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In February 2011, four performers from the YouTube Symphony Orchestra were flown to Australia for a musical experiment
Partnered with local musicians, their challenge was to create a track influenced by the world's most inspiring country.
This is their journey.
[FOLK MUSIC]
LUKE WEBB: I'm Luke Webb.
I'm a country folk singer/songwriter from Sydney
in New South Wales.
I play a bit of blues, I play a bit of rock'n'roll.
I love rockabilly.
So I sort of blend all those styles of music.
DESMOND NEYSMITH: My name's Desmond Neysmith.
I'm a cellist and I am originally from London.
The cello wasn't really my choice.
Some would say it chose me.
I wouldn't say that.
I'd say it's just because my mom chose it for me.
She bought me one when I was four years old.
LUKE WEBB: When I first met Des, I didn't know what to
think of him.
I didn't know how we would work musically.
DESMOND NEYSMITH: My first impressions of Luke were that
he was a very relaxed guy.
Straight away, we just started chatting and felt as if I'd
known him for quite a long period of time.
LUKE WEBB: The idea is a really big challenge because
the scariest thing about it is not knowing whether you can
actually come up with a piece of music within 10 days.
But he whipped out his cello on the Opera House
steps to tune it.
He played for like 30 seconds and I just knew straight away
that this project was probably going to work out.
[FOLK MUSIC]
LUKE WEBB: Done.
DESMOND NEYSMITH: Something like that.
It's a wrap.
We can go home.
[FOLK MUSIC]
LUKE WEBB: Get on the step, Cap'n.
And if you fall off, everyone is going to see us.
[FOLK MUSIC]
DESMOND NEYSMITH: I just can't believe that couple of days
ago I was in snowy, snowy London, and all of a
sudden here I am.
You can see the ferry, right?
So there's all these boats in the harbor.
Opera House.
It just doesn't get any better than this.
[FOLK MUSIC]
LUKE WEBB: We'll start with something like we were talking
about yesterday, a little bit melancholy.
Something that really fits in with where we are right now.
[CELLO MUSIC]
LUKE WEBB: Yeah, I don't think it cuts through.
DESMOND NEYSMITH: I kind of like this one, actually.
LUKE WEBB: I'm feeling that.
That's probably the nicest.
[FOLK MUSIC]
DESMOND NEYSMITH: This song is absolutely
inspired by the landscape.
It's inspired by the people.
It's been even inspired by the food.
It's really an overwhelming experience for me.
LUKE WEBB: Today we're in Rockingham and we're going out
to swim with some dolphins.
First time I've ever done that.
DESMOND NEYSMITH: This is something that's been a dream
of mine for my entire life, really.
[FOLK MUSIC]
DESMOND NEYSMITH: The last time we went, we were going to
try and sort out doing the stretch a little bit to make
it make sense and make that final arc.
LUKE WEBB: Did you write some verse lyrics as well?
DESMOND NEYSMITH: Yeah.
I did write some lyrics.
LUKE WEBB: Could you read them out?
DESMOND NEYSMITH: "I take to the sky with my eyes shining,
I keep on flying.
But now I've arrived.
The memories start here.
They'll never disappear."
LUKE WEBB: I will never forget this project.
This has been one of the highlights
of my musical journey.
I feel like I've connected with the Australian spirit a
lot more than I ever have before, especially getting to
come over to WA.
I've learned so much more about what it actually means
to be Australian.
[FOLK MUSIC WITH LYRICS]