Here's my video game R&B cover of Rowan's Lab from Pokmon DPPt! I'm Sab and I love saxophone and video games, so now I make covers that combine two of my favorite things!
In the words of insaneintherainmusic, Rowan be GROOVIN. Rowans Theme is one Ive held close for most of my life. Theres just this certain feeling I get when I listen to it that I dont get with other professor themes. A lot of them are great, but theres this serious, excited feeling to Rowans Theme for me. A friend of mine asked me recently if I had covered Rowans Theme, and I hadnt! I had thought about it several times, but either couldnt come up with an idea or didnt enjoy the idea as I attempted to bring it to life.
I recently heard PJ Mortons version of How Deep Is Your Love (its amazing, go listen to it). I loved the intimate chamber string ensemble paired with vocals, keys, bass, and drums. It wasnt a lot in terms of instrumentation, but so resonant and full. I loved the warmth of the strings and pretty much everything about it. When I heard it, I said thats the kind of music I wanna make. Warm, fun, and resonates on so many levels.
That track was definitely a huge inspiration for the direction I chose to take this cover in. I really wanted to play with acoustic and electric groupings in this. Alternating between grand piano and electric piano in certain sections and pairing electric piano with upright bass and grand piano with electric bass. This track also gave me chance to work more with my string programming in getting that clear sound, but still full. And lastly drums. Drums and I have a tough time. But I learned a lot about really thinking about what I want my kit to sound like and playing with lots of what Superior Drummer 3 has to offer haha.
I had to think about the video for this quite a bit. I didnt have as much time to polish this cover up as others and a lot of the parts are programmed. I played most of them on the piano, but I wanted to work more with color and particle speed to convey energy and nostalgia. Im incredibly excited for the DPPt remakes later this year. DPPt has been my favorite Pokmon game since I played it. I wanted to use color to convey aging/nostalgia since were getting this remake!
Lastly, I gotta thank VGR. I was struggling to come up with an ending for this cover and he had asked to hear what I was currently working on. I sent him a draft and he mentioned he could hear original lyrics that dealt with nostalgia. After he said that, the words came pretty quickly. I thought about things I would hear after being away from a place or group of people that were important to me. Gen 4 will always hold a special place in my heart, and Im glad to finally be doing the music some justice.
Please enjoy this piano cover of #RowansLab from #PokmonDPPt done by me, #SabIrene
