bhaines

Last official improvisation on a brand new music workstation - a Roland FA-08 and am I super impressed with the complexity and sounds in this board - not the least of is the grand piano - weighted keys and a fantastic touch. So, out with the old 2017 and in with 2018 with a new world of sounds to explore.

"Boogie Woogie" or the blues of this nature will always be one of my favorites to play. Hope you enjoy.

A hard emotional argument revealed some truths that needed to be said. This track tumbled out as a result. It helps to Free Your Mind and get clarity...

Light and soft, and casual version of a Christmas classic...

My Christmas offering for those who like the laid back Christmas classics - I just could not pick one key, so I did a bunch....

Somewhat melancholy, perfect for embracing solitude.

This track is only for people who don't like any real structure in piano composition. I just decided to record whatever came out, so this is pure piano consciousness flowing in whatever format it took. Twists, turns, etc.. It is a bit long, but that is the nature of consciousness - it is as long as it is long.

Improvisation with a bit of a dream like quality.

This is a short, but packed little piece submitted to the Piano Soundboard challenge to have a predominately left-hand melody and this almost does that, but not quite. I guess the challenge won! In any event, this is the shortest piece I've done and it just seemed to repeat more of what I had done was not meaningful. It's short, but it seemed complete, so I didn't try to add anything further to it. Anyway, hope it pleases ...

Slip on the headsets... Sit in a quiet spot...Open your mind....The angels will heal you ...

The structure of this piece had a little "Ludwig von Beethoven" flavor in it. Certainly wish I was a genius like he was! Oh well, this will have to do.

There was a long stretch of no inspiration in my piano improvisations, so i just had enough and sat down and thought "be free." This is the result. Not especially fantastic, but it has the juices flowing again...

New Year, a new sound just for fun. Didn't touch anything on this, hence one take the name is Let It Stand. Not my normal genre, but like I said, new year, new sound exploration.

In keeping with my Christmas Carol format, here is a spacious and cool version of Oh Little Town of Bethlehem. Plenty of spaces, plenty of improvisations, just mellow Christmas offering.

My gentle and jazzed up version of Away in A Manger. Hope it finds your Christmas spirit lifted...

In memory of Gina Yager. In honor of Josh Cope. Time will heal the pain.

I love it when you find a piece that was "forgotten" - the only name I had on this was 6/1/14 and I remember wanting to finish this as part of my "River" collection. A few clean-up's and voila! This is my favorite River connection piece and I think you'll see the name is accurate - The River Wild with some really good energy and a pounding ending...Hope you enjoy it....

3rd in a series of "river tracks." Quick and fast, some slow and some elegant. Hope it relaxes and flows for you!

Well, it's been months of no playing and finally I just sat down and this came out. Jazz is a love of mine, but a weak spot in my playing, but I thought I'd put this track out anyway. Hope you enjoy...

In the challenge "Pop Goes The Piano", I may be stretching the definition of "Pop", but the production of Sound of Music celebrates it's 50th anniversary and this song is an iconic classic. It is so simple, and so hauntingly beautiful, I just had to determine a chord sequence I thought was pleasing, and this is the result. I didn't use a score, just constructed it by ear. There are only 394 notes in this entire track, so I love the simplicity and clean result. Hoping you can squeeze this into the "Pop" genre. Here is a great very brief video of the song originally sung by Christopher Plumber on The Sound of Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bL2BCiFkTk

Here is the "ebony" part of the ivory and ebony challenge - all black keys...

Sometimes the name just pops out, and this somewhat sad song named itself...hope you find it worth listening to.

Submitted as an improv for the "ivory" portion of the Ebony and Ivory Challenge.

Not very inventive, just a few electric piano tracks on top of each other....just vampin'...

This just felt like a positive track - moving, slowing, moving, slowing, but the name just seemed right to me...

This medley includes piano, tuba, oboe, some strings, a bass guitar somewhere in there, some bells, a few trumpets (amazing!), some assorted percussion, and a jazz/swing ambiance...Merry Christmas all...

Another Angel Song emerged - maybe some day I'll make an album of Angel inspired songs! Hope this one is inspiring...

Follows the Challenging G minor, D minor, Eb major, F minor

A light and carefree version for the holidays - hope you enjoy it.

I have no idea how this piece came to being. It was just something that came out one day, I stuffed it aside and never finished until recently as I really like the melody. I thought it was too short and a bit odd, but hey,here it is. If anyone can tell me what period this piece is reminiscent of, let me know! Closest I can think of is baroque, and it certainly is out of sync with current music, but I thought I'd just put it out here for fun - after all, fun is what music should be about anyway!

This track was forgotten and discovered during a bitter-sweet personal week with the passing of a family member and the strenthening of existing family ties. Rebirth seemed appropriate.

The very first Fivos song I heard on SoundCloud was his beautiful and haunting Nightly Walker. I asked Fivos to share with me his score so I could at least enjoy playing his Nightly Walker, and at Fivos' urging, I am going to post my version on SC. I will not attempt to be Fivos - I could never be as talented as Fivos, and his wonderful songs and playing. I am just posting this simple and non-improvised version (except the ending) as a tribute to Fivos and as a thank you to all his wonderful music. He is brilliant and this is just a "junior" version of Nightly Walker that I enjoyed recording. Thanks Fivos for the score and for your tremendous talent and music! Keep on sharing it and we'll keep on listening. Bruce

I had nothing stand out in my mind as to what to call this, so reached back to the old "Capriccio", which is defined as "a lively piece of music, typically one that is short and free in form." I couldn't have named it more perfectly as to it's structure. Hope you enjoy....

This is a hard song to post, but the lyrics are sincere. I am not making a political statement, rather a musical statement about the human condition surrounding the Middle East conflict, and for that matter, anywhere that war is taking lives. This song is, I believe, "Spirit" originated, as I awoke several weeks ago with the title, lyrics and melody blasting in my mind, such that I was compelled to get up at 3 AM and get it down on my piano and iPad. It was done in a few hours. I realized that my singing voice is poor at best and was the wrong "timbre" and lacked a "rawness" I wanted, and although I initially thought a female voice might work, I asked Fivos Valachis if he knew anyone who might want to collaborate and he introduced me to Paolo D'Emilio who agreed to do the vocals and whose voice has the tonal qualities I don't have. I'm grateful to Fivos for the introduction and grateful for Paolo for singing with his unique passion and style. I added the strings, and as the song is in a minor key all the way through, I wanted to make a musical and positive statement at the end of the song, so the last two chords are in a major key, just my way of trying to convey a positive and hopeful ending. Maybe someday, both sides in this (and any other conflict) will decide that killing is a waste and just figure out a way to get a lasting peace established. Although that doesn't seem likely in the immediate future, there is always hope and faith in things unseen and we can at least believe that peaceful times will someday take hold. The picture is of children crying at the funeral of 4 of their playmates as their entire family was killed in the current conflict. We hope this song touches a chord in someone somewhere and they can try to make that move towards that peace that is so elusive. Here are the lyrics: I weep for the children who’s lives are filled with confusion and pain while they watch their moms and dads killing others, instead of love from their parents now they’re orphans that’s just insane. When will you see it’s not worth it? To kill for your cause when the price is so high? if each side would just stop and say “no more” You would all live in peace and the children would no longer cry And I weep for the children my tears fall like rain if each side would just stop and say “no more” no more fighting, no more killing, no more pain. I weep for the parents whose lives are filled with hatred and pain as their children die from closed minds like theirs and others instead of loving their kids now their child-less and that’s just insane. When will you see it’s not worth it? To kill for your cause when the price is so high? if each side would just stop and just say “no more” You would all live in peace and the children would no longer cry And I weep for the children my tears fall like rain if each side would just stop and say “no more” no more fighting, no more killing, no more pain I weep for the families their anguish is so hard to see I pray that their leaders would just stop, and embrace love, and choose lasting peace. When will you see it’s not worth it? To kill for your cause when the price is so high? if each side would just stop and say “no more” You would all live in peace and the children would no longer cry And I weep for the children their pain is so hard to see if each side would just stop and say “no more” No more fighting, and dying, just lasting peace

This track is actually the piano part of a song I did with lyrics posted in my tracks: Our Love Can Shine Again My Dear. I love this piano part which stands alone as a nice track itself, so I thought I'd post it by itself. If you go to "Our Love Will Shine Again" and I apologize up front for the lousy singing voice on that track, at least you'll see where this track ended up in in that song...

It doesn't weight much, but can make all the difference in your life..this song just felt joyful as it unfolded and hope it brings you joy too....

He sat for a long time on the red rocks gazing over the limitless blue horizon. The distant crashing of the surf floated past his senses like a warm mist and filled him with the sadness of lost days he now could not fully recall. The pungent and salty air was infused with the lonely scattered cries of the gulls as they swooped and cavorted in the dimming evening sky. Their annoying cries were becoming transparent and harmless as the he sank deeper into his thoughts, deeper into his solitude. The glowing and burnished sun's disk was half consumed by the darkening waters and it painted the cotton ball clouds pink and violet and red as they escorted the star to it's next day's duty on the other side of the world. The fading light would have been overwhelmingly sad but the old man suddenly remembered the song that he had been struggling to play in his mind. He sat more straight, the slump becoming less, his face brightened slowly, then with increasing warmth against the cold night air as the music filled his memories and lifted his feelings of loneliness.. With this recaptured melody now firmly escorting his memories to places more fond, his hours of sitting on the cliff were done, and he slowly and stiffly rose to his feet. The dusk was heavy now with gloom, and yet the shift in his perception was one of hope and wanting to continue. That song, that melody, the wonderful times that he now was remembering seemed to make the shift in his mood complete. The old man quietly pulled the note from his vest pocket, and read it once more as if to have it pass inspection of anyone who would finally locate his broken body from the cliffs below. A wan, soft smile folded across his heavily wrinkled face and he chuckled quietly to anyone who might have heard. "Not tonight, I think" were his softly spoken words. They fell quietly from his lips as if they were meant to last through the morning. "Not tonight". The old man folded the paper carefully, and placed it back into his pocket. He surveyed the darkness, the faded colors now gone, and turned and strode with a bit more care in his step as he gently hummed the lost melody that had caused him to pause, and allow more time to be observed. He remembered the music, the memories and what wonderful things had happened during that magical time in his life so many years ago. So tonight, this night, the music carried the old man back away from the end, and back to the journey of life. Certainly, there were more songs and melody's he would enjoy. As the old man strode into the night, he was now singing fully the song he finally remembered and it's notes floated back to the night as if to say good-bye for now. More living to do with more music to follow....

This track had a sort of light and airy feeling, this just was a random improv that seemed to grow on me, so I thought I'd share it. Hope you enjoy it...

Well, sometimes the creative juices just spit out what it spits out, and I kinda' liked this and didn't know what to name it so the name as it exists sort of fits! Hope you enjoy it!

I don't waste creative time, whenever it is. This one has some dissonant explorations - not huge, but just enough to make it interesting...hope you enjoy it...

If you like this one, play my "River" here in SC. This is an extension of that feeling in running water . Hope it pleases....

This one explores the high registers and low registers in a mix that stumbled out in about 15 minutes. Some small clean-up and this track was born...hope it touches you...

Someshat poignant, somwhat uplifting, just like being Lost in Thought...

Hi all, this track is another improvisation that felt so calm, so relaxing and peaceful, it just seemed to be like that great feeling when you are Safe at Home....hope you enjoy the mixing of chords and the changes of pace - I really enjoyed this as it "built itself"...

This improvisation flowed so easily, yet the overall feeling to me was somewhat melancholy and removed. The name also just offered itself to me again and again, so in that regard, I was not Lost.....hope you enjoy it..

Improvised and the name just seemed to fit, although I have no idea why.....

An improvisation with some "clean up" editing that had wonderful energy as it came into creation....hope you enjoy it...listen to "Moving Quickly" if you like this one...

It is free to everyone, so offer it everyday. This song "felt" like kindness when I wrote it...enjoy.

It felt like birds flying.....hope you like this track...

Here is a an improvisation with a light jazz feel, and some chromatic flurries, hence the name....