Artists, be honest:

somehow missed that great post completely Francisco. I difinitely got influenced by the Felt Sound Trend. That wasn't something I would call my own for sure and I didn't even like it at the beginning. It changed completely and I'm happy I went that way.. I love the right felt sound and it reflects so much tiny dynamics in the pianissimo. But I got influenced by its popularity for sure as well. About the writing: This is 100% me, I create and compose the music I love to play and listen to. Of course we all got influenced by all the music we listened in all our lives, but I'm convinced by my originality. In some elements like the tempo, I feel like adapting a bit, to go the really slow/space way, but that's also something that needed to be learned how beautiful simplicity works on the listener's perspective. It's really hard to resist and not to fell apart by the commercial devil. That will be a life-time challenge.

Great post Francisco. When I put together my album over the last year or two I was only compiling pieces that I generally thought would fit a relaxing vibe because that's what I like. When I released the album and started pitching my music I was rejected quite a bit because I hadn't used a felt piano. Also, my music was always a bit more intense compared to a proper chilled out felt piano recording. Still relaxing but I think I prefer to build and raise my levels of intensity and die back away at the end.

This completely changed the singles I started to release off the album and "You'll Never Know" was accepted by so many more curators as it is generally stays in more condensed dynamic range. I started to then debate what sort of music to start composing last summer and had a bit of a crisis of conscience over what I was producing to the point that I delayed the album to replace tracks with other more stripped back pieces. However, I realised quite quickly that I wasn't really enjoying myself anymore.

I've composed for a long while now but never shared my music properly. So when starting this journey I found everything quite daunting but I've absolutely loved it. I try to treat this as a hobby which hopefully builds over time but at the heart of it I really just wanted to put my music out their and if anyone else liked it then fantastic. Almost as a imprint to leave behind for my family and friends if people wanted to find out about me in the distant future. Midlife crisis moment!

I know that I probably will never make a penny from putting my music out there but if it resonated with someone across the world then that makes me happy. I listen to a lot of felt piano especially when I'm working (or right now whilst I type!) but I don't think I'll record using felt piano. I don't think that the music I create suits playing with it. Again, nothing against felt piano, it's beautifully therapeutic and I have have it on a lot. I've always just liked creating music which builds to a climax.

I decided to stick to being true to myself and put out the album as it was. I'd rather share as much as I can and stop worrying so much. More emphasis on productivity and freedom and if one sticks then fantastic. If not, then at least it's out there for that one someone who may love it.

Definitely stay true to yourself Francisco. I have 3 piano playlists, one is for tender felt piano, one is with with strings and is more open and climatic and one which I call classical piano jam which has more intense pieces. For the record, my favourite piece of yours is "The Emerging Light" as I really love the build up to the climatic end.

The main thing is to enjoy what you do and keep making great music everyone.

Have a great day all

Hi Francisco,

First of all, thanks for your honesty. I think you are not the only one who struggles with this kind of moments of doubts and with the balance between authenticity and 'trend-centered' composing.

I will tell you how it works for me:

First of all: my style developed itself in a sort of natural way. Of course, I had classic piano lessons at a young age and also played a lot of classical piano when I studied at the Conservatory. After that however, I played keyboards/synths in a band for years and developed skills in recording and arranging. At that time, I didn't even have a real piano (for over 30 years) and I rarely played classical stuff. Four years ago however, my girlfriend suggested that I should buy a piano. Best suggestion ever: I did and my first compositions were born in a few weeks. I was a bit confused myself: I began playing and original music came out as if it had always been there.

At that time I literally never listened to pianomusic or classical music in general. And to tell you the truth: I still don't, except for classical now and then. I mostly listen to rock/pop or indie electronic. The only occasion when I listen to pianomusic is when someone here releases something or when someone submits a piece for my playlist, which I honestly mainly have to 'help' the Spotify-algorithm... (But I truly listen to everyone's releases over here and to playlist-submissions with attention, love and respect. It's just that I prefer listening to other genres.)

About the 'felt' sound: Of course I notice the felt-trend in the tracks I do hear. But to be honest: I feel it is often overdone. It often irritates me a bit to be honest. What I do like is a warm, soft sound, but too much felt, noises and so on is just not always my cup of tea. Only if it really-really serves the composition.

So I don't care much for trends. And yes, I realize that it could be commercially smarter to do care about trends. But I choose to use the sound and style that reflects my personal preference.

Apart from 'felt or no felt' I must say that I sometimes wonder: how original am I really? The more I listen to other pianomusic, follow other piano composers on social media, etc., the more often I wonder: does really everyone in the whole world has to make pianomusic? A few years ago I thought I was almost the only one :-)

Thanks for your post, interesting topic!

Off-topic: One of your favorite composers, Joep Beving, is from a place called Doetinchem, in The Netherlands. Coincidentally the place where I live since last year :-)

Great question! I understand the struggle. I think there is a distinction between active and passive listening and editorials favor passive (background) listening with felt piano music that consists of soft, short, major key tracks with a melody. And that's logical because there is a big market of listeners that put on a Spotify playlist for background listening and that music suits that very well. So that is "where the money is". To give my opinion bluntly: that music also becomes boring quickly because it sounds much alike. And yes I have written tracks like that but I could not only write that.

I will release more than a few faster grand piano tracks this year because that is the music I love the most: it will probably not get much playlist support but I do think there is an active audience waiting for that kind of music, and those listeners are the ones that will come to see you perform, if performing is an ambition you have (with me it is).

I hope you will keep true to your style Francisco, my favorite track from you remains Motion because of the sound, flow and atmosphere it creates.

As of me, i do enjoy felt piano music. One of my favorite composers is Joep Beving and that's actually how i was introduced to felt piano. But it's not what resonates the most with me. I remember when i first started releasing my original music in May 2020, after 2-3 singles i started to feel an identity crisis. I noticed how popular felt piano music was (and still is) and i didn't know if i should continue to make the music that resonated the most with me or maybe transition to felt piano.

This had a huge negative impact on my creativity. I had no inspiration anymore, and whenever i would come up with new ideas, i would stop myself after a while and think: "This doesn't feel right". I just didn't feel like i was being authentic and honest with myself.

So for months there was a constant battle in my head like i had to pick one side: felt vs not felt... and i couldn't decide. I even had to STOP listening to piano music for a few weeks because i was being too distracted with what's popular and what everyone else was doing. I forgot who i was and who i wanted to be.

Now i'm in a much better place mentally and i accept who i am. I do have some felt piano pieces that i plan on releasing at some point, but i'm not letting the outside world have an influence on the kind of music i want to make/release. Of course i have some days where i start having second thoughts again and i have to remind myself all of this and pull myself out of my head.

So yeah, i really wanted to make this post for a while. Looking forward to know what you all think about this! Obviously your answers will depend on a few things. for example, If you just want to make it to editorials to earn streaming money and nothing else, that's totally fine and OF COURSE you will/should go with whatever works for editorials. But if you want to make a career as an artist, make a fan base, concerts, travel, etc... I believe it's really important to be honest with ourselves and be authentic, even if it's not what's popular and it means that it could take longer or even be more difficult. That's how i feel about it. Who knows, maybe you're lucky and felt piano is what truly resonates with you as an artist, it just happens to be what's the most popular!

Anyway, thanks for reading!