Classical Musician's Reaction & Analysis: I SEE FIRE - GEOFF CASTELLUCCI

[@SirHairless]

Check out my last VoicePlay reaction next 🏴‍☠️ kzbin.info/www/bejne/f5KxlqCgmLZ_mJY

[@linmonash1244]

Have you found Vanny Vabiolo yet? A truly exceptional and stunningly beautiful voice.

[@rdy3357]

Geoff plays all the instruments using a plugin from his keyboard. There are a quite a few tracks where you will see Geoff plays piano. Enjoy them as you explore the repertoire.

[@SirHairless]

Amazing, thanks

[@christinestromberg4057]

Regarding genres Geoff is as versatile as a solo artist as VP are as a group. This one doesn't show off his ability to harmonise with himself as much as some do. . Eli is ofter called in to do lighting. It's his thing, though he is now doing more arranging. Geoff likes to show his ability on piano and keyboard (using plugins) on his own videos. He has a vast range of samples to use for the backing. As he says, he has VP for a capella work. His cover of Shenandoah or Blackbird, are good examples. of his harmonies. Geoff treated his patrons to a walk through of one of his arrangments, Unshaken, and it was so multi layered it was mind boggling. He spends hours choosing just the right sound at any given moment of the arrangement. You have to admire his dedication to his craft.

[@DravenGal]

Geoff actually taught Layne how to beatbox, so yes, he can do it too. Sometimes he still does. There's a bit of it in Voiceplay's "Greatest Showman" medley. And your look of "Are you kidding me?" when Geoff went high on this should be a meme! So glad you enjoyed this one, it's one of my top five by Geoff and the Geoffettes! 💙

[@smallmoments957]

Geoffettes 😄🥰

[@Maria...-mo5qm]

Geoff’s solo work is usually so skilled and diverse that really feels like it is created by a group of at least 4 different Geoffs + his great collaborators :) Thank you for starting to explore this exciting path on the channel! The quality of your work is also so exceptional that I’m not surprised that your channel already reached 30K subscribers after uploading a little more than 200 reaction videos... 🤯Congratulations and keep up the wonderful work, Sir Hairless!🥳

[@SirHairless]

Sounds like there are some cool Geoff works to get round to in the future - more for the list Thanks Maria, as always 😄

[@PAT8888-is2pd]

Just for future reference, Tony, that is Layne's partner in Pattycake studio is a former member of Voiceplay.

[@Aurora-cv5to]

Thanks for this! His cover of Ain't no Sunshine is simply gorgeous.

[@loveloochay]

👤👤👤⌚️⌚️ .. sooooo., glad you made it to solo Geoff .. there is much to discover Sir Hairless. You used the main word I was hoping you would use ... " soothing " . I have watched this video numerous times and each time my main feeling is , soothing. And , each time it gets more and more soothing in the physical way you described. I will give you a few tips on some surprises in your future with Geoff ... harmonica -- keyboard - dancing - costumes - lighting - and much more !!! Luvvv this whole reaction .. thank you ⌚️⌚️👤👤👤

[@darylritchie1619]

Geoff's Sound of Silence is unique and beautiful and haunting. You really should check it out.

[@ThePolymathlete]

Geoff's performance of Shenandoah is my favorite

[@rdy3357]

Suggestions. Geoff said his favourite is Shenandoah. Theatricality- Jack's Lament and Ghost Riders in 5he Sky. Fun -Way Down and Moster Mash. Sentiment- Till Then. His take on Sounds of Silence, Folsom Prison Blues, 16 Tons, High and Dry are great, The arrangement of Monster Mash is stunning. The multiple Geoff's are named in Way Down, except for Darryl who appears in Ghost Riders. The riders reappear in Unshaken without Geoff.

[@djake1107]

To me, Geoff’s version is a conversation of the four men who have come to be resigned to their fates and saying a farewell to each. I don’t know a thing about singing, so listening to your breakdowns are a wonderful education. I also enjoy the way you structure your videos and breakdowns. Fabulous stuff. I look forward to your next video. Stay safe and stay well. 😎🤙🏻✌🏻🤟🏻🖖🏻

[@Sarah83_metalhead_4ever]

Woah, never clicked so fast on a video 😂 Excited to see your reaction 😅👍🏻🤩

[@karenm5681]

Same.😆

[@elliehart-2point0]

Same.

[@SirHairless]

Thanks Hope you enjoyed!

[@b.buster.]

Most of the time he uses some plug-ins for the music or he does play the piano in many of his covers. Also this is part 2 of the hobbit songs, Misty Mountain Cold,

[@venettaperry-sh7su]

Hey Sir H! Congratulations on 30k! 🥳🎊 Geoff Castelucci! Absolutely fabulous! I developed a near obsession with him through you - had never heard of Voiceplay before you introduced them to your channel! They are great and him on his own - wow! He is A-MA-ZING!! Love your analysis to bits!! 🤩🥰💫Thank you SH!! ❤️🙏

[@SirHairless]

[@CynicalTesuji]

I'm so glad to see you get to Geoff's solo work! As far as what you should check out next, in terms of technical complexity my recommendations would be Shenandoah or God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. Maybe Sound of Silence for his amazing use of minimalist atmospheric sounds. But in terms of just Geoff being super enjoyable (not that those others aren't!!) I would have to say his covers of Ain't No Sunshine, House of the Rising Sun and 16 Tons are great places to start. That said, there are no wrong choices on his channel.

[@EtherealForever]

Geoff plays piano beautifully - and a few other instruments. He leaves a capella for Voiceplay. Thank you for this! 🌹🕊 PS: my favourite of his is "High and Dry" (Radiohead)

[@dieweisealte-llumia7148]

My Geoff - reactions wishlist for you: Shenandoah, House of the rising sun and Blackbird

[@ablevablev604]

"High and Dry"

[@joymed987]

Check his cover of "God rest ye Merry Gentlemen" for some original arranging

[@karinwolf9639]

It makes me happy every time I find a reaction of yours on VP or Geoff... please do carry on!! 🎉❤

[@Sarah83_metalhead_4ever]

Yes, Geoff plays the piano I assume, because he plays it in many of his other videos 😅 I think you'll have a lot of fun with Geoff's solo work 😉 "Ain't no sunshine" and "Blackbird" are on repeat on my playlist ❤

[@ablevablev604]

and "High and Dry"

[@Sarah83_metalhead_4ever]

@@ablevablev604 definitely 🤩👍🏻 Can't go wrong with any of his songs 🫶🏻

[@laundrygoddess4]

He also plays the harmonica and basic guitar chords

[@BetsySchiller-sj2sm]

"For the last time" is the most beautiful thing I've ever heard. My favorite Geoff video. Try Jack's Lament from Nightmare Before Christmas for another fantastic Geoff masterpiece

[@loritempleman2951]

Those two are my favorites as well!

[@FLNatureGuy]

Jack's Lament is a theatrical masterpiece! My favorite by far.

[@ilonadever8249]

We have seen Geoff play the piano and harmonica and appear to play the guitar. He says he can pluck out a few chords, but not well enough to play for a video. Would love to see you react and analyze his version of Man of Constant Sorrow. He wrote a bridge for it that is wonderful. It had some reactors trying to remember it from the original.

[@janetdw]

It is my favorite part of the song😊. I often l love the song with the bridge ( or even just the bridge) as much as, or even more, than the song as written. The part he wrote for Golden Hour is beautiful.

[@dorothyrosenberg1301]

Thank you for reacting to Geoff Castellucci. It won’t surprise you that I’m a fan of his music. If you are interested in other of his covers, some of my particular favorites are “Shenandoah” “House of the Rising Sun” “Man of Constant Sorrow”. For pure fun “Monster Mash” (Geoff dances & Kathy makes an appearance).

[@SirHairless]

I am indeed - I already had "Shenandoah" and "House of the Rising Sun' on my list - will need to add the other two!

[@billiemchone6683]

"For the last time ", the harmony gave me goosebumps! Beautiful! Never heard of this guy. Going to be looking for more.

[@thisismetoday7423]

I See Fire… and his name is Geoff Castelucci! 🔥 Yay! So, happy to see this one and also it sounds like you have developed a bit of a VoicePlay obsession? 😂 It happens to the best of us … ❤

[@SirHairless]

Guilty as charged

[@SweetCuttlefish-AshleyE]

You'll see Eli credited for lighting on a large amount of Voiceplay and Geoff videos, and Layne even runs steady cam for Geoff sometimes. It's amazing to see how they have all picked up skills to make their video production better and better over the years.

[@kandacek63]

This is the song that hooked me into Geoff’s world and I can’t wait for the next VP or Geoff drop each month. I go on a hunt for reactor analyses and so far, sir you’ve shot to the top of my list. Thank you.

[@jennifersmith8923]

Ditto!

[@creationsbychancecan]

His low notes are epic but his high notes are really special. He has such a vocal range and gets better every video I see him in. Thank you for a great analysis

[@patriciaschuman4205]

Great reaction and analysis. I can't less the video pass without commenting that I have watched at least two reactors who watched the whole video and marveled that whoever this Geoff guy was, he had somehow managed to get three talented guys with great voices to join him on this, LOL. They honestly didn't realize they were watching/hearing Geoff in different makeup and costumes.

[@r3adrpro811]

Geoff doing Wicked Game is wonderful. Subtle performance.

[@neetgupta1]

Great reaction - Geoff is so talented and has incredible range. I love his tenor voice as well as his low bass.

[@karingreen396]

I enjoy Geoff’s solo work. I appreciate the way he experiments with his music, effects, humor,and genre’s. Excellent reaction and analysis

[@loveloochay]

👤👤👤🎳 I would love for you to react to "Sixteen Tons" ... by Geoff 🎳👤👤👤

[@smallmoments957]

Whoa, just saw 30k subscribers when I clicked on this video, dang, that was quick. Seems like yesterday you were at 25k. Congratulations! Now, back to the video.

[@karenm5681]

Yes, indeed!😊 I remember when he just reached 10k subs. With such high quality content that he puts out, I’m not surprised at all that his channel has grown so quickly.

[@smallmoments957]

@@karenm5681 You must have discovered this channel early on. I didn't discover it until March, and so glad I did. I am discovering a lot of great music and a lot of wonderful people!

[@SirHairless]

[@Juliana_Livingston]

👏🏻👏🏻 this was such a great reaction and analysis! 😁 thank you very much! i believe Geoff uses Logic Pro for his recording, editing and production 🤔 …he does also play piano for some of his song covers! 🙃

[@karajoy581]

It's Geoff! Let's goooo! Great reaction, I'd never picked up on the violins before, I love it when you find new ear treats for me. Geoff gives great cowboy, so Ghost Riders is a total bop, but Ain't No Sunshine is one of my favorite songs of all time and he does the sexiest version of it. Super fun reaction, thanks!!

[@elliehart-2point0]

Got a notification for this and squealed like a schoolgirl 🤩

[@elliehart-2point0]

Oh, and 30k!!! Cheers!

[@SirHairless]

❤

[@karenm5681]

I thoroughly enjoyed every single minute of this. Thank you!😊

[@Jasper_Tree]

How funny, I was just watching your Voiceplay reactions last night and hoping you would do a reaction to Geoff’s solo work and here it is! Not only that but you’ve picked my favourite one to start with! Thank you for your work 😊

[@johnwatson2887]

Brilliant analysis, as always. Your ability to pick up on so many aspects of a performance at once is astounding: instrumentation, lighting (including moving rock illusion), moustache, and SO many aspects of voice, is astounding. I'd really love to hear your take on Geoff's version of the Beatles' "Blackbird.”

[@SirHairless]

Thank you! Aye, "Blackbird" is on my list for the future!

[@chih-chaoyang5290]

So happy you reached to Geoff’s work!! Really excited to see you analyze his work!!

[@russelldenbleyker2885]

Jeoff intentionally does not do acapella in order not to conflict with Voiceplay.

[@bethwalsh9020]

Not so much conflict, since Voiceplay is his day job, this gives him the opportunity to do something different

[@russelldenbleyker2885]

@@bethwalsh9020 Not my words, Geoff said it himself in an interview.

[@SirHairless]

Makes sense! I never thought about this!

[@thisismetoday7423]

I have never heard Geoff use the word conflicting when it comes to his solo work and VoicePlay. There is no conflict… He says if he wanted to do acapella he would just do it with VoicePlay. His solo work gives him a chance to do something different. If anyone is interested, he talks about it in this interview starting at 30 minutes. kzbin.info/www/bejne/p4vakIiQl66dY8Usi=qkfWrF1W7qGHoV3h

[@laurenkop1019]

VoicePlay fans are fire! Didn’t see your reaction for an hour and they have already jumped in to say what I was going to tell you 😂

[@sharonfauber9253]

If you like vocal gymnastics you should like “ain’t no sunshine”. As for voice play try “Golden Hour” or “Tennessee Whiskey” or “The Halo Theme”. And there is “If I were a rich man”. Enjoy

[@petraharwin9670]

Great analysis as usual. Thank you. I find Geoff’s voice soothing too.

[@antoncherry]

This version must be original for movie instead of Ed Sheeran's one) but any way thanks Ed for writing this and Jeoff for remaking it and you for reaction 😅 Great song ! ❤

[@b.buster.]

Layne and former member, Tony Wakim, are the owners of pattycakes.

[@jennifersmith8923]

His voice truly is incredibly soothing. It's like a plush blanket you want to sink into ...but for your ears. Great reaction and analysis. It was neat to hear you try to rationalize why his voice soothes you the way it does when its not your typical soothing range. Blackbird, Sound of Silence, Shenandoah, and Wicked Game are a few others top of mind i love. Also ...Way Down for the fun of it on top of his always fantastic voice.

[@KaaSerpent]

What other works by Geoff we'd like you to do? ALL OF THEM. ALL. OF. THEM. :)

[@coletedeux]

Geoff does a solo of Man of Constant Sorrow that is one of his best (IMHO). Be sure to watch the outtro as he gives an important safety tip.

[@markbelcher2972]

I knew you’s love his solo work. Looking forward to much more analysis to Geoff and VoicePlay as well as Home Free and their members’ solo and collaboration work. Can’t remember if you’ve reacted to The Hound and the Fox yet, but their collaboration with Home Free’s Adam Chance on “Wayfaring Stranger” a great place to start. Love your analysis!

[@nightthornkvala94132]

I love this version of I See Fire but I always have to recommend Peter Hollens' version. I think of him as the master of layering. As to this not being a cappella it seems to me that as a whole group of five when it comes to VoicePlay and Home Free, with 2 or 3 exceptions they are sans instruments. When other performers/groups join them they usually have instruments. The same when it just one or two group members playing with others; they have instruments.

[@antine1279]

Fantastic analysis, thank you for this. Personally, 2 things impress me in this song: 1) the range, beauty and accuracy of Geoff's singing, 2) the creativity of the interpretation. It's so valuable to hear what a musician hears when they listen to a song because my non-musician brain doesn't register most of these things at all. Thanks again!

[@57Gauloises57]

Very beautiful "Basso profondo", I'm tempted to leave my tenor trombone and switch to the bass 😎. Mozart would have been useful to Geoff for the part of the Commendatore in Don Giovanni, however it's time someone starts building pianos with a couple of octaves more on the left side of the keyboard as singers get older and lose the upper register in favor of the lower. 😁 Thanks for the informations 👍

[@pzycho_reclas1794]

So glad to see you venturing into Geoff's solo work! The guys in this video are making a second appearance, they first graced us with their voices in "Misty Mountain Cold". Also all of the Geoffs in his videos have different names, most are plays on his name that people usually misspell except for Daryl . Again love your analysis I always learn so much! I hope you manage to review nearly all of the VP and Geoff creations!

[@JosephShort-g6i]

You should check out his cover of "Wicked Game" and "The Sound of Silence"! Two of my favorite songs he's done.

[@SlightlySusan]

Geoff began piano lessons at age five.

[@smallmoments957]

Thank you for this video Sir Hairless, hearing Geoff's upper range helped me to appreciate him as a solo artist. I had listened to a couple of his solo songs but they were too low in his register for my liking, this one was quite nice 🥰 P.S. Hope I used range and register properly, those are two words I learned from you. 😃

[@SimiusAtheus]

Another great analysis and reaction. I liked Geoff's version as it seemed somber at the introduction, with the Dwarfs contemplating the battle to come and the possibility of their destruction but ending with firmness and resolve in their mission and the hope that their sacrifice will be remembered.

[@galahad692000]

Two must-see Geoff Solo efforts are The Headless Horseman and Saddle Up. Saddle up because the video features a hilarious cameo by Layne.

[@MaryShieldsPhD]

Thank you for this reaction! What a great arrangement, and, as usual, your analysis is superb! Thanks, too, for introducing me to VoicePlay. I had heard of them, but hadn't gotten around to checking them out. They're becoming my favorite group (and that's saying something, as I'm a long-time Pentaholic and I also like and listen to a variety of music). I love this version, and I hope you'll check out Peter Hollens' version. It's one of my favorite covers of all time. He really captures the emotion in a way I haven't seen others do. kzbin.info/www/bejne/r6rQhGSGl5x9nK8. Also, congrats on 30K! I've been watching the numbers climb quickly -- and it's well-deserved! I haven't seen a lot of Geoff's videos, but they've all been great so far (as I would expect). Standouts for me so far are Shenandoah, Ain't No Sunshine, and Blackbird.

[@thomasfarr7934]

Try Geoff's You Don't Mess Around With Jim.

[@thewrenchreviews9986]

Being a cover, and not a copy, Geoff seems to enjoy exploring more and injecting his "style"

[@mrkraemer77722]

Congrats on 30K subscribers! A great reaction and analysis as always. You mentioned several things Geoff did differently from the original; Geoff says that when he decides to do a cover, he always listens to every version he can find, so he can be sure to do something original, or else why bother? That solo piano in the second chorus always makes me think of a music box. Doesn't make a lot of sense for the song, but it's done that since the first time I heard it.

[@madelynadams332]

Yay! Thirty thousand.

[@BruceLee-vn6iw]

As a long time Geoff fan, I would especially recommend these three songs: 1. Far Over the Misty Mountains Cold, 2. Folsom Prison Blues, 3. Ghost Riders in the Sky

[@thomasfarr7934]

Geoff does play piano, and very well. (No surprise...)

[@larae2812]

Great reaction. Next I’d love to see High and Dry. ❤

[@alfredoa334]

Great video!!! Glad to see your channel is growing.

[@dylan_5]

Geoff's got lots of great solo songs that naturally show off a bunch of his range. Some of my favorites you should check out at some point include High and Dry, Take Me Home Country Roads, and Jack's Lament.

[@linmonash1244]

Ye Gods! All that Braided Beard Hairy Retro Viking Warrior 'stuff'! Seems to be a dressing up trend, appropriated from various games and gaming characters. Either hurling themselves over rugged mountain ranges in flapping equally hairy clothing brandishing medieval shields and large pointy weapons, (in this case; hunkered down in a cave - by simulated fire light) or playing doughty mariners battling mountainous seas! 'Tis very much personal preference, but I'm not a big fan of 'creaky door' bass... Deep rich resonant bass is very effective at getting - particularly female! - 'hearts' all aflutter. When it dips below that, there's a level of... startlement and... even discomfort? { interesting subject for a psychological research thesis perhaps!? 🤣} Geoff's voice is captivatingly rare and unique. An unmistakable signature. The arrangement is very clever and his upper chest voice is simply beautiful. Those runs are very skillful. His broad vocal and compositional experience is very much on show here. Your professional and detailed 'unpack'is illuminating as always.{ Not sure about 'the rock that moved'! 😆Likely a simple edit error?}

[@ronsbrat525]

These are 4 of the dwarves from the Hobbit movies. Same 4 characters in his "Far Over The Misty Mountains Cold" video. Left to right.... Filli, Bofur, Killi and Thorin. Geoff uses Native Instruments plug-in for his instruments and various sound effects using an attached piano. So yes to your question. Geoff has a bunch of fantastic videos to choose from. I love them all but my favorites are... "Rain of Castemere" (Game of Thrones). "Unshaken" (ghost cowboys from "Ghost Riders In The Sky" when they were alive). "Ain't No Sunshine" (my introduction to Geoff). "Bare Necessities" (first singing video he did on his channel). Non singing he has tutorials and narrations. As well as an info about hearing loss (Kathy wears 2 special hearing aids).

[@GrandmasGotGraceLW]

Just a quick mention...I can sing all of the low notes that Geoff sings in this song. Also...interesting that you brought up both the violin and the cello. We lived in Washington State from 1992 - 2009. For 10 of those years, I was the secretary/bookkeeper for a local church, where I also was part of the choir -- not just as a singer, but as the director's helper (and sometimes substitute). I often played piano (and/or guitar) when necessary, and almost always "ran the parts" for all of the different groups (because back then, my range was six octaves). During that time, there was a married couple who were both string players (she on violin, he on cello) who were very active in the area, and they accompanied our choir for special performances, quite often. For most of my life, I have been told that my whistle sounds like a violin (that was my mom's first instrument -- of many instruments she played). The cello player there in Washington, would often bring with him, song requests for me to sing with them, in one presentation or another, because he said my lower ranges sounded like his cello...pretty much a given, since I also grew up with the OTHER string players in my mom's several music groups over the years. Anyway...I love this entire song, because of those things, and Geoff's all-around capabilities. Plus, I love singing along. l will NEVER skip out of your analysis. In fact, I usually find myself going back and listening to different parts of the analysis over and over again (as I have done with this one) -- depending on what it is that you are addressing. Your explanations are always FASCINATING...and to me, at least, very uplifting. THANK YOU once again, for a GREAT reaction. - - - - - - - - - - Speaking of the variations that can be done when one is covering a song that has already been sung and published...I hope that you will follow up with a reaction to Dan Vasc's cover of the same song. Enough said. 😀

[@alisonwebre1]

What I like about your reactions is that you make detailed comparisons to the originals. Thanks...

[@colinsutherland8446]

Geoff plays a little piano...you can check it out on his cover of blackbird...in the comments of that song he mentions he is trying to extend his voice range and you can hear he is pushing his limits. Good on him, he is always trying to improve

[@johnwatson2887]

BTW, Geoff does play piano in quite a few of his solo pieces. Of course, not even he plays all those other instruments, unless he has some kind of synthesizer that can turn a melody played on keyboard to the sound of cello, violin, etc.

[@hwyla4416]

What he has are plug-ins which allow his keyboard to sound like all those other instruments. Although he will also make his own samples of sounds to get just the right percussion sound. I believe in one song the apparent brush on cymbal is actually made with a small shovel in sand.

[@reb343589]

You have now met Geoff, Jeff, Jeoph, and Goff.

[@niallkalen6732]

Un trabajo vocal maravilloso que te hace viajar por distintos estados de ánimo y tiempos, desde la antiguedad a la actualidad en un segundo. Magistral tu clase como siempre mi niño de ojitos cristalinos, se disfruta mucho ver tu pasión por la música y los buenos músicos. Gracias por compartir con nosotros tu amor por la música.

[@elvwood]

One of the things Geoff does here (and in some other solo songs) is to insert a brief nasal (usually 'n') where there isn't one in the lyrics. I quite like the sound of it, but wonder why he would do this?

[@gilliandrysdale5306]

his version of Blackbird is phenomenal ❤

[@gigi3242]

Thank you. Have a lovely weekend

[@LaneRevenal]

Congratulations on 30k. You are heading to100k in record time which I attribute to your excellent analyses. Geoff does a wonderful job on this cover but my favorite is the acapella version done by Peter Hollens in 2013. A few others mentioned it in the comments. Peter also does a version with Taylor Davis on violin.

[@M-cv1ee]

I like the song a lot, and you explained everything so well. Thank you

[@veronicathunander4579]

He plays the piano and uses a keyboard and plugin for the other instruments.

[@tevvya]

Sir Hairless. I have really enjoyed your music theory lessons as you react to some of my favorite artists--and Geoff is certainly one of them. I would recommend his performance of the Beatles' song "Blackbird" to you. It is also him overdubbed but this time there are five of him and you see him playing piano off and on through the video. It is my favorite cover of Blackbird, by far. Enjoy the adventure!

[@MaKettle111]

Geoff plays the piano but all the instruments are computer generated. You need to add Valhalla calling to your voice play must listen to songs. Geoff carries a B0 for 4 measures at the beginning. It’s an amazing showcase of all of their talents. I would love to hear an analysis of that one. And BTW your three voice play songs are in my top four favorite voice play songs.

[@thisismetoday7423]

He has already reacted to Valhalla Calling 😊

[@SirHairless]

Oo as thisismetoday7423 has said above, I've reacted to Valhalla Calling already 🎵 You can find it in my VoicePlay and acapella playlists

[@MrNtlman]

After this one you should listen to his version of Misty Mountains and Jacks Lament. Both are absolutely amazing

[@sandyboard8311]

Unshaken

[@charlierp1]

I always enjoy your comments Sir. Next up I propose his solo work "Over the Mysty Mountains Cold". It's the same four guys in the same costumes because they're both Hobbit-related, but I like it a lot better. There are the expected earth-shaking lows in the middle, and one at the end. But that last one doesn't feel as polished as the others. I'd prefer him to do that one note over again. What do you think? He has dozens of these solo works, vastly different from one another. It's a very deep rabbit hole that I've had great fun exploring. You will too.

[@ghostbeetle2950]

"Who's playing the piano? Is ti Geoff himself?" - Geoff Castelucci covers "Sound of Silence". Nuff said.

[@MoonChildEri]

I’ve been catching up on all your vids and I love watching your reactions as well as hearing your analysis. You’ve done a few of Home Free and Pentatonics on the Sing Off. I’ve heard you mention that they are less popular but you think it’s good and fun to see the bands early in their career. I’m sure it’s been mentioned (I don’t usually read the comments) but Voiceplay was also on the Sing Off (same season as Home Free). But I haven’t seen you react to any of their performances from the show. I first discovered Home Free and Voiceplay through that show. I don’t think it was the best showcase for Voiceplay’s stile but I still really enjoyed their performances. After the show ended some of the bands did a Sing Off tour together. When I went to the show I got a better feel for Voiceplay’s actual stile and ability and was very impressed. I’d love to see you do a reaction and analysis of one of their Sing Off performances.

[@MoonChildEri]

I forgot to include a specific recommendation. I’d recommend Voiceplay’s performance of Don’t Speak.

[@thisismetoday7423]

VoicePlay themselves have said The Sing Off was not a representation of who they really are. They were pushed in directions they wouldn’t normally go. I am someone that recommended Sir Hairless to skip those performances because they are so far removed from them that it isn’t even the same group. They have soooo many other treasures for him to explore and even some of their older non- Sing Off stuff is fantastic 😅

[@MoonChildEri]

@@thisismetoday7423 I definitely don’t disagree with it not being the best representation of them. And it certainly wouldn’t be how I would introduce anyone to them. As I said it wasn’t the best showcase for their stile. I still think it’s worth watching for context. But we certainly don’t have to agree.

[@gustavsson5277]

Still hoping you'll react to Peter Hollens' version of this song. It's one of my favourite covers!

[@totoro123]

My favourite Geoff solos include Ain’t No Sunshine, Blackbird and Man of Constant Sorrow

[@johndeeregreen4592]

With the music, that is normally done by Geoff on a keyboard with plug-ins.

[@loraleitourtillottwiehr2473]

As other folks have mentioned, Geoff plays piano (and guitar I think) and uses a computer program for the other instruments. Except sometimes Layne does a violin part, but he'd be credited. Geoff obviously has an amazing voice, but I have been blown away by his arranging skills and how they've grown over the years. I recommend checking out his covers of Ain't No Sunshine, High & Dry, and Monster Mash in particular.

[@marge2548]

Very interesting, once more. I can't believe you heard the "snap" on the high piano notes in the "fire-crackling" passage. I only had the idea that the piano was sounding somewhat distorted due to the fire - somehow the whole crackling gave me LP vibes from back in the day. Until you pointed it out. But maybe this "distortion" was just the effect Geoff was aiming at? As for the song - well, yes. There is something odd about Ed Sheeran. He's so very popular, and seems to be quite a nice guy, but his voice was just not made for me I guess. It's not because he is singing in the higher register. I absolutely adore Eli's voice, eg. Or Dimash. Or, for the record, Donnie Munroe of Runrig. But listening to Ed Sheeran in this song has the same effect on me that scratching on a chalkboard has on others. And I cannot even tell why. As you put it: it's a physical reaction. That's one reason why I definitely liked this one better than the original. (And most other versions, too - there is also a very powerful but less complex version by the German medieval metal band Feuerschwanz which I happen to also like a lot, but for different reasons.)

[@susansouthard]

Peter Holland, and Dan Vasc both cover this song, all three are beautiful in the performers each style. Check Peter and Dan’s cover of this song.

[@karenzak6627]

Thank you for an excellent reaction. I always learn so much from your comments, which increases my appreciation for whatever I'm listening to. Geoff does an amazing job on this one, but I am a bit prejudiced toward his warm bass + vocal range. 😊

[@ChristianHermann2]

Thanks for the reaction, the analysis (and I have no idea about music, notes etc.) is still very interesting. But I was a bit negatively surprised that you didn't mention Geoff's very deep solo "fire" (between burning the trees and hollowing souls) in the third refrain. For me one of the most impressive parts in this song ... I love the original from Ed SHeran but Geoffs Version even much more