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Now Is The Time | Michael Levy piano composition & performance, orchestration by JanKun
@LinearLineman recently posted a remastered version of this amazing track, so maybe, now is the time (couldn’t resist…) to share the version I have been working on lately. Wish to thank you one more time, Michael, for letting me work my way on your beautiful music.
This is one of my favorites… and while I deeply enjoy Mike’s impressive piano improvisations, I also wish he could sometimes work more on compositions like this one, cause it is simply gorgeous.
Comments
Stunning!
Nice work @jankun adding your orchestral additions to Mike’s piano solo. The hardest part of integrating with Mike’s
projects is the fact that he doesn’t record to a click so importing his MIDI performance into StaffPad creates a timing mess.
Importing an audio track seems like a better approach because StaffPad lets you adjust the audio track to it’s MIDI tempo
track… literally sliding audio points to align with the temp track. I suspect you didn’t do this but just found a reasonable
metronome setting and got busy.
Any clues on how you pulled it off would be appreciated. It sounds reasonably tight.
I agree Michael’s compositions have interesting qualities but I suspect he composed this one in his 20’s and
once he learned improvisation he never looked back and thought… I should write this down. If I could produced
finished good every time I hit record I wouldn’t bother with the small details like “click”, notation or multi-track
creations either.
Thank you for listening!
Thank you for listening.
The pianos available in Staffpad are decent, but not sampled with enough details to properly translate Michael's playing nuances. This would end up leveling all the dynamics of his playing. So I didn't import his MIDI performance.I did a few experiments with the different pianos I own, eventually, the only one doing proper justice to Michael's playing is Pianoteq.
Mike played his piece with a click, so no hard work on my side. His timing is mostly accurate all along but there are a few floating moments here and there. I liked those so didn't bother with any fancy tempo track alterations.
For his creations played without proper click, I detailed my workflow on a previous thread for the track called "Le Rêve Poignant".
I think there's space for both improvisation and composition. In Mike's case, the results are very different. What Michael's improvisations bring in terms of energy and spontaneity they tend to lose a bit in terms of tightness and memorable themes/ hooks. Both are valid at this level of greatness !
Still, I can understand one might choose the improvisation way. It is a skill that makes it fast and easy to create fully formed pieces, and there's the "wow, it's improvised" effect, if that makes sense. But come to think about this, when composing, some pieces can be created almost instantly in just a few minutes with a similar fulgurance as improvisation, while others take years to mature. Still all can be valid regardless of how quick they were created..
You mentioned multi track arrangement. I think those stay relevant wether the arranger works on composed or improvised material. Many of Mike's arrangements consist in splitting his MIDI performance to get other instruments play those lines in unison or different octaves. This is something that makes sense in real live solo performances, as orchestration often include layering, but I don't think it is enough to build a full arrangement as you need musical lines moving independently to create interesting counterpoints.
Sorry for the long answer.
Love the very dynamic piano performance, and the strings complement it perfectly!
Cool! I haven’t listened yet, but I will later, and I have no doubt my ears are in for a treat.
@jankun
I had t look up “fulgurance” - I felt a lot better when I learned it’s a french word translated as “piercing brilliance”.
I did not know that Logic Pro has a tempo track that will detect pulses in a performance. But it does seem like a lot
of detail work that neither Mike or I would care to struggle through so you’re interest in adding new dimensions to
Mike’s work is a true gift and your skills are personal gifts that few have. I am always amazed at the range of your musical
interests. You can perform as singer/songwariter and re-invent yourself as a master orchestrator.
I do hope you can finish enough works of this style that Mike can present them as an album. I listen to your orchestration to accompany “Metropolis” when ever I want to bask in the awesomeness of IOS potential for a complete musical experience.
This adjective didn't make it to English ? Should have checked 🤣
No need. It made the jump to English:
Fulgurance: a flash of brilliance
Fulgurance is a noun that describes a sudden flash of brilliant insight or a striking burst of light, similar to a lightning flash. It's often used in a literary or figurative sense. The word originates from the Latin "fulgur," meaning lightning.
I also saw a page that showed it used as an adjective so you are correct in your use of English... you just challenged my vocabulary and I had to find a definition.
Mike has a sophisticated vocabulary and maybe he will use Fulgurance for an album title.
Ideally the album of you collaborations since the word lives in French and English. Very
suitable for your mix of cultures and languages.
This word describes Mike's unique improvisation skills very well. I don't think it is accurate for the orchestration work I do on his tracks though 😅
You should revisit the "Imposter's Syndrome". Just take my word for it: your contributions on these
collabs exhibit flashes of brilliance. Anyway... Mike will decide what to name any potential collab album.
He does not seem to suffer from Imposter's Syndrome. It's quite likely all true creators experience these
negative inner voices because they are driven to reach for perfection and always fall short.
This is great! @LinearLineman's composition was good to begin with, but the added orchestration perfectly complements it.
Looking forward to the 'Fulgurance' album!
For my even greater enjoyment, I’m trying to unravel your approach to this work @JanKun. @LinearLineman’s original is nearly twice as long so did you start your orchestration at around the halfway point where there is a definite recap? The first half of Michael’s piece is solidly establishing those triplet arpeggios (which I think of as Nyman-esque) and the harmonic moves which I think seem constrained to the piano’s white notes (Aeolian?) But until towards the end of this first section, I feel the piece is more an accompaniment to an implied melody. A prelude.
For me, your orchestration is cinematic without being overpowering. I see a steam train racing from a tunnel urgently carrying someone somewhere to do something of great importance. I’m thinking you’ve taken the view that it would be wrong to just invent unrelated melodic material so I’m guessing all the compositional devices of development were in full force: tracing the highest notes of the arpeggios, holding long notes, evolving orchestral colours, flute flourishes and soaring voices to guess at a few. And lastly doubling the piano figure leading to that final cadence with the V7#9 - Michael’s cheeky parting nod to jazz.
Likely I’m miles off course here, limited by time-worn ears and trying to compare and contrast SoundCloud instances interrupted by adverts. I just wanted you to know that what you and Michael do is listened to and much appreciated. My only suggestion is that for the eagerly awaited orchestrated compilation album, the ‘prelude’ section of Michael’s original is restored before the orchestra arrives.
Thank you for listening Richard! Incredible piano performance !
What a combination 🙏
I’m glad @AndyHoneybone mentioned Nyman as that’s what struck me.
Out of interest do you have a feel as to how long it took you to orchestrate Mikes creation ?
Thanks for the kind words, Edward! Hoping you'll enjoy !
Quite cinematic. Great production. Good job from both..
@McD.no, I wrote the piece when I was 54 in St. Augustine. Actually, this iteration was half composition and half improvisation. It wasn’t how I originally composed it. Or how it was miserably performed by 20 professional musicians in nyc.
Thanks, Jean, for this. You’re a great collaborator! You bring an awful lot to the party.
Thank your for listening Paul !
M. Nyman, that's exactly what I told Mike the very first time I heard the track. I am especially thinking of what Nyman did on Jane Campion's "The Piano".
There are quiet a few pieces where Mike chooses to duplicate his original piano performance to bring a second round (as an exemple, you can check the track Metropolis on SoundCloud).
For this piece, given the repetitive nature and "relative" simplicity of the theme, I took the approach not to repeat the whole thing and stick to only one passage. To me it works best when kept concise. That's actually what makes me want to listen back to it. I like a good gelato but with moderation 😉.
The original performance itself consists in an harmonic movement that keeps repeating. It felt natural to keep the first round played by the piano alone and then bring the instrumentation. I like the way the track unfurls in its current form and the taste it keeps in my mouth, it feels balanced to me. When releasing the collaboration album, I will try to stick to this vision unless Michael insists to go back to a longer track.
As for the technicality it is hard to give you clear insights. When I started orchestration few years back after purchasing Staffpad, it seemed like a vast and brand new land and I felt so green. I was the kind of musician mostly relying on his ears. It didn't feel legit to orchestrate that way, So I was trying very hard to absorb lots of information available on line and trying to inject that into my orchestration like a trained monkey. Things like Negative Harmony (brought back under the spotlights by Jacob Collier), Quartal Harmony, composition tools like chromatic mediant etc... Eventually I started feeling like I was mostly playing with concepts instead of actually making/feeling music. So nowadays, I am back to my old way: follow my ears and imagination and see where it leads. Lots of the things you're describing are probably happening in the background while I'm working on my score, but I cannot rationalize it as it feels more organic and instinctive than premeditated. In the case of Mike's arrangements, I simply listen to his performances and react to those. But as I mentioned earlier, all this is possible only after some preliminary preparation work, especially in the case of his free tempo performances. In those cases, I first need to build the proper tempo track frame inside Staffpad to be able to arrange freely and instinctively later
Thank you for listening Tony! I also commented about Nyman the very first time I heard the piece, especially what Michael Nyman did on Jane Campion's "The Piano".
Since Mike's original piano performance was recorded to a click, the orchestration didn't take much time.
My Staffpad sessions are usually 1:30 - 2 hours long. I started this more than a month ago but if I remember well, it took me 2 sessions to get the strings to sound the way I wanted and another session for the whole woodwinds section and french horns. I did another session adding orchestral percussions the day before sharing the track but discarded it.
I would pay money to hear the percussion instruments added. I had the same comment when Mike asked you for a version without the xylophone. It’s a matter of taste since a xylophone doubling a piano tends to bury the piano but I suspect you added percussion in creative ways I (as a percussionist seeking good parts) I would appreciate seeing in the score form while listening.
Reading StaffPad scores while the music plays is really interesting. I can’t read at the level of a good sight reading pianist but seeing which libraries are chosen and when instruments enter and leave is as fun as a good @GeoTony GeoShred video when he’s really catching fire. I’d love to see a video of Mike’s hands when he improvises for the same reasons… the imagines inform what you’re hearing in powerful ways. for some reason it always looks easier than you think given just the audio track. But that’s usually just the efficient motions of someone that has mastered an instrument.
Grand playing Mr. Levy, as always and a great mix and additions by Mr. JANKUN doing great honour to your music LL. frenq
Thank you for listening and dropping by !
Thank you Mike !
I wish I could let you listen, but I was not happy with the result so I erased everything...
Thank you for listening Mr. Frenq