BloomingLate

So I've been away from the site for a while (see this post) and now I'm here to share a short piece I recently managed to finish to satisfaction.
It is called Theme from a Dream and features the piano, cello, viola and two flutes for a brief but beautiful run through a theme that I came up with after waking up from a dream a long time ago.
Many, many years ago I had this dream with a very moving, adventure game-esque quality to it. Think Zelda. When I woke up from it I was sad that the story was over. As  I tried to re-play the dream and add to the story in my head I came up with this theme that has stuck with me ever since. I am thrilled to have finally put it to music after maybe two decades!
A second part is still in the making. That'll be more epic, movie-soundtrack like in 6/8 time.
Find the finished version here: https://metapop.com/blooming-late/tracks/theme-from-a-dream-part-i/269406
I've also used it as background music in this recent video, featuring my latest Fall/Autumn pictures. The video is dedicated to the memory of my late grandfather, who died last month after a long battle against cancer. Unfortunately I was not able to show him the pictures before his death...
Enjoy the music and the pictures!
--René
 

Writing in Dorian is a completely valid thing to do and nothing to be afraid off. Great job on figuring these things out and jumping into advanced music theory! Definitely don't overthink it too much, if the Dorian scale fits the whole tune and the tonal center is B Dorian then that's probably just what it is.
 
To get a bit into dominant tonic resolutions in Dorian: 
In modal music, such as Dorian, cadences have different functions. If we for example take your B dorian tune, the different degrees look like this:
Im7 B-D-F#-A
IIm7 C#-E-G#-B
IIImaj7 D-F#-A-C#
IVDom7 E-G#-B-D
Vm7 F#-A-C#-E
VIhalfdim7 G#-B-D-F#
VIImaj7 A-C#-E-G#
 
Which makes the V, which normally has a dominant sound in Western tonal music, as you've correctly observed indeed minor. You don't have to go to the I with a dominant chord, like the IV though, if you don't want to. You can approach it in minor from the V or from anywhere else you want. Something I personally really like is approaching it from the IIm7, since that's a uniquely Dorian sound. In the end, in modal music it's more about staying in the tonal center of B Dorian rather than having sub dominants and dominant structures. So the worst thing you can do in a tune that's in B Dorian is take a IV-V-I to A major for example, because you then lose the Dorian sound, despite keeping the same amount of sharps and flats. It's of course still something you can do though, musically speaking, if that's something that you want to do. But for writing Dorian it's a no-go. Play around with these degrees and see how they relate to the I tonic, modes are really interesting and bring many beautiful chordal structures that you lose by thinking too much in old fashioned neo-classical music theory. 

I'd like to soften that wave of NO's a bit.  I genuinely like this.  It does have plenty of personalization, IMO, and there are some pretty rich synths in there.  I don't think it's as solid or an obvious a NO as my fellow judges have implied.
I do agree that the fact that the leads are the simplest, most vanilla synths of all of them is the big thing holding this back.  The drums could be stronger, some of the other synths could be varied up a bit more, but I think more transformation/variation on those leads would get you most if not all of the way there.
There's lots of good advice above, so I hope you take it and we see a revision back here soon.
NO (resubmit)

Right off the bat, the backing synths were very static-sounding. Everyone's given extensive feedback on how vanilla these sounds are, so I'll leave it there.
Brief issue, but the drum fill from :25-:27 sounded very robotic and fake; I would have went with a different, non-faux-organic sound that didn't expose your samples.
At :41, I would have done something different with the textures, because just changing the leads yet keeping the beat and backing so repetitive made this feel dynamically flat. Then at 1:44 with another iteration of the verse, the core backing beats just drone on ("BOOM...TSS...BOOM...TSS"). Just jump around to any point in the song and the energy level is basically the same no matter if the beats are there or not.
The choruses at 1:09 and 2:19 had more personalization, and were the highlight of the arrangement for me. However, the textures feel very empty/hollow despite everything going on.
Small thing, but I'm not sure what SFX that was from 2:46-2:54, but it sounded so muffled that it just added indistinct noise and clutter. The verses could have been more interpretive. The production also wasn't sophisticated either.
Keep at it though, we've all gotta start somewhere, and this is a more promising start than most.
NO

It's great to hear that you feel inspired by submitting here!  Alas, while the outcome is now a foregone conclusion, I hope you don't feel discouraged from a potential resub or sending new music our way - because there is shining motivation from your work method here.
While you do have a lot of the source's writing, there are enough modifications to make it your own.  The intro's chord sequence got cut in half and then doubled, rather than going for the full 16-measure stretch.  All counter-melodies are gone when bringing in the B section over two different synths.  The bass pattern for the C section at 1:09 feels jumpier than the original; the melody personalization at 1:23 is an excellent twist on the familiar piano intro; then you've got 2:19 referencing fragments of the C section with the melody personalization.  It's a conservative structure, as you allowed for a run-through of the theme, a return to the C section, and an ease-out ending - but there is enough to make it work on a writing level.
However, I do have more problems with the production side.  Credit where credit is due, first - a good number of your synths have some nice built-in effects, like arpeggiators, sustains, and the occasional pitch bend.  You've made a start with picking out those timbres, but a lot of them would keep that same texture and momentum for most of the track.  Have you thought of adding some modulation or setting parameters from inside FLEX as envelopes to change the synth tones on the fly?  Both approaches could get used to significant effect and throw in some more excitement into the mix.
And then we have the layering aspect as well.  Wes already touched upon how you've hardly doubled up any of the synths and especially brought up how the chime at 1:14 sounds so devoid of tone on the higher notes - so feel free to experiment with your gear and see how different instances sound together.  I'd also suggest doing the same thing with your drums, as they feel flat and exposed during the breakdowns (1:09 being a glaring example).  Some more electronic sounding tones or even some claps could add more power on the high end for your snares.  You can also achieve a similar idea on the hi-hats - but if you feel it won't quite work, a simple re-EQ can work to make them sound less buried in the mid-range.
Again, hang in there!  You've made a good start on your own with the core personalization and sound design.  For me, it boils down to me wanting to hear a production/presentation overhaul, particularly with how you shape your synths over time and wanting to see more texture on your percussion.  Whatever you decide to do going forward, I hope you've learned some new tricks for that next big step.  Keep at it, René.

NO

Double-rubber-stamping.  I like the arrangement and the trance style, plenty of personalization, but the vanilla-sounding synths and underwhelming mixing are tanking this.  In 2021 the production bar is higher than this.  It's an awesome start but needs modernization.  I'd love to hear this again using much more interesting sound design.
NO

rubber stamping this. the arrangement is pretty minimal (it's there, but i agree there's less personalization than i'd want on a track that's as remixed as this one is), the synths are not terrible but definitely need some work so they're not so "FL preset" sounding, there's some variation of drum patterns but few fills or transition sweeps so it feels very similar, and some of the synths (for example 1:41) sound almost sloppy because their sustain is just a touch too long and it doesn't cut itself.
i want to call out the lack of verb specifically. this style is usually super wet, with tons of reverb filling in the backend of every synth sound. this felt very thin at first and i couldn't understand why until i realized there's essentially no verb here, just synth sustain and sample sustain. some significant attention with reverb will help this a lot.
 
 
NO
 

This is a nice, clean arrangement of Fear Factory, and I think there was plenty of personalization with the arrangement aspect of this. The production is fairly clean, as well - on paper this sounds like something that could be posted.
However, the instrumentation sounds very... stock, and there doesn't seem to be any stylistic reason to have such simple instruments used throughout. While there are plenty of performative flourishes used throughout (pitch bends, gating, etc.) there doesn't seem to be any attempt at making the instruments take up the space optimally (using tools like delay, chorus, unisons, etc.) or have sound designs beyond a little attack/delay/sustain/release tinkering with basic square/saw waves, so the arrangement sounds dry, thin and incomplete. The drums also are prone to droning; while the pattern changes from time to time (which is cool), there's no effort to use fills to break up the phrases and sections. It compounds the issue with the vanilla textures, as it does nothing but set the beat, leaving the listener to focus on the 'nilla aspects of the instruments.
I disagree that the arrangement doesn't have enough to make it stand out - the licks happening at 2:42 are pretty cool, for example - but you need to have instruments that better stand out and make the arrangement your own. It's not to say I dislike this arrangement - on the contrary, I think while conservative it does enough to make itself stand out with clean production to boot, so overall I still enjoyed my time with it - it just needs to have some more work invested in the sound design and the drums for it to be pushed from "okay" to "pretty damn good". Looking forward to seeing what you'll have for us!
NO

Thank you for the submission René! Happy to hear that our community has inspired you in some way
When listening to your submission, I am certainly hearing some hints of personalization to make the melody your own. However, this is a very conservative mix that sticks closely to the original material, in a style that's been done by more than a few artists before. I certainly don't want to imply that we can't have multiple remixes in similar styles of the same source - each submission can stand on its own merits, to be sure. However, Fear Factory has been done in trance style many times already, so when comparing side-by-side with these other tracks, I am hearing a much lower level of interpretation and advancement beyond the source material in this submission. 
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR03732
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR03664
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01009
I would encourage you to take a listen to some of these arrangements that were posted and listen to some of the subtle ways that the Fear Factory source was adapted to get an idea for where the bar would be on this particular track. You were on the right track with the gated bass and changes to the lead melody around the 1:20 mark, or the break around 2:20, but as a whole, this feels like it's built too closely to the structure and sound design of the original Fear Factory song. 
A few other production notes - I found that all of your monosynth leads were very dry and subdued, and not all that well suited for carrying a melody with much energy. Some reverb, distortion, or even layering of multiple synths together would help those stand out a lot more, in my opinion! I would also recommend watching the tone of your synths as you start to get into higher octaves - the synth bell at 1:14, for example, loses all of its texture by the time you've reached the top of your ascending riff, so either using a different patch or pitching that line down an octave would allow you to retain more of the textural quality of your synth patch and reduce any unintentionally-shrill frequencies.
Don't lose heart - you've got strong fundamentals here and a good place to work forward from! I appreciate the enthusiasm and inspiration, but unfortunately there's not enough interpretation going on with the arrangement to clear our bar. Best of luck in the future!
NO

Hey guys,
some of you may be interested in knowing that Native Instruments (Kontakt, Komplete etc.) is having their annual Summer of Sound discount event. Now is a good time to get sweet virtual instruments for a low price. I've been saving up money for just a time like this and I'm super excited that they're offering the hardware bundles again. I got the A61 keyboard with the Kontakt 13 library (which is pretty massive and has just about everything you need, I imagine.)
I was a little confused about the difference between updates, upgrades and the need for base products / software but I just received my keyboard and serials and everything seems to be in working order (meaning everything is unlocked so I have full access to all instruments.)
Looking forward to creating music with this beast (big download though!)
Here's the link for those interested: Summer of Sound discount at Native Instruments
NB: I'm not affiliated with Native Instruments nor do I get paid for advertising. I'm just letting you guys know, because I often see people expressing their wishes to get a big library like Komplete.

I have a few positive updates to share. Since I made this thread, I might as well share them here.
My wife and I have been married for 9 years this week! Not quite a milestone yet, but still worthy enough to eat cake... After my last visit to a doctor/specialist I was told that there wasn't anything left for them to do in terms of trying to find a physical cause for my chronic fatigue. I came prepared with a bunch of information on how to test for and help with ME/CVS, but the specialist shot down my whole approach to my problem and told me he didn't have time to read all that. I felt terribly misunderstood and the guy was pretty blunt about it, but the positive thing that came out of it was the feeling that I could finally let go of the search. I guess you might say I have finally come to accept my disabilities. This in itself has brought a great deal of peace. While the above was going on, I was reading a great book that deals with the topic of trusting God in the midst of suffering. That book has helped me immensely by reminding me of Gods sovereignty over all things (including suffering), His love and His wisdom. I've grown in trust in Him and I'm accepting the fact that my suffering has a place in His plan. I've come to rely more on God for strength and wisdom while living with daily pain and fatigue. When I went to prayer hour at church last Wednesday, I looked at the prayer wall (where people put their prayers on cards) and found one that had my name on it. It turned out to be an old prayer from my wife for me. In it she asked for God to either heal me, or help me to deal and live with my condition and to trust Him more. At that moment I realized God had done the latter. So thank God for that! (The reality is more awesome and significant than these simple words express!) All in all, and despite the craziness that is going on around us, I can honestly say that I am happy (as in "Blessed are the...") I haven't felt like that in ages. I'm more at peace, continually aware of Gods presence and just thrilled about the little things, like when I got to see a Common Kingfisher (a bird that is not quite so common where I live) or when I got to take pictures of my favorite butterflies And all of that, right around the building where I live. So, many things to be thankful for!
EDIT: pictures!
The latter two are actually exotic butterflies, not from my neighborhood. I took those at some special butterfly place, elsewhere in my province. The third one is actually really huge in reality!

Hello
I'm sharing my latest piano piece(s) with you. From the SoundCloud description:
  I may also release another version with solo violin added to it in the near future.

Hey I'm having a similar situation with a new remix I posted. Upon further investigation it appears that seemingly random posts are targeted (presumably by some bot) and get a massively inflated view count that is not reflected by the number of plays on mp3 / video. I PM-ed the moderator and site administrator to inquire about it.
As for your arrangement: I'm not too familiar with the source material but it is definitely worth the time to listen to it and I found the whole thing to be very enjoyable from beginning to end. I'm not using headphones right now so I can't tell if you're using real instruments or samples, but I thought it sounded realistic and convincing (even without them!), so good job on that . Looking forward to your future works!

:D Yes! Congratulations on getting it this far! Now I will forget about it, only to be pleasantly surprised again when the final announcement lands in my mailbox :D

Hey, sounds like you're at the start of an interesting process. I hope you'll find what you seek.
Two things came to mind when I read your post:
1. I heard a sermon once where the speaker talked about this paradox. He suggested that when we look for happiness, we won't find it. But when we're not looking for it, happiness tends to come alongside. I thought that was interesting.
2. I also remember a TED talk in which the speaker talked about how people who turn their hobby into their work - that is to say: their job is to do what they like to do the most - are the most likely people to burn out. His suggested remedy was to go find a need in the community and to do something to meet that need. A side effect of that may well be that feeling of happiness and finding meaning.
Maybe these thoughts can benefit you on your quest. :)
Personally, I'm starting to see that the most important and meaningful things in life involve serving/helping other people. Most of my hobbies and interests are fairly self-oriented, so I'm trying to find things that help people other than myself. I'm doing some translation work on a voluntary basis and found that this is really appreciated by others. As a bonus effect I feel more useful and happy, knowing that what I'm doing actually has some impact somewhere (before, I always felt like I was disconnected from the world around me and that what I did, either good or bad, had no effect on my surroundings whatsoever).

Hey, sounds like you're at the start of an interesting process. I hope you'll find what you seek.
Two things came to mind when I read your post:
1. I heard a sermon once where the speaker talked about this paradox. He suggested that when we look for happiness, we won't find it. But when we're not looking for it, happiness tends to come alongside. I thought that was interesting.
2. I also remember a TED talk in which the speaker talked about how people who turn their hobby into their work - that is to say: their job is to do what they like to do the most - are the most likely people to burn out. His suggested remedy was to go find a need in the community and to do something to meet that need. A side effect of that may well be that feeling of happiness and finding meaning.
Maybe these thoughts can benefit you on your quest. :)
Personally, I'm starting to see that the most important and meaningful things in life involve serving/helping other people. Most of my hobbies and interests are fairly self-oriented, so I'm trying to find things that help people other than myself. I'm doing some translation work on a voluntary basis and found that this is really appreciated by others. As a bonus effect I feel more useful and happy, knowing that what I'm doing actually has some impact somewhere (before, I always felt like I was disconnected from the world around me and that what I did, either good or bad, had no effect on my surroundings whatsoever).

Sorry for not replying to everyone individually. I guess I didn't expect so many responses. I easily get overwhelmed.
For those suffering depressions or other mental problems: I hope you still have access to professional help, even if it has to be via phone or something. This is not a good time to be left to your own devices.
Also: this may be a good time for people to think about life, death and your relationship with God. We recently celebrated Jesus' resurrection in church ("Easter"). As a believer, I am not surprised or shocked by the whole Corona event (that's not to say I don't think its terrible that so many people got sick and died, not to mention the effects on the economy). Whatever happens, I know God is in control and eventually, all sin, sickness and death will be conquered when Jesus returns from heaven. In the mean time, the crisis is taking away securities that are not really securities. So our trust in God needs to be all the stronger. Seek Him while you still can.

I'm sure you're all aware of the global situation regarding the Corona-virus outbreak. Most of us have been stuck at home due to measures to prevent further contamination. I first heard of these measures halfway through March when I was in piano class (I'm in the Netherlands by the way). That was also the last time I've been in piano class :P
Because of my chronic condition and since the burn-out in 2016 I'm used to being at home most of the time. In a sense, the Corona-measures make little difference for me life. That said, it did take away a couple of things that I'm starting to miss: church, visits to my grandparents and piano lessons (which I still get, but through the phone! Its not the same...) All in all I'm managing alright. My wife and I can still do walks around the neighborhood and there is always plenty to do around the house.
I have to say I haven't been working on any personal music projects or remixes. The last time I worked on something was months ago and I got frustrated and now I'm afraid to go back to it. I keep hitting obstacles with my productions and its just driving me nuts. I did spend some time learning music theory (specifically harmony) and I watched some videos on how to listen to Classical Music. That lead me to purchase the book Classical Music for Dummies, which is somewhat helpful to get me started. By some stroke of coincidence I found a cheap CD of Dvorak's New World Symphony shortly after having watched a analysis video and listening to a performance of it online. Nice :D I really like it.
I may have a new piano piece coming up, which will hopefully motivate me to get back in the saddle. Some companies have been generously handing out free Virtual Instruments during the crisis and I want to give those a try too.
What have you been up to these days? How are you handling the Corona-measures? Has the time home been good for your creative exploits?
 

I'm sure you're all aware of the global situation regarding the Corona-virus outbreak. Most of us have been stuck at home due to measures to prevent further contamination. I first heard of these measures halfway through March when I was in piano class (I'm in the Netherlands by the way). That was also the last time I've been in piano class :P
Because of my chronic condition and since the burn-out in 2016 I'm used to being at home most of the time. In a sense, the Corona-measures make little difference for me life. That said, it did take away a couple of things that I'm starting to miss: church, visits to my grandparents and piano lessons (which I still get, but through the phone! Its not the same...) All in all I'm managing alright. My wife and I can still do walks around the neighborhood and there is always plenty to do around the house.
I have to say I haven't been working on any personal music projects or remixes. The last time I worked on something was months ago and I got frustrated and now I'm afraid to go back to it. I keep hitting obstacles with my productions and its just driving me nuts. I did spend some time learning music theory (specifically harmony) and I watched some videos on how to listen to Classical Music. That lead me to purchase the book Classical Music for Dummies, which is somewhat helpful to get me started. By some stroke of coincidence I found a cheap CD of Dvorak's New World Symphony shortly after having watched a analysis video and listening to a performance of it online. Nice :D I really like it.
I may have a new piano piece coming up, which will hopefully motivate me to get back in the saddle. Some companies have been generously handing out free Virtual Instruments during the crisis and I want to give those a try too.
What have you been up to these days? How are you handling the Corona-measures? Has the time home been good for your creative exploits?
 

I was just thinking FF:CC had a great soundtrack and couldn't remember any remixes on here. Nice to see your submission!
I really enjoyed your take on this theme. Very playful and just beautiful. Some parts do feel a bit hammer-y (f.e. 3:10 onwards), but overall I found it enjoyable enough.
So...good job!

Hello
I'd like to share a piece I first created in 2016 and just finished polishing up. I vaguely recall posting the first MIDI version but couldn't find the post, so I'm making a new one. This time I'm using recorded piano bits so you no longer have to suffer through MIDI hammering!
Here's part of the description from the Sound Cloud page:
I envisioned this piece to go with a short story involving a young woman and her soldier boyfriend.
Part 1: A train arrives at a train station where the young lady is waiting. She's hoping to find her boyfriend on the train, seeing how rumor has it that he was wounded and is on his way to another station.
Part 2-3: The crowd is making it difficult for the woman to find the man, but finally their eyes meet and a hasty conversation takes place. There is exchanging of gifts, but the man can hardly utter a word to his chatty girl. The train is only there for a brief moment before it starts moving again. She has to step aside to make room for new passengers, abruptly ending the conversation.
As the train leaves off, she chases it down the platform as best she can, until it is out of reach and out of sight.
Part 4: Saddened, she holds onto a letter that her boyfriend managed to give her before departure. Upon reading it she learns that he will soon return home to her. His time to serve is over. Then they can start planning their future together at last.
https://soundcloud.com/user-227517766/04-arrivaldeparture-rene-mulder
I recently invested in a new Strings library but for the life of me I cannot get it to NOT sound lame (yet). For this piece I resorted back to the initial free sample thing I used in 2016 which actually captures the mood I'm looking for perfectly.
What do you think? Can you see the story unfolding as you're listening?

This remix has been a work in progress for a long time. I wanted to mash together a number of favorite tracks from the Donkey Kong Country and Land series of games. I had a lot of trouble getting things to work well together and ended up pretty much abandoning the project (very disappointed). I decided to swap out a few instruments for the new FLEX synth in FL Studio and managed to at least finish the thing.
It is definitely not at the quality level where I would have liked it but I don't want to really continue working on it either. I'm posting it anyway. I still find it personally enjoyable
 
PS: ever since I started sharing tracks on OCR I've been having this nagging voice in my head that keeps saying "They're sure to point out the lack of humanization". This is one of the toughest things to get right for me and I don't need the added pressure from voices inside or outside my head Now, no one is actually putting that pressure on me; its just my insecurity. I'm trying to let it go, as well as weird ideas of supposed expectations people have of me.
 

Reverb - Big halls don't work for all tracks, so yeah, you might want to use a smaller size. The parameter might claim it's 40m, but don't believe it. Use your ears, adjust to taste. And you don't have to have a long reverb. Length can be fairly short. The dry/wet ratio lets you adjust how clear a track is, so less wet means more foreground-y. You can filter and eq the reverb too, and the reverb plugin might have some options for that, like low ratio or something. At least filter out the lows. If you can set early reflections separate from reverb, you can give the reflections of your leads a longer pre-delay, so their attacks are clear, while the attacks of background instruments blends into the wet signal.
Of course, you can do a single reverb bus for the whole thing, or multiple (e.g. foreground, background, distant), or give each track its own reverb. Or some combination. Different methods give you different options, like full control over a reverb bus with eq and side-chaining, for example. Reverb levels per track matters, more reverb means more background-y sound. But track level is ultimately determines foreground-y-ness, reverb is an addition/enhancement to that. As is panning and eq.
Panning - Our ears easily tell where high frequencies come from, not so for low frequencies. Center is usually best. Usually. A stage-like plan can work, depending on the music, but I find the better way of thinking is to spread out frequencies, to spread instruments depending on their roles. Kick, bass and snare middle. The rest of the drumkit mimics what a drummer hears (so stage, but mirrored) with the amount of panning adjusted to taste. With the hihat panned left, other high-frequency percussion can go right, eg shaker. If a guitar goes left, another guitar (or any instrument occupying roughly the same frequency range at the same time) can go right. For this track, I wouldn't hardpan anything, I'd go for a kind of jazz club thing, with some instruments panned a bit, others not at all.
There are different schools of thought when it comes to panning. I can think of a few:
-No panning (stereo is just for stereo-recorded tracks and for effects)
-Listener-like panning, with variations:
  -Drums from drummer or listener POV
  -Drumkit and bass centered, or placed according to band
-Center and hardpan only
-Frequency balancing (works well for my tracks)

How about:
So what I'm going to do is slap Christian lyrics on the Donkey Kong Country soundtrack and BOOM! Untouchable My church will be praising to the tune of Aquatic Ambience. I'm pretty sure the old Reformers used popular tunes for their hymns as well.
Just kidding...
I'll have to look further into those pre-existing exceptions. I recall reading that new exceptions are not allowed to be made by individual EU countries. Or at least it will involve a long and tedious legal road before changes will happen.
I assume any copyright cases are handled on the basis of the laws of the land in which the violation takes place? Say OCR was to host a mix both in the EU and in the US and an angry copyright holder comes after you. The US side would not fall under the Article 17 that you mentioned. But the EU side would? And going by the Fair Use scheme, I guess Nintendo USA would have to phone up Nintendo Europe to come after me?
One thing that is reassuring is what people have said about the industry generally supporting the remixing efforts. I don't intend to make money off of mixing and am basically in it for the same reason most of you guys are: love for the music of our favorite games and nostalgia. To pay that tribute.
And ideally, an unhappy copyright holder is going to ask you kindly not to distribute your mixes, rather than sue you for all you're worth, without warning.

I would love to have an actual piano, but I live in an apartment building so I'll likely annoy everyone else with my playing (plus, there is little room for one, maybe an upright piano).
CSS Piano is supposed to be good enough for what I'm trying to accomplish, I just need more experience with it and get my actual playing to a better level. I'm afraid that just getting the more professional tools isn't going to be enough :)