Richard Laurence

I had previously written 2 pieces for my daughter, Grace.  You can actually find them both on my charity album “A Busy Couple Of Years” as this documented both 2013-14 and the story of our wedding, honeymoon, pregnancy, our first home, welcoming Grace to the world and also our 1st wedding anniversary!  The 2 tracks are called “Grace” and Grace's Lullaby".

It had been a little while since I composed a new piece for Grace and its inspiration came from watching Grace dance to “Let It go” from Frozen when she was 3.  Those first steps into creativity, trying to be elegant whilst also having a few missteps along the way!

“Grace Dancing” has a Debussy-esque vibe to the piece.  I would describe it as painting with watercolours.  The effect can be a bit wishy washy but those blurred edges can develop beautiful themes.  I like how the piece feels both a little bit elegant with rise and fall as well as a bit clumsy with the chromatic tinges.  

I really liked the improvisational movements as it builds to each climatic point, whether that be rising or falling.  I generally have these motifs down pat now but they work just as well when I freestyle off of these ideas.  

Grace doesn't like to dance anymore which is a bit of a shame but she does like to sing when she thinks no one is listening.  She has a lovely voice and it's a pleasure to hear her from a different room singing away!  Grace is quite creative and likes to draw, paint and tell and write stories so I think I might have to write the music to one of stories she creates soon.

I use these pieces that are written for my family as photos.  They are like a diary of different events and memories that I can look back on to remind me of years gone by.  I hope to write many more in the future to tell the story of our little world together.

So in this post I wanted to talk about a collective of people from all walks of life.  My students.  Past, present and future and all generations will almost certainly affect some of my compositions as they have in the past and as they will continue to do so.  

When I say that they have inspired me, most of the time it's a student who sets me a challenge or needs help with composing that gets my creative juices flowing!  Some of these compositions have now appeared in various forms on different streaming platforms.  A few of these come to mind but for the sake of this post I will only use first names as I don't want to share any other details of students here.

“In the Curve Of A Square” was inspired after one of my students, Christine, was creating a piece for her GCSE's.  The rolling ostinato bassline came from her ideas.  

“From A Second Perspective” was suggested by a student called James as he wanted me to create a piece using only 3 notes.  I kind of evolved from there but at its core came the melody.

The melodies of one of my future pieces “A Roll Of The Dice” was created after proving to a student that you could make up a piece of music from a random number generator.

Here are just a few examples of how my students help me to create and improvise as their curiosity into this wonderful instrument can bounce back off of me and can create some wonderful new ideas that wouldn't have been born if not for their questions and demands!

There are quite a few more pieces that I have written either for students in mind or for exams but these tend to be in more jazzy styles to help catch the attention of the student in mind.  One day I might get round to releasing all my past pieces but not for a while at least!

So a really big thank you to all my students as their contribution to my journey should also be shared.  I wish them all luck and well wishes in everything they do.  Also, they almost all need to do more practice so get back to work!

At the beginning of the year I decided that I wanted to release an EP for each member of my family.  The Ep ended up being called “My Little World” and featured 4 tracks.  One for my wife, one for both of my daughters, Grace and Amber, and one for me.  

“Written In Her Eyes” was written back in 2017.  It was one of those times that improvising around turned out a short but sweet composition pretty quickly.  This is always easier when you decide to stick to familiar chord progressions as you can cycle through them fairly easily.  Choosing just 4-6 chords makes the music feel more pop like but can also make the melody and patterns stick as they are simpler.

Just like a pop song, this piece is based around a verse and chorus hook and switches back and forth between the 2 parts a few times with minimal build.  This was designed to keep the music intimate and delicate.  I wanted it sound loving and caring but also to seem like an unspoken conversation between myself and Kate.  

I can always tell when Kate feels content as her eyes shine and I thought this encapsulated the piece quite nicely.  Sometimes it doesn't need to be a big declaration of love.  Sometimes just a look will tell you all you need to know.  

My wife is currently looking into a new venture to do with writing an audiobook.  As there is a certain amount of crossover between recording music and recording an audiobook I thought I'd throw a few ideas her way to discuss/talk about and one was about our world around us and it got me thinking.  Why have I never written a post about the places that inspire my music?!  So today we will change that and add a new topic to the blog posts. 

I didn't want to just talk about a one off place that inspires me but more about places that I go that always get me thinking.  One of these places is a local beach to us.  Brightlingsea is a small coastal town in East Anglia where my wife's family are from.  Now I'm not really much of a beach person.  I can do a few hours in the sun in summer but then I'm good.  However, when it gets to the Autumn/Winter months I find the seaside or waterfronts in general to be very emotive.  

These pieces tend to be quite melancholy in tone and generally reflect a cold, overcast day but I really enjoy our walks along the seafront in miserable British weather!  

Of the pieces that I have released so far that were inspired by our beach walks as a couple and as a family, the two that spring to mind are Morning and Evening Tide.  Both were written, one on a cold November Saturday morning and one in March the following year in early evening, down at the beach.  I often come up with an idea and either hum it into my phone's voice memos or come home and head to the piano to improvise.  

From my earlier albums you can find “Watching The World Go By” and “Stirring From Dormant Waters” which were also inspired from the coastlines close to home. 

I know you shouldn't wish your life away but I do enjoy the autumnal months and taking in the cool, fresh sea air and then coming home for a nice cup of tea or hot chocolate.  I'm interested to see what comes to mind from these walks.

Over the last year or so I have really enjoyed playing around with bigger extended chords used commonly in jazz music.  I still haven't quite taken to 13ths but I am really enjoying playing around with 9ths and 11ths at the moment.  I enjoy seeing what colour I can paint with this extended canvas.  Sometimes I like to use them as a block chord but often I prefer to arpeggiate these chords to see what melting pot I can create.  These often start as happy accidents which is exactly how “Unashamedly” came about.  The C major sharpened 11th chord was my starting point but purely by accidentally blending a C and a E sus2 chord.

I quickly put together a 4 chord rolling pattern which used a traditional chord progression filled with extensions.  This gave the music a pop/jazz feel and the latin and pop rhythms evolved into the middle section of the music.  I then set about creating an opening introduction which was then later evolved into a more intense chorus section.  

I also added in a time signature change at the end of the introduction which glides through different chords into the middle part.  

This gets its name as at the time I was really debating switching to playing felt piano pieces as they would almost always do better.  However, this was the complete opposite.  I vibrant, upbeat and dynamic piece filled with colour and which was unashamedly in your face.  This piece helped me get over my crisis of conscience and helped me to decide to stick with what I was happy playing and creating.  

I will create calm and thoughtful music but for my own sanity I need to hit the keys once in a while and let loose.  I want to make music for me first and foremost as if I'm not pleasing myself then what it the point really.  I want this hobby of mine to be an enjoyable experience so I will be creating music however it comes to me.

This is always a favourite to play still!

In this post I'm going to talk about the recording of the tracks on “Third Perspective”.  I will be covering the mixing and mastering in a separate post as I believe there is quite a lot to talk about.

For choosing the tracks for “Third Perspective” I decided to look through my back catalogue of pieces over the last few years.  I had it in my head that I wanted to open the album with “Morning Tide” and end with “Evening Tide” but in between was anyone's guess to start!  I quickly added “Nightingales” and “Embrace” to the list as well.  I also knew that the album was going to be called “Third Perspective” (I'll leave you guessing as to why!) and I had written a piece called “From A Second Perspective” which made sense to reuse and edit for the title track.  I also wanted to experiment with other instruments and I felt that 4 out of the 5 tracks mentioned would suit some form of expansion.

After my experimentation with other instruments for the previous few months I was ready to have a bash at orchestrating “Morning Tide".  I felt that if this went well it would give me the belief that I could do this with the other tracks.  I don't want to go over too much again from my programme notes but safe to say that I am still happiest with “Morning Tide"!  I wanted a mix of solo piano pieces for intimacy and expansive string pieces with a few oddities thrown in as well for experimentation.  

Apart from “Embrace”, all of these pieces would be expansive and feature string sections.  Generally I think I pulled these off ok.  I was happy with the results on “Morning Tide” and decided to make “Nightingales ” a bit more dynamic by adding staccato string layers which I think helped in the mix.  “Evening Tide” was hard work though and I think I could've done a better job but sometimes you need to draw a line under things and move on!  

“From A Second Perspective” turned into “ From A Third Perspective” and got an overhaul with loads of synth instruments.  This was without doubt the most fun I had with a piece.  It was really fun to mess about with so many strange effects and I'd definitely be up for doing more like this in the future or even adding beats behind some tracks.

When I started the album I was in the midst of completing “And Breathe” and “Out Of Isolation” as well.  I knew that I wanted to try and write a leading line for another instrument over a piano part so the middle part of “and Breathe” has a solo violin part.  I think this worked really well and I'd like to write some music for piano and cello.  In hindsight I think I should have left “Isolation” as a solo piano piece.  I don't think the “noise” at the beginning and end worked how I wanted them too.

This left 3 other pieces.  The good news was that these would be solo piano pieces which is a lot easier to complete.  I had been experimenting with a 90's dance inspired piece for a little while which was called “Surge” which made it's way onto the album at the last minute.  I love playing “Surge” but in retrospect, it would've worked better on an EP of experimentation better.  My other tracks “Safe” and “You'll Never Know” were both soft intimate pieces to round out the album.  I also moved “You'll Never Know” to the end as I like the idea of using a softer more thoughtful piece to end on as a reflective ending.

Looking back on the album now, I'm amazed more about how I learnt how to write for MIDI instruments and change my entire approach to recording.  Yes, things may not have always turned out exactly how I wanted but I learnt some valuable lessons from this process.  I learnt how to create string sections which sounded more realistic by the way I could manipulate the dynamics and velocity, I learnt that I really enjoy writing for synths, more so then real instruments as they don't have to sound real.  I also learnt that the most effective piece can be a simple piano piece rather then lots of other instruments.  I would take this information into 2023 but first I needed to learn how to mix and master.  But that is for another day!

Back in 2017 my brother, Martin, asked whether I'd like a ticket to see Tokio Myers in London.  I knew who Tokio Myers was because he had won Britain's Got Talent but I don't really watch variety shows so I had never seen or heard much from him.  I just knew he was a pianist who liked to experiment.  I was up for going to a gig and I'm really glad Martin offered me the ticket as he was great.

Before the show I had listened through his album and was taken by his solo piano pieces “Polaroid” and “Limitless”, especially the former.  Not only does he perform piano live, he also has a whole collection of instruments set up in a square to move around to as he loops sections.  However, it's the fluid rolling nature of his solo piano pieces that still stood out to me.  They have a classical vibe whilst rolling through passages like water flowing.  this inspired me to write something in a similar style with wide ranging dynamics and over the top expression.

I created a simple opening theme which was played over the same 4 chord loop.  It gradually becomes more elaborate and rapid as it moves over the keyboard.  I really wanted to go out for full on extended arpeggios to create lots of changes in movement, tempi and dynamics.  Trust me when I say that this feels so good to play.  It's a wonderful feeling to glide over the keys and this creation really hit the spot for me.  

I decided to release this around Valentine's day as it has a romantic feel and it's my first single that I released with the intention of it staying as just a single.  It is also by far and away my most successful ad campaign with FB ads and it continues to run to this day to bring people to my spotify page.  So, although it's not my best performing, it is arguably my most important piece that I have released to help me grow.

This is also my first single which I decided to not create a video for.  I really enjoy creating music videos but they are very time consuming and they don't get to many plays to make them worthwhile.  I may go back to creating them if I find more time.

Lastly, I just want to once again thank my brother for giving me the ticket.  It was a great gig and I would definitely be up for going to see Tokio perform again.

Hi everyone.  It's been a while since I talked about the artworks that I have used so I thought I would address some of the beautiful photos that I had the privilege to use for my music for the springtime this year.

The first couple are actually from the winter months but I thought I'd cover Jan-Apr.

The photo for “And Then It Went Dark” was taken by George Palmer who is the husband of my cousin, Caroline.  George takes absolutely breath taking shots and as soon as I saw this one I knew I had to use it.  It is amazing.  The detail in the night sky with the silhouette of the oak made me me think how beautiful the darkness can be.  It's a toss up between this and my artwork to “Third Perspective” as to which is my favourite.  As usual, my logo is hidden somewhere in the shot if you can find it!  The piece I associate with this image the most is “We Wait For Nightingales”.  The font was used as a nod to the X files or a typewriter.

I get a lot of my stock images from vecteezy.com as there are so many talented photographers out there sharing their images for the world to see.  I wanted something very sparse for the image on this artwork and decided to use the play on words of “Tokio Myers” to find a Japanese themed background and the cherry blossom stood out for me.  I think it is simple but elegant.  I wanted to use a similarly elegant font to match the picture.

Completely the opposite here!  I wanted bold and brash and in you face!  Again, this is from vecteezy and is a photo of an abstract painting.  So much modern piano music is aimed at felt and soft piano to use as background music and “Unashamedly” was not that!  i really love playing this piece and each time I see the artwork it makes me smile so I think it does it's job!  I wanted to use a punchy bold text for the artwork and underline it for greater effect.

This shot was taken by my father in law, Robin Davy, of my daughters sandals when we were at Frinton beach one day.  All of the tracks on this EP are dedicated to my family and I liked this intimate shot to portray the title of the EP.  I wanted to use what I would describe as quite young text to imitate a child's writing.  It is a very nostalgic photo for me.

Sometimes the problem for me is not composing but actually giving my music a suitable title!  

Way back in 2012 I created a mysterious sounding piece of music which presented this problem to me once again. However, I had been listening to a lot of music by the “Barenaked Ladies” and they can be brilliant wordsmiths.  They like to use a lot of clever literary techniques and word play but also juxtapose a lot of their lyrics.  In my head I pictured a circle whilst playing this piece but liked the impossibility of having a corner in the circle.  It felt strange and confusing and I liked it as a title so the piece became “In The Corner of A Circle”.

A few years later I was teaching a student how to play “Primavera” by Einaudi.  She asked if I'd be able to create something similar.  So I started with an ostinato bassline in F minor.  This then gave me the opportunity to riff over the bassline with off beat rhythms.  The piece evolved from there.  This also had a similar mysterious feeling to it, just like “In The Corner Of A Circle” so I decided it would become it's sister tune.  “In The Curve Of a Square”!

My favourite part of the piece is actually the short section after the opening theme as it features some James Bond melody and harmony parts which add to the mystery.  I really liked how the sections to the music shift quite easily between minor and major and have a real sense of dark and light.

At the turn of 2023 I knew I wanted to create an EP of solo piano pieces to be played through the darker months.  I had just created “Last Train Home” and needed 3 other pieces.  Alongside, “Losing Touch” and the piano version of “We Wait For Nightingales” this made it's appearance to complete a darker set of pieces.

It was fun to come back to this piece and relearn it.  You tend to forget about certain compositions and this firmly fell in that category.  It also seems quite popular with my students.

And with that we have completed the programme notes to “And Then It Went Dark”.  I need to look into compiling these programme notes into collections for each album/EP, mainly for my own nostalgia.

So far in these musical inspirations posts I have covered artists who still currently release music.  I would say I am more influenced by the fusion of modern classical and jazz/dance/rock genres which is why I am drawn to the likes of Einaudi, Arnalds, Hisaishi and Uematsu.  However, one of the early pioneers towards this fusion was Claude Debussy.

I remember being completely captivated when I heard “Clair De Lune” for the first time and even now it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.  One chord in particular effected me the most.  The first chord of the Tempo Rubato section is a E flat minor 9th chord and it is stunning.  Hauntingly beautiful.  

I then went out and bought a CD of his greatest piano works.  It's a bit of an eclectic mix but the gems hidden in the catalogue are wonderul.  Obviously, “Clair De Lune” and “Arabesque No1” are front and centre for good reason as they are stunning, however, over played for my liking.  I always get students ask to learn these 2 pieces and it's a shame as there are some other wonderful pieces to unearth.

I do particularly like his more impressionistic pieces such as “The Girl With The Flaxen Hair” and “Reverie” and these have influenced my more recent compositions such as “Grace Dancing” as I like the watercolour effect that these paint.  I also really like the 1st movement from “Suite Bergamasque” for that initial burst of colour to the whole suite.  

Growing up and having to play and learn classical music, I could appreciate the baroque and classical eras of music but I was always drawn to the overly expressive nature from the romantic era and the early 20th century styles.  These pieces moved me and made me feel a connection that I just didn't really resonate with from the earlier years on classical music.  I really liked the first forays into jazz chords and extended harmonies which I probably appreciate even more now.  Debussy, Chopin, Greig and Liszt are held more dearly to me. I mention Debussy here though more so than the others as he definitely has effected my style more than the other composers.  So thank you Claude for the introduction into seeing a new world of classical music.