On 1 June 2024, Nahre Sol printed a video to her YouTube channel, through which she performs Rick Astley’s By no means Gonna Give You Up in quite a lot of piano types, starting from French Impressionism to Japanese anime. It’s, fairly presumably, essentially the most refined Rickroll in existence.
The video marks the seventh anniversary of Sol’s YouTube channel – now 730,000 subscribers robust – and encapsulates what makes the pianist/composer top-of-the-line music creators on the platform: virtuosity, a way of humour, and a willingness to experiment with genres, types, and, now, expertise.
Earlier this 12 months, the Juilliard Faculty-trained classical musician tried her hand at creating beats with a sampler. “I’ve been fascinated about sampling for some time, however by no means actually devoted the time to study the ins and outs of it.” Sol tells me, “I come from a classical music background, so I tend to be a bit intimidated by expertise. It took some time, since that spark of curiosity, to get to some extent the place I really grabbed a tool [and began experimenting].”
The gadget she selected was Novation’s Circuit Rhythm, a standalone sampler and drum machine that “stood out as a result of it appeared extra on the easier aspect of issues and was very tactile. I’m a pianist, so I actually like [the idea of] one thing the place I might use contact. I turned it right into a mini venture and thought, ‘Let me give myself every week and simply study it’. It become somewhat greater than that.”
The result’s what she calls “a mini-documentary”, through which we see Sol uncover this expertise and make it match into her classically-trained world. “The attention-grabbing factor about studying a brand new gadget is that it has its quirks; there’s a purpose behind why the buttons are [a certain] method, and the way issues are labelled. Since I’m not used to enthusiastic about music in that method, it took me time to actually embrace why [a particular] perform was even there.
As soon as she acquired the hold of it, Sol flew previous the newbie degree and determined to create her personal samples, as a substitute of utilizing ones from a pack. She says, “There’s one thing actually cool about determining how you can make a kick drum sound from, say, a chair that you just sat on.” Or miscellanea from a resort room, as was the case right here. Chopsticks, a glass, a water bottle, even a tissue field, have been all honest recreation.“I began actually liking these sounds as a result of they’re private. That is the place I started to know the attraction of going out of your approach to pattern one thing.
“Additionally, as a result of my music will not be fairly classical, not fairly jazz, or digital, I’ve at all times struggled with [sounds from] pattern packs that I’m simply not used to utilizing as a part of my palette,” Sol continues. “I used to be actually interested in among the higher-pitched percussion sounds [I recorded] and that’s why as quickly as I compiled some, I believed, ‘I can do one thing with these sounds’.”
The piece she lastly created “captures the sensation of being misplaced in a contemplative temper whereas cooking”. Watching her play dwell piano and seamlessly combine the resort room samples into the efficiency utilizing the Circuit Rhythm, makes one surprise why extra classical musicians don’t embrace expertise like this. “I don’t know the reply. The closest I can get is that, typically, as a result of the classical music world is preoccupied with the historical past (and possibly the philosophy) of all this music that was written lots of of years in the past, and it requires a lot brainpower and dedication to refine your approach, there simply isn’t a lot house to roam.”
Classical music can be not massive on frequent updates – both when it comes to devices or approach – resulting in what Sol describes as “a cultural distance” from new expertise. “What comes from that’s this computerized pondering: ‘That’s not for me as a result of that’s a unique world.’”
That perception could possibly be true, Sol tells me, if classical musicians have been nonetheless making music “in the best way of the 1800s or 1900s.” However that is now not the case and, because of this, she views expertise as a super trendy companion — particularly with the musical concepts and methods employed by up to date live performance music composers.
I’ve at all times felt an absence of which means or creativity once I tried to come back to a music venture with an angle of, ‘Let’s be nice; let’s do one thing essential.’ It’s actually not about that.
The shortage of improvisation in classical music is one more reason why extra musicians don’t make the leap, Sol says. The musician likens it to somebody who’s educated to talk English by studying Shakespearean monologues. “You’re an professional with language as a result of you may have all of this memorised, however you’ve by no means actually sat down and learnt how you can have a easy dialog with somebody. You must unravel a few of that.”
Step one, in line with Sol, is to begin small. “I simply leaned into something that was enjoyable, new, and somewhat out-of-left-field, just like the Circuit Rhythm, which was very improvisatory. Let’s play with it!”
One other impediment to embracing new expertise is the worry of getting issues fallacious, which might pose a menace to the very identification of a musician. Sol agrees, “I’m not so valuable about sustaining a sure picture; I’m not placing stress on myself to observe within the footsteps of a sure lineage or create one thing so epic or profound. Music-making may be very a lot part of residing; it’s at all times private and there’s at all times significance [to it], whether or not I simply have somewhat concept and put it down, or if it’s a venture that I actually care about and I’m writing for six months.
“I view all of those tasks as [being] a part of the human expertise. I’ve at all times felt an absence of which means or creativity once I tried to come back to a music venture with an angle of, ‘Let’s be nice; let’s do one thing essential.’ It’s actually not about that.”
This explains her willingness to step into the world of content material creation, which is sort of a necessity for anybody attempting to be a musician in the present day. Sol says, “It’s thrilling since you will be in contact with folks which may not [otherwise come across your work]. Additionally, you may have the autonomy to create your individual tasks, share them, and study from one another. These are the professionals.”
“The cons are that [creating content] requires a unique muscle. It additionally requires a lot time and vitality – you possibly can’t simply add it on prime of your life – and it primarily takes away from what musicians wish to do, which is make music, so it’s a give and take.
Sol acknowledges the relentless stress of being a content material creator. The one approach to hold going, is to have stability. “I’ve carried out this lengthy sufficient now the place I’ve been by all of the ups and downs: feeling the stress, having it have an effect on my creativity, being very enthusiastic about it, and being not enthusiastic about it. So now, if I don’t really feel like I’m having fun with it, or if it’s not significant, then I simply step away.”
Sol is planning the subsequent chapter of her journey, as a musician and creator, with that in thoughts. She says desires to have a “balanced strategy”, the place she will be able to make extra movies that she cares about and would wish to watch ten years from now. “I’d additionally prefer to put extra vitality outwards in connecting with the folks which can be watching and the group. I view [it] as a accountability and a possibility to contribute in a method that’s important.”
What is definite is that Nahre Sol shall be bringing extra experiments with music to her life and to her viewers. She displays on her expertise with sampling, “It opens up a very totally different mind-set and [leads to] glad, spontaneous accidents. I’ve been enjoying the piano for over 15 years now and I’m so used to every little thing about how I work together with the instrument. Only a month with the Circuit Rhythm and I felt like I used to be listening to music in a very totally different method; I used to be developing with concepts that I actually wouldn’t provide you with simply by sitting at a keyboard, and that was invaluable to me.
“There’s so much you are able to do so as to add expression to music with out contact: by utilizing results, and shaping the sound. In plenty of methods, you may have much more freedom so as to add your private contact and make it extra expressive. As I used to be studying that, I used to be additionally adjusting the ways in which I performed the piano. I believed, ‘Let’s discover a method the place you possibly can take part in each worlds collectively.’ That was very attention-grabbing, and it’s only the start.”
Be taught extra about Nahre Sol at nahresol.com.