Sorry it's been a minute posting anything new here, I've just been enjoying my Summer. I've just started going live on TikTok while recording these episodes so you can now see the entire process and just hang out with me over there! https://www.tiktok.com/@elijahpiano
Fresh off a couple of weeks away from my piano, spending time with my family in Greece, I'm feeling refreshed and a little extra creative today. Just a quick one but a few new ideas in there for sure.
So I went out and bought a Novation Summit to add another layer to some of these organic piano sounds. I've had it about a week now and I'm still trying to find how to best fit it into the workflow the keys are much lighter than I'm used to as well. It will take some time but I'll figure this thing out. So here's the first of many episodes using this beauty.
A little jam from last night. There are some interesting rhythms in a few of these pieces that only can really happen if don't think too much about what I'm playing as it's happening. If you're able to support this podcast please consider doing so here: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=PVQQXB9N5CCMS
Had the pleasure of jamming for a couple of hours with Monster Planet the other day. It's so much fun to play off of other people's energy! I've always told myself that I can't play nice with others; but really the only way to fix this is to get outside of your comfort zone and work on those things that you've been telling yourself for so long you can't do.
Some unique delays on this one with the Rhodes leading and the delay coming in the piano. Sorry I should've turned the distortion down quite a bit. I'm still learning this new process.
There are grooves in here that really groove hard and some not so much. I can tell this is going to be a process in getting my timing spot-on in order for it all to make sense, but man these are fun to play!
I stumbled on this really neat effect to change the pitch of the delay so it sounds like I have three or four hand playing at the same time it's also helping me stay in rhythm which I've been looking for a more natural way to do. I think I'm going to explore a little deeper in the next coming weeks.
I went and jammed out with Monster Planet again this weekend and we recorded 3 hours of material that I was super excited to sift through and play around with this week, only to find out that none of my audio actually got recorded. So instead of another wonderfully weird Monster Planet session, you get me and my lonely piano.
A spaced out guitar patch drenched in reverb. This starts with the second recording of a lovely little tune I just stared working out. Then drifts into "Choose Your Own Adventure". Those were literally the only type of books I would read as a kid. I end this with "Please" a song I wrote for a girl in high school who passed away last year. This song has taken on a different and more powerful tone since.
I'm starting this one with one of my favorites to perform, "When Something Lovely Happens". The second song is a new one that I came up with last night. I just think this whole 19 minutes is really good! There are an awful lot of frequencies bouncing around so it's best to listen to this with speakers or headphones that can handle it. Please, if you're able to support these do so here: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=PVQQXB9N5CCMS
I've been trying all morning to add some strings or pads to this recording but the more I listen to it, I think it's best just left alone.
It starts a bit timid and at times it meanders but hey at least it's free.
I had another awesome opportunity to jam out with Monster Planet last week. I'm learning it's such a different approach to create music when you're playing alongside other people. Enjoy!
It's been a rough month and a half for me creatively. It felt as if I was stuck in the mud starting a new project every day and throwing it away the very next day. As frustrating as it's been, I feel as if that process built up this frustration to a point that's audible in this performance. Happy 2024 everyone! This little podcast is now officially into its third season!
Hey if you're in the Portland, OR area on January 13 please come out and see me perform live! https://piano.yapsody.com
Well this is different. I jammed out with a band called Monster Planet over the weekend. It's such a foreign concept to me to not lead every song but to just allow the music to flow and just find my space in it. Thank you Monster Planet for being such hospital hosts. You can check them out here: https://monsterplanet.tv/
Sometimes it's more about the vibes created and less about getting every note right. I was really hesitant to post this one because there are more mistakes in it than most of these. The reason I didn't is I was so excited to remember one of my songs I made durning Covid; the first song on here, "What Used To Be". I wasn't playing anywhere live then so I didn't really make an effort to learn the songs from that album and a couple days ago now, I just sort of stumbled on it again. It's nice to be able to play this one again!