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Episode102: G'day everyone, I'm David Reidy. Welcome to Piano Finally, a podcast by an old bloke who's
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Episode102: discovering music because he got around to learning the piano. Finally.
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Episode102: Welcome to show number 102. It's been a relatively quiet week musically,
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Episode102: just a voice lesson and a choir rehearsal, and a reasonable amount of practice on most evenings.
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Episode102: I'm afraid that's not going to be the case next week,
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Episode102: as I have something on every day after work.
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Episode102: They're all fun events,
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Episode102: but until I can work out a way to get some keyboard practice done in the car,
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Episode102: I think the piano playing will have to take a back seat.
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Episode102: This week's show is going to be shorter than usual.
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Episode102: If I write the essay for the idea I have,
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Episode102: which is all about what goes on behind the scenes
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Episode102: when putting something big together,
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Episode102: then I won't get the show recorded this weekend.
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Episode102: as I am also finalising all the marking for the term.
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Episode102: But I don't want to skip the show,
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Episode102: as I'm pretty sure I won't be able to get a show out next week.
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Episode102: This weekend, the Alt Strings Practice Summit is happening online.
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Episode102: It's a free summit for amateur adult musicians,
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Episode102: and although it is primarily aimed at string players,
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Episode102: I think it will be interesting to see what they say.
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Episode102: The summit is being held during times suitable for US participants,
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Episode102: so that means the middle of the night for Australia.
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Episode102: Fortunately, they offer a paid version,
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Episode102: which gives unlimited access to the recordings of the sessions,
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Episode102: so I've gone for that option,
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Episode102: rather than trying to pay attention at 2.30 in the morning.
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Episode102: Chances are I won't get an opportunity to watch them
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Episode102: until the school holidays, which are in a couple of weeks.
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Episode102: I'll let you know what I learn.
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Episode102: The new school building was opened on Friday.
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Episode102: There were events during the day,
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Episode102: and then an open day after school for parents and past students to come along and see the new classrooms
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Episode102: and celebrate the school's 40th birthday.
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Episode102: Entertainment was provided throughout the afternoon by the music students,
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Episode102: so I got to hear quite a few of them play.
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Episode102: This was background music rather than sit and watch performances,
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Episode102: and they were great, picking repertoire and playing in a way that really added to the atmosphere.
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Episode102: The early bird tickets for the Blue Mountains Music Festival are now available.
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Episode102: The festival is in March next year, and as it is the 30th festival,
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Episode102: they've got some big names lined up already.
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Episode102: I'll put a link in the show notes to the ticket site.
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Episode102: The early bird pricing still has some time to run.
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Episode102: In the last episode, I mentioned the ABRSM Start Here podcast as one worth listening to.
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Episode102: I thought that their third season had ended after eight episodes,
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Episode102: so I was pleasantly surprised when two new ones dropped on Monday.
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Episode102: These new episodes cover punk and house music,
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Episode102: and although I don't listen to either of those sorts of music,
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Episode102: the stories of their origins and their development was interesting to hear.
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Episode102: All three of the series are good, the information is comprehensive, and it's an excellent way to expand your musical horizons.
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Episode102: There's a link in the show notes.
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Episode102: The first of this weekend's The Music Show on ABC Radio looked at the career of John Farnham, one of the greatest of Australia's musicians.
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Episode102: He's been in the business since the 1960s and has had many ups and downs along the way.
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Episode102: But he is now, without doubt, one of the most admired people in the industry.
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Episode102: And the look back wasn't because he has died,
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Episode102: it's because a new biography has come out
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Episode102: and a musical based on his life premieres in November.
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Episode102: There's a link in the show notes to the episode,
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Episode102: which includes an in-depth breakdown of You're the Voice,
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Episode102: the song that secured John's place in Australia's top 100 songs of all time.
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Episode102: I'll put a link to the musical in the show notes too.
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Episode102: It starts in November and is almost completely sold out.
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Episode102: There are a few tickets left for some of the performances,
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Episode102: so get in quick if you want to see it before Christmas.
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Episode102: It runs until the 3rd of January.
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Episode102: Other than that, I'm still listening to the playlist for the next choir concert.
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Episode102: The practice tracks are starting to appear.
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Episode102: I made two of them, Barefoot and The Day You Went Away,
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Episode102: and about half the rest are available.
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Episode102: If there's not a practice track, I'm listening to the original recording to get a proper feel for the music.
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Episode102: I'm liking them so far.
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Episode102: As I mentioned, there won't be an essay this week, because if I'd started writing it, there wouldn't be a show.
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Episode102: Over the coming shows, I'm thinking about all the things that happen in the background so that music can happen.
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Episode102: and about music itself being in the background.
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Episode102: Two of the background tasks are practice and rehearsing,
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Episode102: things that I've been doing in a much more structured way with the choir
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Episode102: than I ever have with the piano.
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Episode102: I'm wondering if there might be some crossover there.
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Episode102: I'm also thinking that I might start a section
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Episode102: looking at the technical side of putting together a podcast like this.
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Episode102: I've sort of got it figured out now.
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Episode102: I've managed to get a bit further in the How to Write a Great Melody course.
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Episode102: In the first part, Guy Mitchell Moore talked about coming up with an idea
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Episode102: and some of the things to look for.
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Episode102: His first examples were with the melody and chords,
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Episode102: but eventually he got around to just talking about the melody notes,
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Episode102: which is about where I am at.
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Episode102: The main practical work so far has been to generate a short, one-bar phrase
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Episode102: that will become the basis for the first exercises.
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Episode102: This course includes a motif generator,
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Episode102: which will randomly generate a sequence of notes to consider.
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Episode102: I played with this a bit, but in the end came up with a couple of short phrases
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Episode102: that I'll use for the next part of the course.
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Episode102: The next part of the course looks at developing a phrase into a four-part piece.
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Episode102: I've watched the video and read the notes, so I'll be giving that a try over the coming weeks.
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Episode102: With my goal of being able to play some music that people actually know,
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Episode102: pop music rather than classical staples,
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Episode102: I've been looking not only at lead sheets,
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Episode102: but also at the type of keyboards that were used in the recordings.
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Episode102: So it was with great pleasure that I found that David Bennett
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Episode102: had released a new video called Top 10 Road Songs of All Time.
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Episode102: David recorded the video at the Rhodes factory in Leeds, England,
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Episode102: and a lot of it covers the development and function of the Rhodes pianos
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Episode102: and an explanation of how a keyboard, invented in the United States,
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Episode102: is now manufactured in England.
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Episode102: There's also a look at their 80th anniversary edition keyboard.
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Episode102: There's a lot to learn in the video,
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Episode102: and I've been playing with the settings on the Nord and Modi X
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Episode102: to get the Rhodes sounds working.
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Episode102: I'll have to add a couple of the tracks David demonstrates
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Episode102: to my eventually get around to it list.
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Episode102: Pierre Piscatelli has his own version of the Top 10 Rhodes intros.
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Episode102: I think he has a very different taste to me
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Episode102: as I hadn't heard many of the tracks.
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Episode102: I found I preferred David Bennett's list
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Episode102: but you might prefer Pierre's version
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Episode102: so I'll include a link to his video too.
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Episode102: Piano practice will suffer this coming week.
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Episode102: I have something happening every evening until Friday.
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Episode102: I'm going to the launches of the 2027 seasons
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Episode102: for both the Sydney Theatre Company and Bell Shakespeare,
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Episode102: and between them, a red performance of Shakespeare's Henry VI Part II.
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Episode102: My singing lesson and the choir practice are both on this week as well.
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Episode102: I'm pretty sure there won't be a show next week.
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Episode102: Saturday night is the annual astronomy evening at Macquarie University.
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Episode102: I'll be going to that, along with some of my students.
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Episode102: On Sunday, the choir is having a vocal workshop with another group,
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Episode102: so I don't think that there will be time to get a recording done.
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Episode102: If that doesn't happen next week,
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Episode102: I'll make sure that there is a show on the 27th.
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Episode102: If you'd like to contact me, email is the best way.
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Episode102: You'll find me at david at pianofinally.show
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Episode102: and the website at www.pianofinally.show.
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Episode102: In both cases, piano finally is all one word.
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Episode102: The show is also available on Spotify
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Episode102: and is an audio-only stream on YouTube.
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Episode102: You can subscribe via any popular iOS or Android podcast application
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Episode102: or from directories such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube.
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Episode102: I also post an excerpt and link for each episode as an Instagram Reel.
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Episode102: If you're learning an instrument or learning to sing,
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Episode102: let me know where you are in your journey.
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Episode102: what's going well and what are the challenges how are you managing your time which bits are you
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Episode102: enjoying the most this podcast is produced on the lands of the darug and gundangurra peoples
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Episode102: land that always was and always will be traditional aboriginal land they were the first musicians in
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Episode102: this place and their song lines stretch back tens of thousands of years i pay my respects to their
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Episode102: elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
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Episode102: listening to the podcast. And so, until the next show, I hope your piano stays in tune
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Episode102: and you enjoy your time at the Keys.
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Episode102: The trumpet tune is coming along nicely and I'm happy with the right-hand part.
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Episode102: I can play it at tempo from memory, and I finally have the trills working properly.
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Episode102: It wasn't the trills themselves, they're not difficult.
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Episode102: It was getting the timing moving to the next note that was not correct.
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Episode102: The next note should follow from the last trill note at the same tempo,
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Episode102: but I kept finding myself slowing down.
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Episode102: I can get it right, but I really have to think about it or it drifts off again.
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Episode102: With the right hand working, I'm starting to bring in the left hand part.
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Episode102: I'm slowing down again to get everything to line up.
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Episode102: The left hand is mostly chords, with one small part of the melody.
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Episode102: I'm making a start on the cover of Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here,
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Episode102: just the first few bars, with the right hand melody, and then with the left hand chords.
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Episode102: With the Montage M8X arriving this coming week, if all goes according to plan,
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Episode102: I've purchased a package of settings based around some of Pink Floyd's music.
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Episode102: It should work on the MoDX as well, except for the more complex sounds.
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Episode102: I'm using the patch for Wish You Were Here on this week's recording.
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Episode102: I'll do a proper review of the package and the one I have with more general settings
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Episode102: once I get everything set up properly.
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Episode102: The synthesizer music was recorded directly from the Yamaha MoDX M6 keyboard via USB audio,
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Episode102: using settings from the PF Infinity package from SynthCloud.
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Episode102: The piano music was recorded using the Kawaii NV10
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Episode102: with a contact clear piano emulating a Faziolli grand piano in concert mode.
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Episode102: The software is Cubase 15 running on an M4 Max MacBook Pro.
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Episode102: Thank you.
