Two Pianos and Nylon Guitar composition on Kronos

PianoManChuck · Post by **PianoManChuck** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 8:24 pm

So far on the Kronos, I've done single piano and dual piano music compositions. I'm slowly adding other instruments/voices to my compositions. This way, I get to play around in detail with the different voices to see how they interact with each other in the final mix.

This latest composition uses two pianos (German & Japanese Grands) and the Nylon Guitar voice. It actually came out pretty good. The multiple cameras that captured this performance show off the Kronos from multiple views (4 cameras recording each of the 3 tracks for a total of 12 video tracks + 3 audio tracks).

Check it out and experience awesome dual pianos + acoustic guitar, while enjoying the multi-view experience:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hybJXm_ykg

Ultimately, after putting together a few more compositions with more and more Kronos voices, I'd like to put together an orchestral piece. Short of having a real orchestra, the Kronos is definitely the workstation that can accomplish that goal with realism.

michelkeijzers · Post by **michelkeijzers** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 9:44 pm

It's really beautiful how you make such videos with those camera's ... a lot too look at.

I love also the two piano's together, but to be honest, I'm not really sure about the guitar. It sounds a bit unsynchronized or ín the way', three 'stacatto' type instruments are quite hard to mix I think. Hope you don't mind I'm being honest. However still it's far better than most music and a lot better I could do myself (so who am I to say). Please take it as positive criticism. I enjoyed a lot listening to it!

PianoManChuck · Post by **PianoManChuck** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 11:06 pm

michelkeijzers wrote:It's really beautiful how you make such videos with those camera's ... a lot too look at.

I love also the two piano's together, but to be honest, I'm not really sure about the guitar. It sounds a bit unsynchronized or ín the way', three 'stacatto' type instruments are quite hard to mix I think. Hope you don't mind I'm being honest. However still it's far better than most music and a lot better I could do myself (so who am I to say). Please take it as positive criticism. I enjoyed a lot listening to it!

Thanks for the heads up and the positive criticism... I appreciate both! The audio portion was hard to mix on this one for the same reasons you mentioned. I was actually going to put some strings into the mix as well but decided it would have overcrowded the mix. The nylon guitar sounds so good that I had to use it and see how it came out with the two grand pianos.

Thanks again for your feedback!

michelkeijzers · Post by **michelkeijzers** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 11:11 pm

You are welcome and I really enjoyed listening ... probably it was just the mix, the arrangements are very good. With the strings mixing would be easier (because of timing strings is a bit less important) but it could be overcrowded. Mostly I don't mind that but that's everybody's own opinion.

I hope to hear more from you, both looking and listening is very enjoyable.

PianoManChuck · Post by **PianoManChuck** » Sat Sep 24, 2011 12:53 am

michelkeijzers wrote:You are welcome and I really enjoyed listening ... probably it was just the mix, the arrangements are very good. With the strings mixing would be easier (because of timing strings is a bit less important) but it could be overcrowded. Mostly I don't mind that but that's everybody's own opinion.

I hope to hear more from you, both looking and listening is very enjoyable.

There's more like that on my channel... both with the Kronos and pre-Kronos. Just go to www.youtube.com/user/PianoManChuck and look at the list on the right.
But now that I have the Kronos, the audio quality is so much more superior than the other keyboards I've been using.

michelkeijzers · Post by **michelkeijzers** » Sat Sep 24, 2011 12:58 am

Just checked: http://www.youtube.com/user/PianoManChu ... qJwgM2Heeo

That's piano, Harp with strings and I think that one is really beautiful, and it doesn't sound too crowded.

Didn't listen to them all yet but thanks for mentioning!

PianoManChuck · Post by **PianoManChuck** » Sat Sep 24, 2011 1:22 am

That was the first one I put on the channel! Excellent song, but almost primitive video compared to the latest. Anyway, glad you liked it.

In all fairness though, I'm not here to plug my channel or anything... my original intention of posting that video in this thread was to demonstrate the Kronos' clean/superb pianos and nylon guitar used together, as well as to have a nice visual of the Kronos from different angles.

michelkeijzers · Post by **michelkeijzers** » Sat Sep 24, 2011 1:27 am

Well you are doing what other don't (like the 3 camera videos) and I don't consider it as plugging. I'm not so good with (video) cameras at all so I leave that to you

.

PianoManChuck · Post by **PianoManChuck** » Sat Sep 24, 2011 1:30 am

michelkeijzers wrote:Well you are doing what other don't (like the 3 camera videos) and I don't consider it as plugging. I'm not so good with (video) cameras at all so I leave that to you .

Thanks... really appreciate that

DennyC · Post by **DennyC** » Sat Sep 24, 2011 5:08 am

Nice composition Chuck. I have to echo the 3 image video comments, very cool.

synthguy · Post by **synthguy** » Sat Sep 24, 2011 3:31 pm

The main reason it sounds so crowded is because of the two pianos. Piano with guitar is very common in music, but getting the timing right on two pianos played in an open tempo style is very hard.

I'd say kill one of the pianos and it should be great.

runningman67 · Post by **runningman67** » Sat Sep 24, 2011 3:40 pm

I have to congratulate you also for the imagery. Not sure about the two pianos together either, but fair play to you for trying things . Nice composition though. The best bit for me is seeing you enjoying your music and your lovely Kronos .

Vlad_77 · Post by **Vlad_77** » Sat Sep 24, 2011 4:18 pm

Chuck,

All four of you did a wonderful job! My problem is not your composition but rather that by and large the acoustic guitars in Kronos need a bit of work - and by that I mean again not your playing but there is something about a lot of the acoustics that I have come to realize need a bit of work. The 12 string patches for example out of the box lack that full bodied character of a 12 string. Best example is to do those delicious opening chords of Harrison's My Sweet Lord.

Strangely enough, the nicest acoustic I have found in Kronos is the patch Planetary Wavesequence Guitar. I want to just get that guitar isolated. It feels more organic to me than the "straight" nylons and steels in Kronos. But hey, that IS what a synth is for right? If ya don't like it, roll yer own!

Great work Chuck.

By the way, are you paying your other selves a fair union wage as session players? I wouldn't want to report you to the union!

Ahimsa,
Vlad

PS: Props for the classy tip of the fedora!

PianoManChuck · Post by **PianoManChuck** » Sat Sep 24, 2011 9:28 pm

Thanks to all who commented on this, much appreciated!

Vlad_77 wrote: By the way, are you paying your other selves a fair union wage as session players? I wouldn't want to report you to the union!

Actually, that's where I lucked out... they're doing an apprenticeship with me, so it doesn't cost me anything

jick · Post by **jick** » Sun Sep 25, 2011 10:50 am

I don't wanan be a hater or so, but IMHO it's quite bad out of sync. Do you use a DAW to record in? You might try to record MIDI and quantize / edit the timecode afterwards. Some might call it cheating, but when you are playing and recording 3 instruments after each other, you don't really have much of a choice when not recording with a clicktrack.