I am a big fan of the original and I do like this version.
While I like the expansion you did here I kind of miss the
sound of the live piano. The midi piano sounds maybe
too perfect, as I imagine a more run-down piano
characterised by the melody. You play this very nicely and
it s still a moving piece but I prefered the natural sound of
the real piano and the space it was in even though maybe
the recording could have been cleaner.

I like the idea of introducing the woodwinds playing a
theme familiar from your last couple of pieces. It ties
them together nicely. I think it may be better to start
them off in the background and slowly bring them
forward. Right now they seem to be introduced too much
up front and seem a little distracting at first.

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As usual, Peter, your comments are right on target, and the issues you raise
are things I thought about before posting this. Like you, I also miss the
rundown piano, but thought I would give the digital a try. Maybe I am like a
monkey, attracted to shiny objects?

And I also continue to debate when, where and how to bring in those flutes. I
tried easing them in, but given the 'broken' nature of this piece, thought a
more sudden, jarring approach might work better. I may revise this again,
based on your comments. Thanks for the careful listen.

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this song is very emotional. and i like it. it's a beautiful
piano pieace. thanks for sharing this great pieace Tom!

- Jem

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Thanks Jemimah. Good to see you are back. Hope school is going well.

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This is haunting and beautiful.

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I love the openess/sparseness of this piece.
The way you weave in and out of varying degrees of consonance and dissonace is beautiful. much the way life is, pleasure and pain, beauty and ugliness, love and hate all happening at once. this is lovely. the only thing that bugged me was about 2/3rds the way through there's that thing playing a 1-e- -a 2- rhythm, i like the idea you were going for, but it distracted me a bit. that's the only thing. this is a very moving piece. thanks for posting.

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Thanks Ray, for the kind words. I see that the addition of the flutes is more
controversial than I thought it would be. I guess that's something I need to
reconsider and revise. May have been an idea that just didn't quite work...

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Excellent use of mood, intervals, space, sounds. Would be
a great track at the end of a CD, if you want to leave
people with a feeling of incompleteness and loss, since
this is what it leaves me, in a emotional, affecting way. I
listened several times; the first time the ending seemed
abrupt, out of the blue, and I liked it less. The second
time I experienced the loss and it was unsettling,
compelling. Very well done.

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But I like the jarring flutes. That's probably my favorite part. They sound like mellotron flutes the Beatles might've used. Very cool direction to take this.


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Thanks, Jim. That's one vote for the flutes. As for the New Age
category, it
just seemed like the closest category I could find. When I posted the original
piano version, I put it in Classical. I never know where to put stuff? Thanks
again.

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is a truly beautiful piece of music Tom,
very emotive and beautifully played.
I dont mind the flute, although I agree with Pg that
perhaps a slightly more gentle introduction would be
better.
but its such a minor picky thing in what is a truly lovely
piece.
Slimmie
D/L

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We are all broken, in one way or another. Being broken is
being unique. I'd propose that it is not necessarily
beautiful to be broken, but it is beautiful to accept the
fact that I am broken, and even better to accept the
broken nature of others. The alternative is to whine about
everything, and that is definitely *not* beautiful :-) Oh,
um, yah, back to your song! I didn't go back to find the
original, but this is very poignant, masterfully played and
paced. My only (minor) nit is that the reverb is a little
heavy (to me) in headphones, and tends to create a
lingering muddy high-midrange phase-haze that distracts
from the exquisite melody. Beautifully contemplative,
occasionally dissonant, very personal and human piece.
Like the music of Beethoven, there is a great deal of depth
in this short at-etude (Atwood-etude), and after listening
to it a few times just now, I realize it is begging me to
continue to listen to it, as it grows on me. I just scrolled
down to read other comments just now, hmm, the flutes...
I like them, just as I liked the occasional 2nd on the piano.
I thought they were a little surprising coming from
nowhere near the end, so maybe instead of fading them
in, why not pre-announce them earlier in the piece, just a
short flutter about 1/3 of the way in? Overall, this was a
deeply somber, intimate soulful mood piece. I feel
compelled to politely thank you for sharing something so
touching. DLed, faved, 9-7-9-8!
ttfn,
Drakonis

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I just had to say that your comments are marvelous.

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I really like this...very nice piano tune. It is very evocative..
read your description there ' a broken life' sounds quite
heavy but I guess as the Dylan song says 'everything is
broken'. I will download this one
S

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Lost me with the annoying Sketchy Sax...

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Thanks Swanny. I will put that down as a 'no' vote on the flutes...

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....This is absolutely gorgeous and piercingly poignant.
What a beautiful eloquence this composition has, though
free of a single word.

So well done. Thank you.

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Let's see, a broken instrument, a broken heart, a broken
life. Nahh, none of those sound familiar. Seriously very
moving piece, felt it reaching out to that broken part of
me.

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Yeah what Mysti said... This is a delicate, very beautiful
tune. You can sense the emotion. Well done.

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You certainly have a style that mines the emotions of the
listener, Tom. A wonderful sound that is unique to you. I
always enjoy your music.

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Great song a I really felt the despair so I went outside and killed a fly! Thanks for the emotional piece! Too bad for the fly though?

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Like the ambience of it. Nicely done.

Thanks for sharing.

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I looooove these changes... Dark, melancholy,
shadowed... and just when you think everything is going
to be all right a dissonant chord pops up and says, "Sorry
I'm still broken..."
Loved weird sounds towards the end... accordion...?

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very excellent use of intervals and space between them ...
i understand this plaintive mood completely ... i identify
strongly with it in my life ... very nice! ... flutes are not bad
... just need more legato ... less accented to match
smoothness of piano ... perhaps weave them into song
earlier in subtle background ... so it's not too much shock
when they appear later ...

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A melancholy hope.
Beautiful, broken.



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