Vodafone NZ are embracing the power of viral video with this spectacular 'Symphonia' video, created using the sound of text messages being sent to 1,000 phones:

So I've decided to do a little top 5 of my favourite homemade music videos, as they're one of my favourite branches of the viral video family. The ones that are real are the best, as they hit the "wtf? How did they do that!" trigger as people picture the hundreds of hours of planning and preparation that went into the video. Either way, making music in an unexpected way is hugely viral, the bigger and more complicated the better.


No. 5 - Is it real? Isn't it? Debate over this helped push 'Bike Hero' to over 2 million views.



The original and my personal favourite, DJ Scotch Egg performing Bach with a Gameboy orchestra, loses points only because it looks too fake, but I'm a child of the 80's and this hits my 8-bit pleasure button:



No. 3 - With 'creative recycling' at the heart and soul of viral video, The Vodafone video was probably most inspired by the success of AKQA's 'Happy Christmas' message last year.

Jingle Bells remixed:




No.2 - a pleasure to listen to, if stressful after a long day already spent listening to computer noises, this music is made from Windows 98 and XP sounds only:




Number 1: This goes straight to the top for being too clever and uber cool. Radiohead's 'Nude' - cover version with redundant hardware.