Alora Fane

I've uploaded 13 intermediate-level piano pieces I've composed over the years!

I started ∞ a YouTube channel specifically for my music ∞... ∞ five months ago?? ∞ I thought it was one or two months at most! Time's going by too fast...

I've been meaning to add to it for ages, but I know the number of people who'd ever care about this music isn't going to be very high, so it's been tough to find the motivation to prepare the videos. The last one was three months ago! Annoying!

The first piece I added there, Rival Blade - a piano solo I composed late last year - was actually part of a series - or series of series - of piano pieces I've been adding to for years. Though I've technically been playing the piano since I was 16 - almost two decades (ugh, unpleasant fact, that) - I've never really developed my skills beyond an early intermediate/hobbyist level. I'm not interested enough in performance to put the time and effort in. But I'd still like to be able to play some of my stuff, so these pieces have been attempts at composing something within the range of my limited skill level and patience. Relatively easy to play and quick to learn.

I thought I'd try adding the whole lot to that channel, in roughly chronological composition order, starting with the earliest group that I composed between 2012 and 2019. I think I've posted some of them online before, though I can't recall which ones or where (which is why I want a single location for everything!). Feels like a lifetime ago when I composed some of them, though I cleaned up the sheet music (like two or three years ago when I originally meant to add them as a Bandcamp album...) and was pleasantly surprised by the coherent structures and creative ideas in most of them. Not too bad, considering how little music theory I understood back then!

I could play most of them at some point, but never at a level that'd make a recording of my performance better than the computer's. Even if I were skilled enough, I don't have the equipment to record myself, so the sound is digitally generated.

They're generally gentle and have no connection to an experience like a game or similar, so I'm expecting minimal interest, but if you're an amateur pianist yourself then maybe it could be entertaining trying to play them. Some are more accessible than others; I've marked the difficulty with stars (out of five) in the top left corner.

I've tried to classify them into sets based on the general life period I composed them in, and I've got two and a half sets so far; the third is still in progress. Set one has 13 (or 18) pieces, and I want to upload them all - one a day - and update this post when I do. So, the list:

Playable Piano Pieces 1

1. Turret in the Woods

2. The Toymaker

3. Camel Ride

4. Tin Teapot Jig

5. Whistling

6. Unveiling

7. Steps to the Sky

8. The Tense Prince's Swanky Sibling

9. Stroll

10. Clairvoyance

11. Mumbling Mummers

12. Sinistral Twirl

13. Tranquil Iridescence

My music has brought me a lot of personal satisfaction over the years. There are plenty of reasons why minds other than my own wouldn't care for it, but maybe at least one person will!

I know I would have appreciated things like this when I was first learning and hungry for accessible sheet music that wasn't just extreme reductions of video game or pop music.

I'll just be happy to be able to archive it in a single place. Someone a while back seemed to be under the impression that they were doing something I'd disapprove of by having copies of my music on their computer, but I'd actually prefer it if people downloaded and kept copies in case something happens to my many backups!

7 COMMENTS

Mgvitale894~1Y

Lovely music, can't wait to listen to all playlist!

I don't play the piano (actually, I struggle to play the guitar), but I admire people who can both compose and play.

I wonder what software you used to digitally 'record' the music. Sounds clear enough; the tracks themselves could ve used in an ample variety of places (games, or else).

Thanks for letting us enjoy your creations. Hace a nice day!

Tobias 1115~1Y

Thanks for commenting!

I barely play the piano myself and can't play these well enough for it to sound better than the computer. Still fun to stumble my way through them, but I also admire - and envy - people who can perform their own music!

The program I use is called Sibelius, and it's old. Pretty much everyone else who makes music these days uses something called a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), which I should use too but haven't put in the time to learn.

Astreon152~1Y

Why not sell the right to use those music pieces (in commercials, games, etc.) ?

It's one of your forte, and you could even be commissioned.

Maybe you already wrote about it, can't remember. Sorry if that's the case.

Tobias 1115~1Y

It's a combination of not feeling my music is conventional/worthy enough (which is half negative bias and half awareness of my limitations and industry standards), and not knowing how to do that. Probably involves social ~networking~ and such which I'm obviously reluctant to do.

One of the things I wondered about with this channel is whether someone might contact me asking if they could buy the rights to use something I'd uploaded, in which case that could be the start of a journey. More luck of it than just keeping to myself here, at least.

There's fiverr, where people sell things like their composing skills, and I actually wondered whether I could hire someone from there to play these since I can't myself and people do care about performance. But all the accounts I saw were people who clearly lived for music. Profiles with photos of them sitting at grand pianos at the concerts they perform, listing their degrees from fancy music conservatories, etc. Intimidating.

GrayNine35~1Y

Thank you for releasing these, your music is always a pleasure to listen to.

kidupiscean37~1Y

Maybe you can add @Pseudolonewolf to the CHANNELS tab of the Alora Fane Music YouTube account? I see that you’ve done the other way round.

Tobias 1115~1Y

I'm not all that interested in people following my main account, since I see it as less of a channel and more like the account I use to watch videos and to sometimes upload files to share elsewhere.