Well not quite, but when I think back to an assignment that was part of my master’s degree a few years back where we were asked to produce a media sample of something that would hit 300 views on YouTube I thought that was going to be like climbing a mountain. Gunnar hits the slopes did its job and we got the views however today Zelda & Piano hit over 100,000 views on Spotify in just less than two weeks since it’s release!
When I needed something to fill some down time a couple og years ago my son suggested we write some music and he would produce it and put it out there for the world to hear I really didn’t think he was serious. Even though he’s an accomplished producer, I had never written music, let along played it for anyone else. After all, although I can play and I have taught both music theory and students to play as well… I don’t play in public. I get so nervous my hands shake and it never goes well. Try as I might to get past playing more than chords when other folks are around, it just remains a struggle. So play in public…. ?
Thankfully writing and recording isn’t like playing in public. You have your headset, the click in your ear (for those of us who have been around a while that’s the modern metronome) and you can just relax and play. So, in my garage on a wonderful old 1930’s Baldwin, shown above, we tuned and recorded A Flicker, our first original.
Shortly afterwards discussions with GameChops led to our writing some Zelda arrangements on the piano. Kyle and I wrote and recorded them last fall, he did his producing magic and we turned the over to GameChops to release. The reveal was a couple of weeks ago. I watched in amazement as people seemed to really enjoy what we had created, I watched in shock as the stream count continued to grow on Spotify and of course that doesn’t include the plays on YouTube or through other avenues.
As GameChops put it in the description, below, on his YouTube channel for the reveal …this family project stems from many years ago when the boys and I played the original NES version of the game for some family fun time.
“Zelda & Piano” – a piano tribute to The Legend of Zelda, arranged and performed by Stushnoff. “Zelda & Piano” is a delicate tribute to The Legend of Zelda 
that’s perfect for relaxing, sleeping, or focusing to. This is the debut album from our new label, Unplugged, which focuses on classical, acoustic, and jazz music. Zelda & Piano pairs top-tier musicianship with classic themes from the beloved Legend of Zelda franchise from Nintendo. Zelda & Piano is our first solo piano album, arranged and produced by Stushnoff. Stushnoff is a collaboration between Nashville-based producer Kyle Horvath, and his mother Shawna Stushnoff, a Royal Conservatory-trained pianist. Zelda & Piano is the duo’s first album, inspired by the many hours the two spent playing the original NES title together, exploring and solving puzzles with hand-drawn maps of Hyrule. This heartfelt collaboration features tracks from across the series, from its 1986 debut to the Nintendo 64’s Ocarina of Time, through Twilight Princess for the GameCube and Wii consoles.
Search for Stushnoff on Spotify to check out A Flicker and our Zelda arrangements. We’d love to hear what you think.