Topic by kencarlino

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Topic: Relaxing Piano in Minor: Vol 2

Second volume in this series. Various tweaks in the composition algorithms. Change to make the melody more dynamic in range and tempo but at the same time "more" adherent to the chord progressions. Overall changed how chords are played to allow for more dynamic usages. Dynamic usage of sustain pedal re-enabled. I've use the sustain pedal off and on during this project but more often ended up sustaining notes artificially by allowing  keys to be held longer than the number of fingers would humanly allow. While this approach can give cleaner sound it might be less warm. Last biggest change is I switched to NY Steinway D (Prelude) instead of my normal Bechstein DG (Recording 2). Might be a placebo but with Pianoteq 8.2 I feel like the NY Steinway D has a more natural sound now. For me Bechstein is still the clearest/brightest and most present but perhaps that is less realistic.

As before 20 songs seamlessly played.

As a side note: for each song that makes it in the final song list, there are probably 15-20 that I reject.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoIvJiY...vBqWEzwaBY

Last edited by kencarlino (21-01-2024 05:34)

Reply by Pianoteqenthusiast

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Re: Relaxing Piano in Minor: Vol 2

kencarlino wrote:

Second volume in this series. Various tweaks in the composition algorithms. Change to make the melody more dynamic in range and tempo but at the same time "more" adherent to the chord progressions. Overall changed how chords are played to allow for more dynamic usages. Dynamic usage of sustain pedal re-enabled. I've use the sustain pedal off and on during this project but more often ended up sustaining notes artificially by allowing  keys to be held longer than the number of fingers would humanly allow. While this approach can give cleaner sound it might be less warm. Last biggest change is I switched to NY Steinway D (Prelude) instead of my normal Bechstein DG (Recording 2). Might be a placebo but with Pianoteq 8.2 I feel like the NY Steinway D has a more natural sound now. For me Bechstein is still the clearest/brightest and most present but perhaps that is less realistic.

As before 20 songs seamlessly played.

As a side note: for each song that makes it in the final song list, there are probably 15-20 that I reject.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoIvJiY...vBqWEzwaBY

Hi again ken,

It is noticeable that VOL. 2 is different than Vol. 1 Various tweaks in the composition algorithms have done the job with everything it covers, but listened again and compared with VOL 1 and Vol 2 and have to say, I like VOL 1  a  bit more.

It's a calmer, smoother tempo and more suitable to have in the background when you're doing something at home, it doesn't mean that Vol 2 is bad but Vol 1 is more to my taste - soft, nice, de-stressing, etc. I like it.

In any case, I'm enjoying Vol 1 and looking forward to Vol 3 with excitement. I can now in my turn tell you what you told me, ”Always great to see what you can do…..” (with your compositions algorithms)   

It's nice when you make a lot of music and then you can choose those  pieces you like most and enjoy them over and over again.

Keep going!

Best wishes,

Stig

Last edited by Pianoteqenthusiast (21-01-2024 14:04)

Reply by kencarlino

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Re: Relaxing Piano in Minor: Vol 2

Pianoteqenthusiast wrote:
kencarlino wrote:

Second volume in this series. Various tweaks in the composition algorithms. Change to make the melody more dynamic in range and tempo but at the same time "more" adherent to the chord progressions. Overall changed how chords are played to allow for more dynamic usages. Dynamic usage of sustain pedal re-enabled. I've use the sustain pedal off and on during this project but more often ended up sustaining notes artificially by allowing  keys to be held longer than the number of fingers would humanly allow. While this approach can give cleaner sound it might be less warm. Last biggest change is I switched to NY Steinway D (Prelude) instead of my normal Bechstein DG (Recording 2). Might be a placebo but with Pianoteq 8.2 I feel like the NY Steinway D has a more natural sound now. For me Bechstein is still the clearest/brightest and most present but perhaps that is less realistic.

As before 20 songs seamlessly played.

As a side note: for each song that makes it in the final song list, there are probably 15-20 that I reject.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoIvJiY...vBqWEzwaBY

Hi again ken,

It is noticeable that VOL. 2 is different than Vol. 1 Various tweaks in the composition algorithms have done the job with everything it covers, but listened again and compared with VOL 1 and Vol 2 and have to say, I like VOL 1  a  bit more.

It's a calmer, smoother tempo and more suitable to have in the background when you're doing something at home, it doesn't mean that Vol 2 is bad but Vol 1 is more to my taste - soft, nice, de-stressing, etc. I like it.

In any case, I'm enjoying Vol 1 and looking forward to Vol 3 with excitement. I can now in my turn tell you what you told me, ”Always great to see what you can do…..” (with your compositions algorithms)   

It's nice when you make a lot of music and then you can choose those  pieces you like most and enjoy them over and over again.

Keep going!

Best wishes,

Stig

Hi Stig,

Thank you for the great feedback!  Definitely can understand this, I tried to add interest but yes perhaps it's too much for the target style. Thanks to for the encouragement!

Thanks,
Ken

Reply by budo

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Re: Relaxing Piano in Minor: Vol 2

a lot of lovely stuff in here.  i'm still amazed that you're able to do this algorithmically!  i realize there must be a lot of human input, but still.  you're getting a great result.

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Reply by kencarlino

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Re: Relaxing Piano in Minor: Vol 2

budo wrote:

a lot of lovely stuff in here.  i'm still amazed that you're able to do this algorithmically!  i realize there must be a lot of human input, but still.  you're getting a great result.

Hi Budo, thanks for the feedback! Indeed the human part is rather time consuming as I have to listen, tweak something, listen, tweak again, listen etc. until things generally feel like it's a good fit and I have algorithms tuned to a sound best I can.  Then I switch to song selection and I have to listen and pick if a song is good or not. It could be my ears are horrible and I'm tossing away wonderful songs. All songs in a single album are always from one tuning of the algorithms which in theory could generate perhaps 40000 mostly different (but similar) songs. Perhaps one day I will record an unselected album meaning I will let it play 20 songs in a row without my selection process. In fact a couple of years ago I tried an approach of just live streaming the songs as they were generated endlessly (24/7) both on youtube and streaming radio but in the end I get tired to keep 2 computers running dedicated to this as routinely there would be some glitch in Windows, drivers, network or my programs.