"asl" songs on YouTube

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Daft

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Have you ever watched any YouTube videos of pop songs in ASL? Have you noticed that about 90% of them are either crappy? Actually, it's more like they are signing in English word order but using ASL signs. Some of them actually use the wrong signs.

However, I think some of the ASL interpretations are very, very good - as in they signer signed the concept and not word-for-word.

Here's two examples.

Crappy - as in word-for-word SEE signing trying to use ASL signs


Good example interpreting concepts.

 
I can't express how much I enjoyed watching the bottom video.
 
Your links aren't working.

Most people on you tube who claim they are using SEE are using (as you described) ASL in English word order. In other words not SEE but rather PSE.

I think I've seen maybe one video on you tube that the people were actually using SEE.
 
The links are working. I was able to see the videos just now.
 
I notice two different ASL vs ESL
yeah person expression as bit different to SEE and ASL..!
 
Interesting that I stumbled across this thread right away just as I was thinking about this whole trend of songs on YouTube in ASL. Yeah, some of them are very good and some of them are very crappy. I am intrigued by this whole concept of signing songs in ASL since I would think you need to be hearing to actually be able to do it (unless you use a hearing aid or have a cochlear implant), so it creates an ability divide and thus boosts oralism. Maybe? Just a thought. I also am thinking that so many people attempt it because it looks really cool, like a music video.
 
I'm torn on the whole thing. On the one hand, being HoH and only getting about 1/2 the words in a song, I actually like when they sign fairly close to the english words so that I can figure out what they're saying. Yes, I can read lyrics but since I'm trying to improve my signing, it's sort of a 'two birds with one stone' thing.

However, I love watching true asl and Tiffany is really awesome. It's sort of a test to see, once I know the words, if I can read enough of her signing to see how she's conceptualizing it.
 
I am intrigued by this whole concept of signing songs in ASL since I would think you need to be hearing to actually be able to do it (unless you use a hearing aid or have a cochlear implant), so it creates an ability divide and thus boosts oralism.
Click to expand...

Well, this is actually done by interpreters or hearing students learning ASL. The problem I have with some of these videos is that they say they are in ASL, but they really aren't. If you are going to advertise that the video is using ASL - then use ASL. If you are going to use PSE, then tell everyone that you are using PSE.

I showed a professional interpreter a "supposed" ASL music video and asked what her opinion was. She said it was simply horrible, the person who went way overboard in trying to analyze it, and completely missed the mark. Also, she mentioned that a lot of hearing people really don't know what ASL is - all they see is hand movements and simply assume the person know what they are doing.

People like Tiffany do an awesome job and can completely convey the meaning of the music. She makes it a joy to watch. But the first example, was just plain bad. If I didn't know the words to the song, I really would have been confused.
 
Would Love Feedback on Video

Recently, a few friends from all over Michigan got together to make a sign language music video. As fans of The Crane Wives, a Grand Rapids band, we chose the song "How to Rest" and went from there. With the help of Arcadia Brewing Company in Battle Creek we completed this version of the video which you can check out with the link here:

"How to Rest" The Crane Wives: The Unoffical Fan Video - YouTube

We'd love some feedback on the concept, the sign language, and the overall video! So if anyone has time, let us know what you think!
 
That second video really made me smile. That girl was adorable and did a great job...and I happen to love that song.
 
I can't understand the lyrics of these songs in the first place so I guess this question is more or interpreting or ASL students. I guess I'm not qualified to weigh in on which is better/more accurate because I don't know WHAT is being interpreted. (Holy crap, that is one of the problems of being Deaf...we don't know what is said to begin with)

Watch the following video
YouTube

It is Keith Wann interpreting Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby".
It is hilarious but I really see both SEE and ASL to be useful. With SEE, the actual lyrics are conveyed more accurately. With ASL, the meaning is portrayed much more accurately and much less laboriously.
Of course, Keith Wann is a comedian so he extends the metaphor to the absurd and his act ends in his hypothetical audience asking for English word order AND fingerspelling.
 
DYING laughing here. :laugh2:
ecp said:
I can't understand the lyrics of these songs in the first place so I guess this question is more or interpreting or ASL students. I guess I'm not qualified to weigh in on which is better/more accurate because I don't know WHAT is being interpreted. (Holy crap, that is one of the problems of being Deaf...we don't know what is said to begin with)

Watch the following video
YouTube

It is Keith Wann interpreting Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby".
It is hilarious but I really see both SEE and ASL to be useful. With SEE, the actual lyrics are conveyed more accurately. With ASL, the meaning is portrayed much more accurately and much less laboriously.
Of course, Keith Wann is a comedian so he extends the metaphor to the absurd and his act ends in his hypothetical audience asking for English word order AND fingerspelling.
Click to expand...
 
Definitely a HUGE difference between ESL and ASL. I know my sister took "ASL" as her high-school language and it's TERRIBLY off! I just look at her like she's stupid most of the time... In all seriousness, I can't understand 90% of what she says... I know her last semester she had to sign a song and that seems to be a common thing posted on youtube. Unfortunately, most of them are terrible... and some of them think they're being "cute." It really pee's in my cereal if you catch my drift... but maybe I'm just impatient and get annoyed too easily... =O
 
I've wondered if all the ASL videos out there are accurate. Before I started learning ASL for real, I would watch some of those and try to copy them...probably a good thing I didn't learn much that way or I would have to be unlearning it now! :)

These are great:

Enrique Iglesias's Hero in American Sign Language [Sean Berdy] - YouTube

ASL "How Great Thou Art" - YouTube

I'd like to know if this guy does it right. He was an ASL student at Liberty University when he made most of his videos, but I think this last one has been since graduating.

"Clear the Stage" in ASL - YouTube
 
I know what you mean about all of this. I watch those videos all the time but wonder if deaf/hoh people even understand. I just watched that second video and it gives the basic idea of the song. I enjoyed it. I guess it depends on how you look at it. If someone wanted the details of the song, they'd just have to read it.

A guess if you think about it, putting a song to ASL may look a bit odd. A person standing there telling you a story, but then they go back and repeat a part of the story over and over. :laugh2:
 
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