Not much to say about this one, really. About a month ago, I had a pretty bad fever. I noticed that I had a totally altered state of consciousness, because of the fever. So I did the only sensible thing, and decided to use this in order to see how it would affect my creativity, by recording an improvisation on the piano.
However, I didn't really like the results at the time. But I just found this in the folder, and listened to it, and decided that actually, it's good enough to be uploaded. It's a bit weird, especially in the pacing. There is one point where there's clipping in the very end too. But I'm way too lazy to fix that now. It's certainly not the best improvisation I've recorded either, but I find it oddly relaxing. Maybe you will too?
Also, it has been way too long since I uploaded an improvisation here. I've actually recorded another one too, but I'm still unsure about whether it's good enough to upload. I'll decide later. I've been improvising a lot on the real Yamaha piano in school lately. Too bad, I can't get a decent recording from there.
This one is recorded with my trusty Yamaha Clavinova CLP - 230.
Anywho, enough late night rambling. If anyone wanted some weird background music, here ya go!
Very emotional! I love the slow pacing at the beginning. You use the range of the piano really well - I love your slow climb up to :35 both emotionally and pitch-wise. :D I've also got to point out how much I admire your ability to turn your real-life experiences into music, btw. The piece is extremely flowing and majestic (you've pretty much nailed flowiness and majesty in all 112-and-counting tracks of yours). I especially love the rather desperate mood at 3:35 and how you then transition into this sort of floaty calmness, as if you awoke to fully realize the pains of your illness, only to drift off to sleep again. I also like the pensive and anticipatory mood at around 5:10. How do you possible manage to string all these moods together in one coherent piece? Actually, I have a challenge for you: I want you to try to achieve the same level of "flowiness and majesty" with not one but FOUR instruments that are simultaneously playing melodic parts. Aaaaannnndd GO! BWA-HA-HA!!!
The dissonant jazzy chords at 6:23 pulled me back down to earth after my maniacal scheming for this challenge. I love them too! I was also drawn to the power and spacey-ness of the part at 9:05 or so, as well as the dark vibe at 9:30. You then sort of descend into a tumultuous calm at around 10:45, and then of course 11:30 has all the light gracefulness of the beginning. I also appreciated the scale at 12:17, although the ensuing jarring chords offered a bit of a strange way to end the piece. Still, I kind of regard you as a genius. I thought you should know.
Overall, fantastic work as always. Turns out I can't get enough of this "weird background music." ;)
Yeah. I was definitely in a weird place when I improvised this. Whenever something unusual is going on with me, I tend to either turn it into music, or write. Unless I just have a headache or something, in which case I take a pill and go to sleep. Now that I think about it, headaches are unfortunately not that unusual xD
As for the range of the piano, it's something I've always used automatically. I guess that I just like variation, and work from there :D
Another thing with turning real life experiences into music, is that it can give great emotional value to a piece, if you do it right. I think that a good sense of empathy, and understanding of any situation, is good if you want to capture a certain feel in music. This is especially important if you're composing music for a particular purpose, or scene.
As for the flow, it's just something I've learned to do. Here's the thing. Barely anyone will notice if you screw up, if you keep going as if you intended to do whatever you did, and just keep going. If you make a mistake, you shouldn't just stop and try to think of what to do next, or what chord to use. You just keep going. This is very important for live performances of almost any kind, at least if you're playing solo :)
At 4:23, my flow clearly broke though. But I went back to do a retake of a similar theme I used earlier in the improv, to catch the flow again (I don't remember any of this, but I'm listening to it again, and I'm fairly certain that it was intentional).
I like 5:10 as well. It reminds me of Kyle Landry's 2008 version of Dearly Beloved.
"How do you possible manage to string all these moods together in one coherent piece? "
=> Well, I guess it's arguable whether it is coherent or not. It's a bit weird, but then again, I like weird. If you practice playing every day with any intrument, I'd say that anyone can easily become as good as and better than me at improvising. What I am wondering, if how the hell I pulled off 7:09-7:17. I need to check the MIDI file for that!
Hmm, that challenge sounds fun! I can make anything flow. But majesty... I can't improvise four things and keep the same rhythm and tempo. I'd have to take a more classical route, and have like a piano, a violin, a cello, and a flute or something. That, I think I could manage! When time and motication strikes :)
Ooh, it would look like 9:05 returns to the main theme of this piece, for a while. I have no idea how I managed to keep a kind of main theme, with the fever and all?
9:30 is a weird kind of "trope" that tends to happen in my improvisations if they near 10 minutes. I suddenly go for a rhythmic section, using mostly darker keys. I wonder why? probably because I get tired of the flow, and go for a big change, for the sake of variation.
10:45 is just really experimental. This is one of my more experimental improvisations in general.
"Still, I kind of regard you as a genius. I thought you should know."
That's very nice of you, thank you. But honestly, I have no idea what I am doing when improvising. I think many people with better pitch hearing go for melodies and chords they think in their heads. I just do completely random stuff; I credit my subconscious. And trust me. You can do it too! You just need to practice 1 hour a day, for like 5 years. Yup...
Now, you've inspired me to go and improvise some more. Maybe we'll soon hear some more random background music from me?
Thanks a lot for once again listening through such a long track, and reviewing it in detail! It means a lot :3
I like your style, i love your music. This track in general i could fall asleep too, and reach those altered states of consciousness that you experienced during you Fever Dream. Well done, and keep it up!
I don't know why this reminds me of the first time I met my wife before we married. When she entered the room it was like seeing an angel for the first time in my life. I was on the verge of suicide and I had none to fall in love with and she came in. Again, why this brought the memory to me, I don't know. Maybe because it just seems so distant and lovely. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this wonderful piece.
Heh, I love how I said I really enjoy reading your reviews, and you immediately respond by giving me three new wonderful ones. Thanks you!
I'm really glad you stuck around dude! And that you found yourself a wonderful wife. Music, I feel, can help us dive into our own emotions, so I am not at all surprised that this track could bring the memory to you. It makes me truly happy to hear you enjoy this piece :D
I can't believe it's gotten to the point where LucidShadowDreamer uploads an improvisation, I see that it's 13 minutes long, and I think 'huh, that's kinda short'.
I know, right?
The other one is a bit longer though. But still not sure if I'm going to upload it yet :p
(To be fair, I did have a high fever though, which is also probably why the ending comes so suddenly).
LucidShadowDreamer 
