Bottom line: If you want a harp video to go viral, keep it short and make it accessible, which is to say, adaptable to the widest possible array of copycats.
I suspect that there's a terrific viral harp video just waiting to be made. Bad news: replicability and adaptability probably dictates that the harp playing be pretty basic stuff--whatever a non-player could do if he/she picked up a harp for the first time.
Last Edited by kudzurunner on Feb 18, 2013 1:10 PM
I only made it about 2 minutes through. Why does McDonald's sell more than any other food when the alternatives are superior? Something about familiarity and comfort and ease of access.
This occurred to me too, from a distant, and I must add, disgracefully sexist, age, which Boswell attributed to Dr Johnson. "I told him I had been that morning at a meeting of the people called Quakers, where I had heard a woman preach. Johnson: "Sir, a woman's preaching is like a dog's walking on his hind legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all."
This explains the popularity of surfing squirrel, skateboarding hound and other YT vids about.
Frank, since the levels between the car stereo and the harp don't make a good for a particularly great version, I'd say it's got to say it's probably got a lot to do with it being a Chili Peppers song. There are parts of it I like. There are other parts that sound sort of stilted. Other parts just don't work at all. I would have liked it better if he'd left some space in it.
Also, it looks like it is closing in on 100,000 hits, not 1 million.
Sorry, I've been crazy busy the last couple of days and didn't have time to respond until now... Actually that article linked to by Adam is very insightful when it comes to "viralocity" of youtube videos. I have to admit that I had to look up the "Harlem Shake" video. It's pretty ridiculous. I would hope that there are ways to succeed on YouTube without that level of silliness. There has to be, as I see it happening with bands all the time. I think band-level success on youtube and "viral video" level success are two totally separate things. You can do both, I suppose (witness Psy), but who would want to?
By the way, I found this GREAT response video to the "Harlem Shake":
Apparently, that vid has no cred in the real Harlem... :)
Also, in response to Frank. I've actually had contact with Tobias (the gent in that vid). He's as puzzled as the rest of us as to the success of that particular video. He knows he's an advanced beginner on harmonica, and he knows he wants to/has to get better. But if I may be perfectly blunt, I think it does have to do with the fact that it's a cover of a Chili Peppers song by a young, handsome black dude. And not a cover of a 60-year old blues song by a middle aged white dude. This is not meant in offence, but I really think that has a lot to do with it... ----------
I was thinking similar thoughts, Isaac, about the young guy's looks and popularity of the video. Went to a blues jam last night and it brought home your point forcefully, I'm afraid. Great to listen to but...
Isaac: That video of Harlem folks responding to the Harlem Shake is one of the great YouTube videos. I absolutely LOVE it. Those attitudes are what I remember from my time there. It's like an August Wilson play. Every single voice is a part of the overall communal picture; young and old, male and female. There's a kind of wit, humor, rough edge, and warmth that is very, very familiar, and irreplaceable.
Ha! great stuff!!! My favorite takeaway from the kudzu link is that most people know (either instinctively or from experience) that the overwhelming majority of people aren't creatively talented, ie. their youtube videos suck. So it's imperative that any YT vdeo maker hoping to hit it big has gotta keep it short. It's the only way to get new viewers/listeners to risk the downside (the waste of time).
To me this sums up so much of the "social media" aspect of the internet. Youtube, facebook, twitter. Hell, twitter even requires that you keep it short, and yet we still get mostly bloviating narcissists telling the world what they just ordered on their hamburger.
LOVED the real Harlem reaction to the internet Harlem Shake (and I haven't even watched the latter and have no intention to do so). But it does beg the question, where would we go to get the reaction to the gagnam (sp?) video? .....the epileptic siezure ward of our local hospital?
@kudzu: Glad you found that enjoyable! Yeah, I wasn't too familiar with the current viral phenomenon (I've had my head down working super hard this year as a first-time asst. prof.), but when I saw this O.P., I had to research it... When I found that video, I was quite impressed! I saw that you posted some more over on FB, and I'll try to check those out too... Cool stuff! ----------
