Episode 105 - Adaptations

G'day, everyone! Welcome to show 105 of Piano, finally, a podcast by an old bloke who is discovering music because he got around to learning the piano, finally. This week, we're diving into the world of adaptations. It's easy to just go along with the flow of mass-produced stuff, but often the most satisfying path is throwing out those standard offerings and going your own way. We'll look at how we adapt music, and how we adapt our setups to get our practices just the way we want them. What's Been Playing: I've spent a lot of time exploring the Montage M synthesiser. If you have one, or are thinking of getting a Montage or MODX keyboard, Keir Darby's video series, Montage M Demystified, is a really valuable resource. I also highly recommend checking out a video from Woody over at Woody's Piano Shack. He got a chance to play a real CFX—Yamaha's top-of-the-line concert grand piano—and talk with a piano technician. It's a beautiful instrument, which is good considering a CFX in Australia costs around a quarter of a million dollars! Watch Woody's CFX video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVveFcY2Uqo Essay - Adaptations. Adaptations have long been a part of music. Sometimes it's taking a piece written for three violins and basso continuo, like Pachelbel's Canon, and turning it into a staple of the piano repertoire. In my choir, not one piece of our repertoire was originally written for a choir; they are all adapted from single-voice songs. Being in the bass section means we often get stuck with the root notes and the rhythm—there are a lot of pum-rapa-pum-pums in the ABBA song Fernando—but it makes those times we get an important part of the song even more special. My playing has also led me to adapt my music furniture. Because the Montage is a stage keyboard, it doesn't have speakers or a music stand. So, I got out the CAD software and used my 3D printer to over-engineer a pair of small shelves that clamp to my Liquid Stands frame to hold my Adam D3V speakers. I also designed two interchangeable music stands that fit above the keyboard. Adaptations give us a way of making one-size-fits-all designs into truly personal pieces! Learning - What's New: The singing lessons are showing results! We performed Ain't No Mountain High Enough this weekend, and I found I could get through it quite comfortably and sound pretty reasonable, even on the higher notes. On the keyboard front, I've adopted the Rockschool syllabus from RSL Awards for some more contemporary music practice. I picked up the Grade 1 Keyboard and Grade 1 Voice books online, which include great backing tracks. Check out Rockschool here: https://rockschool.io/ I'm also doing the next lesson in Guy Michelmore's melody writing course, and getting reacquainted with Mathematica to make some diagrams for the new Physics course. Closing: The rain went away, and the weather turned lovely for our performance at the Parramatta Pride Picnic. It was a fun performance, and the audience seemed to enjoy it! Looking ahead, I'm not sure if there will be a show next week, as the choir has been invited to sing at a memorial service for our founder. The following week I am doing the St Vincent de Paul van on Sunday evening, which will mean no show on the 25th. If you'd like to contact me, the email is [email protected], and the website is www.pianofinally.show. Let me know where you are in your journey, what's going well, and what the challenges are! This podcast is produced on the lands of the Dharug and Gundungarra peoples, land that always was and always will be traditional Aboriginal land. I pay my respects to their elders, past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people listening to the podcast. The contents of the podcast were entirely generated by David Reidy, but these show notes were created by Gemini. Send me a text message. You can contact me: via email at [email protected]; this is probably the best option the show website, www.pianofinally.show Instagram and Threads @pianofinally and on YouTube  all the podcast directories - list here's the RSS feed Some of the links to books and other items mentioned in the podcast may affiliate links for Amazon or other providers. If you use one of these links, a commission may be paid to me at no additional cost to you. Thank you if you use a link.  All reviews of products, websites and services are unpaid, and no sponsorship has been received for any content on this podcast.