Here is my cover version of 'She's Out of my Life' made famous by Michael Jackson in 1980 and written by Tom Bahler.
This was one of the songs that, when I sung, I realised I shouldn't be afraid to sing in a higher range. For a long time I was singing an octave lower than I probably should have for a lot of songs but I eventually came to the conclusion that I should push my limits a but more! I love this song, it lends itself so well to being sung with a lot of feeling and fragility. I don't think you can write a song like this without going through the emotions contained within it yourself.
This is a simple piece consisting of just four chords of synthesiser string sounds and a lonely timid synthesiser lead sound providing the melody.
I wrote this piece many years ago and would play it on a piano sound layered with synthesiser strings. For this version I decided to strip it down to a more sparse atmosphere with the lead instrument timidly exploring the lonely landscape created by the strings.
I might yet do a piano version of this piece as well. But I do love to experiment with different sounds and I was pleased with the way this interpretation turned out.
Here is another piano piece that I recently wrote. With this piece I tried to create something that mixed a warm tenderness with an gentle uncertainty.
I used made use of a minor diminished chord to create the sense of uncertainty at about 57 seconds in. I like how this chords sits between the rest of the piece with is generally bright and warm. The section that starts at about 2 minutes 30 seconds in is then more reflective and melancholic before returning to the main theme. I felt that the piece reflected those feelings of yearning and uncertainty one feels at the same time as experiencing something wonderful.
Here I am covering 'Your Song' by Elton John. This is has always been one of my favourite songs. Written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin and released on the album 'Elton John' in 1970.
Elton John has been a big inspiration for me and is one of the reasons I learnt to play the piano and sing in the first place. Ever since I heard the, mostly, instrumental 'Song For Guy' I was entranced with it. This lead to me listening to more and more Elton and discovery Bernie Taupin's lyrics. I think when I first sung I was singing to much like Elton at the expense of finding my own voice. But that said, I have him to thank for learning to sing in the first place I think. Since I think I have moved away from that I refined my own voice better. I think, like any artist, I'm always developing and trying new things. Whenever I do sing an Elton song though I'm sure some Eltonisms work their way into my voice at least a little! I remember singing this song an entire octave lower in the past and it took me some time to realise my voice is probably a lot better singing higher. I think my voice would often get lost trying to sing things too low and not having the confidence to sing in a higher register and putting more power behind the voice. This might not be the best example of that, but stay tuned to see, hopefully, better examples!
I going to upload some performances of my own music soon, but I thought it would be a good idea to get some covers up first just to get used to filming myself! The webcam I'm using isn't very good, but I might buy a camcorder soon so I can get some better footage. I recorded the sound from the microphone and the sound of the piano sound through Cubase and synced those up with the video so it would have much better sound quality than the webcam microphone.
I will explain why there is a Chuck Norris poster for the Movie Top Dog on the back of my door another time.
The Girl Downstairs is somewhat jaunty 3/4 time waltz piano piece I was inspired to compose after hearing a short story.
A while back I came across the great website called LibriVox http://librivox.org/ which provide free downloadable audio-books of various public domain works. These are read by volunteers who a great job and I thank them all for the time they put into it. I encourage you to go and take a look at their catalogue I've been listening to a lot of short stories lately. They are to go to bed to and suit my short attention span! One of the stories I participially enjoyed was 'The Man Upstairs' by P. G. Wodehouse which can be listened to here; http://librivox.org/selected-short-stories-by-p-g-wodehouse/
The story concerns a young woman who writes songs on her piano. She is disrupted by a knocking on the ceiling from the man upstairs who is a struggling painter. I won't go into what happens in the story, I suggest you listen to it yourself, but when I thought about the woman trying to write a waltz I was inspired to experiment with a 3/4 style on the piano. The piece is a mix of sharp stabbed chords with gentle piano sections in between. I felt like these highlighted the mixed feelings the woman in the story experiences throughout.
This atmospheric piece was inspired by a painting I saw some time ago while in the middle of one of my unscheduled lengthy Wikipedia reading sessions (every article links to another. It's impossible to stop!).
The painting is an 1888 John William Waterhouse piece called 'The Lady of Shalott' depicting the title character from the poem of the of the same name by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The painting is very popular and I know it has been an inspiration to many other people. Living close to London I was lucky enough to be able to see the painting myself at the Tate Britain art gallery recently.
Something about this image inspired me. The idea of the lady finally making the difficult decision to leave her isolation and travel down the river, despite her knowledge that doing so she was doomed, seemed so powerful. I tried to express the idea in music with haunting voice sounds and a fragile bell type sound. The synthesiser-strings then come in as she realises the foreboding fate that she sails towards. All the while the soft voices and bell sounds highlight her fragility and delicacy. The piece ends on a major chord as if to express the beauty of the lady that the knight Lancelot beholds as the men find her body in the boat.
Having said all that I'm pretty sure when I recorded it however many years ago I did it without really thinking that much and have only attributed many of those meanings to it afterwards! But as with all music I encourage you to form your own meanings and interpretations. But above all I hope you enjoy it!
'First Piece' was one of the first things I played on my then brand new Casio Privia PX-310 digital piano back in 2006.
This was another piece that I kind of just played once and had for a long time on my computer under the temporary title 'First Piece'. Not thinking of anything better to call it I decided kept the title. I am often unsure of what to call something, but it is just another detail to procrastinate over!
When I first recorded this I had recently got a job after having come back from university and despite still being needing to pay off my student overdrive I decided it was time to have a proper digital piano. While at university I had played on several pianos in practice rooms including a grand piano. I didn't study music, but I certainly made use of the piano facilities! Prior to that I only really played on non-weighted touch sensitive keyboard keys like those of my then current keyboard the Yamaha PSR-540.
It was at university that I think I learned how to play a real piano. At first the piano keys seemed so heavy and I think over the course of my playing sessions my fingers probably strengthened somewhat as they adjusted! There is a certain expression that comes from those hammer action weighted keys on pianos and digital pianos, and when I got my own digital piano I realised how satisfying they were to play. Having said that, the other type of keys can be very effective when playing others sounds like synthesisers and organs.
Of course I would love to have a real piano some day. However, cost and space prohibits me from doing so any time soon! But maybe one day.
