WIP Wednesday #3 - Piano

Happy new year! I hope your entry into 2026 is going well at least on a personal level and you've got things to buoy your soul against the awful crush of fascism.

I've been learning piano recently!

We've had this piano in our house for years from a previous in habitant of the flat, and we finally got it tuned this year. The piano tuner told us that the more it was played, the better it would keep its tune, so I started doing the "How to Play Piano for Beginners" course by Bill Hilton on Youtube. I've always wanted to have some musical literacy, and I've often felt it was lacking from my life so it's been a real delight to dig into it.

At some point I need to get an in-person teacher who can help me figure out things I just don't pick up from this video course, but until I can afford it I'll just keep messing around by myself. I find it very difficult and satisfying at the same time. There's a lot of puzzles and problem solving, I can get sucked into the process of it. I notice it activates a different set of connections in my head, so when I get unfocused, I can go try a few things from the lesson, work on a piece or whatever, and I come away with more clarity and focus again.

I realized I could make it immediately relevant to other work I'm doing by learning to play some of the music that I'm arranging for The Witches of Wederra Keep. I get these pieces from construction kits - I normally don't use the processed stems but I take the MIDI and change tempo and switch the instruments, recently cutting the treble and bass apart for different instruments or even changing melodies slightly to get a different expression.

I found a tool that could turn MIDI into sheet music, so I printed out one of the motifs I really like, the one I go to for Lorelei. I've been steadily working at it! And so here's a process video of me messing about with that score, with the work-in-progress audio from Episode 12 where it shows up next! I'm thinking about making a cleaner version of this as a marketing thing.

Full caveat: I am not a musician, nor do I have much experience with music! I'm enjoying myself and learning more about the work I'm creating. To be honest, it's helping me understand some of the choices I'm making in the score a little more, which is a very nice feeling.

Below is a very short sample! If you want the whole 1:30 scene, it's below the fold available to subscribers!