If I told you some guy put an a capella version of the Super Mario theme up on YouTube, you might be interested enough to watch it if you had nothing better to do. If I told you it was an a capella version using no vocal cords, you might be much more intrigued. It's real. Even better, it's done entirely with finger snaps.
Swedish media technology student Emil Axelsson posted the video showing his rendition of the Super Mario song, which he performs with clicks and snaps of his fingertips. He looks confident, like he was born to finger-snap his way to Internet stardom.
Axelsson appears to be concentrating quite intently as he makes his way through the song, keeping time with his leg. Naturally, people will question the veracity of the feat. If the video is a cleverly edited fake, then it's quite well done. The simpler solution is that Axelsson is a talented finger-snapping artist who practiced the tune until he could perform it cleanly.
The video joins a proud and illustrious tradition of unusual takes on the famous classic video game theme. We've already grooved our way through Super Mario on wine glasses, an ancient Chinese instrument, and a capella with vocals.
On his Twitter profile, Axelsson writes, "I like the Web, visualizations, software development, challenges, and music." This Mario video hits on more than half of those interests. Crave has reached out to Axelsson for comment on the video and will update the story if there's a response.
Update: Axelsson tells CNET, "I first realized for a couple of years ago that if I formed a smaller volume in the hand by curving my index finger I could achieve two different tones. Like when you learn to whistle, I managed to get a feel for how to shape the hand to play different notes, and now I have a register of about two octaves." That explains how he was able to achieve the range needed to pull off the song. It really is a matter of talent and practice.
(Via Huffington Post)