Rains of Castamere – Game of Thrones Cover
Game of Thrones is one of the most powerful TV adaptations I’ve ever seen. The episode “Blackwater” (2nd season) has been my favorite by far. It concludes so many intense events with a beautiful and haunting rendition of Rains of Castamere by The National.
This episode confirmed my feelings about many characters. It showed some of them at their worst, while unexpectedly presenting others at their best during the worst possible circumstances. It was stunning.
I haven’t been able to get this song out of my mind. I had to do a cover. I haaaaad to. :) Hope you guys enjoy it!
Thank you for listening!
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Fear Not This Night – Guild Wars 2 Cover
I’m so excited to share this collaboration. Working with Lara and Taylor on a Guild Wars 2 cover was so much fun!
When some of you suggested this song, I was scared. Haha! It’s quite out of my league both range-wise and skill-wise. I don’t mean to beat myself up, I am happy singing quiet/lower ranged music, but this is truly a song that is best performed by a soprano like the beautiful singer Asja in the original recording. :)
I still wanted to try! Hehe. And I’m glad we did.
I knew some of my limitations going in. They made me hesitate, but I feel that approaching these limitations is just as important as dedicating time to other aspects of singing I’m more comfortable with.
It’s similar to how in games I must, MUUUUST open every single edge and corner of the maps. I know there’s probably nothing to do there, but I still get experience by discovering them. ;P Or at least a non-blurry map. Can’t stand those.
And some boundaries can be pushed back. Especially when they’re due to inexperience. For example, this song helped me realize that my lower register is limited to a breathy sound… which is ok for most of the music I want to sing, but it’s still a limitation that I feel can be broken. It’s n00bness-based, and I’m curious to see if with training and practice I could learn to give my voice more power, presence, and different colors.
Overall, recording this was wonderful. :) It has made me want to hire a proper vocal coach! :) And nothing makes me happier than finding new ways to keep nurturing this part of my life that I love very much.
A million thank you’s to Taylor and Lara for the amazing experience of working with them. They are so talented! It was very inspiring to work with them. :) And many thanks to you guys for the kind feedback on the song.
For more info about these amazing musicians, please check out their various links:
Taylor Davis (Violin):
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/ViolinTay
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TaylorDavisViolin
Lara (Piano):
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/lara6683?feature=watch
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lara-plays-videogame-music/133120433439786
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September Already?
I was about to spam Facebook with all the thoughts on my mind and then realized I have a blog.
I’m full of energy at the moment because I just finished the arrangement for the next cover, and I can’t wait to record it. It’s much simpler than the others, but it feels better that way to me. I played it for my mom and was very happy that she enjoyed it without knowing anything about the context. Great songs stand on their own, and I’m crossing my fingers so that I can do this one justice!
I just saw the date and I panicked. September 14th… Halloween is just around the corner and some friends and I want to try to dress up as Game of Thrones characters. There’s 12 of us. We have a Jon Snow and Little Finger. The rest are still battling over who’s gonna be who.
There’s tons of great female characters! But my reasoning at the moment sounds like this:
“I hate the witch… but I love her hair. I hate Cersei… but I love her hair, too.” ;P
I love everyone’s hair on this show and have a feeling my decision is going to be based on that alone. Haha! Bad Malu!
Who do you think I should choose?
[poll id='4']
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Tale of the Tongues Cover
I’m so happy I was finally able to finish and upload this Tale of the Tongues cover from Skyrim!
At first, I wanted to do a different arrangement of it, with other music referenced, but it was so long and the transitions felt forced. So, I decided to scale back to my original idea. :D
The cool thing about scaling back is that I now have an idea for another video which I’ll start recording soon. It will feature a couple of pieces that didn’t make it into the final Tale of the Tongues arrangement, but that I’d still love to share with you.
I hope you enjoy this!
And ***SPOILER BELOW IF YOU HAVEN’T LISTENED TO THE ARRANGEMENT. LISTEN FIRST!!!***
I was glad to be able to incorporate a bit of the Sovngarde song. The original is so haunting. I had chills when I played that part of the game!
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Through the Night by Alex Pfeffer
Many, many thanks to composer Alex Pfeffer for inviting me to sing on a track he wrote called “Through the Night”, which is an official demo for Eduardo Tarilonte‘s new medieval sample library ERA.
I always get chills at 1:54 min. Gorgeous melodyyy!
For more about Alex, follow him on Twitter and visit his website.
Read MoreYou and Me
Every now and then, during a quick “nice to see you” conversation, friends ask me how I feel about the beautiful response Dragonborn and other covers have gotten. I panic trying to summarize my feelings and end up saying something like, “It’s really awesome!” And the moment I say it, I feel lame. Because eating ice cream on a Sunday is awesome. The encouragement you guys have given me has truly changed the way I feel about my life, my choices, and about myself.
Last year was a difficult one for me. Emotionally, health wise, professionally… Every aspect of my being malfunctioned at the same time, and what I remember the most is that feeling of hitting a wall.
Like this.
In November, during one of the most peaceful moments I’d had all year, I recorded the Dragonborn cover. In the months since then, every single message I’ve received from you has turned that concrete wall into this:
Every encouraging message you write, every tweet, every share feels like a firm climbing grip.
I’m not over the wall yet. My insecurities haven’t been magically fixed. My fears and doubts are still lurking nearby.
But you’re helping me find a way to keep moving. And most importantly, you keep me looking up.
And that’s why you are more awesome than ice cream on a Sunday.
Infinitely more awesome.
Love,
Thankful Malu
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About Malu
Hi! I am a composer and singer from Monterrey, Mexico. I love office supplies, video games, and my dog Thor. He's awesome. :D Thanks for visiting!
