Hey Guys,

Been following this forum for a while now, and while i have never posted before, have always enjoyed reading the various posts.

As a fellow keen keyboard/piano player, i would just like to share with you my latest video i have made with me playing the piano.

History of Pop in 100 Keyboard / Piano Riffs



*****EDIT**** Have editted the video down to 10 smaller, 3 minute sized video, making it easier to watch Please follow one of the links if you havent already done so *****



Its 100 riffs that i thought were a good representation of keyboard music over the last 50 years or so (a couple a bit older ) and i had alot of fun recording it.

Had to rush through them and it drifts out of sync a few times when i tried to put video and audio back together (not my forte ) but i am sure you will find a piano riff you like.

Hopefully you will enjoy listening to it too, and if there are any guys in here just starting out on keyboard / piano or who are looking for music for any of the songs played in the
vid, let me know and i will see if i can get it too you / help out.

If i have put it in the wrong section - i am sorry, but was not sure.



Not sure if there is a better way to do a link or embed - if there is i would be grateful if someone could tell me

Anyway back to reading some of the other posts

Paul

P.s. the Digital piano is a yamaha DGX-640

Nice one Paul!

Good playing...I'm five minutes in and no mistakes so far - you did everything in one take, yes? Great job!

Do you play in a band or anything? With that strong repertoire you'd be a real asset! Some pretty decent sounds in that DGX too.

Also, how did you remember the order and presets? Is everything written on your laptop? Playing everything from memory - no sheets? Impressive stuff!

Cheers,
James
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Thanks for posting.

So the images we can see are you actually playing what we can hear? You're saying you took audio from the Yamaha and video from your phone and sync'd them up afterwards?

Steve, I believe it's a combination of both the phone audio and the line-in from the Yammie - you can hear the keyboard and button presses picked up by the phone mic.

James
x

EDIT: Ah, okay...the video is just ever so slightly misleading...

Hi James ,

Thanks for taking the time to listen / watch the video

I had loads of fun making it.

While i would love to say that was , one clean take, its not unfortunately - there is a couple of punch ins cause i lose concentration later on or hit the wrong preset button (You will see comments in the video ), but i am chuffed how far i managed to get through without an error . I also filmed the whole sequence 3 times - and this was the best take.

However, i was still really pleased how many i managed to get right, and where i was in danger of forgetting the riffs i quickly improvised over it .

While i will never be the best technically on the piano, and my timing is not as tight as i would like (i am largely self taught) i had so much fun choosing the songs, and playing it- love playing for myself and others, which to me is what it is all about.

The audio quality was so much better recording it in to the PC and capturing the video on my phone- the phones microphone just makes everything sound terrible !

Finally, remembering wasn't too bad as that has always been one of my strongest abilities- numbers and facts etc , and as you know the piano is really just remembering a sequence on information or numbers etc then adding your own emotions on top.

However , thats not to say i didn't need promoting , i set up a scrolling track on the laptop with the names of the riff i was to play, and for a couple of them had sheet music pop up just to prompt me.

Remembering the sounds wasnt too hard -there are mostly piano in there so that takes the stress out immediately - the DGX can store up to 32 different sounds ( i think) so with prompts it was straight forward.

Anyway hope you enjoyed,

Never was going to be perfect but hope you found it fun

Paul

That was great ...
except for Toploader I mean ...seriously ?

It's all very interesting, including the choice of the intros - some I didn't expect!

How does the change from piano (Jealous Guy) to organ (Whiter Shade of Pale) take place without any button pressing? By foot controller?

Paul, at some points I thought you may have been playing along to a pre-recorded backing track, but perhaps I'm mistaken?

May I ask which software you used to prepare the scrolling cues and sheet music?

On the rare occasions when I play a gig, I usually write down the set-list and preset memory on a piece of paper and tape it to the top of my board.

Cheers,
James
x

Yes and at times it is a different piano sound altogether. Let's spend the night together by the Stones is unquestionably a Kurzweil piano sound. All rather mysterious.....

Thanks! I just heard six songs to practice today

I was surprised by how good the piano sounded, too. What preset was used for the Stones piece, Paul?

Ooh yeah! Keane!

Oh and ABBA and the Monkees!

Great video. Thanks for sharing!

Bravo Paul!! What a great idea and how talented you are! I really enjoyed watching this. I liked your on screen comments too. Thanks for sharing!

What order are they played in by the way? Random?

Some of the songs could have been better with other sounds but this just made it more fun to watch.

Now I am waiting for your next project... Bring us more please!!

Thanks for your input Amaruk

I def agree with you about the sounds, i think i got as close as i could with certain songs due to the constraints of the DGX 640.

However, would love more gear Who wouldnt

Anyway, i have now edited the video in to groups of 10 riffs at a time, counting up from 1-100, making it much easier to watch and come back to at any time.

Will let you know of my next project- will hopefully make an even better job of the recording and syncing back up.

Maybe 100 "Classical" pieces from the last 500 years or so - the most well known ones anyway

P.J

Btw guys,

Was thinking of doing a second "Alternative" collection of 100 piano / keyboard rifffs, as so much great, not so commericial stuff
was left out.

Was thinking stuff like Old rock and roll classics, stevie wonder, some of the blues piano greats, stuff like that.

Anymore suggestions?

100 best classical 'riffs'

I vote for oldies R&R and the Blues riffs next!

That was great, Piano Pij!!! You play very well, and then some!

Rick

How about 'Milli Vanilli' - 'Girl you know it's true'?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rH80nNixmE

Cheers guys the compliments are much appreciated
As I am quite new to posting piano vids .

Is there a section with other members playing ? Would like
To see.

James , I'm sorry u feel it's not me playing but I can assure u it is
I here your concerns , and on the video it does say in the text
At points where I had to punch In the audio .

If it helps . Choose one of the riffs I play on the vid and I will post
Me playing it live on my phone , with no syncing required - so there can be no excuses

Any way , sorry if I offended u and hope u enjoyed the video none the less

Pj

Please don't worry mate, I'm only winding you up.

However, there are still a few unanswered questions in my head:

- What do you mean by 'punch in' in this context? Did you paste in a separate piece of recorded audio into the video to cover-up mistakes?
- What software did you use to provide automatic/timed prompts of song names and sheet music?

As I said before, I think you did a great job with the video, and I don't doubt that it's you playing.

Cheers,
James
x

Hats Off!

Watched the whole thing, very enjoyable. Brought back some nostalgia as well.

You did however make me a sad panda by not playing any Lady Gaga :p

Haha yeh since posting it I realised there was a few I have missed out
Like gaga , madonna Jackson etc

But was trying to use songs with obvious piano/keyboard riffs in them and before I knew
It hit 100 .

But your right , will need to make a sequel . Any other obvious keyboard or piano tracks ?

Is Billy Preston's go round in circles? in there?

No but thats a good one- as he is a great pianist .

Great balls of fire isnt either but should be!!!

Well, if you are doing a rock collection, I got TONS of suggestions. Electric guitars are the trademark of rock music though, so not all of them would sounds as good on the piano/keyboard. I watched your video right after you posted it, so sorry if I forgot and mention a song that's already in there.

Off the top of my head:
Deep purple - Smoke on the Water (one of the most famous riffs in the history of music).
Black Sabbath - Paranoid (see above).
Jimi Hendrix - So many songs... Perhaps Voodoo Child would have the easiest riffs to recognize.
Guns 'n Roses - Like... most of their songs. But if you can find good riff in Sweet Child of Mine, that would probably nail it.
Moody Blues - Nights in White Satin (David Lanz made a fantastic piano version of this if you need inspiration).
Pink Floyd - Another Brick in the Wall.
Muse - Knights of Cydonia (a nice riff, and hey, you have to include something from the alternative genre!).

I think I should stop while I still can. You can surely find songs of greater popularity in other genres, but if you want to play some (modern) rock give some of these a thought

PS: Good job on your video, it was a pleasure to watch (and listen to)!

I think he's talking specifically about Keyboard riffs not guitar riffs

Yeh good point Madlock.

Though you are right about them sounding much better on Electric Guitar, i tried a few of them mentioned on Keyboard but they ended up sounding a little "Cheesy"

However, the project i am working next is 100 Guitar riffs - which is even harder to narrow down, as what ever you do you will upset someone.

Think i will stick to the Rock "Classics" with a few more contemporary riffs thrown in:

Like : Led Zepplin, AC/DC, GNR, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd , Muse,
The beatles, Queen, U2, Rolling Stones, Hendrix, and a couple of newer bands such as Kaiser Chiefs or maybe The Killers etc to cater to the youth audience as well.

These are just ideas at the moment

Btw going to check out the piano version of nights in white satin; Didnt know there was one!!!

Cheers

P.J

P.J., speaking of Billy Preston, he played the keys on this killer Ike Turner track (currently one of my faves!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FbR-ql2bOA

As for rock classics, please don't forget Grand Funk, Humble Pie, or James Gang!

James (not in a gang...)
x

Well I wasn't going to go there but you've started it. Or was it Madlock.

Cream, Ten Years After, Creedence Clearwater, The Stones, ...