The trouble with flying videos on youtube..

jasc15

jasc15

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Joe
..is that everyone uses cheesy music in place of the droning engine. Like this gem. :p My girlfriend said I was just jealous, which i think means she is going to put some of my videos to music now..:redface:
 
I don't mind a little good music... the problem with engine noise is that usually 3-7 minutes of that, recorded inside the plane with the typical camcorder, is just not very entertaining (unlike, say, a formation of warbirds passing by, or a DC-3 engine startup). And forget open-cockpit stuff or externally-mounted-cam audio... some people seem to think the sound of a mic being blasted by wind, with force that exceeds its ability to translate sound into audio signal, is good stuff; I disagree.
When I can, I try to mix music and ambient audio to some extent... and I think carefully about what music to use, usually editing footage to match it. rule #1: have I heard this before in an aviation video? If so, DO NOT USE.

My top four flying-video pet peeves:
-Everything shot by placing the camcorder on the glareshield
-Yet another "flyby" video where the plane is a shaky speck and all you can hear is nearby planes idling or running up, and people gabbing away right next to the camera
-Two or three songs in a row, with no connection to the video or each other
-Repeated use of "Learning to Fly", "Danger Zone", etc.

My stuff is amateurish, but I try... the three-part C152 video with the Wagner is intended as a joke, but the rest are pretty cool, I think.

This is the first one I ever did, and I still like the basic concept; very watchable, and it captures the fun of flying such a plane for the first time.

http://www.youtube.com/user/rottydaddy#p/u/34/kqoo1kZeclU
 
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rottydaddy said:
I don't mind a little good music... the problem with engine noise is that usually 3-7 minutes of that, recorded inside the plane with the typical camcorder, is just not very entertaining (unlike, say, a formation of warbirds passing by, or a DC-3 engine startup). And forget open-cockpit stuff or externally-mounted-cam audio... some people seem to think the sound of a mic being blasted by wind, with force that exceeds its ability to translate sound into audio signal, is good stuff; I disagree.
When I can, I try to mix music and ambient audio to some extent... and I think carefully about what music to use, usually editing footage to match it. rule #1: have I heard this before in an aviation video? If so, DO NOT USE.

My top four flying-video pet peeves:
-Everything shot by placing the camcorder on the glareshield
-Yet another "flyby" video where the plane is a shaky speck and all you can hear is nearby planes idling or running up, and people gabbing away right next to the camera
-Two or three songs in a row, with no connection to the video or each other
-Repeated use of "Learning to Fly", "Danger Zone", etc.

My stuff is amateurish, but I try... the three-part C152 video with the Wagner is intended as a joke, but the rest are pretty cool, I think.

This is the first one I ever did, and I still like the basic concept; very watchable, and it captures the fun of flying such a plane for the first time.

http://www.youtube.com/user/rottydaddy#p/u/34/kqoo1kZeclU
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Not bad, but the music is cheesy as hell, and probably fits the bill the OP was talking about. Why do some many pilot flying videos have music with that wonky slide guitar in it?

That's the cheese I'm talking about.,
 
The problem with most videos is that they're a lot like watching somebody's vacation slides. They're 4-6 minutes long and my give-a-schitter is only good for about 45 seconds.

SkyHog said:
Not bad, but the music is cheesy as hell, and probably fits the bill the OP was talking about. Why do some many pilot flying videos have music with that wonky slide guitar in it?

That's the cheese I'm talking about.,
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SkyHog said:
Not bad, but the music is cheesy as hell, and probably fits the bill the OP was talking about. Why do some many pilot flying videos have music with that wonky slide guitar in it?

That's the cheese I'm talking about.,
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To each his own, but IMHO anything with Jerry Douglas on it has virtually no cheese compared to Danger Zone (cited by the OP), which is like the stuff that comes in the cheez-n-crackers packs from a vending machine. So beyond cheesy, they have to call it "cheez" for legal reasons. :D
So what kinda music will you tolerate in one of these clips?
 
wabower said:
The problem with most videos is that they're a lot like watching somebody's vacation slides. They're 4-6 minutes long and my give-a-schitter is only good for about 45 seconds.
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This is true, so true. I'll be the first to say I make these things for myself, or for anybody involved in the action. Beyond that group it's unlikely anyone else will care. :D
 
rottydaddy said:
To each his own, but IMHO anything with Jerry Douglas on it has virtually no cheese compared to Danger Zone (cited by the OP), which is like the stuff that comes in the cheez-n-crackers packs from a vending machine. So beyond cheesy, they have to call it "cheez" for legal reasons. :D
So what kinda music will you tolerate in one of these clips?
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I dunno. For me, the song needs to be something that captures the atmosphere of the flight itself. For me, banjos and slide guitar don't really capture the feeling of flight.

Maybe some sort of airy techno or something? There's a reason I don't put my flying videos up anywhere. lol.
 
SkyHog said:
I dunno. For me, the song needs to be something that captures the atmosphere of the flight itself. For me, banjos and slide guitar don't really capture the feeling of flight.

Maybe some sort of airy techno or something? There's a reason I don't put my flying videos up anywhere. lol.
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So who? Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass?
 
Gee, when I looked at the title I thought it was going to be something about the faked stuff on youtube... (My favorite one of those so far: the one about a GA single engine losing an entire wing and landing safely...:goofy:)

Music to capture the mood of flight. Hmmm. Doesn't it depend on the type of flight? Aerobatics versus cruising over something especially scenic; different tunes, eh? I'd seriously consider some of the non-english clanad or enya type songs for the latter, I think. Sort of uplifting sounding without being recognizably gospelly.
 
SkyHog said:
I dunno. For me, the song needs to be something that captures the atmosphere of the flight itself. For me, banjos and slide guitar don't really capture the feeling of flight.

Maybe some sort of airy techno or something? There's a reason I don't put my flying videos up anywhere. lol.
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There's a lot of airy techno-backed flight vids out there... that usually works for me, but there just seems to be a lot of them. I seem to have missed the numerous bluegrass-saturated videos, but I'll make a note of that. :D

But I think we can all agree: "Danger Zone" and "Learning to Fly" were painfully obvious choices to begin with, and have just been done to death... :D
 
I agree, RD. Jerry Douglas' dobro has zero cheese factor.

"No Stairway to Heaven"
 
rottydaddy said:
I don't mind a little good music... the problem with engine noise is that usually 3-7 minutes of that, recorded inside the plane with the typical camcorder, is just not very entertaining (unlike, say, a formation of warbirds passing by, or a DC-3 engine startup).
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+1. As far as music goes, I think that sometimes cheesy is in the eye of the beholder although "Danger Zone" makes me cringe. I would like to see some flying video accompanied by classical music which is something you don't often find.
 
Definitely the music should fit what's happening in the video. If you've got a 20 minute video of you flying to an airport a few miles away over unremarkable scenery in your spam can, then Danger Zone is not only cheesy but evokes a strong douche bag reflex. In fact, Danger Zone should probably be sent to the same place that "It's a small world." got sent where it's never heard again anyway.

So, how about we post a list of acceptable music for aviation videos? Here's some selections from my current playlist for aerobatic practice:

La Grange, ZZ Top
The Boys of Summer, The Ataris
Strike It Up, Black Box
Gonna Make You Sweat, C+C Music Factory
Gone, Daughtry
Long Train Runnin', Doobies
Trust Me, Jesus Jones
Fly Away, Lenny Kravitz
Kryptonite, 3 Doors Down
What'd I Say, Ray Charles

But if you're going to use any of these tunes, there should be some inverted flying in the video :)
 
For that music, why even bother with the airplane footage? Just show a waterfall or an old Infiniti commerical.
Windrider said:
Music to capture the mood of flight. Hmmm. Doesn't it depend on the type of flight? Aerobatics versus cruising over something especially scenic; different tunes, eh? I'd seriously consider some of the non-english clanad or enya type songs for the latter, I think. Sort of uplifting sounding without being recognizably gospelly.
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Music is a very personal thing....which is why there is such a variety of it.
No matter what music you use, you are going to **** off somebody....and somebody else is going to love it.
Use whatever music sounds good to you!
Any music is better than endless droning of engines....or dull monotone naration that puts you to sleep. :D
 
One thing would improve 99% of the flying vids on YouTube.....

Editing.
 
You're right. Every youtube vid should have the rumble of a good R-14 engine in the background.
 
I have no idea what a slide guitar is, but all of my youtube flying vids have cheesy music. I try to capture my mood at the time, so most are light and airy optimistic ditties.

I do try to keep them under 4 minutes though. Even I don't want to watch myself fly at 1x speed. :D
 
wabower said:
For that music, why even bother with the airplane footage? Just show a waterfall or an old Infiniti commerical.
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I take it you're not of celtic extraction, hmmm? At any rate, not everyone equates flight with frenetic. Vocals or instrumentals.
 
Windrider said:
I take it you're not of celtic extraction, hmmm? At any rate, not everyone equates flight with frenetic. Vocals or instrumentals.
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The choice of music in this case, couldn't've been much worse.

It doesn't get much more cliche than "Danger Zone" :vomit:

/pukes
 
Oh no not "top gun" music again :D
 
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