On the bandolim we can hear Hamilton de Holanda who plays a nice arrangement of Something on the bandolim:

Beatles’n'Choro – Something – Hamílton de Holanda

A Brazilian project of The Beatles music in Choro, a traditional brazilian music.

You can find several videos with titles from this project, but there are also other videos of Beatlessongs played by choro ensembles. Here is a group who has three videos of Beatlessongs at youtube:

I Wanna Hold Your Hand – Chorinho

Apresentação do grupo de choro no espetáculo “The Beatles” da Academia de Dança Regina Dell’Aquila – Teatro do Shopping Centro – São José dos Campos – SP – Dez/09. Marcelo Furlan (violão), Serginho Petroni (bandolim), Matheus Modesto (surdo) e Eduardo Galvani (pandeiro). Produção Vídeo Marina.

Finaly I have found some interesting videos at myspace – here as an example the song Eleonor Rigby played with bandolim, violao and pandeiro:

Eleonor Rigby – Beatles — Deus lhe Pague – Chico Buarque

Eleonor Rigby – Beatles — Deus lhe Pague – Chico Buarque

Brasil com S Escola de Choro e MPB | MySpace Video

I have collected some other videos of Beatlessongs in choro style in my playlist:

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=3C751A11D1E21167

• Mandolins: Miyatake Shiyougo, Wakiya Kazuyo
• Mandola: 穏 香 Tominaga
• Guitar: Miyatake Tizuko
• Mandoloncello: Itsumi Umeda.

V · Roeser / Sonate Nr. 06 (first movement)

V · Roeser / Sonate Nr. 6 (3rd movement)

Leopold Mozart / Für Wolfgang – Suite Nr. VIII d-Moll (1762) in five movements, second movement: Fantasia

Leopold Mozart / Für Wolfgang, fifth movement, Murki (or french: Mourqui)

(what is a murki – see below)

Irish Folk Song / Brian Boru’s March

more videos of Valentin Roeser Sonata

Sonata VI – Primer Tiempo, de Valentín Roeser

Sonata VI – Segundo Tiempo, de Valentín Roeser

Sonata VI – Tercer Tiempo, de Valentín Roeser

Links

Leopold Mozart – Album for Wolfgang: http://www.klavier-noten.com/leopold-mozart/

youtube channel with those and more videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/MANNO7000 und http://twitter.com/abcx19/

Sheetmusic for Brian Boru’s March (melody): http://breizhpartitions.free.fr/de/partitur_download.php/75_Brian_Boru%E2%80%99s_March

What is a Mourqui (Murki)?: http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=54303

A more explicit definition can be found in the Grimm Bros.’ famous German dictionary:
MURKI, n. kurze muntere tanzweise,
Murki n[euter]. short lively dancing tune,
bei der der basz durchgehend aus gebrochenen octaven besteht.
whose bass part entirely consists of broken octavoes.
im ersten drittel des 18. jahrh. einem offenbar bäerlichen tanze aus Süddeutschland entlehnt,
in the 1st third of the 18th cent. borrrowed from an obviously rustic dance,
häufig komponiert,
composed frequently,
und noch lange nachher literarisch bezeugt:
and for a long time after testified in literature:

Wikipedia about Leopold Mozart: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_Mozart (Engl.) and http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_Mozart (German)

Valentin Roeser (from http://www.ottohaas-music.com/41-2catalogue.html)

Not in RISM; not in MGG/2. The very rare first French edition. Valentin Roeser (c. 1735 – c. 1782) was a clarinettist of German birth; he lived in Paris from c. 1754 and was appointed to the services of the Prince of Monaco before 1762. In 1769 he became a musician to the Duke of Orléans. He was a prolific composer and arranger and translated, in addition to Leopold’s method, other works by German theorists such as Marpurg into French and thus contributed to the spread of works by his compatriots. Barry S. Brook, who dates our edition to 1770, must be corrected on the basis of Devriès-Lesure, who note that the engraver quoted on the title-page, Ribart, worked only in 1769.

This post in German:

setouchiMANDOLINEquintet – Ein tolles Zupfquintett aus Japan – V. Roeser / L. Mozart

Regina Spektor grew up in Moskow where she began to play the piano. When she was 9 they emmigrated to the USA. Regina has studied the piano and composition, and she began to write her own songs and started her carreer as a singer/songwriter. She has produced several CDs, the latest CD is Far.

She plays the piano or the guitar to accompany her songs, but sometimes she just uses drum sticks to play the rhythm, or she has a band to play with her. Her songs have been used for TV series and movies. She writes interesting songs that are often influenced by her classical education as a musician.

NPR has produced several concerts with Regina Spektor, three concerts are available:

Regina Spektor on Mountain Stage 2009

Regina Spektor on Mountain Stage 2009: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120250919

New York-based singer, pianist and songwriter Regina Spektor returns to Mountain Stage for the second time to perform songs from her recent album, Far. The album was recorded with three high-profile producers — Mike Elizondo, Jeff Lynne and Garrett “Jackknife” Lee — in addition to David Kahne, who worked on Spektor’s critically acclaimed 2006 album Begin to Hope. As Mountain Stage host Larry Groce notes, Far sounds concise thanks to Spektor’s distinct style and approach to singing, writing and playing.

With assists from Daniel Hae-Wan Cho on cello, Kaoru Ishi Bashi on violin and John McKenzie Smith on drums, Spektor’s rhythmic, nimble piano style and acrobatic, unconventional vocals are unifying factors in her thought-provoking songs. The latest single from Far, the powerful “Laughing With,” is included in this performance.

“The Calculation”

“Eet”

“Folding Chair”

“Machine”

“Laughing With”

“Dance Anthem of the ’80s”

“I Don’t Want to Live Without You”

“Blue Lips

Regina Spektor on Mountain Stage 2008

Regina Spektor on Mountain Stage 2008: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94889309&ps=rs

September 22, 2008 – In the early 2000s, Russian-born Regina Spektor was making music in tucked-away clubs on New York’s Lower East Side. By 2003, she’d landed a record deal with Sire, and her self-released album Soviet Kitsch was reissued by the label.

Spektor’s tantalizing piano playing and her quirky character pieces helped land her widespread exposure, particularly after the 2006 release of Begin to Hope. Buoyed by the hit song “Fidelity,” the album was critically acclaimed, and helped cement Spektor’s place as a pop-music phenomenon.

Regina Spektor in Concert 2006

Regina Spektor in Concert 2006: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6161219&ps=rs

October 3, 2006 – Regina Spektor makes quirky, artfully orchestrated music with hip-hop rhythms, inspired pop melodies and the passion of punk rock. On tour for her latest CD, Begin to Hope, Spektor visited the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. for a night of music, originally webcast live on NPR.org Oct. 3.

One of my favorite songs by Regina Spektor is Machine. I have added two videos of this song to this post – she plays together with her band including Dan Chon on cello:

Regina Spektor – Machine – Live Paris Bataclan 01-07-09

Regina Spektor Machine 12 07 2009

Links about Regina Spektor

Homepage: http://www.reginaspektor.com/

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/reginaspektor

Fan-page: http://www.reginaspektor.org/

Wikipedia (Engl.) about Regina Spektor: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regina_Spektor

laut.de about Regina Spektor (German) with bio and CD reviews: http://www.laut.de/Regina-Spektor

This post in German:

Regina Spektor – Tolle Stimme, fantastische Songs – Drei Konzerte bei NPR

Ausschneidebogen: Wir basteln uns eine Papier-E-Gitarre http://bit.ly/cO3puS

Peter Glaser writes a blog which includes also an instrument of the day with a lot of special instruments: Instrument des Tages Some days ago he presented a paperguitar.

At first I did not believe that the image showed a real guitar made from paper – but after I made some searches I was convinced that this was really a Les Paul guitar made from paper. I found the site jzool.com where you can see this and other paper craft models of musical instruments including a violin, a cello, a harp, a piano and two electric guitars.

http://jzool.com/home.php?cat=574

If you want to see how the paper violin is built you can watch the following video which gives many hints about how to deal with the paper to be able to glue it together precisely:

Paper Craft Instrumental “Pepakura” Violin-Kit

When I searched for paperguitars I found another site that offers free models of more than 30 guitars including models by Gibson, Rickenbaker, Gretsch and Martin. Just print this on heavy paper, cut it out and make your own little guitar.

paperguitar.com – papermodels of Gibson, Gretsch and other guitars

www.paperguitar.com

Here is an example of a guitar made from one of thosepapermodels.

Paper Guitar Model Making

Links

Playlist with some youtube videos about paper guitars: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=7862ECCAA21ACD8F

Homepage of the HANDSON company: http://www.hxon.net/

Good Design Award for HANDSON for the cello paper model: http://www.g-mark.org/award/detail.html?id=33985&lang=en&sheet=outline

uponafold – Homepage / shop for paper product in Australia: http://uponafold.com.au/

Pepakura.net – free paper models for download: http://www.pepakura.net/

Wikipedia (Engl.) about paper models: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_model

German paper model forum: http://www.kartonmodell-forum.net/forum/

There is especially one song that is connected with Misori Hibari – Kawa no Nagare no Yō ni. This song is played by radio and TV stations in Japan every year on the birthday of Misori Hibari. And this song has been selected as the best song ever by more than 10 million people in Japan in 1997.

From wikipedia: Beginning in 1990, television and radio stations annually play her song “Kawa no nagare no yōni” (川の流れのように^?) on her birthdate to show respect. In a national poll by NHK in 1997, the song was voted the greatest Japanese song of all time by more than 10 million people.

I have found many videos of this song at youtube, and I have selected the most interesting videos for my post.

Let’s start with a version sung by Misori Hibari herself  in a video that shows some original pictures and movies:

川の流れのように 2000 『Kawa no Nagare no Yoni 2000』～ 美空ひばり 【Hibari Misora】

Now some videos of this song with pucked instruments. The first video shows a Chinese group of 12 women – the 12 Girls Band who play all chinese instruments:

Among the instruments used by the women: erhu (Chinese fiddle), pipa (pear-shaped lute), guzheng (zither), yangqin (hammered dulcimer), dizi (transverse flute), and xiao (vertical flute). Occasionally, the duxianqin (single-stringed zither) and hulusi (three-piped gourd flute) are employed. (from wikipedia)

Kawa No Nagare No Yoni

Here is a version for classical guitar:

川の流れのように (Kawa no Nagare no Youni) (Like the flow of the river)

And a version by the famous group Los Panchos with guitars:

Tributo a “Los Panchos” – Kawa no nagare no yo ni

Now a version for mandolin orchestra from Japan – garden concert for handicapped people:

2010_S園　2/4

And finally a version with electric guitar:

美空ひばり / 川の流れのように － Live in 俺んちｗ －

Links about Misori Hibari

Wikipedia (Engl.) about Hibari Misora: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibari_Misora

Lyrics zu Kawa no Nagare no Youni mit englischer Übersetzung: http://www.corichan.com/lyrics/albums/tsubaki-camellia.html

Wikipedia about the  12 Girls Band: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Girls_Band

Homepage 12 Girls Band: http://www.12girls.org/english/index.asp

Blog (German) about enka singing in Japan: http://japanprojekt.blog.de/2009/10/03/schlager-7089269/

playlist with other versions of Kawa Nagare No Youni: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=6CC1DF7C17BBF06E