you’re doing the IB you’ll realize what a cruel challenging offer this is. Still, they’re Cambridge, and I think they have the right to ask this much of me. Am I up to the challenge? Hell yes!

~ Advait

Hallelujah Featured! Crush/Canon Medley shaping up to be a stellar success!

2009-01-05T11:14:00.000-08:00

Hey guys!

I just wanted to let you know that as of right now, my Hallelujah video is the #1 featured video on YouTube India! How cool is that?

Another great thing that's happened is the broadcast of my Crush (Archuleta) and Canon Rock Medley! It's not even been a day, but it's gotten a TON of views and the following #1 honours:

#1 - Most Discussed (Today) - India
#1 - Top Favorited (Today) - India
#1 - Top Rated (Today) - India
#1 - Top Rated (This Week) - India

Which is really really cool! Heres the vid:

Enjoy!

Here's the video description:

"Hey there guys! I have a special treat for you here, and it took me 5 tedious hours to make, so please reward me with a few comments and ratings, if not subscriptions! =)

There are TOO MANY covers of Canon Rock out there. So I thought,
"Well, why not make a Canon POP"?

I idolize David Archuleta (No, I'm not gay), simply because he's my age, and at my age, he's managed to follow his dream and become successful at it. I would love to meet him someday, maybe talk about music and stuff, but until that day comes, let me content myself with covering his music!

I thought that maybe I could fuse these two songs together. I tried it through on the piano, and it sounded great! So that's how I ended up making this video. I couldn't resist orchestrating it a bit, thus the heavy pop arrangement. 99% of this video was improv, so please don't ask for sheet music!

I hope you guys enjoy this as much as I enjoyed making it! If you did, show your appreciation by rating, commenting, subscribing, yadayadayada...

Here's a link to my website:
http://www.AdvaitSarkar.com

P.S. If you're David Archuleta then for the love of God contact me! (AdvaitMusic@gmail.com)
If you're Johann Pachelbel then you're probably dead!

© 2009 Advait Sarkar"

Have fun!

The new homepage, the new year, and Hallelujah!

2008-12-31T13:50:00.000-08:00

Firstly, I'd like to wish you all the best for the new year 2009 that has been gifted to us.

I have finally managed to upload SoulPepper to TuneCore, which is presently shipping off my music to iTunes, Rhapsody, Napster, AmazonMP3, Lala, Shockhound, and a bunch of other Digital Service Providers. The album is scheduled to go live on the 10th of February, 2009!

So here's the new image for the landing page of http://www.AdvaitSarkar.com:

And you can check out the full home page here.

Another piece of news is the posting of my rendition of "Hallelujah" on YouTube. This song is special to me... and I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoy playing my version of it.

"Hallelujah" is a song by Leonard Cohen, notably covered by John Cale, Jeff Buckley, Rufus Wainwright and Alexandra Burke amongst others. My personal favourite is KD Lang's version, which I feel is the most emotive and unique. The one with Kurt Nilsen is also really nice. I apologize for some portions of the video being out of sync; I tried my best, but this confounded MIDI latency got the better of me.

The video's right here for you to watch. Have fun!

~ Advait

The Light

2008-12-20T23:28:00.000-08:00

I walk down the forest path
The scent of moist mud in my nostrils
A chilled breeze tickles the twilit night
And strokes my face with whispered quietness

Glancing down the mossy way
I stroll, I wander, I wonder, I wander
I observe, I taste the wet night’s delight
The moon softly glows on the waxy forest floor

I am in the darkness. I see but faintly;
I smell, I taste, I hear, I feel, I hear
The things that around me manifest
In the lonely black.

And all at once I see a faint
But brighter than the moon’s silver paint
A pinprick, a flicker, a shimmer, a glow
It’s light.

Queer little flame, in the midst of the darkness
Spreading its light with no inhibition
It regales the night with its colourful empowerment
And lets me see myself.

I look in the warm relief of my eyes
Who have been freshly freed from blunt senility
They roll in jubilance and absorb the ecstasy
That to them has been gifted

I squirm with pleasure and transcendental delight
Nevermore will I be alone in the forests of the night
With the pinprick, the shimmer, the blessed almighty glow
The queer flame, the laughing spark, the closing door.

But the winds of fortune are evil to me
And they find among the leaves the squirming ecstasy
And seek to blow ever harder down the mossy way
I strolled, I wandered, I wondered, I fought.

The winds of change gush into my little world of peace
The queer flame tilts to the side
I cup it with my hands, savoring its presence
Trying to save it from its own frailty

My fingers are muslin, numb, nonexistent
The wind passes through them unfazed
I cry out in desperation and black hope
As the wind subdues the glow and kills it.

Gone is the light, gone with the wind,
As I walk down the forest’s corridor.
Its gift to existence it has decided to rescind.
I wander, but wonder no more.

~ Advait

(Who is the light?)

Interview!

2008-12-14T12:41:00.000-08:00

I had a wonderful day yesterday, after which unfortunately I was too tired to even think about writing!
The first thing I did yesterday was figure out where my college was. It’s about five minutes, walking, from my service apartment. I went up to the registration desk, which was buried somewhere amongst the ancient stone columns of the second building one encounters on the way in. The actual college is labyrinthine, dotted with gardens, yards and ponds. Surprisingly, there were a great many ducks (mallards?) roaming about on campus, and none of them uttered a single quack while I was there. At the registration desk, I asked if I could play the bosendorfer piano in the old library, and was promptly denied permission! I patched up the awkwardness by making light conversation.

After completing the reconnaissance, we headed out for breakfast. I ate a roast ham and mozzarella cheese croissant at a home-run place called Savino’s, because that restaurant was recommended by the blog of a current undergraduate. It was a bit on the pricey side, at £3.75, but it was delicious. We went on a tour of Cambridge city on the top of a double-decker bus, and I visited the colleges that Abhi and Kriti have applied to as well. Between you and me, neither Christ’s nor Churchill has the charm of Emmanuel. I also learnt that Emmanuel college has the best academic record of any college in Cambridge, and the fact that they chose to invite me for an interview at their college when I applied open is humbling. I went punting (a ride on a kind of boat that is pushed along by a long metal-tipped pole) on the river Cam. “Cambridge” was named so because of the number of bridges that were laid across this river by the Romans. Very cool.

In the evening I met a family friend of mine who was doing her PhD in fluid biophysical mechanics (?) at Fitzwilliam, and we had tea and scones at a popular café. We discussed, among other things, the environment at Cambridge, and how she enjoyed her time in the US doing her undergrad, but how much more she’s enjoying it here in the UK. We also discussed the real solution of i^i, which isn’t as daunting a task if you have a math genius help you through it.

The day here is horrible for a sun-loving Indian such as I. The sun rises at 8 (it’s pitch dark right up to 7:55) and then sets at 4 PM! It’s very disorienting, and my body-clock is killing me by telling me to go to sleep at 5 PM. However, people tell me that it’s only like this in the winter, and that the day expands into its normal size during the summer months.

Today I had both my interviews and the TSA. The TSA is Cambridge’s ultra-hard logic test. I met all 11 other applicants for computer science who’d made it until the interview stage, and was quietly informed that they had only four seats. That’s not too bad, I think to myself, as that’s nearly a 40 percent admittance rate!

So my first interview’s at 10:10. I walk with an Emma undergrad upto the interview hall. There I find my interviewers sitting invitingly on either side of a large conference table. I’m meant to sit on the far side. They ask me a couple of questions, about the album, about computer science in general, which go well, and then they give me a simple coding problem, which I solve. Then they present me with a logic problem that I breeze through until I hit a stumbling block. They help me through it and we somehow manage to come to the end of the problem.

The second interview was with two physicists, one a woman. They ask me simple differentiation sum any M1 student could solve. Then we move on to curve sketching, and they ask me to sketch the curve of x/(-(x^2)+1) , which we spend some time doing. I think we got through it pretty well. Then I was given a problem involving base changing logs and polynomials. I got it with very little prompting on their part, but I’m sure any run-of-the-mill M1 student would have eventually reached the answer.

I managed to hand them all copies of my album and a copy of a book of poetry I quickly put together from the little bits of writing I’ve been doing over the last year. They were quite happy, and I’m glad that my interviews were early in the day and so my interviewers were fresher for me than they would have been for others... I smiled a lot.

Now I’m going to Paddington, and from there I’ll be meandering around the UK, looking at the other colleges I’ve applied to. I’ll also be finishing my CAS file, extended essay, and other sad parts of Life.

~ Advait

Arrival In Cambridgeshire!

2008-12-14T12:40:00.000-08:00

Greetings from the UK!

The flight was rather uneventful. I wasn't entertained at all by the in-flight entertainment, and chose instead to read about differential calculus (?) off my laptop, until the battery ran out.

I landed at 11:45 PM IST, which is around 6:15, London time. It's 12:00 midnight here now, and I'm just dashing this off (on a lovely wooden desk that the homeowners have placed near my bed) before I hit the hay after a 20-hour day.

It's lovely here, and I had a fascinating conversation with the bus driver who took us from Heathrow to Cambridge about his life and times, indicative of the general level of intellect of the people here, even those who work jobs that are commonly considered menial.

Tomorrow I'm going to visit Emmanuel (or "Emma", as it is fondly known among the locals and students) to meet people and figure out interview protocol. It's great that I have this extra day in hand, because just familiarizing myself with the college and its campus beforehand can do wonders for my steadily building nerves.

It is with great difficulty that I tear myself from my laptop, but the sandman is stubborn!

~Advait

Kolkata, SoulPepper, and ALL THAT JAZZ!!!

2008-08-10T11:52:00.000-07:00

Phew.
I recently returned from Kolkata, where I was busy in the recording studio - finishing off the rest of SoulPepper! (If you don't know what SoulPepper is, you should check out my website, www.AdvaitSarkar.com, for info.

I have a few pictures I'd like to share with you - this is just a preliminary report - the full one's coming a bit later...

Man, I really wish Apple would make a wireless power cord! (?)

Teaching my 2nd keyboardist, Tubai "Tubs" Rai, the chords to "As Long As It Takes"

Pointing out a part in the guitar notation where the incredibly talented Raja had mistranscribed from my demo!

Kajol Da, my harmonica player, was the only senior citizen on the crew. He'd performed with R.D. Burman, so we all listened intently to what he had to say.

Raja and I.

My super-awesome flautist, "Bappa" Da, who also plays several string instruments of his own invention. One such instrument, the "sanjo" or "banjarod", is featured in "After The Rain".

Well, that's it for now, more later.... cya!

Bluesing along on Wine Glasses

2008-07-09T01:11:00.000-07:00

I was on holiday recently, and was lamenting the lack of a piano - Why don't all hotels have pianos in the rooms, dammit? I mean, it's like a basic commodity!

Anyway, I decided to improvise, called room service, and asked for twelve wine glasses. The lady at the other end meekly replied - "but you already have two in your kitchenette, sir!" Hmmph.

"Ok," I replied, "get me ten, then".

I sat and made a xylophone thingy out of them by filling them with different amounts of water. Then I started playing the blues! Yay!

Thanks to Dad and his handy-dandy camera we got it on film.
Thanks for watching!

--------------------------------
http://www.AdvaitSarkar.com
© 2008 Advait Sarkar

Lessons learnt from a Mango Seller

2008-07-08T23:05:00.000-07:00

I was on holiday in Coorg recently.

On the long six-hour trip to our resort, we saw a whole bunch of fruit sellers in a line on the highway:

As we slowed down to take a picture, a very young-looking boy (whom we later figured out was still in high school) ran up to us to sell us some mangoes.

We took four kilos of some arcane variety of mango. Then, as is the custom, we began haggling to get the price down from Rs.500 to Rs.400 (a difference of approximately $2.50). At this point, the mango boy said - "Please don't haggle. If you people don't give, then who else will?".

It touched us somewhere inside. It didn't even matter that the mangoes were of poor quality. He was right: who else would pay for his food and education? If we could shell out a couple of bucks for a lousy coffee at some hip restaurant, why were we so stingy with the same cash even when it came to helping somebody out?

We paid. We even stopped on the way back and paid some more. And it felt good.

My brush with fame (literally)

2008-07-02T04:57:00.000-07:00

A week ago, I flew to Calcutta to meet the one-and-only Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, one of the two Indian musicians to have ever received a Grammy Award.

As luck would have it, there were as few as seven other people with me as I sat in during a recording session he was doing with Maestro Tarun Bhattacharya, who has been nominated for the Grammy twice. I had a whole lot of fun with them. Here are a few pictures of the session.

1. Tarun Ji at the Santur

2. The Maestros Tuning Up

3. A close up of the "Mohan Veena" (www.MohanVeena.com for more info)

4. Ramkumar Mishra at the Tablas

5. Me with Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and Mrs. Bhatt.

Since we offered to accompany Mr. Bhatt around Calcutta (now Kolkata) for the weekend that we were there, I had private, one-on-one talk time with a Grammy winning musician! How cool is that? No, I'll tell you - it was REALLY cool. He's a very down-to-earth person, and listened patiently for me to say what I wanted before countering with his opinions.

On the second night of my stay he had a fantastic concert for Tarun Ji's santur ashram (school), and it was electrifying. There was magic in the music. I'm serious. My friends may make fun of me for liking classical music, but it's my opinion and I've never been prouder of having such an opinion. We even met a very nice man named Mr. Singhania, to whom I mentioned that I'd been playing piano for nearly twelve years, upon which he became very excited and offered to arrange a 2-hour solo piano concert for me! Well, we'll have to see how that pans out.

After that, Mr. Bhatt invited us to dinner! We stayed there until like 3:00 AM (no jokes) talking about the concert and about my future, at which point Pt. Tarun Bhattacharya gifted him a demo copy of SoulPepper. I really, really hope he likes it!

It was a blast. I have never been exposed to much Hindustani music, but this time I had a complete overdose of it, and it left me on high.