Topic by KerriS

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  • KerriS
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  • Registered: 24-12-2023
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Topic: "Christmas Time Is Here" album feat. Pianoteq's U4 upright piano

Well hello again... it's been a minute since last I was able to post on the forum. Betwixt work and life, both of which has been just a little bit crazy, I managed to find some time to fulfill my promise to use the U4 upright piano to put together a Christmas album for 2024, which has been no small feat! It took about four months of on-again-off-again work to complete.

I'm busy trying to get the release on the streaming platforms using DistroKid (I had it up for a second, but an errant checkbox meant the audio quality was not... great... so I had to pull it down and republish.) We'll see if it makes it there in time for Christmas (or at all... third time is the charm?), but I've uploaded it on SoundCloud if y'all want to take a listen.

https://soundcloud.com/kerri-shotts/set...me-is-here

The album is titled "Christmas Time Is Here" and features 11 songs that are very nostalgic to me totaling around 45 minutes and all use the same piano preset. I can post the custom preset based on the U4 Tall Concert preset over in the FXP corner if anyone is interested—do note that it would sound very dry, since I disabled Pianoteq's reverb and used Logic's ChromaVerb instead. I also reduced the pedal and key release by a couple of db in the effects panel to allow the listener to focus on the music rather than my technique, lol. When playing I use a slightly different version of the preset that includes Pianoteq's reverb since I rely on Modartt's midi archiving feature to capture performances rather than recording straight into Logic... that might be the better FXP to publish... ;-)

(Side note: I was sorely tempted to use the new Kawai SK-EX piano for this... but I'll leave it for a future album!)

Mastering chain goes like this:

- Pianoteq 8.4 w/ custom U4 preset based on the U4 Tall Concert, no limiter, volume reduced to avoid clipping on playback (varies by track)
- Compressor (Vintage VCA, -40db threshold, 1.3:1 ratio, 0 makeup, -12db auto gain, 0.7 knee, 26ms attack, 48ms release, limiter at 0db)
- ChromaVerb (Concert Hall, 0% attack, 75% size, 70% density, 3.5s decay, 80% distance, 90% dry, 10% wet, 8ms predelay)
- Linear EQ (Low Cut 50hz)
- Normalized to -1db peak for distribution

I hope everyone here on the forum and at Modartt has a wonderful holiday season and a wonderful new year!

Cheers,
~Kerri

Pianoteq 8, Organteq 2, Yamaha NU1X, Yamaha P515

KerriS's Website

Reply by Pianoteqenthusiast

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Re: "Christmas Time Is Here" album feat. Pianoteq's U4 upright piano

Thank you KerriS so much for your beautiful music, it was a real wow feeling. My favorites were the first one Have yourself a merry little christmas and the last one Auld lang syne. They are all 11 very nice, but I have to explain why I like especially the first and the last.

You have probably a special ability /sense of how to play a melody combined with beautiful simple chords. When I listen, (to the first one and the last one) I feel as if I am inside the music as you explore the harmony, in some unique way, and create a magical atmosphere which is difficult to describe in words, I think.

In my opinion, you have a creative way. You obviously know the importance of how you use the chords and melody to create harmony. Chord progressions are often talked about. You have probably learned different (read correct) chord progressions that can give the music a sense of movement and expression.
And with the right chords / chord progressions in melodies, you build feelings that take me, as a listener, on an emotional journey. You know the art of creating magic. Bravo KerriS.

P.S. in your previous upload Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 27 No. 2. "Moonlight Sonata": I. Adagio, I have a nice surprise for you.
And,  I am attaching an experiment that I will redo possibly with Ptq + Orgtq and extra sound. You inspired me now to play this piece again, which I tried to play in my youth....
I understand that you like my experiments so I attach one minute of Moonlight sonata in a different way...


If you have time, please read my background story before you listen to my story /music effects I did long ago. I think I redo it with Ptq orgtq.

https://forum.modartt.com/viewtopic.php?id=11823

Best wishes,

Stig

Reply by dazric

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Re: "Christmas Time Is Here" album feat. Pianoteq's U4 upright piano

Wow, hats off to you, Kerri - this is impressive. I know how much work goes into preparing just one solo track for commercial release, so I can appreciate the time and effort you must have spent on this. To my ears it has a cinematic sound which reminds me somewhat of an electro-acoustic piano - I think it suits the mellow mood very well. So far I've only heard a couple of tracks, including the title track (I love Vince Guaraldi!!!). Very much looking forward to hearing the whole album, snuggled up next to the Christmas tree with a glass of something nice. Cheers!

Reply by KerriS

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  • Registered: 24-12-2023
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Re: "Christmas Time Is Here" album feat. Pianoteq's U4 upright piano

Pianoteqenthusiast wrote:

Thank you KerriS so much for your beautiful music, it was a real wow feeling. My favorites were the first one Have yourself a merry little christmas and the last one Auld lang syne. They are all 11 very nice, but I have to explain why I like especially the first and the last.

You have probably a special ability /sense of how to play a melody combined with beautiful simple chords. When I listen, (to the first one and the last one) I feel as if I am inside the music as you explore the harmony, in some unique way, and create a magical atmosphere which is difficult to describe in words, I think.

In my opinion, you have a creative way. You obviously know the importance of how you use the chords and melody to create harmony. Chord progressions are often talked about. You have probably learned different (read correct) chord progressions that can give the music a sense of movement and expression.
And with the right chords / chord progressions in melodies, you build feelings that take me, as a listener, on an emotional journey. You know the art of creating magic. Bravo KerriS.

You are too kind! Thank you for your kind words here—you made my day! :-) I'll admit to not always being quite sure whether others will hear the same thing I'm trying to produce—I suspect my ear has some... particular ideas about which chords fit where, lol. I usually play extemporaneously from a lead sheet, and the rest of my family can attest to the number of times I vocally disagree with a chord as written because my ear wants to blaze a different trail!

Pianoteqenthusiast wrote:

P.S. in your previous upload Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 27 No. 2. "Moonlight Sonata": I. Adagio, I have a nice surprise for you.
And,  I am attaching an experiment that I will redo possibly with Ptq + Orgtq and extra sound. You inspired me now to play this piece again, which I tried to play in my youth....
I understand that you like my experiments so I attach one minute of Moonlight sonata in a different way...


If you have time, please read my background story before you listen to my story /music effects I did long ago. I think I redo it with Ptq orgtq.

https://forum.modartt.com/viewtopic.php?id=11823

Best wishes,

Stig

Wow — I've never quite had the patience to layer in as much ambience and the like to create a soundscape like that! I'd love to hear the entire piece, and I bet it'd sound great with Ptq+Orgtq!!!! I can definitely follow the path you trace throughout! I also like how you were handling the choir -- not _too_ much, it's just right -- while also being its own thing (rather than duplicating the main melody). Would love to hear more!

Cheers,
~Kerri

Pianoteq 8, Organteq 2, Yamaha NU1X, Yamaha P515

KerriS's Website

Reply by KerriS

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  • Registered: 24-12-2023
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Re: "Christmas Time Is Here" album feat. Pianoteq's U4 upright piano

dazric wrote:

Wow, hats off to you, Kerri - this is impressive. I know how much work goes into preparing just one solo track for commercial release, so I can appreciate the time and effort you must have spent on this. To my ears it has a cinematic sound which reminds me somewhat of an electro-acoustic piano - I think it suits the mellow mood very well. So far I've only heard a couple of tracks, including the title track (I love Vince Guaraldi!!!). Very much looking forward to hearing the whole album, snuggled up next to the Christmas tree with a glass of something nice. Cheers!

Thank you so much!

I definitely waited a bit _too_ long to start on this album -- I hadn't really been inspired to it until some of the recent posts highlighting the U4 Upright model, and something just clicked... but it definitely involved several (very) late night recording and mastering sessions. And then lots of listening across all my devices to make sure I didn't miss anything too major. I guess it's a good sign if you can listen to your own work and not find a ton of nits!

I hope you had a wonderful glass of something nice — I think I must do the same!

Cheers,
~Kerri

Pianoteq 8, Organteq 2, Yamaha NU1X, Yamaha P515

KerriS's Website

Reply by KerriS

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Re: "Christmas Time Is Here" album feat. Pianoteq's U4 upright piano

KerriS wrote:

I'm busy trying to get the release on the streaming platforms using DistroKid (I had it up for a second, but an errant checkbox meant the audio quality was not... great... so I had to pull it down and republish.) We'll see if it makes it there in time for Christmas (or at all... third time is the charm?)...

Well, everything finally made it to the streaming platforms in time! Third time WAS the charm! Links to your streaming platforms of choice here: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/kerri...-is-here-2

Now I'm trying to figure out how to claim the various artist pages that got created... Spotify was easy... Apple Music is... proving more challenging!

Cheers,
~Kerri

Pianoteq 8, Organteq 2, Yamaha NU1X, Yamaha P515

KerriS's Website