as you might guess, “Out Of Isolation” was written during the pandemic. I had come up with the original chord progression just before the lockdown which had a unsure but hopeful tone. I really liked how the more intense section turned out with this piece. The middle section to the music modulates to different keys which is something I should do more as it gives a new life to chord progressions. Recently, I've found I like a certain set of chords and I tend to riff around them more like a pop song. There's something very satisfying taking a piece and creating a completely fresh middle section which links back to the main theme. This can take a while to complete but when it works it is much more fulfilling.
I tend to find that the pieces that I create which experiment a bit more are the ones I tend to continue playing for a longer time. “Isolation” fits nicely in this category.
When creating my album “Third Perspective”, I knew that I wanted to have a mix of piano solos, piano and strings and also piano and synths. The synth treatment went to “From A Third Perspective” and “Out Of Isolation”. I would say that I definitely think “Third Perspective” worked much better and I really liked that arrangement. The thought process behind “Isolation” was to create noise at the beginning and end with the piano finding it hard to cut through. I wanted this to feel intrusive but then cut the noise to reveal the solo piano part which is like the moment of clarity within the pandemic. The noise at the end was an uncertain future.
I'd love to experiment more with synths and pads as I really enjoyed messing about with the different sounds. it just takes quite a bit of time to complete pieces with so many layers. I think if I set myself a goal to maybe try 3 or 4 a year this may give me enough variety to play with. Maybe when I have more time in the summer.
Let me know what you think. Should I experiment a bit more or stick to solo piano?