Happy Friday the 13th!
So if you noticed from my last post about re-arranging songs for two-man performance, it kinda got me thinking. A lot. In fact, it may have pulled me out of a serious slump I’ve been in lately.
I started listening to a lot of the old Dresden Dolls songs that weren’t just Amanda and Brian, they were piano and drums. No bass, no synths, just piano and drums. It occurred to me that instead of adding bigger instruments that I can’t actually play, maybe I should focus on better piano arrangements instead.
Take a listen to the first sample of this song and then contrast it with this version and let me know what you think. There are two major differences:
- I’m only using instruments I can actually use onstage, namely piano and a very basic synthesizer.
- This version is strictly a two-man arrangement (except the vocals)… meaning both the piano and synth part were played in the same single take.
Personally, I think this direction is MUCH more genuine and sounds a lot cooler. The piano parts may be harder to play, but I didn’t take 20 years of piano lessons so I could give the hard parts to the guitarists.
