What I Did When I Was Supposed to Be Working on Friday

/ SueBC

I had a hard time on Friday concentrating on work, while ideas were percolating about adapting some Billy Joel lyrics to fit our new reality. Once the lyrics had coalesced into a version I was happy with, I couldn’t just leave it unsung — I had to find a karaoke video of the original song to sing along to.

And how could I stop there? I thought I might as well record the adaptation on my iPhone, using Voice Record Pro, with the karaoke piano in the background. (This particular song is right at the low end of my range, so I actually had to change the tune slightly on one line of the verse so I could avoid the lowest notes.)

After several takes resulted in a recording I was reasonably satisfied with, I did get back to work, but then I thought it would be cool to make a lyric video in the evening. This is not something I had ever done before, but I’m always game to learn something new. I tried to use Windows Movie Maker, having used it before for one of my son’s science projects, but apparently it no longer exists in Windows. It’s been replaced by Video Projects in the Windows Photos App. I played around with that, but couldn’t figure how to do it or even if it could work.

I wondered whether it would be possible to use PowerPoint (which I often use for work) and found this really useful page on How to Make Lyric Videos Using PowerPoint. I went down a very time-consuming rabbit hole of trial and error, entering timings on each of the slides, but there seemed to be no way to export what I had. (Not only that, but one can only listen to one’s own voice so many times.) I realized that I should in fact have paid better attention to the web page. The simplest way was to manually advance the slides while using the Record Slide Show button and then to export the recording. Success!

So, to make a long story short, here is my version of Billy Joel’s Honesty, adapted for the current period of isolation.

 

41 thoughts on “What I Did When I Was Supposed to Be Working on Friday”

      • Well you did a fabulous job!! I sent your rendition to my singer friend to have a listen
        I just figured out how to share my videos to WP blog!! 😂😂
        Love your blog! Always a delight to read your posts!! Stay safe and well ❤️❤️❤️

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        • Thank you! I’m sure she will hear all the same flaws that I do, though, like the laziness of sliding up to a note. But I decided that I was okay if this wasn’t perfect. After all, I am singing with my phone in my hand and a laptop playing in the background lol.

          I used to sing a lot when I was young, in choir and musicals and on my own. As my kids got older, I stopped singing pretty much, but I’ve been singing more lately. Generally, I sing country and/or folk,

          You stay safe too.

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  4. Brava Sue, I knew you were a good Piano 🎹 player, and now know you can sing as well. How did you get into finance? I have been listening to the daily live streams from the Metropolitan Opera. This week has been Wagner. Long but beautiful.

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  9. Ah, brilliant! 😂 And you have a nice vibrato in your voice.
    “Quarantine is such a lonely word” may just be stuck in my head forever now whenever this Billy Joel song is played on the radio. 🙂
    As for moviemaker – my first quick try of the Microsoft Photos app was unsatisfactory as well so I found a free download for it online somewhere a few months back when I got my new laptop. It was part of a “windows live essentials” package. Didn’t bookmark the link but if you’re interested I could try and look it up again for you.

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