We teamed up with the incredible Dutch Domino Team to make this mesmerizing video for our brand-new cover of “Take On Me.” Fun fact: this video took 7,000 dominos and over two days to set up and shoot!
Check it out below and stream the track on our new album, Our Flashback Wedding, on your preferred streaming service here.
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If you’ve never heard of Simply Three, get ready for your new favorite string trio!
We are so excited to release the video for our first collaboration with this incredible group: “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”
Watch the video above and stream on Spotify here.
And don’t worry, no violins or violinists were harmed in the making of this video.
“Total Eclipse of the Heart” is off the upcoming Our Flashback Wedding album. You can read all about the album at Brides Magazine and pre-save on Spotify right here.
Our Flashback Wedding will be available June 4th!
By the way, this is what Beethoven sounds like upside down.
Learn more about it here.
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We recently released a video for our rendition of Ariana Grande’s “positions.” We’re so happy with how this video turned out and excited to share it as part of our new Deluxe Edition of VSQ Performs the Hits of 2020, Vol. 2 alongside tracks by Bad Bunny, Maroon 5, Lewis Capaldi, and Taylor Swift.
Watch the video and stream the album below!
We loved this breakdown of The Weeknd’s vocal style! The folks at Classic FM took a clear look at some theory and technique to find out just what makes the superstar’s deceptively simple delivery work. Check it out!
We took part in this incredible album by (RED). Dance (RED) Save Lives III is a new Afrobeats-inspired album that raises money for the Global Fund COVID-19 Response with every stream. For our part, we rearranged “Halleluya” by Johnny Drille, which was then remixed by Burssbrain. We’re in love with the end result and so happy to be a part of it.
Check out the album here and listen closely for your favorite string quartet!
]]>Now you too can VSQ, Bridgerton-style. We’re overjoyed to announce that sheet music for our arrangements of “thank u, next,” “Girls Like You,” “bad guy,” and “In My Blood” are now available, all exactly as featured in the hit Netflix period drama.
Put aside your Whistledown papers and shoo away the suitors, make a musical entrance à la the stunning Daphne, or get saucy like Simon and Daphne with these new charts!
Click here to buy now!
We premiered a brand new video for our longtime fan favorite rendition of “Motion Picture Soundtrack” by Radiohead over at Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone writes, “In a video shot in isolation, the Los Angeles project performs the Kid A track in several rooms… ‘Motion Picture Soundtrack’ is one of the group’s classics."
Our video director, Tom Bird, adds, “We wanted to create a video that reflected the isolation of each musician while depicting their creation of music as a reaction to their solitude.”
Read more about the video at Rolling Stone and check out the video in full below!
We just dropped a safe-at-home music video for our rendition of “Girls Like You.” Check it out below and stream it on our latest album VSQ Performs the Hits of 2020, Vol. 2, right here.
If you’d like to learn more about our involvement in Bridgerton, we answered some questions in this great interview over at Nylon: “How Vitamin String Quartet Charmed The World With Their Classical Covers On Bridgerton”.
Stream the soundtrack to Bridgerton here!
The folks over at the Vox-produced podcast Switched On Pop had Bridgerton composer Kris Bowers on to talk about music in the series. You can hear the entire episode here or hear them discuss our rendition of “Thank U, Next” below.
Lately, we’ve been enjoying the work of Grammy-nominated hip-hop violin and songwriting duo Black Violin. Check out their video below and read their songwriting tips here.
We just dropped a brand-new video for our rendition of “Ice Cream,” originally by BLACKPINK & Selena Gomez. We had the chance to work with the incredible artist and animator Yulia Ruditskaya to serve up this sweet treat! We hope you enjoy.
You can hear our rendition of “Ice Cream” on our latest album, Vitamin String Quartet Performs the Hits of 2020, Vol. 2.
You may have heard our music in the hit new Netflix series Bridgerton. We’re so in love with how well-adapted our music is to the show’s setting and we’re thrilled at the new attention we’re receiving! We’re especially smitten with the love we received over at Buzzfeed. Head over and check it out!
You can hear our contributions to the show’s soundtrack on your preferred streaming service right here!
In other music news, iSax Laboratories attempted to make a machine that could play a trombone and it… uhh… worked?
Last week, Netflix released the first season of their brand-new series, Bridgerton. We’re pleased to share that our music is quite beautifully featured in the show!
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Last week, Netflix released the first season of their brand-new series, Bridgerton. We’re pleased to share that our music is quite beautifully featured in the show! Check out the clip here and stream the soundtrack below.
We love our fans, and we want to thank you all for your support over the years. This is a big event for us and we really couldn’t have done it without all of you. So, thank you!
As a throwback and celebration, we’re revisiting our video for “Bad Guy,” a song featured in the show.
Check it out and feel free to remind the comment section below that you were here first!
And if you’re looking for more VSQ don’t forget that we recently released Vitamin String Quartet Performs the Hits of 2020 Vol. 2, available on your preferred streaming service.
We got together in the open air of a nearby Los Angeles rooftop and recorded a brand new video for our rendition of “Rockstar” by DaBaby and Roddy Ricch. We are so proud of this video (these drone footage views are incredible!), so please check it out below and share it with a friend. Afterwards, you can stream the song as part of our brand new album, VSQ Performs the Hits of 2020, Vol. 2.
Every December we get cozy and revisit our Christmas album. In usual VSQ fashion, it has heartwarming and sweet renditions of classics like “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” and “O Holy Night” alongside modern hits like “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” and “Christmas Wrapping.” Snuggle up and enjoy!
As it gets colder and the prospects of spending time outside get slimmer, we turn to our stereos for both at home comfort and a bit of escape. Luckily, the folks at Classic FM have compiled a list of 25 classical works inspired by winter.
Some might help you get warm while bundled up with a mug of hot tea like Émile Waldteufel’s “The Skater's Waltz, Op. 183” or Claude Debussy’s “The Snow Is Dancing,” while others capture the icy chill of the season at its most dramatic, Vaughan Williams’s “Sinfonia Antartica” for instance.
Additionally, BBC Classical Music has offered a fascinating history of Christmas music, tracing the history of carols all the way back to the 14th century! And you thought our rendition of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas” was a throwback!
We just released our rendition of “ROCKSTAR” by DaBaby and Roddy Ricch off our upcoming album Vitamin String Quartet Performs the Hits of 2020, Vol. 2. This song was great to translate to strings and we’re so excited to share it with you!
Click here to listen on your preferred streaming platform!
We got some fresh air and shot a safely distanced video for our rendition of Portugal. The Man’s “Feel It Still.” It was so nice to explore various parts of Los Angeles with our instruments. We hope you enjoy!
We’re continuing our VSQ How-To series on YouTube! You can find all our How-To videos here. Subscribe to stay up to date and let us know what else you’d like to see in the comments!
In our latest video, VSQ violinist Earl Maneein discusses VSQ’s rendition of the Portugal. The Man song “Feel It Still” and how he accomplishes the percussive sound to support the group.
And in case you’re getting hung up on the rhythm, we found this handy guide. Don’t worry, we’ll be referring to it too!
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We love Halloween! As the holiday quickly approaches, don’t forget to check out our exclusively curated Halloween playlist on Spotify and YouTube!
Additionally, in the spirit of our favorite holiday we put together a tribute to Night of the Living Dead using footage from the original film and B-roll from our Halloween videos from last year. Happy Halloween! You can also hear our rendition of the Night of the Living Dead theme along with 14 other horror classics on our album Blood Curdling Strings! We hope you enjoy.
One of our favorite seasonal movies is The Nightmare Before Christmas. We released our renditions of the incredible soundtrack on vinyl and you can now get them online! A great seasonal gift for fans of the fall and winter classic.
Lastly, a reminder that we’re continuing our VSQ How-To series on our YouTube channel. You can find all our How-To’s here. Subscribe to stay up to date and let us know what else you’d like to see in the comments.
Our latest two videos feature our violinist Earl Maneein showing how he shreds over Metallica’s 1991 classic, “Enter Sandman.” We hope you enjoy and learn a little while you’re at it.
We're back with our second VSQ How-To video, featuring VSQ producer and performer Pablo Hopenhayn. In this one, he discusses our rendition of Tones and I's hit “Dance Monkey” and how he arranged it to make the strings swing. See the video below and let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Check out the full song and other new tracks on VSQ Performs the Hits of 2020. And if you missed our first How-To about arranging Justin Bieber’s “Intentions” for strings, you can check it out here. Stay tuned because we’ll have more coming your way, including tips for playing metal violin and percussive string techniques!
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We’re so excited to share the first video in our new how-to series! In this inaugural video, our producer/arranger Pablo Hopenhayn discusses how he arranges simple melodies to keep an instrumental rendition sounding fresh and lively throughout. For this demonstration, we take a closer look at Justin Bieber’s “Intentions,” off our latest release, VSQ Performs the Hits of 2020. Give it a look and let us know your thoughts in the comments!
As the series continues, we’ll hear from many members of VSQ, each telling us more about their specialties and tips. Subscribe on YouTube and keep an eye on your inbox for more string performance, arrangement and production tricks that we’ve used across our catalogue. We hope you find these videos fun and informative. It’s such a delight to share what we’ve learned and discovered over the years.
]]>We are thrilled to release our second collaboration with the L.A. Contemporary Dance Company. The work of the nine dancers and choreographers involved in this video is stunning and emotive, speaking to isolation and anger. We love the dark undercurrent in The Weeknd’s music and visuals, and with the LACDC, we were able to honor that and highlight it. Please watch and dive in to this innovative and emotive dance company’s excellent work!
]]>It’s here! We just released VSQ Performs the Hits of 2020. Check it out on your preferred streaming service to hear our renditions of recent hits by The Weeknd, Tones and I, Dua Lipa, Doja Cat and Drake.
And, in case you missed it, watch our brand new collaboration with the L.A. Contemporary Dance Company in the video for Roddy Ricch’s “The Box” below.
We’re loving the way violinist Ezinma plays over Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP.” Give it a listen and check out their channel below!
Did you know that listening to classical music improves work accuracy by 12%? And pop music reduces mistakes by 14%? Read more about those and many more interesting facts in this handy infographic about listening to music while you work!
Foo Fighters’ debut album recently turned 25! Their songs have been a perennial staple for us since we first covered them in 2007. Celebrate this classic album with us!
]]>We’re so excited to share our first video in collaboration with the L.A. Contemporary Dance Company! It was so great working with this visionary group. Check out their beautiful choreography for our brand new rendition of Roddy Ricch’s “The Box” and keep your eyes peeled for VSQ Performs the Hits of 2020, out 8/21!
]]>It’s been a moment since we last checked in, so we wanted to share an important update. Vitamin String Quartet stands with the ongoing fight for racial justice. We have begun our support of these efforts with contributions to three incredible organizations: The Equal Justice Initiative, UNCF and the NAACP. Please click through the image below to read more:
Since we’ve been isolated at home, we decided it was a good time to dig through the vaults. We’re excited to finally share our in-studio rendition of Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You,” filmed in the Spring of 2019. Check it out and let us know what you think!
Our ears are burning and that means… someone has been asking Siri about us! We’re so honored and thrilled that our rendition of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' classic “Scar Tissue” was included in The King of Staten Island. Check it out and give the film’s official playlist a listen.
We often hear that people like to listen to VSQ while they get work done, so we thought we’d share something that has been getting us through the workday. Julius Eastman is an incredible composer whose contemporary classical music took influence from pop and whose work only came to be fully appreciated after he had passed. Check out this recently reissued, beautiful, minimal, and slowly building 1974 recording if you’re looking to hear something different!
https://frozenreeds.bandcamp.com/album/femenine
And if you need more VSQ, remember that we’ve got tons of music available, just a click away. Check out our newly updated Give in to the Geek Side playlist on Spotify and listen to your heart’s content!
]]>We’re here for you. Poke around below to connect, relax, unwind, and learn.
We just released our new record, an album-length tribute to Lana Del Rey! You can check out the full record here and watch our first video from the album below. We’re so happy to pay tribute to the artist that Pitchfork named “one of America’s greatest living songwriters.”
Music can help us make space in our day to relax and focus on our emotional wellbeing. As soon as we saw Yo-Yo Ma’s #SongsOfComfort, we were inspired to start making our own. Our many instrumentalists have been playing the songs that bring them comfort over on our Instagram. We’d love to see you make your own, and if you do, please tag us so we can share to our story!
It’s no secret that we love Björk. With our VSQ Performs Björk release (now one year old!), we hoped to capture some of the essence that makes her imaginative universe so powerful. We found this quote to be uplifting and insightful. Take a look and check out the videos below to enter the world of this endlessly inspiring artist.
I think this video’s title tells you all you need to know about this Billie Eilish cover…
When Classical Composers Did the Fox Trot
We spend a lot of time thinking about the cross-influence between popular music and the classical world. We share an equal admiration for the songs we cover as we do for the classical music that informs our performance and arrangements. That’s why we love this deep dig into hidden classical gems of the past and how they were built the jazz-age rhythms of their contemporaries.
This graphic is a sweet reminder that making time to relax and recharge not only leads to a greater sense of fulfillment in our lives, but it actually helps us be our best selves!
Otherwise you end up feeling like this...
We have a brand new video for our rendition of Sam Smith’s “How Do You Sleep,” off our just-released album VSQ Performs the Hits of 2019 Vol. 2! We had so much fun making this video so we truly hope you enjoy.
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Listen to us on Spotify!
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Full article here - http://www.salon.com/2017/08/20/salon-stage-vitamin-string-quartet-blends-chamber-music-with-pop-in-an-exclusive-set/
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The Weeknd’s music is re-envisioned by Vitamin String Quartet, putting a classical spin on the singer’s dark and sensuous R&B. Listen as The Weeknd’s intoxicating slow jams are arranged for the traditional quartet of two violins, viola and cello as VSQ takes on “Starboy,” “Earned It,” “Can’t Feel My Face,” and more.
Read more here - http://consequenceofsound.net/2017/02/vitamin-string-quartet-premiere-cover-of-the-weeknds-starboy-listen/
Listen on Spotify - http://vsq.io/VSQWeekndSpotify
Listen on iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/vsq-performs-the-weeknd/id1201004549
]]>Digital Delivery Edition – Download and print your favorite VSQ arrangement immediately with VSQ’s Digital Delivery Edition. All Digital Delivery Editions can also be viewed on up to six devices, including desktop computers, laptops and mobile devices. Click here for more information.
PLEASE NOTE: There may be differences between this sheet music arrangement and that of any corresponding Vitamin String Quartet recordings.
]]>For their newest single, Vitamin String Quartet continue their decade-plus exploration of the music of Radiohead. On this release, they focus in on the bookending tracks from Radiohead’s latest A Moon Shaped Pool; driving, ominous opener “Burn the Witch” and sparse, melancholic closer “True Love Waits.”
Official Store - http://vsq.io/2gvSAo1
Listen on Spotify - http://vsq.io/2gIJkuB
Listen on iTunes - https://itun.es/us/ox6rgb
Amazon - http://vsq.io/2gJm4g7
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An article by Randall Roberts: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-rockabye-baby-feature-20160919-snap-story.html
Vitamin String Quartet reading at a loft in Los Angeles, Cali., on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016. Photo by Jenna Schoenefeld
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Official Store – http://vsq.io/2gvSAo1
Listen on Spotify – http://vsq.io/2gIJkuB
Listen on iTunes – https://itun.es/us/ox6rgb
Amazon – http://vsq.io/2gJm4g7
]]>Vitamin String Quartet has brought a sophisticated twist to your favorite pop and rock tunes for more than a decade. Now these exclusive VSQ string arrangements are available for purchase. Each edition includes a score and four individual parts for Violin I, Violin II, Viola and Cello.
Digital Delivery Edition – Download and print your favorite VSQ arrangement immediately with VSQ’s Digital Delivery Edition. All Digital Delivery Editions can also be viewed on up to six devices, including desktop computers, laptops and mobile devices. Click here for more information.
PLEASE NOTE: There may be differences between this sheet music arrangement and that of any corresponding Vitamin String Quartet recordings, including any studio version.
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VSQ Performs the Hits of 2016 Vol. 2 features VSQ’s take on more of our favorite cuts from 2016. Listen as viola, violin, and cello take on the ebullient bounce of Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling!,” the goth-y grooves of twenty one pilot’s “Heathens,” and the dancehall-fueled pop of Sia’s “Cheap Thrills.
Violinist Simon Orvista, violist Erica Ticthdale, and cellist Steve Velez took the time to answer some fun and informative questions in between sessions for Rock Hits 2016 and our upcoming Hits of 2016 Volume 2.
What do you feel you do to add your personal touch to the VSQ renditions?
Simon Orvista - Even though these are tribute albums, it doesn’t feel genuine if I try to copy the original exactly. After getting to know the vibe of each song, I approach the music as if it’s the most meaningful, important music I’ve ever played - and play it from the heart.
Erica Ticthdale - When I was in high school I often fantasized about being a drummer, so when I get a chance to be a “rhythm-section” (such as in Fall Out Boy’s “Centuries” or Shawn Mendes’ “Stitches”) I get a little extra kick out of it.
What is the most fun about playing a song that isn’t traditionally played by string instruments?
Simon Orvista - I play the violin, and we often (and rightfully so...back off violas and cellos) get the melody lines. So it’s fun to emulate what vocals do, especially pop vocals, since singers naturally do a lot of interesting and expressive things that aren't normally done on the violin.
Erica Ticthdale - Similar to what I said above, it’s fun to get a chance to “imitate” rock instruments, or even voices. I love all kinds of music, so as a classically trained musician it’s really fun to get a chance to branch out and dip my toe into other genres.
Steve Velez - It’s so fun to find parts of classical music in pop and rock music. Being inspired by George Martin to blend classical with rock was my motivation to do more with bringing it to life with my cello.
What was your favorite track to play?
Simon Orvista - Gah, I can’t pick a favorite kid. Most satisfying to play: Sia’s “Chandelier” and Adele’s “Skyfall”; maybe “Sweater Weather.” Surprisingly dope: The Sigur Rós tracks. I’ve got a big soft spot for Lorde’s “Team.” I’d have to go down the rabbit hole to remember all the songs I’ve done, but I always have a great time recording them.
Erica Ticthdale - My favorite track would have to be “Tennessee Whiskey,” since I not only get to imitate the singer (whose vocals in that song are so soulful and expressive), but the AMAZING guitar solo in the middle as well. I had a lot of fun with that one.
Steve Velez - This is very difficult to pick after doing so many tracks. I love The Nightmare Before Christmas. “This is Halloween” was so fun. I also loved doing Dream Theater, Tool, and Madonna.
What was the most challenging one to play?
Simon Orvista - Um, I’d say some of the slower, more intimate tracks can be hard to pull off well. Things like “Stay with Me” or “Say Something.”
Erica Ticthdale - Ironically, the answer to this is the same as my answer above. Because we work hard to capture the essence of each song we cover, I needed to play along with Chris Stapleton’s vocals over and over to get myself into his groove. It was so worth the extra work!
Steve Velez - Absolutely, Dream Theater, 100%!
If you could transform any modern rock or pop song into a string rendition, what would it be?
Simon Orvista - Some old school R&B, like Donnie Hathaway’s “A Song for You” or some esoteric Stevie Wonder would be so fun...and I think it would sound amazing for string quartet.
Erica Ticthdale - Britney Spears’ “Toxic.” ‘Nuff said.
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