Gray

[Oriane Lima]

Gray (is a test film) is an introduction to Blue in Green, I'm working on.

Chick Corea teaches us that one of the secrets to improve our rhythm and tempo "is to record yourself. Use a recorder or a camera, your phone, etc. Then you can see what you need to do to work on it. You can see what you need to do". I'm trying to follow his advice. This film I did with a Sony HDRCX675 camera using an overhead shot, I did as it is shown here in this PDF (In case someone is curious to check). https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/fd8a35a3-7a33-46e9-93b0-a116a33e29d5

What do you think of the harmony and melody. What about the rhythm, dynamics of movements, is it too slow? Has no charm and is devoid of swing? Is it pleasing to the ear? Please, criticize at will. Listening to opinions is very important, they help to correct inconsistencies, which you think do not exist.

 

[SeaGtGruff]

My advice would be to ditch the rhythm (style) when recording, because it's too distracting. Styles play like robotic clockwork at a fixed tempo-- unless you can vary the tempo with a knob, foot controller, or external MIDI clock source.

Your playing style, on the other hand, is much more flowing and organic, slowing down or speeding up to fit the mood. That means you aren't always locked in step to the beat of the auto accompaniment.

Once you've recorded the piano part to one track, you can always go back and record additional tracks with drums and other instruments that you play yourself, such that you can vary the pace of the drums to keep them in step with the more free-flowing rhythm of the piano track.

I look forward to hearing your additional work on the composition!

 

[Rayblewit]

GRAY kind of reminds me of Mood Indigo (Duke Ellington)
This is one of the slowest tunes ever! But Duke makes it exciting.
This video might inspire you.
Oh btw . .I like the melody of GRAY but like SeaGt says . . The rhythm does get a little monotonous.

 

[CowboyNQ]

Nice job Oriane.

 

[Oriane Lima]

My advice would be to ditch the rhythm (style) when recording, because it's too distracting. Styles play like robotic clockwork at a fixed tempo-- unless you can vary the tempo with a knob, foot controller, or external MIDI clock source.

Your playing style, on the other hand, is much more flowing and organic, slowing down or speeding up to fit the mood. That means you aren't always locked in step to the beat of the auto accompaniment.

Once you've recorded the piano part to one track, you can always go back and record additional tracks with drums and other instruments that you play yourself, such that you can vary the pace of the drums to keep them in step with the more free-flowing rhythm of the piano track.

I look forward to hearing your additional work on the composition!

Hi, Sea. Thanks for your help. I understood clearly. "Gray" is an introduction aimed at Blue in Green, which was played with a tempo of 56 bpm. Playing in a low tempo is as difficult as playing very quickly. I, in particular, have a hard time keeping up with time. But, playing in a low tempo, requires an accentuation of the melody. In this case, if I close my eyes, and concentrate on the melody, there seems to be no crossing of the rhythm. Maybe I should train more and more and more. On the whole, I have the impression that I am sometimes advanced, sometimes earlier in time. In another thread, you taught how to make a separate recording of sounds. I learned how to do it, and I will try it. Thank you very much.

 

[Oriane Lima]

GRAY kind of reminds me of Mood Indigo (Duke Ellington)
This is one of the slowest tunes ever! But Duke makes it exciting.
This video might inspire you.
Oh btw . .I like the melody of GRAY but like SeaGt says . . The rhythm does get a little monotonous.

Hi, Ray. Thank you much.
Duke !!! Sophisticated Lady is from 1933. In a 1965 version, in the Dinner Party Jazz - Disc Two, the played tempo, mentioned by David Tompkins in his Music Database, was 95 BPM.
https://www.cs.ubc.ca/~davet/music/track/DINNERJZ_002/DINNERJZ_002-10.html

It is a complicated song to play, by virtue of a complex harmony, the presence of countless Grace notes and successive solos with Block Chords. I have the original score in F minor (photos).

 

[Oriane Lima]

Nice job Oriane.

Cowboy, thanks for the encouragement. Interesting, when I train a song, playfully, having fun, everything seems very nice in the sound I am listening. That feeling is very cool. However, when recording, there is a tension in the air, a certain nervousness not to make mistakes, not to cross the time, etc ... But, but the resulting recording, is a cruel dictator and shows you every detail, showing all your slips. In "Gray" the melody, for me, is quite soft with a sense of fullness. Cowboy, thank you for having listened and liked it, it was much appreciated.

 

[Becky]

I really enjoyed that @Oriane Lima! I would tend to agree with @SeaGtGruff's comments about the rhythm though, but the playing was beautiful

 

[Oriane Lima]

I really enjoyed that @Oriane Lima! I would tend to agree with @SeaGtGruff's comments about the rhythm though, but the playing was beautiful

Thanks Becky

 

[SeaGtGruff]

I don't think you need to worry about your tempo. Personally, I think it's okay to vary the tempo a bit while playing, especially when playing certain styles. If you were playing in a combo, the drummer could vary the tempo to stay in step with the lead performer; but the keyboard keeps an unchanging tempo while playing the accompaniment.

Note that if you record your performance-- including a style-- with the keyboard's song sequencer, you can then convert the recording to a MIDI file, import it into a DAW, and use the DAW's MIDI-editing features to adjust the timing of the style's rhythm so it varies to stay in step with the piano part. Often people will do it the other way around-- adjust the timing of the human performance to stay in step with the keyboard's (or drum machine's) robotic performance, but I think that would be a mistake in this case, because you want to let the rhythm ebb and flow freely.

 

[CowboyNQ]

However, when recording, there is a tension in the air, a certain nervousness not to make mistakes, not to cross the time, etc ... But, but the resulting recording, is a cruel dictator and shows you every detail, showing all your slips.

Oriane, what you say here is all very true, and wouldn't be unique to you. Playing live is quite similar, in that the pressure to "get it right" increases significantly when you have paying punters staring at you in a bar, or seated in a theatre with arms crossed, staring at you skeptically.

It takes courage to share your music with people you don't know well, and I commend you (and all the other guys on here who do the same) for doing that. As far as the tension and nervousness goes, I can promise that the more often you put yourself through the recording process, the less you'll feel performance anxiety. I get the sense you do it in a spirit of sharing and warmth, and that means that the end result will always reflect your positive intent, even if you flub the odd note.

Digressing slightly, a couple of years ago I did some work with one of our singers who suffered very badly from what you might call "stage fright" during performances. We spent a lot of time working through mental tricks to bring it under control, with positive results. The main things that worked for her were to visualise a successful outcome, and use lots of positive self-talk prior to and during her performance.

And yes I did like your tune.

 

[Fishingmusician1]

I have to say I disagree with the steady tempo in the background being distracting or taking away from what you're doing. After all, you need to learn to play steadily with a tempo, even if it's not human and right on. I thought you handled this very well. There was a nice flow to your playing, and I envy your left and right hand working so well together without a bass player. The changes and melody were very nicely done, and looking forward to your finished piece!

 

[Fishingmusician1]

By the way, I've been working on a song for weeks, it's one of those that keeps taking a different direction. I think it will be different. Not to take away from your thread. Really enjoyed the changes in your song.

 

[Oriane Lima]

I don't think you need to worry about your tempo. Personally, I think it's okay to vary the tempo a bit while playing, especially when playing certain styles. If you were playing in a combo, the drummer could vary the tempo to stay in step with the lead performer; but the keyboard keeps an unchanging tempo while playing the accompaniment.

Note that if you record your performance-- including a style-- with the keyboard's song sequencer, you can then convert the recording to a MIDI file, import it into a DAW, and use the DAW's MIDI-editing features to adjust the timing of the style's rhythm so it varies to stay in step with the piano part. Often people will do it the other way around-- adjust the timing of the human performance to stay in step with the keyboard's (or drum machine's) robotic performance, but I think that would be a mistake in this case, because you want to let the rhythm ebb and flow freely.

Hi, Sea. Thanks for the advice. My intention was to keep things simple. I used the rhythm of the style, as if it were a metronome. A further simplification would be to play the music only on the piano, without a mechanical rhythm. Or follow the advice given previously. At the moment, I think I'm going to try to improve my pace with the rhythm of the style. If it does not work, well, I'm going to have the whole year to get some results.

 

[Oriane Lima]

Oriane, what you say here is all very true, and wouldn't be unique to you. Playing live is quite similar, in that the pressure to "get it right" increases significantly when you have paying punters staring at you in a bar, or seated in a theatre with arms crossed, staring at you skeptically.

It takes courage to share your music with people you don't know well, and I commend you (and all the other guys on here who do the same) for doing that. As far as the tension and nervousness goes, I can promise that the more often you put yourself through the recording process, the less you'll feel performance anxiety. I get the sense you do it in a spirit of sharing and warmth, and that means that the end result will always reflect your positive intent, even if you flub the odd note.

Digressing slightly, a couple of years ago I did some work with one of our singers who suffered very badly from what you might call "stage fright" during performances. We spent a lot of time working through mental tricks to bring it under control, with positive results. The main things that worked for her were to visualise a successful outcome, and use lots of positive self-talk prior to and during her performance.

And yes I did like your tune.

Cowboy, thanks.

 

[Oriane Lima]

I have to say I disagree with the steady tempo in the background being distracting or taking away from what you're doing. After all, you need to learn to play steadily with a tempo, even if it's not human and right on. I thought you handled this very well. There was a nice flow to your playing, and I envy your left and right hand working so well together without a bass player. The changes and melody were very nicely done, and looking forward to your finished piece!

Fishing, hi. Thanks for the comments. Yeah, you noticed the absence of the bass. I was thinking of putting a layer with the bass on top. I'm sure I'll complete this song. The problem is that I'm a bit slow, but I'm enjoying it.

 

[Fishingmusician1]

My current song has no bass as well but it's working out anyway with all the changes. What I noticed was despite the lack of bass you filled it in very nicely with your playing.

 

[Oriane Lima]

Hey, Fishingmusician, I'm going to type the notes in Finale, to see how the reading goes, and see how the chord changes appear in context. I know it by heart. I really appreciate your liking.