Some random fact about this masterpiece: The first three persons in the intro are his mother and his two sisters. The reverb he uses is created from the reverb of notre dame, as he created the song shortly after it burned. He created the arrangement in a week, if I recall correctly even without using a piano. He has absolute pitch, and in order to not wear off his hearing, he sang it in a different key when filming all the jacobs. He uses a lot of microtonal shifts, he even switches the tuning of the full song inside the song, which he explains in his logic breakdown, which is exceptional to watch. It's like watching Mozart compose.
I'm 68 years old. Have loved music since childhood. No-one has ever caused me to weep with joy the way Jacob does. I have followed his journey for 2 years now, and am going to see him in concert on May 3rd. I am beyond excited, because just like you, his music gives me goosebumps! It touches the soul! If you get a chance, listen to the piece he did with Snarky Puppy, and to his gorgeous cover of Cold Play's Fix You. BTW, your comment about this being God-level masterclass was spot on! This young man is downloading directly from the Divine.
Quincy Jones has said of Jacob Collier, "Never in my life have I seen a talent like this." (Quincy Jones was also one of the faces singing "OOOO" at the beginning.) If you're not familiar with Jacob Collier, the BBC aired a documentary about him and his career not too long ago called "Jacob Collier - In the Room Where it Happens". Check out his arrangement of Lionel Richie's "All Night Long" - you may never be the same again...LOL.
what took you so long to find Jacob? lol. He won one of his 6 grammys for this. The brand new version of Bridge over Troubled Waters will surely earn a seventh. It's mind bending. Highlights of his choral genius include The Christmas Song, Fascinating Rhythm, Flintstones, Tori Kelly Have Yourself a Merry, and my personal favorite, In The Bleak Midwinter, where he introduced microtonal key changes to choral music. Did you hear the microtonal shifts in this one? There is a transcription on you tube. Also what Jacob calls a logic breakdown if you really want to peek under the hood. There and hundred and hundreds of tracks. It took him a week to compose, record, and video this. One week for all of it.
I second the recommendation to check out Jacob's recent arrangement of Bridge Over Troubled Water featuring John Legend and Tori Kelly. It is exquisite and might be even more mindblowing than Moon River.
Love watching your reaction! Really lovely! I hope you dive down the Jacob Collier rabbit hole. It’s endlessly rewarding. Couple of things. Basically self taught. His mother is a concert violinist and conductor. He grew up in the family music room teaching himself instruments. He took jazz piano in college for a hot minute then moved on. He’s the first British artist to win Grammys for each of his first four albums (he’s up to 7 now, his 5th album Djesse vol 4 came out a couple of months ago). He started out making multi-frame videos for TH-cam. Quincy Jones heard his cover of a Stevie Wonder song, reached out, took him under his wing and set him into orbit. He’s a genius. Been called the next Mozart. And yet he’s pure love and light. Others have mentioned it, but start with In The Bleak Midwinter for a vintage look at his beginnings. It’s already brilliant and he was in his teens. His cover of All Night Long, featuring his childhood idols Take 6, is mind blowing and it also won a Grammy. Bridge Over Troubled Water started with him doing a TikTok collab with Yebba. Watch that, then listen to the amazing expansion on that with John Legend and Tori Kelly. Stunning! Speaking of collaborations. Once people started to hear him, everyone wanted to work with him. All those voices for the singing Stars at the beginning, are artists, family, and friends he asked to just sing one note, any note, singing “moon” on their phone video and send it in. There’s a list of all the contributors in the TH-cam notes. But see who you can recognize on your own. He’s been exploring so many genres with so many artists. Clearly a kid in a candy store. Dig in!
The people in the intro are not just fans, some of them are world class musicians - Herbie Hancock, Steve Vai, Chris Martin, late David Crosby, all recorded themselves singing "Mooooon" and set it to him - on his request. Second: it took him 7 days to record the song, not sure about the video. There is a Logic session breakdown available, where Jacob spills all the secrets about what he did and how he did it.
Watch Jacob’s Logic Pro breakdown of how he recorded Moon River, then watch Jacob’s Bridge Over Troubled Water … Jacob is a once in a lifetime talent 👍
Still can't believe he created Bridge over troubled water in a week. Even if the first minute already existed, it is mind boggling what he did... Something around 2800 individual instances of "sound" and singing arranged in perfection. My small and feeble human mind cannot fathom the genius of Jacob...
I'm amazed that you are just now discovering the genius that is Jacob Collier. He's been creating these masterpieces for many years now and is turning them out faster than most normal people can find the time to watch them. You simply must take the time to review his entire collection. IMHO, we are all so fortunate to be living through these times where we can follow first hand this great musical genius who is on par with the greatest minds in the history of music.
I did a little research on him based on that one reaction as I could tell something was technically amazing. He very well could be the musical Einstein of our lifetime.
The Pentatonix are a double cheese burger from McDonalds. Something easy, but relatively enjoyable to eat while on the go. Jacob Collier on the other hand is a three course meal at a five star restaurant. This recording is most definitely the most impressive thing I’ve ever heard in my life. It moves me to my core and blows my brain to pieces all at once. It brought me so much joy to see you react to this for your first time.
Thanks Geoff. I mentioned this to someone else just a moment ago but it bears repeating. He very well might be the greatest musician of our time. And I mean that in every literal way possible. Vocally, maybe not. Musical theory - mind-blown.
To me this seems like a musical representation of a river. Tempo changes reflect flow changes. Crescendos feel like rounding a bend to a beautiful vista. Rapid overlapping tracks feel like eddys in the current. Fascinating to listen to a song I've heard so many times and have different images stirred in my head...
Ok... gotta admit that... there's A LOT of Jacob Colliers in this video, lol 🤭 dude has some serious talent. Loved the song, and your excitement, and the whole reaction of course. Have a great day/night or whenever you read this! 😉
This song can not be topped. This is a once in a century type of talent we are witnessing here. What he did with this song is awe-inspiring and is one example of how he's pushing musicality to the next level. Can't wait for you to hear his other works. I enjoyed watching this.
I'm going to hear Jacob live in May. So excited. He's been compared to a modern day Mozart, so when Mozart comes to your town, you don't want to miss it! My favorite is All Night Long. It's such an overload of music and joy.
I loved your excitement and insights. His talents run deep. His live improvised performances are amazing. Well worth investigating his trajectory and viewing interviews of him describing how he started imitating sounds at a very early age.
This wouldn't exactly be reactable, but to help inform your hopeful future reacts to Jacob I would recommend seeking out his LOGIC SESSION BREAKDOWN: "Moon River" on TH-cam. You comment there may be 13 "parts that were layered in that" but while not all at once or anything, there are hundreds. The part that you called flat towards the beginning, he describes as negative harmony; everything is basically insane. Great react, thanks for the video, enjoy your journey with Jacob's work.
Yeah, 13 layers :). The innocence! Definitely check out the Logic Session Breakdown. And yes, also his Bridge Over Troubled Water, which just came out recently. And -- oh yeah, one more thing -- the rest of his album drops at midnight tonight!
Jacob also plays about 20 different instruments quite well some of which you will see in his massive cover of "All Night Long" or in"Hideaway". This video is from several years ago and it won a Grammy. Now he's doing all kinds of collaborations with all kinds of people. DJesse Vol 4 will be released tonight. It will be his 5th or 6th album. Those people at the beginning are fellow musician friends like Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones and so on. He often edited his own videos but for this one he had to hire a special software company. He's also famous for leading large audiences in improvised choral singing. As for the complexity of this song which uses changes in tuning (A432 vs A440 vs A253) and microtonality so that he'll be keys like G-Half-sharp. Of course he has precise microtonal perfect pitch. He sometimes teaches the music theory like that used in this song. Below is one analysis. He's 29 now. th-cam.com/video/UTDHylJZMXU/w-d-xo.html
look up moon river logic sessions break down where he breaks down all the tracks for the song. I think you will appreciate it, if you haven't seen It already.
"Those must be all fans and viewers..." Nope. Almost all of those are absolute legends. Even more stunning, he refused to give them _any_ direction. Just "Sing me a 'moon' on any pitch you want." And then he stitched them all together, many not even in any kind of standard tuning, into _that._
One of the best reactions to this song, and there are many. Good to here reactions from ppl who are musically inclined.👍 It will be tough to listen to a regular version on this from now on!
Wow, thanks so much. I've done more research on Jacob as I was suspecting some musical genius aspects of this song and I wasn't wrong. Apparently he is one of the greatest musicians (maybe not vocally, but musical theory) that we have seen in our lifetimes. He quite literally could be the next musical Einstein.
3:38 He asked everyone to film themselves singing whatever pitch of the Bb major scale they wanted, and arranged what he got into this. 10:14 Though this is my favorite thing of his, he has given himself a run for his money multiple times. Some of his early ones, like Fascinating Rhythm and Flintstones, are in some respects even wilder than this, though I guess they might not count since they have instrumental sections. 17:29 The maximum simultaneous vocal tracks is 72, in the last chord.
This song is like If LSD produced pure thoughts and mental clarity. WOW! I'm 100% with you my Brother. This has to be like a top 5 song of all time, all genres!
You've just found an amazing rabbit hole! I would recommend going back to the beginning of his discography just to see how much he has progressed in the last 8 years. It's pretty amazing. The kid's a genius.
I watched one of his videos of him interpreting a song with different styles and emotions that were random. Here's the deal. He very well might be the greatest musician alive today. I'm serious.
Try a song Jacob wrote next... "Little Blue @MahoganySessions" is great and is a live recording. He invited fans to join him on the recording and taught them what to sing all in one session. The result was amazing. It doesn't hurt that a high percentage of his fans are musicians. Here is a link: th-cam.com/video/IQvzX0Z3HE4/w-d-xo.html
I think both Little Blues are worth comparing. Mahogany version with the simplicity of its components is open-handed magic at its finest. The studio version is insanely rich but a masterclass in creating vast space for all its jewel like parts without compromising its own magic.
He makes these TH-cam streams where he goes through the Logic sessions for his arrangements/songs. It took him 7 days to arrange and record this cover. It's insane. This is why Jacob has a fan in basically every currently living musical legend. Music for musicians, perhaps, but the creativity is not from this world.
Jacob composes his compositions in ‘Logic’… by is own admission, this one tune used 1200+ lines. There is also an analysis showing how JC actually changed the frequency of “A” the chords are oriented…. several times. Please note MIT Media Dept. contacted JC and offered to make something to help with his music video production. Jacob accepted and he now has (not used here) a 1 of 1 keyboard with a mic input which will choralize his voice (with matching tambre, etc.) to as many keys as he can hold down. You know you’re doing something right when MIT offers assistance. Welcome to the Jacob Collier rabbit hole… enjoy your stay. You should view his logic breakdown for this song… then realize this song took about a week and a half to create…. THAT is the genius of Jacob Collier
How many parts were layered in that? I don't remember exactly, but upwards of 200 at some points, especially in the infinite zoom-in near the end. Also, that part went up a half-tone from a quarter-tone flat to a quarter-tone sharp, completely smoothly, with dozens of harmonies coming in and out as the entire tuning framework slid up from, IIRC, A=427 to A=454 or something like that. (I probably have the exact numbers wrong, but yeah). Another one that'll just demolish your brain is Lionel Richie's "All Night Long", covered by Jacob ft. Take 6 and a wonderful jazz orchestra.
You really dove into the deep end. Probably should have started with some of his earlier works, this is a bit much for an appetizer! I like watching your reaction because it reminds me of my first reaction, when his music sounded weird to my ear, it was all so overwhelming, especially the runs in the beginning. Now, my brain has adjusted and it sounds absolutely normal. It's like music was always like this. Everything he does is so grounded in theory that if something sounds like just too much then you need to listen to it a few more times for your brain to adjust. People used to react to Stravinsky in the same way. Do 'Flintstones', it's playful and fun and then go on to 'All Night Long' which is another master class, fully orchestrated with a huge amount of collaboration. Both won Grammys.
Hi Cutie I need to go back and lissen to this ten more times to get it all in. This is so great. IF you want Another new artist to your channel Please react to Who needs the world with Emelie Sande. I would love to har what you think of the song and The video
I can tell the moment when "your system was overloaded". :D It's so much fun to witness others experiencing Jacob the first time. I attended his concerts 3 times so far. I have to say, the live shows are even more astonishing then anything recorded by him. Which speaks a volume. But yes, we're with you. :) I highly recommend his Logic Sessions, you'll lose your mind. :D
Others may have mentioned it but you should check out "Harmonic Analysis of Moon River" at the Listening In TH-cam channel (it discusses microtonality, shifting key centers, alternative tuning, just intonation...) and from Jacob's own channel his Logic Session Breakdown of Moon River where he goes in depth into looking at the guts of the song.
I have broken ears. I can 100% recognize and appreciate the immense talent but this actually worked my nerves. I almost just clicked off but wanted to see if I could "get it"., saldy no.
definitely watch his logic session breakdown. itll answer a ton of your questions and create a whole new bunch of questions. He's one of the most amazing musicians and creators of our time. Literally check out anything else he's done. His new album, Djesse Vol 4, just came out, too. Plenty to check out. My suggestions would be his version of Bridge Over Troubled Water from the new album, but also All Night Long, In The Bleak Midwinter, and his stripped down version of Fix You from his London home
I have no idea if you've done much more of Jacob, but... would you like to hear him harmonize with himself nearly to this level... *live?* With the gods of modern jazz fusion? I give you: Snarky Puppy ft. Jacob Collier and Big Ed Lee (on sousaphone): "Don't You Know" Featuring an entirely new instrument invented by Jacob and designed and built by the faculty and grad students of MIT. Jacob is what happens when Mozart is reincarnated in the 21st century with unlimited technology to play with and centuries more music theory to riff off of. Add in Dimash, probably the greatest singer of all time; Ren the modern troubadour and one of the greatest storytellers alive; and many many other incredible artists and groups active right now, and I think we're living in a new golden age of music. I pity people who are stuck in pop-land listening to yet more reiterations on "the formula". There is _stupendous_ stuff happening right now in music. It's just not happening on the radio for the most part. It's happening on the internet, especially on TH-cam.
The top the next iteration of harmonics and musical organization , new stuff. Like when Isaac Newton invented ( discovered ) - there’s a thought / Calculus . New realms of musical exploration. We should all climb on board. Time to write some new books on music theory. Doesn’t it make you happy there is way more and were not near done maybe barely started
Welcome to Jacob Collier's incredible world of music~ This song is absolutely gorgeous and a FEAT of musicality. But to answer your question about another a capella song that has topped this in beauty (just for me personally) is this live cover of Fleet Foxes' Helplessness Blues by Doox of Yale (fka The Duke's Men of Yale): th-cam.com/video/-h4DV8az5vo/w-d-xo.html Idk why but it just brings me to tears every time.
In answer to one of your questions, there were almost 5,000 sound files. The opening was about 150 musicians, including composers and conductors. They are musicians he knows well enough they're 'on his phone'. He texted them to sing 'Moon'. What you heard and saw is what they 'texted' back. So they are sufficient fans to do that for him. They're all listed in the video's Description. Collier explains the entire piece in detail in his _'LOGIC SESSION BREAKDOWN: "Moon River"'_ th-cam.com/users/live9d4-URyWEJQ (1hr:37m). Jacob Collier has unusually refined perfect pitch (aka absolute pitch). He says when he's health he can discriminate pitch to about 5¢ (5%) of a semitone. He can remember and sing it. No pitch correction used. Hence he constructed the opening 'Moon' chords and melodies from the ~150 individual musicians' replies. My favourite parts are his Mum is 2nd (a professional violinist, conductor and violin professor at the Junior Royal College of Music), and his 2 sisters (one is a chorister). It must be fabulous to make a great piece of music with family you love, and even greater when it wins a Grammy. 😀 If you'd like to hear more, a good place to start is near his beginning on TH-cam with one of Collier's TH-cam video's which caused Quincy Jones to ask his staff to 'go find that kid';: _' Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing - Jacob Collier' th-cam.com/video/pvKUttYs5ow/w-d-xo.html (6m:7s) He was a teenager. Then you can move forward through his Grammy winners: After that, Jacob Collier Grammy Winners on TH-cam: _ Flintstones - Jacob Collier_ th-cam.com/video/zua831utwMM/w-d-xo.html (3m:10s) 2017 _ You And I (Audio) - Jacob Collier_ th-cam.com/video/muwxq701Lj4/w-d-xo.html (4m:29s) 2017 _Jacob Collier - Moon River_ th-cam.com/video/VPLCk-FTVvw/w-d-xo.html (8m:50s) _ Jacob Collier - All Night Long (Official Video)_ th-cam.com/video/nspqYGz-Z1s/w-d-xo.html (7m:20s) _ Jacob Collier - He Won't Hold You (feat. Rapsody) ft. Rapsody_ th-cam.com/video/OnA5po3ASyI/w-d-xo.html (5m:5s) _ "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning" // säje (featuring Jacob Collier)_ th-cam.com/video/6rY59w4sJbA/w-d-xo.html (4m:23s) Collier explains in detail how he thinks about, and creates his music, for examplr _LOGIC SESSION BREAKDOWN: "Moon River" _ th-cam.com/users/live9d4-URyWEJQ (1hr:37m) _ LOGIC SESSION BREAKDOWN: "All Night Long (feat. Take 6)"_ th-cam.com/users/liveUAMc4K_NXsA (1hr:48m) Collier's 4th album "Djesse Vol. 3" was nominated in 2021 for Album of the Year, but Taylor Swift "Folklore" won. Other Jacob Collier's TH-cam videos worth watching: _ Jacob Collier - Little Blue | @MahoganySessions_ th-cam.com/video/IQvzX0Z3HE4/w-d-xo.html (7m:53s) This is an acoustic version of the single by Jacob Collier and Brandi Carlile _Jacob Collier - Here Comes The Sun (feat. dodie)_ th-cam.com/video/dXf1nUVdVuM/w-d-xo.html (4m:1s) _ Jacob Collier - Never Gonna Be Alone (feat. Lizzy McAlpine & John Mayer) [Official Music Video]_ th-cam.com/video/NMo4608Q-YM/w-d-xo.html (5m:10s) _ Jacob Collier, Lizzy McAlpine & John Mayer - Never Gonna Be Alone (Live At The Troubadour)_ th-cam.com/video/2ScNNmzlFmk/w-d-xo.html (5m:33s) a very 'screamy' American audience, but luscious John Mayer solo
@@larryshair Thank you for replying. You're very welcome. I assume you'll combine it with suggestions or advice from other commenters, so I don't expect you'll use very much, and that's fine with me. Many reactors don't 'get it', but I believe you do. I'll add a bit more about the opening 'Moon', hopefully to explain how extraordinary it is. In response to his request to send him them singing 'Moon', Collier got 150 different voices back from his friends. IIRC, he asked them to sing in the key of B-flat. However, AFAIK, he didn't specify major, minor or octave. So the pitches he'd get would be, for the major scale based on B♭, pitches B♭, C, D, E♭, F, G, and A, and for the minor scale pitches B♭, C, D♭, E♭, F, G♭, and A♭ (wikipedia, not my knowledge). They'd mostly be across a few octaves. I pretty sure they didn't tell him the pitch. For comparison, imagine 150 people sending you 150 'buttons', each playing one of 10 (I think I've counted that right) distinct 'notes' mostly across three octaves, but some further out. Some will have sung a little sharp or flat to standard tuning, so it might be closer to 150 distinct pitches than 30-ish. Collier arranges the samples into an 'instrument' (by ear). Not many people could even attempt that without electronic equipment. He composes and 'plays' that opening using that 'instrument'. I believe there was no pitch correction. He chose the voice-samples to make chords and harmonies that 'worked'. If all the samples in a chord were comparably sharp (or flat) the combination would still sound fine to the overwhelming majority of people; AFAIK, most people seem to work on relative pitch, not absolute pitch. They were friends, so I assume he wanted to use them all. Also, he had their faces appear when their voice sample played. So they (and we) could see when they were included in the song. I think that covers the content and constraints of the opening. It boggles my mind. Best Wishes. ☮
Here are the stupid facts that you won't believe. He did this in 1 or 2 weeks, he included many fellow musicians in the intro, he split two semitones in like 5 different notes, he is more naturally tuned than the standard 12tones of the piano per-say, and he had two micro tonal keychanges, one was 1/4 down, and the second one was subtle, by slowly gliding a semitone up - then suprise semitone down and returning to just intonation, in short, what I'm saying is that you won't find half of these notes on the piano
Oh you think your mind is blown? CHECK THE MOON RIVER BREAKDOWN FROM JACOB HIMSELF BROOOO ! This is so genius that most of it goes over almost everyone's head at first
Enjoyed this reaction of moon river. Truly entertaining. Moon river was one of my Moms favorite songs. Love this rendition. here is another version of moon river I think you may enjoy. th-cam.com/video/7h3rTNai9W0/w-d-xo.html&si=eV-f7aq2Nkyl0EP_ Voctave - Moon River
Some random fact about this masterpiece:
The first three persons in the intro are his mother and his two sisters.
The reverb he uses is created from the reverb of notre dame, as he created the song shortly after it burned.
He created the arrangement in a week, if I recall correctly even without using a piano.
He has absolute pitch, and in order to not wear off his hearing, he sang it in a different key when filming all the jacobs.
He uses a lot of microtonal shifts, he even switches the tuning of the full song inside the song, which he explains in his logic breakdown, which is exceptional to watch. It's like watching Mozart compose.
And one of the next few heads that you see is the legendary Herbie Hancock ❤
(And I’m sure there’s others that I’ve missed)
I always love watching someone discover Jacob for the first time ❤
You should listen to his latest- Bridge over troubled water, absolutely incredible
I second that!
I'm 68 years old. Have loved music since childhood. No-one has ever caused me to weep with joy the way Jacob does. I have followed his journey for 2 years now, and am going to see him in concert on May 3rd. I am beyond excited, because just like you, his music gives me goosebumps! It touches the soul!
If you get a chance, listen to the piece he did with Snarky Puppy, and to his gorgeous cover of Cold Play's Fix You.
BTW, your comment about this being God-level masterclass was spot on! This young man is downloading directly from the Divine.
Quincy Jones has said of Jacob Collier, "Never in my life have I seen a talent like this." (Quincy Jones was also one of the faces singing "OOOO" at the beginning.)
If you're not familiar with Jacob Collier, the BBC aired a documentary about him and his career not too long ago called "Jacob Collier - In the Room Where it Happens".
Check out his arrangement of Lionel Richie's "All Night Long" - you may never be the same again...LOL.
All true!
what took you so long to find Jacob? lol. He won one of his 6 grammys for this. The brand new version of Bridge over Troubled Waters will surely earn a seventh. It's mind bending. Highlights of his choral genius include The Christmas Song, Fascinating Rhythm, Flintstones, Tori Kelly Have Yourself a Merry, and my personal favorite, In The Bleak Midwinter, where he introduced microtonal key changes to choral music. Did you hear the microtonal shifts in this one? There is a transcription on you tube. Also what Jacob calls a logic breakdown if you really want to peek under the hood. There and hundred and hundreds of tracks. It took him a week to compose, record, and video this. One week for all of it.
I second the recommendation to check out Jacob's recent arrangement of Bridge Over Troubled Water featuring John Legend and Tori Kelly. It is exquisite and might be even more mindblowing than Moon River.
Yebba actually inspired this version of Bridge Over Troubled Water
I forgot In the Bleak Mid Winter - that's was my favorite, but "Bridge" is coming for the spot. We will see
Yebba, John Legend, Tori Kelly in this order: great!
Love watching your reaction! Really lovely! I hope you dive down the Jacob Collier rabbit hole. It’s endlessly rewarding. Couple of things. Basically self taught. His mother is a concert violinist and conductor. He grew up in the family music room teaching himself instruments. He took jazz piano in college for a hot minute then moved on. He’s the first British artist to win Grammys for each of his first four albums (he’s up to 7 now, his 5th album Djesse vol 4 came out a couple of months ago). He started out making multi-frame videos for TH-cam. Quincy Jones heard his cover of a Stevie Wonder song, reached out, took him under his wing and set him into orbit. He’s a genius. Been called the next Mozart. And yet he’s pure love and light. Others have mentioned it, but start with In The Bleak Midwinter for a vintage look at his beginnings. It’s already brilliant and he was in his teens. His cover of All Night Long, featuring his childhood idols Take 6, is mind blowing and it also won a Grammy. Bridge Over Troubled Water started with him doing a TikTok collab with Yebba. Watch that, then listen to the amazing expansion on that with John Legend and Tori Kelly. Stunning!
Speaking of collaborations. Once people started to hear him, everyone wanted to work with him. All those voices for the singing Stars at the beginning, are artists, family, and friends he asked to just sing one note, any note, singing “moon” on their phone video and send it in. There’s a list of all the contributors in the TH-cam notes. But see who you can recognize on your own. He’s been exploring so many genres with so many artists. Clearly a kid in a candy store. Dig in!
The people in the intro are not just fans, some of them are world class musicians - Herbie Hancock, Steve Vai, Chris Martin, late David Crosby, all recorded themselves singing "Mooooon" and set it to him - on his request. Second: it took him 7 days to record the song, not sure about the video. There is a Logic session breakdown available, where Jacob spills all the secrets about what he did and how he did it.
Watch Jacob’s Logic Pro breakdown of how he recorded Moon River, then watch Jacob’s Bridge Over Troubled Water … Jacob is a once in a lifetime talent 👍
Still can't believe he created Bridge over troubled water in a week. Even if the first minute already existed, it is mind boggling what he did... Something around 2800 individual instances of "sound" and singing arranged in perfection. My small and feeble human mind cannot fathom the genius of Jacob...
I'm amazed that you are just now discovering the genius that is Jacob Collier. He's been creating these masterpieces for many years now and is turning them out faster than most normal people can find the time to watch them. You simply must take the time to review his entire collection. IMHO, we are all so fortunate to be living through these times where we can follow first hand this great musical genius who is on par with the greatest minds in the history of music.
I did a little research on him based on that one reaction as I could tell something was technically amazing. He very well could be the musical Einstein of our lifetime.
@@larryshairYou put that very well. Others have said this but I truly believe we are blessed to be alive and witness a genius like this at work.
Jacob can also dazzle you in the complete opposite way. Check out his rendition of "Fix You". Just him and the piano. You will shed tears.
Fix you live is outrageous!'
The Pentatonix are a double cheese burger from McDonalds. Something easy, but relatively enjoyable to eat while on the go. Jacob Collier on the other hand is a three course meal at a five star restaurant.
This recording is most definitely the most impressive thing I’ve ever heard in my life. It moves me to my core and blows my brain to pieces all at once. It brought me so much joy to see you react to this for your first time.
Thanks Geoff. I mentioned this to someone else just a moment ago but it bears repeating. He very well might be the greatest musician of our time. And I mean that in every literal way possible. Vocally, maybe not. Musical theory - mind-blown.
To me this seems like a musical representation of a river. Tempo changes reflect flow changes. Crescendos feel like rounding a bend to a beautiful vista. Rapid overlapping tracks feel like eddys in the current. Fascinating to listen to a song I've heard so many times and have different images stirred in my head...
I think Jacob can hear the angels sing. And he brings it to earth. This is beyond stunning.
Ok... gotta admit that... there's A LOT of Jacob Colliers in this video, lol 🤭 dude has some serious talent.
Loved the song, and your excitement, and the whole reaction of course.
Have a great day/night or whenever you read this! 😉
I just love to watch people losing their "Jacob virginity". Enjoy the amazing ride!
lol, hilarious!
This song can not be topped. This is a once in a century type of talent we are witnessing here. What he did with this song is awe-inspiring and is one example of how he's pushing musicality to the next level. Can't wait for you to hear his other works. I enjoyed watching this.
Symphony for voice in 1 movement.Astounding
Loved your reaction. Welcome to the rabbit hole what is Jacob Collier! Don't plan anything for the next month as you dive in!
13:03 the precise moment when jacob went from confusing you to touching you
lol, facts!
Jacob is fantastic! So sopisticated!!!Keep digging and diving into mr. Collier! Thanks.
I'm going to hear Jacob live in May. So excited. He's been compared to a modern day Mozart, so when Mozart comes to your town, you don't want to miss it!
My favorite is All Night Long. It's such an overload of music and joy.
That sounds great!
My favourite reaction! That stunned appreciation is awesome😊.
Thanks so much!
Just beautiful. A very special talent. Made me cry
I had to laugh when you were freaking out at the beginning. JUST WAIT, MAN! He is a genius, an alien? Definitely beyond!
The JS Bach of our time. No doubt about it.
Jacob won a Grammy for this performance in 2020.
I loved your excitement and insights. His talents run deep. His live improvised performances are amazing. Well worth investigating his trajectory and viewing interviews of him describing how he started imitating sounds at a very early age.
Yeah, that’s our Jacob. Welcome to the club. 😊
Yes. He is… THE ONE. 😂 Awesome reaction!
New sub here for the Jacob rabbit hole..... Buckle up!!
This
Such a talented individual!!
This wouldn't exactly be reactable, but to help inform your hopeful future reacts to Jacob I would recommend seeking out his LOGIC SESSION BREAKDOWN: "Moon River" on TH-cam. You comment there may be 13 "parts that were layered in that" but while not all at once or anything, there are hundreds. The part that you called flat towards the beginning, he describes as negative harmony; everything is basically insane. Great react, thanks for the video, enjoy your journey with Jacob's work.
Yeah, 13 layers :). The innocence! Definitely check out the Logic Session Breakdown. And yes, also his Bridge Over Troubled Water, which just came out recently. And -- oh yeah, one more thing -- the rest of his album drops at midnight tonight!
th-cam.com/video/9d4-URyWEJQ/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=JacobCollier
I’m almost as thrilled to watch your reactions to your very first encounter with Jacob than it is to listen to the masterpiece… 😅
This is incredible. His Grammy is well-deserved, certainly. Great reaction, this one destroyed my brain as well!
Please listen to more jacob collier! We are witnessing a genius that will be studied for generations to come
Your right. You wouldn't believe it. Just wow. I've never seen anything like it before. It takes creativity into orbit.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for introducing this 72 year old to the brilliantly talented Jacob Collier!!!!!!!
You're welcome! Isn't he amazing? Folks much younger than our ages just don't understand how seldomly talent like this comes along.
nothing tops this, IMO. breathtaking, joyful, all around magnificent. loved seeing your reaction & how much it moved you
Jacob also plays about 20 different instruments quite well some of which you will see in his massive cover of "All Night Long" or in"Hideaway". This video is from several years ago and it won a Grammy. Now he's doing all kinds of collaborations with all kinds of people. DJesse Vol 4 will be released tonight. It will be his 5th or 6th album.
Those people at the beginning are fellow musician friends like Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones and so on.
He often edited his own videos but for this one he had to hire a special software company.
He's also famous for leading large audiences in improvised choral singing.
As for the complexity of this song which uses changes in tuning (A432 vs A440 vs A253) and microtonality so that he'll be keys like G-Half-sharp. Of course he has precise microtonal perfect pitch. He sometimes teaches the music theory like that used in this song. Below is one analysis. He's 29 now.
th-cam.com/video/UTDHylJZMXU/w-d-xo.html
look up moon river logic sessions break down where he breaks down all the tracks for the song. I think you will appreciate it, if you haven't seen It already.
Don't try to work out what just happened Larry, He just keeps giving. Just lay back and enjoy the journey mate. (Aussie for buddy!)
The fact that you havent heard of Jacob blows my mind. Id recommend Little Blue, Bridge Over Troubled Water and Fix You
music theory taken to an entirely new level that never has been heard before!
We are so dang lucky to be alive to witness this genius.
This is very cool!
Good to see you❤
Needed it this morning
"Those must be all fans and viewers..." Nope. Almost all of those are absolute legends.
Even more stunning, he refused to give them _any_ direction. Just "Sing me a 'moon' on any pitch you want." And then he stitched them all together, many not even in any kind of standard tuning, into _that._
Amazing!
One of the best reactions to this song, and there are many.
Good to here reactions from ppl who are musically inclined.👍
It will be tough to listen to a regular version on this from now on!
Wow, thanks so much. I've done more research on Jacob as I was suspecting some musical genius aspects of this song and I wasn't wrong. Apparently he is one of the greatest musicians (maybe not vocally, but musical theory) that we have seen in our lifetimes. He quite literally could be the next musical Einstein.
3:38 He asked everyone to film themselves singing whatever pitch of the Bb major scale they wanted, and arranged what he got into this.
10:14 Though this is my favorite thing of his, he has given himself a run for his money multiple times. Some of his early ones, like Fascinating Rhythm and Flintstones, are in some respects even wilder than this, though I guess they might not count since they have instrumental sections.
17:29 The maximum simultaneous vocal tracks is 72, in the last chord.
This song is like If LSD produced pure thoughts and mental clarity. WOW! I'm 100% with you my Brother. This has to be like a top 5 song of all time, all genres!
Oh man, I'm sure we'd actually SEE the music with LSD...
It's ALL him!!! I need more ears for this sagain.
You've just found an amazing rabbit hole! I would recommend going back to the beginning of his discography just to see how much he has progressed in the last 8 years. It's pretty amazing. The kid's a genius.
Oh my... if this blows your mind take a listen to Bridge over troubled waters he released like a week ago.
It's mind blowing eh? Soooooo cool.
By the way Larry, I'm eighty one years old and have seen nothing like Jacob in my lifetime and I'm an avid music lover of most genres.
Sadly, there are so many people out there that lack the understanding of what is happening here. We may never see talent emerge like this ever again.
I expect to see a lot more of these :)
Look up the video of Jacob breaking down and explaining this entire masterpiece on his TH-cam channel. About 5,000 separate vocal samples!!!
Welcome into Jacob’s multiverse 👽
I watched one of his videos of him interpreting a song with different styles and emotions that were random. Here's the deal. He very well might be the greatest musician alive today. I'm serious.
Now you know why he has a shelf full of Grammy's.
You're gonna love "The Christmas song"! Be forewarned.
Try a song Jacob wrote next... "Little Blue @MahoganySessions" is great and is a live recording. He invited fans to join him on the recording and taught them what to sing all in one session. The result was amazing. It doesn't hurt that a high percentage of his fans are musicians. Here is a link: th-cam.com/video/IQvzX0Z3HE4/w-d-xo.html
I think both Little Blues are worth comparing. Mahogany version with the simplicity of its components is open-handed magic at its finest. The studio version is insanely rich but a masterclass in creating vast space for all its jewel like parts without compromising its own magic.
He makes these TH-cam streams where he goes through the Logic sessions for his arrangements/songs. It took him 7 days to arrange and record this cover. It's insane. This is why Jacob has a fan in basically every currently living musical legend. Music for musicians, perhaps, but the creativity is not from this world.
5000 layers
I think I hear 5001...
Jacob composes his compositions in ‘Logic’… by is own admission, this one tune used 1200+ lines. There is also an analysis showing how JC actually changed the frequency of “A” the chords are oriented…. several times.
Please note MIT Media Dept. contacted JC and offered to make something to help with his music video production. Jacob accepted and he now has (not used here) a 1 of 1 keyboard with a mic input which will choralize his voice (with matching tambre, etc.) to as many keys as he can hold down. You know you’re doing something right when MIT offers assistance.
Welcome to the Jacob Collier rabbit hole… enjoy your stay.
You should view his logic breakdown for this song… then realize this song took about a week and a half to create…. THAT is the genius of Jacob Collier
Welcome to Jacob's universe :D
you have to do dax to be a man mega remix OMG u are going to fall in love
great reaction !! you should def also check a video of Jacob live with just an instrument (piano or guitar) like Little blue or Fix you !
Mo Collier, sir! Appreciate your experience!
How many parts were layered in that? I don't remember exactly, but upwards of 200 at some points, especially in the infinite zoom-in near the end.
Also, that part went up a half-tone from a quarter-tone flat to a quarter-tone sharp, completely smoothly, with dozens of harmonies coming in and out as the entire tuning framework slid up from, IIRC, A=427 to A=454 or something like that. (I probably have the exact numbers wrong, but yeah).
Another one that'll just demolish your brain is Lionel Richie's "All Night Long", covered by Jacob ft. Take 6 and a wonderful jazz orchestra.
You really dove into the deep end. Probably should have started with some of his earlier works, this is a bit much for an appetizer!
I like watching your reaction because it reminds me of my first reaction, when his music sounded weird to my ear, it was all so overwhelming, especially the runs in the beginning. Now, my brain has adjusted and it sounds absolutely normal. It's like music was always like this. Everything he does is so grounded in theory that if something sounds like just too much then you need to listen to it a few more times for your brain to adjust. People used to react to Stravinsky in the same way.
Do 'Flintstones', it's playful and fun and then go on to 'All Night Long' which is another master class, fully orchestrated with a huge amount of collaboration. Both won Grammys.
Thansk!
Some call him the Mozart of our generation.
Hi Cutie
I need to go back and lissen to this ten more times to get it all in. This is so great.
IF you want Another new artist to your channel Please react to Who needs the world with Emelie Sande. I would love to har what you think of the song and The video
He has a video where he breaks down the logic session! Absolutely Fascinating
I can tell the moment when "your system was overloaded". :D It's so much fun to witness others experiencing Jacob the first time. I attended his concerts 3 times so far. I have to say, the live shows are even more astonishing then anything recorded by him. Which speaks a volume. But yes, we're with you. :) I highly recommend his Logic Sessions, you'll lose your mind. :D
Others may have mentioned it but you should check out "Harmonic Analysis of Moon River" at the Listening In TH-cam channel (it discusses microtonality, shifting key centers, alternative tuning, just intonation...) and from Jacob's own channel his Logic Session Breakdown of Moon River where he goes in depth into looking at the guts of the song.
Another good one by jacob is his own spin on “All night long”
Please do “Little Blue” 💙💎🎶
Jacobs been out since he s 13,he now 29 ….where u been??
I would recommend "Bridge Over Troubled Water" that was just released last Thursday February 29th
Every 70-100 years someone like this comes along,,smh
Hoping for a LONG life for this guy.
The video of this song is better than the CD version. The intro is longer.
I have broken ears. I can 100% recognize and appreciate the immense talent but this actually worked my nerves. I almost just clicked off but wanted to see if I could "get it"., saldy no.
He said on his current CBS Sunday Morning interview that he likes to go as far as he possibly can with a song
@@michellemonet4358 crazy talented for sure. 😁
If there is a god. And if he, she or it has a sound … this is the closest we get.
Yes!
Loved this reaction! You should do all night long by him as well :)
definitely watch his logic session breakdown. itll answer a ton of your questions and create a whole new bunch of questions. He's one of the most amazing musicians and creators of our time. Literally check out anything else he's done. His new album, Djesse Vol 4, just came out, too. Plenty to check out. My suggestions would be his version of Bridge Over Troubled Water from the new album, but also All Night Long, In The Bleak Midwinter, and his stripped down version of Fix You from his London home
More Jacob Collier :D
He has a technical breakdown of this song. If I recall correctly, this was over a 600 track song.
Thanks Chris❤ patti
I second that! 😊
@@that_averagetypcan I 3rd it🤔😉
@@Sandy_justme😊
@@that_averagetypyou ok Karol?
🤗
@@Sandy_justme yep, I think I'm good 🙂 and you? 🙂
I think the audio was recorded in 4 days…
So far this could be used as a Star Wars song. The lower right guy must be Chubaca. Enough.
I have no idea if you've done much more of Jacob, but... would you like to hear him harmonize with himself nearly to this level... *live?* With the gods of modern jazz fusion?
I give you: Snarky Puppy ft. Jacob Collier and Big Ed Lee (on sousaphone): "Don't You Know"
Featuring an entirely new instrument invented by Jacob and designed and built by the faculty and grad students of MIT.
Jacob is what happens when Mozart is reincarnated in the 21st century with unlimited technology to play with and centuries more music theory to riff off of.
Add in Dimash, probably the greatest singer of all time; Ren the modern troubadour and one of the greatest storytellers alive; and many many other incredible artists and groups active right now, and I think we're living in a new golden age of music. I pity people who are stuck in pop-land listening to yet more reiterations on "the formula". There is _stupendous_ stuff happening right now in music. It's just not happening on the radio for the most part. It's happening on the internet, especially on TH-cam.
The top the next iteration of harmonics and musical organization , new stuff. Like when Isaac Newton invented ( discovered ) - there’s a thought / Calculus . New realms of musical exploration. We should all climb on board. Time to write some new books on music theory. Doesn’t it make you happy there is way more and were not near done maybe barely started
Everybody always talks about his music. I want to talk about his closet.
Fun fact: it only took him a few weeks to record this.
Welcome to Jacob Collier's incredible world of music~ This song is absolutely gorgeous and a FEAT of musicality.
But to answer your question about another a capella song that has topped this in beauty (just for me personally) is this live cover of Fleet Foxes' Helplessness Blues by Doox of Yale (fka The Duke's Men of Yale):
th-cam.com/video/-h4DV8az5vo/w-d-xo.html
Idk why but it just brings me to tears every time.
well, here's Jacob showing us his sequencer project in Logic Audio
th-cam.com/video/9d4-URyWEJQ/w-d-xo.html
In answer to one of your questions, there were almost 5,000 sound files. The opening was about 150 musicians, including composers and conductors. They are musicians he knows well enough they're 'on his phone'. He texted them to sing 'Moon'. What you heard and saw is what they 'texted' back. So they are sufficient fans to do that for him. They're all listed in the video's Description. Collier explains the entire piece in detail in his _'LOGIC SESSION BREAKDOWN: "Moon River"'_ th-cam.com/users/live9d4-URyWEJQ (1hr:37m).
Jacob Collier has unusually refined perfect pitch (aka absolute pitch). He says when he's health he can discriminate pitch to about 5¢ (5%) of a semitone. He can remember and sing it. No pitch correction used.
Hence he constructed the opening 'Moon' chords and melodies from the ~150 individual musicians' replies.
My favourite parts are his Mum is 2nd (a professional violinist, conductor and violin professor at the Junior Royal College of Music), and his 2 sisters (one is a chorister). It must be fabulous to make a great piece of music with family you love, and even greater when it wins a Grammy. 😀
If you'd like to hear more, a good place to start is near his beginning on TH-cam with one of Collier's TH-cam video's which caused Quincy Jones to ask his staff to 'go find that kid';:
_' Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing - Jacob Collier' th-cam.com/video/pvKUttYs5ow/w-d-xo.html (6m:7s) He was a teenager.
Then you can move forward through his Grammy winners:
After that, Jacob Collier Grammy Winners on TH-cam:
_ Flintstones - Jacob Collier_ th-cam.com/video/zua831utwMM/w-d-xo.html (3m:10s) 2017
_ You And I (Audio) - Jacob Collier_ th-cam.com/video/muwxq701Lj4/w-d-xo.html (4m:29s) 2017
_Jacob Collier - Moon River_ th-cam.com/video/VPLCk-FTVvw/w-d-xo.html (8m:50s)
_ Jacob Collier - All Night Long (Official Video)_ th-cam.com/video/nspqYGz-Z1s/w-d-xo.html (7m:20s)
_ Jacob Collier - He Won't Hold You (feat. Rapsody) ft. Rapsody_ th-cam.com/video/OnA5po3ASyI/w-d-xo.html (5m:5s)
_ "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning" // säje (featuring Jacob Collier)_ th-cam.com/video/6rY59w4sJbA/w-d-xo.html (4m:23s)
Collier explains in detail how he thinks about, and creates his music, for examplr
_LOGIC SESSION BREAKDOWN: "Moon River" _ th-cam.com/users/live9d4-URyWEJQ (1hr:37m)
_ LOGIC SESSION BREAKDOWN: "All Night Long (feat. Take 6)"_ th-cam.com/users/liveUAMc4K_NXsA (1hr:48m)
Collier's 4th album "Djesse Vol. 3" was nominated in 2021 for Album of the Year, but Taylor Swift "Folklore" won.
Other Jacob Collier's TH-cam videos worth watching:
_ Jacob Collier - Little Blue | @MahoganySessions_ th-cam.com/video/IQvzX0Z3HE4/w-d-xo.html (7m:53s) This is an acoustic version of the single by Jacob Collier and Brandi Carlile
_Jacob Collier - Here Comes The Sun (feat. dodie)_ th-cam.com/video/dXf1nUVdVuM/w-d-xo.html (4m:1s)
_ Jacob Collier - Never Gonna Be Alone (feat. Lizzy McAlpine & John Mayer) [Official Music Video]_ th-cam.com/video/NMo4608Q-YM/w-d-xo.html (5m:10s)
_ Jacob Collier, Lizzy McAlpine & John Mayer - Never Gonna Be Alone (Live At The Troubadour)_ th-cam.com/video/2ScNNmzlFmk/w-d-xo.html (5m:33s) a very 'screamy' American audience, but luscious John Mayer solo
Thanks so much for this!
@@larryshair Thank you for replying. You're very welcome. I assume you'll combine it with suggestions or advice from other commenters, so I don't expect you'll use very much, and that's fine with me.
Many reactors don't 'get it', but I believe you do.
I'll add a bit more about the opening 'Moon', hopefully to explain how extraordinary it is.
In response to his request to send him them singing 'Moon', Collier got 150 different voices back from his friends. IIRC, he asked them to sing in the key of B-flat. However, AFAIK, he didn't specify major, minor or octave. So the pitches he'd get would be, for the major scale based on B♭, pitches B♭, C, D, E♭, F, G, and A, and for the minor scale pitches B♭, C, D♭, E♭, F, G♭, and A♭ (wikipedia, not my knowledge). They'd mostly be across a few octaves. I pretty sure they didn't tell him the pitch.
For comparison, imagine 150 people sending you 150 'buttons', each playing one of 10 (I think I've counted that right) distinct 'notes' mostly across three octaves, but some further out. Some will have sung a little sharp or flat to standard tuning, so it might be closer to 150 distinct pitches than 30-ish.
Collier arranges the samples into an 'instrument' (by ear). Not many people could even attempt that without electronic equipment. He composes and 'plays' that opening using that 'instrument'. I believe there was no pitch correction.
He chose the voice-samples to make chords and harmonies that 'worked'. If all the samples in a chord were comparably sharp (or flat) the combination would still sound fine to the overwhelming majority of people; AFAIK, most people seem to work on relative pitch, not absolute pitch.
They were friends, so I assume he wanted to use them all. Also, he had their faces appear when their voice sample played. So they (and we) could see when they were included in the song.
I think that covers the content and constraints of the opening.
It boggles my mind.
Best Wishes. ☮
The only person that can top Jacob, is Jacob.
Harmonic analysis: th-cam.com/video/UTDHylJZMXU/w-d-xo.html
Hey check out your worth it by hopsin and Dax
Here are the stupid facts that you won't believe. He did this in 1 or 2 weeks, he included many fellow musicians in the intro, he split two semitones in like 5 different notes, he is more naturally tuned than the standard 12tones of the piano per-say, and he had two micro tonal keychanges, one was 1/4 down, and the second one was subtle, by slowly gliding a semitone up - then suprise semitone down and returning to just intonation, in short, what I'm saying is that you won't find half of these notes on the piano
Oh you think your mind is blown? CHECK THE MOON RIVER BREAKDOWN FROM JACOB HIMSELF BROOOO ! This is so genius that most of it goes over almost everyone's head at first
Enjoyed this reaction of moon river. Truly entertaining. Moon river was one of my Moms favorite songs. Love this rendition.
here is another version of moon river I think you may enjoy.
th-cam.com/video/7h3rTNai9W0/w-d-xo.html&si=eV-f7aq2Nkyl0EP_
Voctave - Moon River