Uploaded September 2017 | Updated September 2026, 7 minutes ago
My hamster, Felix, spent many hours running in his wheel and crawling through little tubes. I tried to make a song that captured his hamster adventures and personality. This is the first original song / fiddle tune I've posted, and I'm curious what people think. The video and melody is a bit...different...but I hope you still like it! =)
As I mentioned, my hamster spend a significant portion of his life running in his running wheel. I started to think he actually thought he was going places as he ran. When he would jump out of his wheel, it was almost as though he would get a little frustrated that he was still in the same cage - the same exact spot. He'd jump back in his wheel and run some more, perhaps hoping he'd somehow get out of his cage by doing so.
But he was never able to get out of his cage unless I picked him up and let him out. As soon as he was put into his hamster ball, or let loose to run around (monitored, of course!), it was like he was a re-invented hamster. After a fun-filled evening playing outside of his cage, he'd spend the rest of the night happily making all sorts of noise bumping into stuff in his cage...he'd do this well into the wee hours of the morning (that was great for him, but a bit exhausting for me since he was in the same room as I was trying to sleep lol). At least it made him happy. ^_^ Hamsters are nocturnal, but he would be VERY nocturnal on nights he was able to play outside of his cage.
This drew an interesting parallel to PEOPLE! I realized that people can also get stuck in metaphorical running wheels (and I don't just mean a treadmill at a gym...). I've watched many people, including myself, start to "run in a running wheel" in their career. People spend so much time trying to accomplish the tasks that their boss present them, only to realize years later they haven't challenged their abilities or developed any new skills along the way. It is easy to accidentally stagnate by doing routine "running wheel" tasks. It is good to force yourself outside of your comfort zone and try something new. Sometimes it is scary to tackle new skills and adapt to new ideas and technology, but it can also energize people in a lot of good ways - just like it energized my hamster.
I'm getting a bit cheesy, but hopefully the cute hamster makes up for it. ^_^
My hamster, Felix, helped produce the drum boom sound (made with his running wheel), as well as the water-bottle percussion sounds in this video. Thank you, Felix! I know you practiced a lot!
I apologize for some of the (many) blurry video shots. It's hard to capture a hamster in focus when he is constantly running around lol. I like trying to use manual focus for more up-close things, but I think that was a mistake when it comes to capturing a hamster's constant movement. Lots of his cutest moments ended up being blurry...Oh well... We live and learn!
Thank you for watching, and I hope you have a good rest of the week! =)
~ Katy
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Software and equipment used:
Software used (for Macintosh):
Garageband for attempted sound mixing
Plugins for sound effects (I have A LOT to learn in this department!):
East West plugins – Goliath Virtual Instrument, Hollywood Strings (See: soundsonline.com/)
Best Service Forest Kingdom II by Eduardo Tarilonte (See: https://www.bestservice.de)
Mastering:
wavemod.com
Final Cut Pro for video editing
PicMonkey.com for the ending cards
Camera:
Canon 70D
Microphone for audio recording:
Blue Woodpecker
My hamster, Felix, spent many hours running in his wheel and crawling through little tubes. I tried to make a song that captured his hamster adventures and personality. This is the first original song / fiddle tune I've posted, and I'm curious what people think. The video and melody is a bit...different...but I hope you still like it! =)
As I mentioned, my hamster spend a significant portion of his life running in his running wheel. I started to think he actually thought he was going places as he ran. When he would jump out of his wheel, it was almost as though he would get a little frustrated that he was still in the same cage - the same exact spot. He'd jump back in his wheel and run some more, perhaps hoping he'd somehow get out of his cage by doing so.
But he was never able to get out of his cage unless I picked him up and let him out. As soon as he was put into his hamster ball, or let loose to run around (monitored, of course!), it was like he was a re-invented hamster. After a fun-filled evening playing outside of his cage, he'd spend the rest of the night happily making all sorts of noise bumping into stuff in his cage...he'd do this well into the wee hours of the morning (that was great for him, but a bit exhausting for me since he was in the same room as I was trying to sleep lol). At least it made him happy. ^_^ Hamsters are nocturnal, but he would be VERY nocturnal on nights he was able to play outside of his cage.
This drew an interesting parallel to PEOPLE! I realized that people can also get stuck in metaphorical running wheels (and I don't just mean a treadmill at a gym...). I've watched many people, including myself, start to "run in a running wheel" in their career. People spend so much time trying to accomplish the tasks that their boss present them, only to realize years later they haven't challenged their abilities or developed any new skills along the way. It is easy to accidentally stagnate by doing routine "running wheel" tasks. It is good to force yourself outside of your comfort zone and try something new. Sometimes it is scary to tackle new skills and adapt to new ideas and technology, but it can also energize people in a lot of good ways - just like it energized my hamster.
I'm getting a bit cheesy, but hopefully the cute hamster makes up for it. ^_^
My hamster, Felix, helped produce the drum boom sound (made with his running wheel), as well as the water-bottle percussion sounds in this video. Thank you, Felix! I know you practiced a lot!
I apologize for some of the (many) blurry video shots. It's hard to capture a hamster in focus when he is constantly running around lol. I like trying to use manual focus for more up-close things, but I think that was a mistake when it comes to capturing a hamster's constant movement. Lots of his cutest moments ended up being blurry...Oh well... We live and learn!
Thank you for watching, and I hope you have a good rest of the week! =)
~ Katy
------------
Software and equipment used:
Software used (for Macintosh):
Garageband for attempted sound mixing
Plugins for sound effects (I have A LOT to learn in this department!):
East West plugins – Goliath Virtual Instrument, Hollywood Strings (See: soundsonline.com/)
Best Service Forest Kingdom II by Eduardo Tarilonte (See: https://www.bestservice.de)
Mastering:
wavemod.com
Final Cut Pro for video editing
PicMonkey.com for the ending cards
Camera:
Canon 70D
Microphone for audio recording:
Blue Woodpecker
