Adrift in the Fog (Piano Playthrough)

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Tenaba
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Adrift in the Fog (Piano Playthrough)

Post by Tenaba »

Hello all,

I've been a bit busy, but I still got some piano practice in. This is the first original song I've written on piano.

You can find it on Youtube here: https://youtu.be/DkRLgya5Op4

I'll likely release a cleaned up version with better timing through the power of MIDI editing. For now, here's a video of a "live" performance, all in one take, without a metronome.

Edit: I've finished the re-recorded and edited version.
It's here on Youtube: https://youtu.be/63WTl2gl8Ek
Also on bandcamp: https://tenaba.bandcamp.com/track/adrift-in-the-fog

Playing without the metronome turned out to be a huge challenge, revealing how reliant I am on a backing track or metronome to keep time. It bothers me to listen back to it, but I suppose if in the future I get better, it may be a reminder of progress.

But considering my inexperience with piano, I think it's an improvement. I did manage to get another "usable" playtrough, but when listening to the recording, there was an x-run halfway through. I changed my Pipewire settings slightly, but was still dreading another x-run ruining the playthrough :lol:

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Re: Adrift in the Fog (Piano Playthrough)

Post by oscillator »

That is a very nice song, with some great sounding chord changes.

I can understand the drive to learn an instrument and be able to play it, and I think it sounds really good!

Thanks for sharing!

(I only listened to the edited version on YouTube.)

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Re: Adrift in the Fog (Piano Playthrough)

Post by Tenaba »

oscillator wrote: Thu Jun 09, 2022 8:59 am That is a very nice song, with some great sounding chord changes.

I can understand the drive to learn an instrument and be able to play it, and I think it sounds really good!

Thanks for sharing!

(I only listened to the edited version on YouTube.)
Thanks, glad you liked it. And it's probably best to listen to the edited version lol, there's some major timing jank on the playthrough.

That being said, learning piano has been quite fulfilling so far. I also need to justify spending all that money on the Pianoteq license somehow.

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Re: Adrift in the Fog (Piano Playthrough)

Post by jeanette_c »

Hi @Tenaba , the piece is really lovely. I enjoyed the harmonies a lot.
I am not sure whether it is the piano of choice or getting to know the instrument, but the performance sounds a little too lacking in dynamic range. But that includes so much factors, not only the piano sound, with its leve of expressivity, but the keyboard you use and, naturally, the confidence and experience.
Have you tried working with a sustain pedal a little more? Probably not with that level of playing, which must be unimaginably daunting for a "beginner". With that style of composition a sustain pedal helps, not because it hides playing mistakes, of which I could hear none. But it is part of the expression and tone.
All that said, it is a lovely piece, well written and well played. Thanks for sharing and congratulations on your progress!
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Re: Adrift in the Fog (Piano Playthrough)

Post by Tenaba »

jeanette_c wrote: Sun Jun 12, 2022 1:23 am Hi @Tenaba , the piece is really lovely. I enjoyed the harmonies a lot.
I am not sure whether it is the piano of choice or getting to know the instrument, but the performance sounds a little too lacking in dynamic range. But that includes so much factors, not only the piano sound, with its leve of expressivity, but the keyboard you use and, naturally, the confidence and experience.
Have you tried working with a sustain pedal a little more? Probably not with that level of playing, which must be unimaginably daunting for a "beginner". With that style of composition a sustain pedal helps, not because it hides playing mistakes, of which I could hear none. But it is part of the expression and tone.
All that said, it is a lovely piece, well written and well played. Thanks for sharing and congratulations on your progress!
Hi jeanette, It definitely is lacking in dynamics. I decided to go with the first take I could get that didn't have any major mistakes like hitting a wrong note, or missing a note, but in the future I'd like to add expression to those requirements as well. Additionally, I intentionally narrowed the velocity range on the input of Pianoteq (you can see the velocity curve in the left-hand side of the playthrough video) to avoid ruining a playthrough by playing a note way too quiet or loud, but of course that further constricts the dynamics.

Interesting on the sustain pedal though, I actually tried to reduce my usage of the pedal, since I feel I overused it in the last piano piece I played. I'll have to try adding it back in at some parts, although I'm not entirely sure where I could fit it.

Thank you very much for the feedback!

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Re: Adrift in the Fog (Piano Playthrough)

Post by jeanette_c »

Ha, if I had known... Alas, I wouldn't see the velocity range or anything else from the video. :)
I know that sustain pedal has a bad name in certain circles and tends to be overused in others. I think this kind of piece benefits from it, it helps to carry the chords. In baroque music I definitely would not use it. :)
Agaion, lovely piece and thanks for sharing!
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Re: Adrift in the Fog (Piano Playthrough)

Post by Rainmak3r »

I'm very envious of how good you got in such a short time! And it's not only a matter of being able to play things, but also to compose parts that make sense and distribute them effectively between both hands, which I think you managed to do beautifully.

I did try taking piano lessons myself a few years ago (the dream at the time was, and still is, to be able to play Until the mast moment by Yanni!), but it was soon quite obvious that I was really terrible at it, with very slow and often barely noticeable improvements, so I eventually gave up. I'll have to try and give it a go again someday, but I doubt the outcome will change.
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Re: Adrift in the Fog (Piano Playthrough)

Post by Tenaba »

Rainmak3r wrote: Fri Jun 17, 2022 10:39 am I'm very envious of how good you got in such a short time! And it's not only a matter of being able to play things, but also to compose parts that make sense and distribute them effectively between both hands, which I think you managed to do beautifully.

I did try taking piano lessons myself a few years ago (the dream at the time was, and still is, to be able to play Until the mast moment by Yanni!), but it was soon quite obvious that I was really terrible at it, with very slow and often barely noticeable improvements, so I eventually gave up. I'll have to try and give it a go again someday, but I doubt the outcome will change.
I'm glad you see an improvement from the last video. Thanks for the kind words.

The piece you linked is played very nicely. I think it would be a good experience to try learning again, especially since you have a goal in mind. You can also try to play easier, cut-down versions of songs you want to play. I had to do this to guitar solos when I was still learning how to play leads. Likewise, sometimes I have to substitute chords on piano for easier ones.

I feel the same way about progress being slow, but I realize I've played fretted instruments like guitar and bass for a much longer period of time.

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Re: Adrift in the Fog (Piano Playthrough)

Post by Rainmak3r »

Tenaba wrote: Sun Jun 19, 2022 7:07 pm
Rainmak3r wrote: Fri Jun 17, 2022 10:39 am I'm very envious of how good you got in such a short time! And it's not only a matter of being able to play things, but also to compose parts that make sense and distribute them effectively between both hands, which I think you managed to do beautifully.

I did try taking piano lessons myself a few years ago (the dream at the time was, and still is, to be able to play Until the mast moment by Yanni!), but it was soon quite obvious that I was really terrible at it, with very slow and often barely noticeable improvements, so I eventually gave up. I'll have to try and give it a go again someday, but I doubt the outcome will change.
I'm glad you see an improvement from the last video. Thanks for the kind words.

The piece you linked is played very nicely. I think it would be a good experience to try learning again, especially since you have a goal in mind. You can also try to play easier, cut-down versions of songs you want to play. I had to do this to guitar solos when I was still learning how to play leads. Likewise, sometimes I have to substitute chords on piano for easier ones.

I feel the same way about progress being slow, but I realize I've played fretted instruments like guitar and bass for a much longer period of time.
My main problem was very poor synchronization between right and left hand: I guess it doesn't help that my guitar technique is almost entirely legato based, so the picking hand never does much and when it tries it fails miserably there too :mrgreen:
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Re: Adrift in the Fog (Piano Playthrough)

Post by Tenaba »

Rainmak3r wrote: Sun Jun 19, 2022 8:45 pm My main problem was very poor synchronization between right and left hand: I guess it doesn't help that my guitar technique is almost entirely legato based, so the picking hand never does much and when it tries it fails miserably there too :mrgreen:
Yeah, I get that. When the left and right hands play syncopated rhythms, I often have to start practicing at like 0.02 bpm before I can play it at speed. It's quite fun when the rhythm is learned.

I do notice there's a lot of legato in your solos. I feel the opposite though, in that I'm not very good at legato I think my rhythm improves when my picking hand kind of forces my fretting hand into correct timing. So I suppose I have to practice that some more. :)

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Re: Adrift in the Fog (Piano Playthrough)

Post by psyocean »

Nice calm music, listened with interest several times.

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Re: Adrift in the Fog (Piano Playthrough)

Post by Tenaba »

psyocean wrote: Sun Jun 26, 2022 2:42 pm Nice calm music, listened with interest several times.
Thank you! Glad to hear it was worth listening through multiple times.

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Re: Adrift in the Fog (Piano Playthrough)

Post by Basslint »

Wow, impressive, being aware of your guitar skills. I actually only fully listened to the raw version, I don't like computer-mandated precision for compositions such as this (let's leave quantization and MIDI edits to synthpop and genres which need it) :D
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