Merbellas Thread

Raven is so mezmerizing! I wish I could be half as graceful as she is in the water!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FfK6lMhEnQ

Some more videos :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVZdnwvmJGw&feature=share&list=PLz 0FvbfKQ5 j_NgsiKYtw9xn47xfmNHq5X&index=10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9-asBj4clU&list=PLz0FvbfKQ5j_NgsiKYtw9xn47xfmNHq 5X&f eature=share&index=9

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3BfddbyNZU&index=13&list=PLz0FvbfKQ5j_Ngsi KYtw9xn4 7xfmNHq5X

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZBsNp2TPFQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R06MgyYlZIQ

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Originally Posted by Merman Arion

I have been told that she stopped filming her performances at the gigs because of some professional mermaids copying her at 100%. It's a shame because I used to enjoy watching her on youtube and be inspired by her natural abilities to spread the magic to the children. Tyler was very good as a pirate, he had a lot of charisma when some journalists interviewed him for a report about festivals and mermaids.
But yeah, she's busy with something that she's passionate about and not many can say that.

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Originally Posted by Anahita

Seriously? WTH? That's so messed up. I was kind of wondering why she didn't post any videos of her performances, but now that I hear that, I'm not surprised.

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Yup. I've seen it. I've called a few people out on it even, and they denied and kept on with it, saying they got their "inspiration" from somewhere else. -_- Uh huh. The most popular things that people copy is the mermaid speak or "mermish". Which the idea of it is certainly awesome, but there's no pride in ripping off someone else's act.

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Originally Posted by Winged Mermaid

Yup. I've seen it. I've called a few people out on it even, and they denied and kept on with it, saying they got their "inspiration" from somewhere else. -_- Uh huh. The most popular things that people copy is the mermaid speak or "mermish". Which the idea of it is certainly awesome, but there's no pride in ripping off someone else's act.

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Ahh.... Yeah, that seems like a really obvious rip-off, too.... You'd think people might think twice about doing that, but I guess not.... I'm glad I'm fond of sticking to singing rude sailor songs and babbling silly things in Farsi, at leas then I'm not ripping anyone off. :) (er, that I know of... please don't let me be ripping someone off, I love the bawdy sea shanties!)

I do "mermish" sometimes, not often because I'm fond of talking to kids. If asked I always say I learned from Raven. And I've actually had a kid that watched the Merbellas say that I wasn't a mermaid because they can't speak English! :-( Of course, compared to them he's right, so...yup.

And yeah, Anahita, I sing a couple of sea shanties in my rotation, but they're not in Farsi so I think we're good. ;-)

I saw her eprform live 2 years ago, it was amazing. there's a video on my fb. I know her, I know she's in a costume, and I was every bit as excited and believing as the kids. THey do all these subtle things!

And yup, people copy her constantly, everything she does. :/ she's always working so hard to be original.

First of all: Congrats Raina on getting new tails for you and your mermaids. And about the monofin thing: I got my rapid fin in today and I must say; what a HUGE diffirence compared to the competitor in my tail!

Second; Nice to know why Raven isen't posting any performing videos anymore. I watched them a thousand times when I was waiting to put my order in. <3 And Ravens performances are the only one I've seen that makes me really BELIEVE in mermaids. It would be so friggin' awsome if they could come to Europe once!! I would do anything to see her perform live!

I don't like talking to people all the time as a mermaid because I get all shy and flustered, then swim off and get all playful like "Jump in with me!" So, I just rely on my dolphin noises and any related sounds. Or sea lion once in a while. I certainly hope no one thinks I'm copying her. I'm just not always good at coming up with what to say when I'm "in character," so I babble on in clicks and whistles. I know only one other mer who can do this and we "talk" to each other in it sometimes. :-P

I want to start working at faires, and I like the idea of having someone talk for you because it gives you more time underwater and to interact with people as a "creature" or whatever. Though, I don't want to be tagged as a copy cat, which always makes me second guess some of my ideas. I have no idea if someone has done it before.

Ok, I don't want to be the one to say this.... But how many things can a mermaid do in a tank? Swim in circles, blow bubble kisses and bubble rings, maybe some flips? There is a very limited number of things that can be done in such a small space, and there will definitely be some overlap between performers. As for noises, if you are copying sea creatures, I don't see how it can be said that is copying Raven. I've always thought that mermaids would likely be fluent in 'dolphin-speak' and 'whale-speak' (those creatures are intelligent enough that it is possible they have a language). Perhaps I am clueless about this, and I certainly don't mean any disrespect for Raven, but I just don't see how doing similar flips in a tank or squeaking like a dolphin is copying Raven. *Ducks and hides, fearing she started a flame war*

it was more so that the group were copying Raven's act pretty much moment by moment. And then defended their actions. You can make the statement "how much can you really do that's different" for anything. Aerialists all use the same basic technique, synchro swimmers, dancers etc. But yet, acts still find ways to build off of the common and be unique. This was a blatant ripoff of her act. Not so much a few general animal squeaks.

But there's also there's a lot of "mermish" that isn't whale or dolphin sounds. The squeeks or "eek"s yeah, but the cooing and all the other sounds where they roll their tongues isn't. Also even the clicking is different from dolphins https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8b_I5IjNE4 If you want to do sealife noises there's no problem with that, just listen to actual recordings of sealife and try and imitate that instead of listening to other acts and going off of them :)

That's what I do! :-) I might make a coo or a horseback kind of "click" to save my voice.

A moment for moment rip off? Tsk tsk.

But yeah, like in dance it's all the same moves usually, but put in millions of different sequences. Same with aerial performances, you just have to find *your* way of doing it!

Ok, yeah, I totally get it now. I just thought maybe someone was doing something similar to a Raven performance, I didn't realize someone literally used her performance as a script! That's just awful.

Now I'm curious as to the different ways people make sea sounds. *goes searching to see if there's already a thread on it*

I'm glad I saw this >.< I LOVE raven's performing, and watch them all the time. But, for some reason I never watched them with sound (Not sure why). I Didn't even know she was making noise, listening to it, it sounds a lot similar to the noises a couple was making at me during one of my performances last summer :/ They told me it was skrit and I had planned on using similar to them during my performing. Knowing this, I'm not going to be doing that. Now to squeeze out an idea for performing before summer starts :headwall:

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I have been told that she stopped filming her performances at the gigs because of some professional mermaids copying her at 100%. It's a shame because I used to enjoy watching her on youtube and be inspired by her natural abilities to spread the magic to the children. Tyler was very good as a pirate, he had a lot of charisma when some journalists interviewed him for a report about festivals and mermaids.

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So Raven just got home from her gig and I asked her about this (because before she left I asked her to take video/photos of the gig). She's never said this. She's not sure who got that idea :p The only reason she doesn't have more videos is that it's usually only her and Tyler at a gig, and sometimes 1 or 2 other mermaids, and they are busy the entire time. They cant film themselves while they're doing stuff. I suggested setting up a camera on a tripod but for a lot of gigs with the logistics of the people around that doesn't work. A lot of times they only get footage either from the media or a family member or someone like me comes and takes it :p So yeah, it's not that she's not posting them because she's afraid people will copy- she's just too damn busy :p

EEE Just paid for my new tail! Raven said if she is able to stay on track (barring any unintended delays) I should get my tail late July Early august. Which for us is the last bit of summer. So I should still have it if I'm lucky for a bit of summer. I also just want to make sure people know that I am on the bottom of the list, I haven't been bumped ahead of anyone, and I don't want anyone to think I'm getting special treatment. I know many of you are also waiting.

Raven has a design idea and she ran it by me and I'm like ahhh that's amazing. She's doing some sketches up for me to approve, but I wont be posting anything. I think it'll be cool to leave it as a surprise ;)

I am also thinking it would be cool for me to do a video comparing the two tails so people can see just how far she's come since the first one!

I am just so excited. This is going to take a lot of weight off my shoulders. Like I said earlier there's been a lot of anxiety about making my tail last and fears around not having a back up. I really wish I had the funds to have more tails just so all my girls can be in them and come this summer that may actually be a reality so who knows we'll have to see :)

There are huge things happening with my company, a few I havent said yet on mernet because they're in the final pending stages and I'm afraid to jinx things... but if all goes as planned this will be our year! <3

Omg Raina, I'm so excited for you! And that video is a great idea, MUST MAKE!

I've been really wondering about the "Mermish" noises, too; I've been trying to figure out what my character Starfrit would be like in terms of vocals and things like that. I'm really not good at talking to people, and I stumble over my words a lot when talking to people in-person (plus I have a pretty minor speech impediment that I'm super self-conscious about), so I've been practicing these various little noises to use instead; warbles, clicks and coos, trills and whistles, and I've got this sort of feline-ish throat purr that I do out of habit sometimes that could be either a purr or a growl, depending on how I do it. I got a lot of inspiration from Raven and her mermaids, but I'm also trying to sort of twist it around into my own variation of it, instead of trying to mimic the Merbellas entirely. Now I'm really nervous about people thinking I'm ripping off of them. D:


On that note, yay Raina! I'm so excited for you, I can't wait to see those new tails and I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for your company! <3

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Originally Posted by Aziara

Ok, I don't want to be the one to say this.... But how many things can a mermaid do in a tank? Swim in circles, blow bubble kisses and bubble rings, maybe some flips? There is a very limited number of things that can be done in such a small space, and there will definitely be some overlap between performers. As for noises, if you are copying sea creatures, I don't see how it can be said that is copying Raven. I've always thought that mermaids would likely be fluent in 'dolphin-speak' and 'whale-speak' (those creatures are intelligent enough that it is possible they have a language). Perhaps I am clueless about this, and I certainly don't mean any disrespect for Raven, but I just don't see how doing similar flips in a tank or squeaking like a dolphin is copying Raven. *Ducks and hides, fearing she started a flame war*

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:clap:

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Originally Posted by Tieri

I've been really wondering about the "Mermish" noises, too; I've been trying to figure out what my character Starfrit would be like in terms of vocals and things like that. I'm really not good at talking to people, and I stumble over my words a lot when talking to people in-person (plus I have a pretty minor speech impediment that I'm super self-conscious about), so I've been practicing these various little noises to use instead; warbles, clicks and coos, trills and whistles, and I've got this sort of feline-ish throat purr that I do out of habit sometimes that could be either a purr or a growl, depending on how I do it. I got a lot of inspiration from Raven and her mermaids, but I'm also trying to sort of twist it around into my own variation of it, instead of trying to mimic the Merbellas entirely. Now I'm really nervous about people thinking I'm ripping off of them. D:


On that note, yay Raina! I'm so excited for you, I can't wait to see those new tails and I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for your company! <3

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I wouldn't be too worried there's only so much you can do with noises and such. Do what you feel comfortable with. I feel like the mer community shares ideas and are supportive of each other and I'd hate to see it turn into everyone pointing fingers yelling copy cat. When Raina brought that up she was talking about someone copying minute by minute performance material. I don't think we should all feel self conscious and afraid of what we can and can't do. This community normally shares ideas and inspiration with each other. Don't be too worried :) lots of other people make noises as well. You could also turn your head to the side and pretend you don't know how to say something and use hand signals as well. Kinda like charades :P

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Originally Posted by Winged Mermaid

But there's also there's a lot of "mermish" that isn't whale or dolphin sounds. The squeeks or "eek"s yeah, but the cooing and all the other sounds where they roll their tongues isn't. Also even the clicking is different from dolphins https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8b_I5IjNE4 If you want to do sealife noises there's no problem with that, just listen to actual recordings of sealife and try and imitate that instead of listening to other acts and going off of them :)

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It's kind of hard not to make cute sounds and not have some overlap. Coos, purrs, and trills could be very handy for a mersona. I'm not saying copy Raven note for note, but, like say Klingon, if it were to become widespread among performing mermaids, it could become an "industry standard".

I'm sure if it were easier, we would all be making Daryl Hannah's sounds from Splash.

I'd just like to add my 2 cents worth. Besides all the other wonderful comments, I'd like to add it's nice how clean her tank water is. From the video on the other page where the other mermaids water was murky, I thinks it's much better for visual effects rather than all the detail only to be seen near the front of the tank.

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Originally Posted by PearlieMae

It's kind of hard not to make cute sounds and not have some overlap.

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what Aziara and the others pointed out.
A tank is a very limited space. And the "dolphiny" sounds a human can produce are also very limited.

If you've ever composed music, you'll find that somewhere out there, there are other songs and music you didn't even know about, that have similar tunes.
Same goes for dance moves possible in/under water.

Now, if someone copied one of my choreos movement for movement, I wouldn't be happy.
But I know that others are bound to use some of my movements, whether they know of me or not, because the things one can do have a limit.

That said, I'm glad I now know there are kind of "dibs" on making nonhuman noises as a mer,
so I can work on unique sounds that are genuinely different.

well like It was said on the two pages before, it was more someone copying move for move what they do.

Anyway, perhaps we should make a diff thread for their performing cuz it's intended to be seperate than tail making. This is the merbellas thread and that's the live mermaid show ;)

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Originally Posted by PearlieMae

I'm sure if it were easier, we would all be making Daryl Hannah's sounds from Splash.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z848FFClBM

I just read your post, Raina, about leaving your tail design a surprise. Lol, I literally said "Raina's so mean!" in a mockingly shocked voice, and my husband turned to me and went "who is?"
I think if I hadn't chuckled, he might have thought I was upset.
I think keeping us all hanging is a good idea, but you know you're gonna drive us all nuts, right?

Sent from my C6916 using Tapatalk

I'm gonna drive me nuts. Lol.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

WE MUST KNOW. Bwahaha

Are there any videos of the koi tail yet? I really want to see it in action

I dont know if the client received it yet

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Heard from Raven today (Day 208). Should see paint pics soon :) So excited

are you going to show us? i really would like to see your design ;)

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Originally Posted by AniaR

I'm gonna drive me nuts. Lol.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by Kailani

WE MUST KNOW. Bwahaha

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LOL!
I don't know if you're gonna make it, Raina. You'll probably be throwing out teasers every time she sends you pics. :D Not that it would be a bad thing.

Mernoises - I have made all sorts of noises since I was a kid trying to imitate other sounds. Imagine my surprise when I meet other people who can "purr", "coo" like a dove, and send out a series of dolphin-esque clicks. I have rarely met people who do them, and then with each mer video I am fearing them more and more. Instead of counting as a "rip off" I think we should consider it more of a "norm" showing that there is a related language. Variances in patterns, tones, and length adds to that.

That being responded to, I AM SO EXCITED TO SEE YOUR TAIL RAINA! I know you based yours off of Splash, but I haven't found a movie that shows the type of tail I want to go for.

I have been trying to figure out the feasible details of what I want for mine. I like the ideas I see Raven have, but I keep finding new things I want to add to make mine more unique. I am also hoping I will be able to be in her area and that she might be willing to help me get my measurements since I am concerned about a tail fitting my waist and butt at the same time! Then there is that bothersome little detail of my feet vs. the monofin sizes! I am hoping I won't end up impossible to accommodate!

Raven has been doing mega updates to their facebook page :) There's a widget on the top now for tail pricing, top pricing, and a FAQ :) Hope it helps everyone out.

Also, Arella you beauty you!
https://scontent-a-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/...92313234_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.n...57524919_n.jpg




and more dragon! eee
https://scontent-a-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/...13969219_n.jpg

https://scontent-a-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/...63356595_n.jpg

https://scontent-a-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/...98444759_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.n...93435327_n.jpg

https://scontent-a-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/...13613925_n.jpg

https://scontent-b-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/...38529144_n.jpg

and PS we seem to still be stuck on the mermish sound thing. I want to say for the 3rd time, that people doing mermish was not the issue. It was and still sadly is, people copying move for move what Raven does. Her entire act. Like people who go and watch in person all her performances and study them and then go in a tank and do move by move exactly what she does, say the same story (that they wrote for background) change their accessory costumes to look like hers, use the same music, like when I say copy, I mean like very very very copy. I think because Raven shoots so high and people see that it works, they use it as their standard instead of trying to reinvent or do something that will break the mold. I dont really like the excuse, how much can you do in a tank. Because 99% of us/you don't do anything in the tank so how would you know? It's like saying "how much can you realllly do with paint" or something. I think for a good example, look at how drastically different what Raven and mermaid melissa do. To me, it just bothers me when people copy her because the same people cozy up to her like a friend and I feel like they use her in the end. I don't blame her for being less vocal in the community. I experience the exact same thing myself and it just makes you want to throw yourself into your work and retreat away from people.

I'm really excited for the tank act I'm developing. Raven's been the only one I've discussed it with yet and after loads of research I'm 100% sure it's never been done before and I'm really excited to hopefully get to do it later this year. Raven is my biggest inspiration, but also my biggest motivation to try and be unique ;)

In other news, I AM BEYOND EXCITED FOR MY TAIL. lol it's going to be a long long long long bunch of months.

I saw all the widgets but I'm disappointed I can't view them without a Facebook account. :P

I'll definitely be posting more pics to my page once I get some free time : ) with classes and stuff it's hard xD