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In the final part of the Songzap for Pianists blog series, we’ll experiment with and shape the sonics of our designed and captured creations. The song we made in Part III features a mix of recorded keyboard performances and drum patterns we prepared for the song’s different arrangement sections, which deploy drum sounds from Songzap’s sample libraries. The objective here will be to ‘mix’ all of the song’s elements into a cohesive whole that delivers the song’s narrative effectively.

In this third part of the Songzap for Pianists blog series, we’ll expand our quest toward the ‘macro’ aspect of arrangement, developing longer-form structures and pieces through the keyboard as a compositional tool. We’ll use Songzap’s Arrange functionality to tie it all together, and organise the transition and linking of sections toward a complete song narrative.

In the second part of the Songzap for Pianists blog series, we’ll focus on timing, groove and the art of layering parts, particularly from a rhythmic perspective. We’ll play to and off the click, and develop piano grooves that interact with Songzap’s Groove Designer beats. We’ll listen to the left hand as a bass part and examine its relationship to kick drum patterns; and we’ll focus in on right-hand parts as rhythmic stabs, chops or licks that feed off, support and complement the snare and hi-hat syncopation.

In this first part of the blog series on Songzap for Pianists, we’ll come to terms with the sound of the upright piano and the techniques that will help us capture its glorious sonic footprint. Why the upright piano? It sounds great, it’s cheaper (than a grand), many more pianists have one in their home, and … if you can do it on the upright, you can also extend your knowledge to capturing a baby grand, or grand piano.

Songzap is a songwriting and pre-production mobile phone app designed specifically with musicians in mind. In this blog series, Mike will take you through a bunch of approaches to recording, practising with, layering and mixing the upright piano using Songzap!