Piano Cover: Insomnia

So I'm back at school now, which means the instances I'll actually have time to update this blog will be far and few between. However, due to popular demand (kinda), I've decided to put up another piano cover before I descend into the dark abyss. Well, I dunno...maybe I'll have some more in the future, or at least make slightly better recordings of my older work, but for now...

My relationship with the source material of this cover, Insomnia, has been an interesting one. I first encountered the Korean version of this piece at another Lunar New Year performance, when it was included in the repertoire of the amazing dance group Defining Movement. Although I didn't think much of it at first, one of my friends soon showed me the song again, and this time it stuck (partly because she took care to remind me at regular intervals). After listening to it on repeat for the better part of a week, it was clear that I'd been addicted.

Although I'm certainly no expert on the history of this piece, here's a bit about what I know. The single Insomnia was released in the UK by artist Craig David, where it was met with a fair amount of success in Europe. Later that year, Craig David contacted Korean artist Wheesung to record a Korean version of the song, which was released in 2009. The music for both versions is fundamentally the same, with mostly differences in the vocal part (although I haven't personally checked to see how well the Korean and English lyrics match). The English and Korean versions of the song, respectively, can be found here and here.

Unlike many pop songs I enjoy, which appeal to me either because of an interesting harmonic structure or some sort of emotional connection to the piece, Insomnia caught my attention simply because it was so damn catchy. The harmonic structure consists of roughly ONE chord progression and a bridge, and I never really learned the meaning of the Korean lyrics, but the ostinato and "FEELS LIKE INSOMNIAAAAA" portions of the song still find themselves stuck in my head regularly. Of course, what better way to get it un-stuck (or, perhaps, even more stuck) than by figuring it out on piano?

Insomnia: Piano Cover



Artist: Craig David/Wheesung
Date Completed: 2010-08-31
Number of Takes: 7
Software: Audacity
Instrumentation: Piano

Unlike my past two covers, this one is actually in its original key of F-sharp major (or maybe B lydian, one of those)! I know, aren't you proud of me? Because Insomnia is an extremely repetitive piece save for the lyrics, I struggled to find some way to differentiate the verses from one another. Hopefully I succeeded to some degree. xD My apologies for the nearly unbearable background noise in the recording (the noise filters would have distorted the recording to an unacceptable level), but at least I'm using an in-tune piano this time! :) Oh, and for those of you who for whatever reason would like a copy of the mp3, it can be found here.

That's all I've got for now. Until next time!

Happy start of school,

xds