Carrie Fisher Piano Tribute

Hello all! So, being that yesterday unfortunately marked the one-year anniversary of Carrie Fisher's unfortunate passing, I decided to pay homage to our princess. I play piano, so I recorded a medley of Leia's themes from the Star Wars films to honor her. (The songs featured are “Princess Leia’s Theme,” “Han Solo and the Princess,” “Luke and Leia,” “Binary Sunset,” and a very small portion of “Main Title.”)

I figured this would be a good place to get some exposure and post for others who may still be mourning Carrie's loss. Hopefully you all enjoy!

(Also, I play by ear, so my interpretation of these songs is NOWHERE near as accurate as John Williams' incredible versions are, of course.)

 

Thank you SO much for your kind words! I really appreciate the support!

 

Thank you guys SO much for your support and kind words! I’m beyond grateful. (Regarding the lack of response, though, I’m alright with it — I posted a snippet of it on Instagram and got a like from Carrie’s dog, Gary, so I got all the approval I needed! )

You’re probably gonna thing I’m crazy when I tell you how easy the recording took place.

I recorded it in my house. I have an upright piano in my living room — which has hard wood floor and no carpet, hence the really good acoustic. (I also make sure to record when no one else is home, otherwise there’s no way I’m gonna be able to get the recording done!) Here’s the crazy part, though... I didn’t use ANY mics or hardware or anything. I recorded this on my iPhone as a voice memo. I have a nicer Olympus voice recorder that I could’ve used, but didn’t for whatever reason. So, it’s literally just a crappy iPhone recording — or at least, that’s what I thought! It sounds like it turned out better than I initially thought, though, so I’m glad. And yes, it was a one-shot take — I rehearsed it for hours before I finally felt like I was ready to record it, and then I did everything in one recording.

That’s awesome to hear you play the piano/organ as well! If you ever decide to put any recordings online, I’d love to hear some!

I agree 100% with your last statement. I know I’m no John Williams, so I figured why try to do exactly what he does? I’ve never been much of a classical pianist anyways — even when I was taking lessons, my piano teacher knew I didn’t care about classical music like I did the more contemporary stuff. This was the first semi-classical piece I’d actually recorded, but I wanted to do my own spin on it. Trying to replicate exactly what John Williams does is like people who go on The X Factor and think they can sing Whitney Houston or Adele better than the original artist — usually it blows up in their face. I like to incorporate some of my own style into my covers, so I agree completely with your statement!

 

Thank you SO much! I know people may think she’s kind of crazy, but that woman has some SERIOUS musical talent, and she’s got a lot of classical training under her belt. I’ve heard some of her piano/vocal performances and she’s got a very unique style of playing, so that really means a lot to me. Thank you!

 

Thank you! I’m so glad it worked because I had serious doubts about the quality of the iPhone recording — it definitely paid off, though!