Topic by rael007

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  • rael007
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Topic: Feedback on piano "playing" requested

I have written a short piece with strings and piano using Pianoteq, and since I am not a piano player, I had to do my best with MIDI and faking "authentic" timings that a real piano player might use.  Could someone, preferably an experienced piano player or composer, have a listen to this and let me know if I am in the ballpark?  The first part of the piece is strings only, followed by piano and strings together.  I'm hoping that I'm learning the timing and articulations that a real piano player might use, but I just can't tell.  Here is the link: https://youtu.be/5F3W0PTJbys

Thanks.


Bill

Reply by Stephen_Doonan

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  • Stephen_Doonan
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Re: Feedback on piano "playing" requested

Nice piece.

The piano part certainly sounds playable from a pianist’s perspective, and as recorded is easy to imagine as having been played by a person.

Difficulties a composer that is not also a pianist might have would be to compose chords that are too widely spread to be playable even with large hands, jumps between chords or notes that are too distant or too difficult to span at the designated tempo (a composer with access to a keyboard can address these difficulties by trying to play the passages himself), or note passages that are too fast (although there are some amazingly proficient pianists who might be able to play them anyway, such as Daniil Trifonov or Marc-Andre Hamelin.

Last edited by Stephen_Doonan (02-04-2018 14:51)
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Reply by dazric

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Re: Feedback on piano "playing" requested

I agree with Stephen. If you’re wondering whether the piano part sounds overly quantized and ‘midified’, you don’t need to worry. I usually notice that sort of thing a mile off, but here it sounds quite natural, so I think you’ve done a pretty good job. Timings and articulations will of course vary from player to player – the important thing is to get some subtle variations in timing and dynamics to make it sound human, which you have obviously done. It’s an interesting piece, inhabiting a dark Mahler/Shostakovich sort of world. What did you use for the strings?

Reply by rael007

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Re: Feedback on piano "playing" requested

Thanks both of you for the feedback.  I'll keep these things in mind.  Dazric, I used LASS (LA Scoring Strings) Legato Sordino 2.5 package in Ableton Live 10.  More details of the production are in the description of the video I linked, as well.

Thank you both, again, your feedback is very helpful.


Bill