She caught my focus – and I just love people with skills and the ability to combine everything into a wonderful, touching piece. Find out more about her and her project below. I hope it sparks your interest and encourages you to support talents like this in SL.
Let her tell you the story herself below – it’s worth it.
in her own words:
“Let you down” is a rework of Dawid Podsiadłos amazing ending theme to Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. After listening to the superb original, over and over, another melody formed in my head. I took a piano, a couple of woodwinds and some strings into my audio workstation and sequenced my take on the beautiful track. In the cyberpunk universe, is a mention of the Mideast Meltdown, a war that took out most of the middle east & turned Dubai into radioactive glass – the perfect backdrop to create a story worthy for a videoclip to the recomposition. Tools used to create the music & video: Music:
Cakewalk by Bandlab as a DAW, with Musio instruments and some free plugins.
Audacity & Rode connect for recording voices.
Video:
Second Life & the firestorm viewer for the machinima.
ShareX for capturing the video.
DaVinci Resolve for video editing.
Runway AI for Anna’s facial expressions and lipsync.
Remembrance/dream sequence:
Fooocus for creating the two characters.
Google AI Studio for rendering the story stills.
Runway AI for animating the stills.
Nuclear Detonation sequence:
Google AI Studio for rendering the Dubai rubble.
A greenscreen hydrogen explosion from the public domain.
There is countless others to thank for endless support, Anna’s outfit, the owner of the region where the video was shot, the character animation overrides, … I hope you love this “gesamtkunstwerk” as much as I poured all I had into this project. Please spread the link, like, subscribe and click the notification bell. Lyrics: Feel the rhythm of the streets, Neon lights and neon dreams, Bloody fists, they feel no pain, When there’s so much more to gain. Hunting season if you will, Tell me where’d you’d rather be, I can hardly see the moon Hope we’ll get there pretty soon. Trying so hard to, to release you, out of the misery, To make you see what I see. (To be free) Hold on to your wishes if, you can’t hold on to me, Forgive me for letting you down, Forgive me for letting you down again Guess I’m not strong enough right now. They will finally feel the flames, Flames that run down through my veins, I will make this city burn, We’re not planning to return Hold on to your wishes if, you can’t hold on to me, Forgive me for letting you down Forgive me for letting you down again I Guess I’m not strong enough, Right now. Oh my love, letting you down. Oooh, letting you down, down. Oh, let you down.
Every now and then you stumble upon someone in SL whose creative spirit just clicks. From music and vocals to visual storytelling – this artist doesn’t just perform, she builds every piece from the ground up. Her passion, skill, and imagination are a beautiful reminder of what’s possible when you combine art and tech with heart.
the view behind….something personal….
Let’s see… I’ve been in SL since 2007. Funny thing – I originally wanted to join IMVU, but the site was down, so I ended up in Second Life. I got hooked instantly – especially by how I could express myself through my avatar and style.
But what really pulled me in was SL’s creative side. The trance raves back in 2007 were wild and fun. Soon I started DJing myself and kept going until around 2011–2012. Then RL took over for a while, but like many, I returned during the pandemic.
Singing was always something I loved but never dared to share. That changed in the summer of ’24, when I met some amazing people singing live in SL. I wasn’t ready for that (still not, really!), but I started experimenting with cover songs. The first was Don’t Worry Be Happy, which needed harmonies. I taught myself to use a DAW – and it worked!
Since then, I’ve recorded covers whenever the mood strikes – kind of like karaoke, but my way. Eventually, I moved on to originals or reworked tracks with my own twist. My first real try was Echoes of Time, which I released on Spotify. Promoting it was tough, but it’s out there.
At first, my YouTube videos were just still photos. Later I switched to video recordings, which already changed the vibe. Then came Strangers – a cover of Kenya Grace – but this time I rewrote the entire music and sequenced it from scratch. I don’t play instruments, but I know how to write for them.
That track got me into visuals: recording scenes in SL, learning camera movements (hello, old photography hobby!), and using AI for lipsync. The result? A bit “Botox Anna” – only lips moving – but it was a start!
I took everything I’d learned into the next clip: I Want You Back (Jackson 5). This time I added real storytelling and recorded my RL facial movements to bring Anna fully to life. It felt like what Linden Lab aimed for with puppeteering – but this actually worked.
Back then I was still using Microsoft’s free video editor – which meant no saving and starting over after every mistake. So, a break… then came Let You Down. What started as a cover turned into a full rewrite – only the lyrics stayed. Piano, flute, strings… it became a dark and magical track (to me at least).
I decided to go all out with the video: a cyberpunk-inspired story about a woman who lost her brother in a nuclear attack on Dubai. I practiced with a better editor, worked on depth of field, camera lenses, and consistent color grading. Again, full face capture for animation – and lots of fine-tuning.
All in all, the process – from singing and music production to video editing – took around 100 hours. I’m happy with the result, but I don’t know when I’ll do the next one!
In the end, I just want to be expressive and creative. I wish more people in SL could see what’s possible if you go all in – but it’s not easy to reach an audience in this niche world.
None of this would be possible without the support of amazing friends – both RL and SL. Thank you for the feedback, the voice coaching, the moral support. You know who you are – and I love you all. ANNA
>> Huge thanks to Anna for allowing me to spread the word on my blog and everywhere else. I love to share creative gems! Hugs K;) <<
Supported by K’s World of Music
now also available inworld! All Music Lovers, active or passive, can join my Group for free! DJ’s and Club Owners please contact me directly to get the right Group Tag as K’s supported DJ, or and Club Owner.
SL Group key: secondlife:///app/group/00b0bc50-66f1-c46a-1b41-7fdbe21e864b/about
find more Informations about the DJ’ s, Clubs, Events and more in the comment/reply section under each Post and Page;) Thanks all for your support of the SL Music Scene;) K;)
