[Schavuitje]

Very tentative about putting this one up  

As those who know me well, well know. I haven't been playing a keyboard for long. Since shortly before Christmas. I think it's a great

extra weapon to have in my arsenal though which is why I have been doing a lot of playing with it in between other songs.

I would like feedback about any aspect of it. Production, instrumentation, whatever

One thing I would like to know is if you piano players can tell that I'm a guitarist playing the piano? I obviously don't know anything about

how piano players approach things and I would like to know what I'm doing wrong. Or maybe not wrong but differently. I'm curious if there are some common

things guitarists do when they start to learn a piano.

Cheers

http://soundcloud.com/the-short-straws/bubbles-in-puddles

[Ramshackles]

Well I cant tell you are a guitarist playing the piano, but I can tell it's not your best instrument
It lacks a bit of clearly defined rhythm...I guess off-beat things is what you are going for, but if you listen to some piano music like that....jazz or debussy, it still has a clearly defined rhythm...

It's sounds very bubble-bathy Quite unique sounds...a lot of them doo sound like Casio-tones though of course, that might be the idea...
It takes off much more when the bass comes in, and when everything drops out it sounds good. I think doing stuff like this is a great thing to do to find new sounds, techniques and ideas to incorporate into other songs...

All the sounds are very complimentary aswell...they mesh well and dont 'fight' against each other...

[tone]

I certainly can't tell you're a guitarist learning the piano. Is there a 'right' way to play the piano? No more so than there's a right way to play any other instrument. Your playing is nicely dynamic, but as Ramshackles says, those runs could do with a more clearly defined rhythm as they're fighting a little with the flow of the piece at the moment.

A very interesting combination of sounds you have there Schavuitje, I enjoyed listening

[Schavuitje]

Cheers guys Will see what I can do about playing those piano parts with more definition

The reason I asked about the piano playing is because I friend of mine is a magnificent piano player and in the past

when we have jammed he sometimes picked up a guitar. For me it was so funny to see him play. He had all the chords right

and knew where asll the scales were and so on... but his right hand was very out of control, often working too hard and fast.

To me he looked like a piano player, playing guitar. He's a right handed piano player so unlike Gaga, and people like Elton John, his right hand

was his strongest. I wondered if somehow that worked the other way around. 

[Ramshackles]

Ahh yeah lol. But I guess that once you can play one instrument well and understand music in some way, then learning an another instrument is much easier.....A few more hours tinkling away to get your hands working together and your fingers going independently...

[cheff daniel]

without the knowledge that you are not a piano player i would think this is just a nice peace of music schavuitje. i,m not a piano player myself but i know my way around the keyboard, that means knowing where the notes are. wich is in fact much easier than on a fretboard because every scale repeats it self in black and white and on the guitar this changes when you go further up the fretboard. timing is like ram said a matter of practice. when ever i need a piano in a song i practice the part till i have it right and then record it. strange thing with my aproach is that after a few weeks i don't remember how i did it. so if you like to learn and play the piano you better find a teacher. but wat you did here sounds nice and atmospheric and the little timing issue's are very charming in a way.


gr.    Dan

[domstone86]

I like it. It's not particularly advanced in a technical sense, but it succeeds in an experimental form. At first the piano gave me a Satie kinda feel. But regardless, it's clever in the way there are different nuances going on without it sounding too overbearing. I'd give advice, but I don't know much about this sorta stuff really, and I think experience will teach you all you really need to know

[James Nighthawk]

Film soundtrack style. Perfect background fodder for an independent art film. Meandering but mostly in a good way. I preferred it before it got busier in the second part. Some note layering didn't quite work for me. And it clearly doesn't have an end. As such perhaps a fade rather than a stop?

[Kafla]

very nice Schavu,

I like this experimental side

If you played this live its pretty brilliant

[Schavuitje]

The piano part is live yes although I did have to delete about four bum notes that really stuck out. But that's because I improvised

the whole piano thing. I had no idea what I was doing next. I just got into the sone and went for it. I don't even know where the chords are

on a piano, apart from C which I discovered quite quickly. I almost wish I hadn't found it because I really enjoy not knowing and just tuning in

to the feel of what I'm doing and trusting in my fingers that they are feeling it to and will jump to the right places. That's literally what I did. And it was a shock

to me when I'd finished.

It sounded good to me, in an amateur way, but then I am of course not a piano player, so was very nervous about putting it up in case anyone just said

"well that piano is awful."

I'm obviously not getting it quite right, but I'' persevere as always and try to improve I jst don't want to find any more chords or begin to find patterns.

I want to play it as freely as I can. But inevitably the more I do the more I'll find these things

[Paul]

Hi Schavuitje,

I can't tell that keys aren't your first instrument.  Many of my recordings rely heavily on keys.  I find it easy to write parts for piano but must say I can't play the parts 10 minutes later.  I don't need to, they're recorded and that's all I'm interested in!  I think  that the piano  in this instrumental is quite beautiful.  I'm not certain about some of the sounds that you're using (but that could just be personal taste.)  This instrumental works best for me when it is not too busy.  Overall, it's quite delightful!

Paul

[estreet]

I really liked the textures in this. Agree the timing does spoil the flow a bit - maybe a bit of quantization wouldn't go amiss on one part at least. There's something a bit great about the piece though - very impressionist!
 

[Cameron Fielding]

I like this for its original and unique qualities. Lots of nice random sounds and effects that shuffle the piece along well. The title is appropriate (I didn't take much notice of the title and was thinking liquid right from the outset). My first mind wander was toward a film like "The Abyss".

I'm a pianist, and to be honest, the nature of the piece almost hid the fact that your a guitarist. There were only one or two points where a more proficient piano might improve it.

I'd love to hear more of this kind of stuff. Hope you do some.

[Dutchbeat]

great atmosphere, Schavuitje, you keep amazing me

[Schavuitje]

Wow, thanks everyone from the bottom of my heart on this one.

Although I have been useing strings and stuff a lot more lately on what I do (Since getting this keyboard)

I don't really see that as playing a keyboard as it is more about adding layers than playing anything so

prominent as piano. I'm really, really chuffed. I can see I need more work to get my technique right but I feel so

encouraged by all your kind words. I can breathe again now 

Seriously THANKS guys!