“Jayhan” – The life of the YouTube music artist

 

When I’m not at school or at work, you may see me in front of the TV, watching a show or playing a video game and just enjoying the heck of what I’m doing.

When I’m not doing my homework for the next university course or preparing my lesson plan for the next English course, you may find me in my room, wearing my large headphones and working on my Digital Audio Workstation (DAW for short). Between me and that screen would be a MIDI keyboard, a piano-shaped instrument that is connected to the computer and allows me to finish up my compositions which was inspired by what I had watched or played previously.

When I’m not busy cleaning up the room and organizing my place, you may see me in the basement, moving things out of place like chairs, couches, weights, lights, any apparel that wouldn’t show up on the camera set up at the one end of the room. And after spending more or less an hour moving things around, I move the camera into the right position, put the lights in place and set the microphone stand in the correct position with the small mixing table and computer nearby. I open up my DAW, make sure the headphones and microphone works, and I proceed to the camera and click on the red button. Once the record light is flashing, I return to the computer and click on “Record audio”. All that’s left for me to do is to put on the headset, place herself in front of the microphone, wait for the musical cue and then sing.

And when I’m not watching videos on YouTube, I work on putting everything together on my video editor, syncing up the audio with the video, adding extra footage to the music video, rendering it before finally uploading that video onto my YouTube channel.

This is what a recording session looks like at home. It may start with a small idea, but it involves countless hours of production. This creative side of my life is what defines me as a passionate music artist with the heart of a geek.

My name is Jayhan and I’d like to start off by telling you a bit more about who I am exactly.

I’m a musician driven by my passion. To be more specific, I write music and do vocal covers. I compose orchestral pieces for soundtracks, but I also like to arrange my own tracks and film my performances.

I’m a storyteller constantly exploring ideas. I write scripts and stories, but I’m fascinated by hearing stories from creators themselves, from aspirations to little Easter eggs they’ve added to their works. It is that very notion that I use to keep my content interesting and entertaining for my audience.

I’m a nerd always savouring entertainment. Nothing can describe my love for entertainment, except if I do so in one of my music projects. From superhero cartoons to action-packed movies, from sci-fi comics to mystery novels, this influences the content I come up with.

I’m an artist juggling with work. I currently work as a language teacher and I’m a full-time university student. I’m very dedicated to my channel, but I’m unfortunately limited with the amount of content I can put online, considering the workload. I’m hoping this will change in the future, but this is what you viewers have to expect.

I’m a fighter living the dream. Despite the drawback, I’m still just human, always finding ways to live my dream. The only way I can accomplish that is by doing what I love doing, because knowing that my work can entertain you makes my dream come true. It gives me a greater sense of accomplishment, knowing that I can find the time to create satisfying music content for my audience and to see them enjoy it. And as a content creator, I can only encourage you to follow that same dream.

Now that you know who I am, here’s some anecdotes to give you some idea how I started out and where I’m at today.

My first cover uploaded on YouTube

My first music project uploaded onto YouTube dates back to April 2009. I had recently bought a new digital audio workstation (DAW for short) and decided to experiment a little. So I made a quick recording with the worst microphone you can possibly imagine – a computer mic, which was terrible in quality back then – and I recorded Terru’s Song from the movie Tales from Earthsea, which was a Japanese animated feature film by studio Ghibli. With the help of my DAW, I added some reverb to the recording I made and uploaded onto my first YouTube channel, which isn’t the same as the one I currently have. When I look back at this cover, I have to say that it was a nice try at something new and different.

My first arranged track

The second music cover I uploaded was different in which I used soundpools provided my DAW to create an instrumental track and sing over it. For those who don’t know, Soundpools are a collection of music samples that be played in loops. In other words, you load a drum track from your soundpools and you’ve basically got yourself a rhythm to sing to. And that’s what I basically did as I covered the Hymn of Fayth, a song from the acclaimed PlayStation 2 video game “Final Fantasy X”.

When these songs were uploaded, I was quite happy with the response I had received. People really enjoyed my music-related content on my old YouTube channel, so that’s when I decided I should create another YouTube channel for my other music projects. And that’s what basically happened.

Combining “geek” with “music”

I’m a huge nerd when it comes to entertainment-related topics. I grew up influenced by the music that was used on entertainment platforms, most of which were cartoons, video games, movies and TV series. I would sing along to the German opening theme of Digimon because it was so great and it got me excited for the series. I’d get hyped during the final boss battle in Sonic Adventure 2 when Crush 40’s song “Live and Learn” played in background as I was set on a time limit to destroy an alien lizard in space as it attempted to annihilate Earth. Even the songs that didn’t have any lyrics to them and were just instrumental, I’d still try to mimic them. From shredding guitars to the brass section announcing that the series was about to start, it was during these moments that music inspired me, combining my music skills and my nerdiness. It’s turned me into what I am today: if you’ve seen some of my more popular content, then you’ll realize that they’re all related to the things I grew up with and that I still love up to this day.

My first original (and geek-related) song

My first original composition was the original theme song of the Michigan Ghostbusters, also known as GBMI, and that dates back to October 2014. It was inspired by my first meeting with an actual the actor Ernie Hudson from the Ghostbusters movie during a convention the month before. Our encounter was heart-warming to say the least; I remember writing down the words that were exchanged and the overall feeling of our discussion. From that encounter, I was inspired to look up anything Ghostbusters related and I came across the Michigan Ghostbusters, who had actually created their own webisodes. I saw them, I liked them and decided, “Hey, this could use a theme song. Maybe I can ask them and see if they’d like that I give it a go?”

And that’s where this whole idea of doing geek-related music came from. Because there’s nothing more wonderful and self-affirming than combining geeky things with music.

Channel activity and future content of my channel

Now, unfortunately for me, my YouTube channel has been around for seven years and I’ve only been slightly more active in recent years. As mentioned before, I’m a full time student and a part time worker trying to find the time to not only make the music, but create the video as well. Uploads will be unfortunately irregular, but I do try my best to keep them as great and original as possible.

This is also the opportune time for me to announce that I will be changing some of the nature of the content on my channel. As I am a media and communications student, I’d like to appeal to my “geeky side” by uploading videos that consists of reviews and journalistic research based on entertainment. Don’t worry, if you have been subscribed due to my nerd-based content, then this will be interesting for you. One of the projects is that I will invite guests to tackle specific shows (most of them cartoons) and discuss the production and nature of the show, its pros and cons, and the Easter eggs. As this is still a project that’s being worked on, music video will still be uploaded.

Now that you know a little more about me, I hope that these anecdotes can inspire you to go out of your way, find time and use your creativity to do what you love doing. Whether you enjoy what I do or not, my dream has always started somewhere and will bring me someplace else as long as I continue making content.

Spade of Justice - A Short Story To Inspire Songwriting!

Hey everybody!

As an experiment for my storytelling class, I decided to write a story that would help me use it in another medium, namely in music!

Read the story to see what it's about. Then, check out the song that I've created based on it.

Spade of Justice

Abstract

The story is set in an era that’s come out of a decade-long war, where technology has been reduced to primitive technology. It tells about a young girl living on a farm on the outskirts of Huntsville, Texas. One day, her home is attacked by a gang of ruthless bikers called the Marauders, leaving her home burned and her father dead. After falling off a cliff during her escape, she washes up on the shores of downtown Huntsville, where a young woman and war veteran Serenity nurtures back to health. Determined to do something about the misery caused by the gang, Rayna partakes on a quest to find the Marauders and put them to an end along with her newfound friend, Serenity.

While Rayna learns that revenge can’t undo what’s been done, she also understands that one person has the ability to influence and motivate others to right the wrongs. If one can stand up to a bully, so can others, and that’s what Rayna proves in this story.

Story

In the far future, the world has come out of a decade-long war, which has annihilated technology and has forced people to rely on primitive technology, such as motor engineering. Society is still recovering from its war as it attempts to reestablish order, but gangs and clans have already begun forming, imposing their own authority, corrupting and terrorizing the areas they’ve conquered.  And in places like Texas, a former war-zone, there is only one rule that reigns supreme: kill or be killed.

With the disappearance of advanced and digital technology, people resort to living off with the things they’ve grown on their own, which makes farming and agriculture an invaluable resource.  which makes agriculture an invaluable resource.

On one of those farms in Texas, specifically on the outskirts of Huntsville, Texas, Rayna lived there with her father. Years of working on the farm in a tough environment has made strong and perserverent; she and her father make do with what they’ve got, and that’s all they ever needed.

But everything changed on that fateful day.

When Rayna was out on the field, helping her father dig out the dead crops, a deep rumble resounded in the distance. Her father looked up: dust gathered in the distance and from the cloud emerged a gang of motorcyclists. The flags strapped on their bikes revealed a dead head wearing a biking helmet, two daggers protruding from the back.

They were the Marauders and they had a reputation for being ruthless and violent. Their leader, Jeffrey, was merciless and cruel. He was a psychopath that enjoyed the pain of others, as long as it kept him entertained.

Realizing too late who they were up against, the father and Rayna found themselves surrounded by the bikers. They drove around the farmers in circles, maddening glee on their face, especially on Jeffrey’s. He wanted to have a little fun on this boring day, and what better way to do that than to watch two helpless civilians squirm?

Bikers would split from the group and rush towards Rayna and her father, trying to beat them down with their bats. Rayna was spry, but her father barely managed. He then saw as smoke in the distance, and there, he witnessed in horror as one of the bikers set his farm on fire. With the father distracted, Jeffrey seized the opportunity and drove towards the father. With one swoop, he smacked the father right across the face with a metal bat, the blunt force knocking him down. Rayna knelt to her father’s side, shaking him awake, only to see from the empty eyes that he was gone.

She barely had the time to mourn when she was picked off the ground by one of the bikers. Instincts kicked in and, realizing that she was still clutching onto the shovel, she took a swing at her abductor. The bike steered out of control and drove off a nearby cliff. While the young adult jumped off, she still rolled off the edge, but managed to thrust her shovel into the ground. As she dangled, the rest of the bikers followed to the edge. Without much afterthought, they left. Rayna was ready to follow, so climbed her way back up, just to see the farmhouse catching on flames. Her eyes moved from the farmhouse to the body of her father and, overwhelmed by shock, she slipped off the cliff and fell into the river below.

The river stretched as far as the eye could see, and Huntsville was the closest town to the farm. Later on that day, Serenity was heading for the river to gather some water. She was a young, read-headed woman with long hair, her strands hiding the large scar across her face right face and the eye patch on her left eye. As she approached the river bank, she spotted Rayna with the shovel in her hand. Quick to react, she rushed to her side. Rayna was weak, but alive, and Serenity knew that if she left her there, she’d only get worse. With much of that motherly concern, she decided to bring her home and take care of her. 

Rayna woke up a day later, surprised to find herself in bed. Serenity was sitting by Rayna’s bedside, and the young girl was at first hostile and emotional. She had just lost everything, including the only family she had left. Serenity listened as Rayna poured her heart out and little by little, they engaged in a heartfelt conversation. Serenity, too, shared her story. She was a war hero who fell from grace when she was beaten and humiliated by the Marauders. It was Jeffrey himself who gouged her eye, and because many other people have suffered under the Marauders’ reign of terror, no one is courageous enough to do something about it. This revelation brings the teen to grow angrier, and by the time Serenity was done telling her story, Rayna had found her calling: to bring down the Marauders.

Realizing that she still had her shovel, Rayna decided to get revenge on the man behind her misery. Therefore, she begged Serenity to train her: with her experience, Rayna knew that it would help her. Serenity was reluctant to the idea: Rayna, being a young girl, barely made it out alive, but there was nothing that could stop that fierce determination of that girl. Unable to convince her otherwise, Serenity agreed to train Rayna and to join on her quest to find Jeffrey, picking up the tonfa stick that she uses to defend herself.

They travelled to many towns and trained along the way, asking people around and following leads and rumors. They both ended up in La Grange, a small, remote town, and walked into LaSalle’s Bar. Tending it was Adan, a middle-aged, half-drunk barman who couldn’t be bothered unless someone was messing up his bar. As the asked Adan about the Marauders, he told them to head home. The bartender had a soft spot for women, especially after he had lost his wife and daughter, and the last thing he wanted was to see other women hurting. In that instant, Rayna exploded; she lost her home and her father to the Marauders and the fact that no one is standing up to them makes them cowards, yet she’s not letting that explaining that she had no home ana dead father and that people who don’t stand up to bullies are cowards. Adan barked back, claiming that cowards live longer, but Rayna won’t back down. Life to her wasn’t worth much if you let yourself get pushed around all the time. This statement somehow clicked with Adan. Other than needing time on his own, he finally told the women that the Marauders were bound to show up later on that evening. Satisfied with the response but still upset, Rayna nodded and took a seat with Serenity at a table.

As evening fell, the door to the bar bursts open and in came Jeffrey and two of his lackeys. They sat down by the table, laughing it off as they celebrated the new mayhem they’ve caused. Rayna eyed him like a hawk whereas Serenity checked with Rayna to make sure she was ready for whatever happened next. There was no going back, even if Rayna wanted to, and with one last glance, they headed for the Marauders’ table. However, Jeffrey recognized both women just in time and the Marauders stand up to fight them.

Rayna struck at the first Marauder that lunged at her while Serenity focused on the other. As they both were kept busy, Jeffrey snuck up behind Rayna to get the drop on her. Serenity anticipated that and intervened, pushing him aside with her weight. Jeffrey, in all his rage, grabbed hold of Serenity and threw her against the wall. The recoil caused her neck to snap and Serenity dropped like a bag to the ground. The leader of the Marauders approached Rayna, but Adan grabbed Jeffrey from behind and threw him towards the end of the room.

Adan turns around to see Rayna holding Serenity’s lifeless body, a mix of tears and rage in her eyes. Jeffrey stood up and ran out of the bar, with Rayna dashing after him. He wasn’t going to get away, not this time. The Marauder stumbled out of the bar, hobbling his way towards his bike. Rayna tackled him down and started hammering her fists at his face, beating him senselessly. She took her shovel, raising it over her head, ready to end him.

She brought it down, but missed his head. She got off of him and screamed, angry at herself for being unable to kill him. Jeffrey sniggered to himself and rose up, striking at her back with his fists. She crumbled, overpowered and caught off guard. He was ready to finish her once and for all when suddenly, Adan embedded Rayna’s shovel in Jeffrey’s skull. He fell to his knees and with that last breath leaving his body, fell to the ground, marking the beginning of the Marauders’ end.

Stretching his hand out to Rayna, Adan helped her up. No words were exchanged between them, just looks that told already so much. The townspeople came out of their buildings, staring momentarily before the crowd broke into a cheer. Adan and Rayna looked at each other again, exchanging smiles this time. He patted her on the back.

That night, a funeral was held for Serenity before the townspeople celebrated the day. Everybody was at the bar, drinking to their content. After several drinks, Rayna went to Adan, telling him that she was on her way. He didn’t smile. While he was serving another round, he offered her to stay and help out at the bar, suggesting that he could use a hand or two. Speechless, she stares for a moment, cries and nods silently. Despite everything she’s lost, she has found a place to belong to.

And for the days to come, she stood alongside Adan at the bar, tending to folks that came by the town. And, from time to time, she looked at the shovel that was hung on the wall in the bar. With a bright smile on her face, she spent the rest of her time rebuilding her life with someone close to a father.

Link to song: available soon!

FEMMEBOTS WITH ATTITUDE: connecting to more than meets the eye!

My greatest fascination as a kid was robots that could transform into vehicles. That's right; I loved Transformers, and I still do. One of the reasons why this passion lasted so long was due the fans that expressed this love through the things they created. To me, one person in particular stood above all, and that was Randall Ng.

In the Transformers community, Randall Ng is a famous animator that bases his animations on the original Transformers show, which aired back in the 80s. He references a lot of elements from the old cartoon and from time to time pokes fun at what the franchise has become today.

Take it from my standpoint: I was amazed how people invested their time into projects based on what they loved, especially cartoons. In some sense, I followed in his footsteps, creating music content related to what I loved.

So imagine my surprise when he messaged me and asked me to create a music track for his upcoming animation.

Sometime around July-August, 2014, I was contacted by him to compose a song for an animation that focused on the female characters of the series. This wasn't only a great opportunity to explore the range of my creativity, but also a privilege to be working with someone who acts as an inspiration in my life. So of course, I accepted the challenge.

The request was to compose a track to the rough animation draft he had sent me. I had more creative control as to what I wanted it to sound like, so I decided to make it not only reminiscent of the old series (hence the first few notes being the Transformers' 80s Theme Song), but also add a bit of the exciting elements which made these characters the femme fatales in the Transformers show.

I scoured through the old Transformers movie soundtrack to get a bit of an idea of how I wanted my song to be. As the 80s marked the era of orchestral rock and synth music, I decided to mix the best of both worlds, but add also hint of something from modern times. Since I was using multiple instruments, from strings to brass, from eletric guitars to a variety of synths, it was tough to keep track of how I wanted the song to be.

The entire composition - from coming up with ideas to the final mixdown - took altogether maybe 3-4 weeks tops. It was the first time I worked on an animation as a composer, so it was a great deal to me to deliver quality material. I believe I had to send in three versions before Randall was satisfied with it.

Later on in September, the animation was broadcast during a session with voice actors of the old Transformers show at Alamo City Comic Con 2014. I felt very accomplished for having achieved that feat, because not only could I contribute my work to some beautiful animation that involved some voices of my childhood, but I could work together with one of my inspirations.

Below you'll find the track that was composed for the animation:

And here, the animation to see how the music was introduced there.

According to Randall and the comments on the Youtube video, the response he'd received was beyond positive: people, most of them women, enjoyed the focus on the female-only cast, which was never done in this franchise. Since its upload on Youtube back in October 2014, the short film has amounted to 46'000 views up to this day, an incredible feat which I am proud to be part of.

As I am still an amateur musician, I know there are some technicalities that I can improve with this song. I do struggle with the mixing at times, but knowing that I made it this far and kept a "customer" I looked up to satisfied, I can safely say that this has become an experience that I will always look back to as I build my part-time career as a composer.

Now, having your music featured in an animation already feels like an incredible accomplishment to me. It's another thing entirely to see another geeky dream of mine coming true:

Me, Jayhan, being a Transformer.

You read right. In other words, I was asked to record myself and talk about what I do. Randall used the recording and animated to it, resulting in this really awesome video here:

Randall made short video interviews about the members of this project and their role in it. This was done exclusively for us; he didn't have to spend those additional hours animating, but he did it nonetheless because he loved working with other talented people. That's one of the many reasons why he stands out in this community as a passionate content-creator.

When fans gather for a project like this one, there are always risks of something going wrong. Nothing of the sort happened here. As a project leader, Randall allowed creativity and passion to collide, turning "The Energ0n Shuffle" into a fun opportunity for an amateur like me to show how I can be more than meets the eye.

Therefore, this blog entry will end with a message to those who are a mix of aspiring musicians/composers/singers and fans of the franchise: if you are looking for a chance to show the world what you've got, all you gotta do is reach out to others in a community you're part of. I didn't think I'd have an opportunity to work with great talents, yet here I am! That chance of yours to shine is out there. Just remember to never let that passion of yours die and to always

Keep on rockin'!

~Jayhan~

"UGH, I'LL NEVER BE YOUTUBE FAMOUS!"

Let's face it: every musician, singer or artist dreams about uploading that one music video they made that would go viral and get them the attention they want. Nowadays, however, it takes a lot more than dumb luck to become recognized, and for someone who aspires to make a living out of this, it can be quite a downer.

If you’re one of these people, then don’t give up that dream just yet. If there's one thing I've learned as an amateur music artist, it’s that I needed to get a lot of work done before someone could actually retain my name. Pro bono work, so to speak. Trust me, you’ll be doing a lot of that before anyone out there recognizes you.

But hey, that doesn’t mean your strife is a hopeless one. What you need is a strategy.

Take me, for example. I'm passionate about animations, TV shows, books, movies, cartoons and video games. People would immediately label me as a “geek”, which up to this day still has a negative connotation to it, ranging from laziness to lack of originality or productivity.

But for those who follow me, they would say quite the opposite.

If you look at my channel, you’ll find that there’s a lot of productivity going on, and while it’s not as known as other channels out there, my channel is growing. A lot of my works and projects pertain to specific niches in a demographic: children, teenagers, video gamers, other musicians and cartoon fanatics. This is essential to know, because then you’ll be able to understand how you can get better results, and whether or not you should invest a lot of time into it.

For example, I wrote a 30 second theme song for a cartoon show called “Sonic Boom”, a comedic animated show that had begun airing on TV only recently. It’s become popular enough for people to start looking up anything related to it. With the help of twitter, facebook and any other social media platform, my video had gained 10’000 views within 3 weeks’ time and nearly 50 subscribers.

When you try to make a name for yourself as a music artist, it’s not something that happens all in one go, but something that builds up like a career. You need to know who you’re reaching out to and understand your audience. If you can find something that would help you establish that connection between you and the audience, then you’re off to a great start.

If you're also trying to work your way up or have had similar experiences, share your thoughts in the comments section down below!

Keep on rockin',

~Jayhan~

Unto the world of blogging!

Hello everybody!

The name's Jayhan, and you may know me as the girl who sang and arranged multiple cartoon/tv series songs, such as The Alternative Sonic Boom Opening Theme, Supernatural's/Kansas' Carry on my Wayward Son ~Flute Lullaby~, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker's HEAVENS DIVIDE COVER, and of course, Transformers: age of Extinction's Battle Cry Cover. I'm a musician/singer/composer, a passionate writer, but also a huge geek who appreciates the creativity invested in TV series, cartoons, movies and video games, especially projects and works that are made by fans.

Because that's what I am, after all. A fan.

As such, I've decided to create a blog where I post regular updates on current and future projects. I've had a couple of followers tell me how they're interested in seeing how I get my work done and what makes me tick. Since I've reached 600 subscribers on Youtube last week, I feel like I should provide as much content as possible if not through videos, then through a blog like this one.

Therefore, from time to time, I'll be sharing some pictures in relation to my works, updates on the progress on some of my songs and tracklists, and announce future projects here and there.

Also, I'll be doing "Video Highlights", where I'll be talking about a origins, source of inspiration and other things about my past works. That way, people can see that beneath all those layers of geekism, litterature and musicality, I'm just human who likes to think beyond.

I'm really excited to start this blog, and I hope you are, too!

Dream on!

 
Courtesy of Joy Corthésy and Paola Henao

~Jayhan~