Sometimes (hopefully!) less is more? :-)

https://soundcloud.com/jamesdelsono/when-she-plays-the-piano

THANK YOU, as always, for listening and for all feedback, which is always welcome.

The piano melodies are done with Sibelius / NotePerformer, and mixed with the BIAB track below in Audacity.

EDIT: changed melody track from NotePerformer to Kontakt 5 Upright Piano, for what I think is a warmer sounding sound.

****** Song Summary *************
Title: 13 October 2019 - Piano Solo
File:13 October 2019 - Piano Solo.SGU
Key=Bb , Tempo 60, Length (m:s)=3:20
No intro. 46 bar chorus, from bar 1 to bar 46. Repeat x1 chorus
No Melody
No Soloist track.
Song is saved with Volume, Pan, Reverb, Chorus, Bank0,
Style is _12-8PNO.STY (12/8 Solo Acoustic Piano)

RealTracks in style: 895:Piano, Acoustic, Solo-Accompaniment PopSlow12-8 Ev 060
*******************

Hi James ...

This is very pretty! I think it's begging for a lyric and a great vocalist. Love the tone on the piano and the chord arrangem,ent.

As always, your music is a very pleasant listen. Wishing you the very best ,,,

Alan

Remarkably well produced, extremely gentle and relaxing.

Certainly there is some beautiful piano playing being delivered.

Soothing, relaxing and simply put, very nice indeed.

Sounds good, James. A pleasant listen.

hi James enjoyed my listen some nice changes medley in this eric

Thanks everybody - it was a nice piece to write where I had nothing to worry vocally about, either speaking or singing :-) Thanks for listening and for your supportive feedback.

Very nice! I like the chord progression, and the piano sounds very good indeed. Enjoyed the listen!

Pretty melody and interesting chording - has several unexpected changes which makes the listening experience quite enjoyable.

Janne

Dear 'musician 17'...

That was you on the piano, I presume ??? If it was you, then I'd like to add my lengthy, enthusiastic applause to the end of the track .

Good god, man, but your piano playing is divine !!! The melody is so sweet, so pretty and nostalgic that it made me feel as though I was attending a piano recital, or maybe a wedding rehearsal, even, at which you were performing on the keyboard. It's just a lovely, lovely thing to listen to. It spoke directly to my heart because it's music wrapped-up with true feelings.

You spoke about changing the melody track instrument to Kontakt Upright Piano, and indeed, it was a warm-sounding rendition. Obviously, your intent is to employ virtual instruments that add qualities of sound that assist you in realizing your compositions.

May I suggest another virtual piano instrument to you? It's called Imperfect Samples at http://www.imperfectsamples.com/. The website offers four distinctly different sampled pianos that were recorded 'imperfectly', meaning the producer chose to avoid editing out certain characteristics of piano performances that reflect the performer's 'individualities and subtle nuances', as stated on the website. Put another way, the samples are 'in your face' realistic because they weren't tweaked to sound 'perfect'.

Regardless, I think 'When She Plays Piano' is a fine, fragile, yet fully expressive piece of your musical soul to listen to.

Most sincerely,

LOREN (a.k.a. 'bluage')

Thanks everyone - you're way too kind!

Loren (bluage): I'm afraid that that wasn't me playing the piano :-) I'm not that good a piano player to start with (I used to be, but fell out of practice, haha). I play the violin for my sins ... one day, I may share something with the forum - if it is permissible to do that, of course :-)

The samples at Imperfect Samples sound very, very interesting! I will definitely listen to them this evening more, when I'll have a little more time to listen properly! Thank you for sharing them with me!

Finally, last but definitely NOT least, thank you ever so much for such kind comments about my music. It's just a small track I wrote late one night ... it's very much imperfect, of course, but I do like "imperfect" renditions, haha ... so thank you :-) - genuinely, truly appreciated.

Very cool. I like listening to piano solo music. Reminds me of the days when I was also playing piano and taking lessons and all that jazz.

Nice melodic interlude.

Hi Musician,

You've composed a nice, sweet melody and it was nicely done at the piano. Sometimes less is best as proven by your song.
At first I thought I heard a false note. Then heard it again and noticed you delibrately put these kind of bends/progressions in your song. That is nicely done, because it immediatly attracks the attention "what's going on here"? I think that is what Janne also means (?)

Bye,
Hans

Guitarhacker and Birchwood: thank you! Yes, I love piano music. I used to try to play it as a kid - gave it up as I became older, sadly. But there's nothing to stop me writing for it, right? haha. Thanks again :-)

Less is indeed more.

That was a pleasant 3:22.

Hi James,

I love the lilt that a 12/8 time signature brings to music.

This a very, very pleasant listen. Your composition is soft and restful on the ears and it left me feeling comfortable and satisfied.

On a technical note, I'm very impressed at how you got Kontakt's upright piano to match BIAB's piano so well. No-one would notice that the sounds are independent... it sounds like a single instrument.

It's thumbs up from me!

All the best,
Noel

Thanks David :-)

Thanks Noel. I didn't do anything apart from searching hard for a sound that would match! :-) but I'm so glad you enjoyed my little piece. Take good care :-)

Working with BiaB over the past few years and particularly with Midi Super Tracks I've learned to very much love the piano.
Janice has had that love for all her life as her mother played.

This is very lovely. Gentle, soothing and very melodic.

Nice!

J&B

Thank you so much, Janice and Bud. It's so nice to read such kind words. My own background used to be in classical music, so I was lucky enough to hear great pianists play sublimely on a regular basis. It's very different to try to write non-classical for me ... different rules, etc. For one, one must be able to say everything in 3 minutes and 30 seconds or so ... in classical, you can develop, etc., for as long as you like, really. Very different rules of writing, etc., too (of course). But that's why I (try to) do it - because classical, at times, gets (I personally feel) a little too wrapped up in itself and forgets what it's like to communicate a short, incredible song in but a few minutes and then gracefully retire. I'm still working on writing such a song, of course - but I'm really happy that you liked this effort of mine :-) I may even try to write more for piano! :-) Who knows. THANKS!!!

A simply lovely melody & backing tracks...
I enjoyed listening.

Nice wee arrangement.

Relaxing, enjoyable listen.

Thank you Jim, beatmaster and Mark! :-)

Intriguing proposition, that Sibelius. You are really on to something with that combination with Note Performer and Band in a Box. I can't picture how it works, but the result is extraordinary.
I'd be interested in knowing the basic progression. Have you charted this one?

Hi Ed! The answer to that is yes - I can send you the video file (or even the BIAB .SGU file, if you prefer!) of the Band-in-a-Box chord sheet, if you like? Just Private Message me an email address (or I can send you mine if you'd rather) and I can send you either or both of the above files if you want.

As for Sibelius, it's basically a notation program - so, the way I did it is simply by writing the chords into BIAB, selecting the tracks, etc., and then writing the piano melodies into Sibelius. I think I used Kontakt 5 this time for the piano - not Note Performer - but they are both basically just instruments that work with Sibelius. After all that, I just mixed the Sibelius melody track with the BIAB backing using Audacity (the free software mixing program) and that was really it - nothing more! :-)

I'm glad you liked it - I will definitely write more, when I have time, for Sibelius/Kontakt 5 upright piano and BIAB ... it does seem to work, somehow, I do think :-) Thanks again and let me know if you want the chord sheet!

Sure thing, James. I'd be interested in charting the simplfied melody, all copyrighted James Delsono, as a musical exercise.