Classical Composer Reacts to Storytime (Nightwish) | The Daily Doug (Episode 101) 

8:37 That moment you wanted to see Doug doing a pianoversion with Floor on that one ... really cool.

Does anyone else get the feeling that he and Tuomas would have awesome conversations about music? I feel like Doug is one guy that actually understands ALL of the small references that Tuomas is throwing into his music. I'd love to have a video of these two guys just having a conversation.

Tuomas Holopainen (Nightwish's keyboard player) - A lifetime of adventure, from the "Music Inspired by the Life and Times of Scrooge" album

8:28 Forget about Nightwish on this video, who in the hell listen to 4 minutes of a music and start playing a beautiful part? Such a talented Doug Helvering !!!!! 👏👏👏👏👏

I have never watched another reactor that has such a visceral command of music as a real LANGUAGE. You remind me of how a mathematician speaks, often baffling to us ordinary humans but still a helluva lotta fun to listen to!

Him playing along literally brought me to tears that is the power of music.

You have a pipe organ in the backround. Check out a 2 minute clip of Tuomas playing the Helsinki Music Hall huge pipe organ. He is like a child in a candy store when given the possibility to play there. "The best sound, feeling, thing ever." He calls the sound pompous and biblical. His grandpa was the last priest in a long line of priests in the family tree. He had 7 daughters but no son. Search for "Tuomas playing church organ". The last song he plays is his own - Nightwish "Scaretale".

I am not at all jealous that you can just play along like you do. I enjoy the practical demonstrations from the piano.

That would be so awesome to be able to jam out like that after a quick listen. The whole Wacken show is amazing from start to finish.

It's so cool how you can just sit at that piano and play along within minutes. Amazing.

I love these 'at the piano' reactions. It's such a great way to point out the musical themes and ideas they're using.

Whenever I play the song, my wife goes "hey, it's metal Abba!"

That piano accompaniment near the end is everything. I need a piano version of Storytime in my life

Hi Doug! It's never too late, I'm a Finn and I'm discovering Nightwish together with you!

All I can say is...Please more Nightwish. Also I like how you instinctively start playing chords with the song. I love it. More of this!

8:36 him playing along with Floor’s singing was incredible

First time hearing it, Doug sits down at the piano and plays along. Impressive.

One of the coolest reactions ever done, love the Piano improvisation! 💯🙌 That's talking music 🎶

I remember this show vividly. Never was a big Nightwish fan and didn't know Floor was the singer at that time but my brother wanted to see them so I tagged along. When they started I remembered the voice from After Forever and became an instant fan. Went to see them in Amsterdam few years later with another brother of mine, what a band! Thankful to my brother he insisted to see them when we were at Wacken that year, what a show.

I love seeing the casual dropping into the song, adding another layer. Very cool indeed. Yes it's a catchy song, love it

Holy smokes, where have you been all my reaction video watching? What a pleasure, to watch you enjoy the same music I love, and then break it down and play. You have a great deal of talent, thank you!

Started learning on a piano a month ago and now i am a bit jealous how you can decompose a whole song within a few minutes, on a piano. You deserved my subscription.

@Doug Helvering : the classical composer who plays paino on Nightwish and my god he got a fantastic ear ! I really love this guy. He's not just in love with music he's animated with it. This man should be musci teacher in all schools all over the qordl ! Doug Reigns !! Thanks for your work sir.

Doug, I want to say thank you! Not only for the wonderful reviews, but for that magic of a musician starting playing along the song he hears for the first time. Many years ago, when I was a student, my friends wanted to have a show. We were not a band of any sorts, but we participated in many of a show students made. Anyway, I always awed, admired that magical moment when our piano girls sat together in front of a 21" flatron monitor, switch on the 128kbps mp3 for a moment, then switched to the open FruityLoops, and using the computer keyboard started to play it part by part. Offen in 4 hands because you have tou use all 4 lines of keys in the normal keyboard. They discussed the song just like you explain the changes in the chords and harmonics, perhaps adding sometimes "no that's too hard let's have Em here" :) I have no music education, just know basic guitar and can play piano chords, but it always warmed me to see musicians enjoying and following along with a nee theme. Thanks for bringing me back there. Those are the "memories I hold dear".

"Dead Boys Poem" from Buenos Aires is good next step. Or one of my absolute all time favorites: "Weak Fantasy" from Tampere

Most people during the first listening: this sounds cool! Doug: **

I wish my ear was so good, and my theory/scale knowledge was so good, that I could instantly understand how a song is played and sit down and play it first try.

It was the song NEMO that got me into Nighhtwish and the way you played piano with the song Storytime was perfect.

We are happy to have another fan. The army's getting big.

The latest video Floor uploaded is a must see. Here she reacted to herself performing 'Ghost Love Score' at Wacken 2013. Much technical info and some memories of her starting the journey with Nightwish.

I like so much your reacts, because it's not just a reacting, but an analysis. For an amateur musician like me, it's a very good experience! Thank you! Greetings from Brazil!

Magnificent deconstruction. Thank you a lot.

I love the way that you can just hear the chords and work out how to play along straight away. I’ve seen you do this in a few videos now. It’s very impressive and brings a new and interesting approach to reviews rather than simply nodding along or saying something bland at the end. Keep up the great work, from Northern Ireland.

This was nice reaction, great to see you enjoying and catching up with this.

Nightwish are the real Edema Ruh 😊

I love how Floor actually has to hold back for most of the song, as it was written for Anette, but can let rip at the end. Yet, there is something about Anette's voice that really comes out on Dark Passion Play that even Floor can not completely emulate. Like 'For the heart I once had'. I for one am glad I saw Nightwish with Anette performing it live. I'm a lucky boy anyway, because I actually was at that 2013 Wacken concert. Something I will be able to tell my grandchildren about ^^

I really do enjoy hearing your take on songs as a composer. It gives a different perspective than a lot of other reactors. Thank you. One small request though, to make your videos more accessible for those of us with hearing difficulties/auditory processing problems, please pause the videos before starting your commentary. It allows for better enjoyment of the piece being reacted to while making it easier to understand you at the same time, especially when the closed captioning is quite laggy or completely missing in spots.

I had been hearing the opemingchords of the Christmas Carol 'Oh, come all ye faithful'. Your accompianemt was very beautiful.

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a more dominant performance than Floor at Wacken 2013. Just phenomenal, pure class, beauty and power

Omg... You boost everything up when you start playing along..that was so so beautiful

The part when doug play along with Nightwish just give me a big smile :D

So I'm currently catching up with all of your amazing Nightwish reactions, I just can't get enough of your professional thoughts and passion. And OH MY GOD, what was that gorgeous play along?? Spontaneous but so beautifully emotional, it actually brought me to some tears bc I was just so awestruck. Thank you for that, absolutely adored it!! (Please do a piano cover of this one day...?♥) Also, I agree with others: A livestream of the whole concert would be awesome!!!

I am SO glad you reacted to this one! This song never fails to make me feel uplifted and nostalgic, and I knew you'd be able to explain why this happens musically. Was also cool to hear you playing along :D

I think there are fewer phones than usual here for one main reason, the moshing. Personally I don't even take my phone to metal concerts because I know if the moshpit opens up right next to me it's RIP for my phone. For context I have seen half a belt on the floor in the aftermath of a metal concert, yes, half a belt, someone's belt got torn in half, imagine your phone. Plus I think metal fans like to get involved in the moment more, you can't headbang and go crazy if you have a phone in your hand trying to film the band on stage. Also love the fact that you're a fan now, nearly brought tears to my eyes hearing someone officially convert to a metal band, metal usually gets so much stick from the media and seeing someone see how amazing metal can be is just so beautiful, I think we owe you some thanks too for showing metal in this positive light. Welcome to the world of metal, brother \m/

As always, I suggest Ayreon, The Day That The World Breaks Down. You might recognise some familiar faces there :-).

Wow Doug beautiful playing!!!

great reaction. and love seeing you playing along! that's really fun!!!!!!! :D look forward to more nightwish reaction from you. cheers!

Beautiful, beautiful song

That was a beautiful arrangement on the piano, I'd love to hear the entire song! 👌😁

I'm sure you'll probably enjoy A LOT the song "Scaretale", from the Imaginaerum album. Sadly, there is no official live version, but I think Anette does a great job on the studio track. Also, there is Marco singing like a Disney villain! (in fact, there is a specific part when the song totally sounds like a dark-disney or Tim burton's film music)

I love it when people can start playing along having only hear the progression a few times, I remember seeing someone play along to a song having only heard the first minute of the song, was pretty amazing.

That was cool watching you play along like you were part of the band. I dont have a clue what you were talking about, but you made it engaging and fun. You know your stuff, man. Excellent reaction.

Thank you, Doug! Truly fascinating "Storytime" reaction/analyze with absolutely gorgeously improvized piano jamming with the chorus starting 8:35. You got some seriously tasteful chops man! Thumbs and greetings from Finland, home of Nightwish. :)

No pude evitar emocionarme hasta las lágrimas cuando Doug tocó el piano. Tiene una sensibilidad y poética difíciles de encontrar.

Thank you for playing along. That was nice to hear. :)

It's amazing to see you playing the piano just listening to the song!

Oh man, thank you for that! This song almost every time brings me near tears but you instantly playing along got me 🥺

I literally started crying when u started playing along on the piano. Its just so beautifiul and satisfying to see how someone catches the feeling and vibe of a song and instantly transforms it into music by himself. This, for me, shows how music is able to connect people on another level without even talking to each other. Its like a diffenrent language that everyone can relate to. Loved it

Blind Guardian's "Imaginations from the Other Side" would be a really good complimentary/comparison piece to this song tbh. The subject matter is very similar but presented in a somewhat darker fashion. I also gotta say that I first found out about Nightwish back in the early '00s and was not a fan of the full blown operatic vocals of their former vocalist. I never really revisited them until finding these videos and I've found that I really love their stuff, so this has been a treat.

Found myself here thanks to your recent conversation with @geologicrecords where you mentioned the magic word Nightwish. I'm glad you did, as I really enjoyed the way you explained and demonstrated what was going on musically in such an accessible way.

Amazing song! Been listening to Nightwish since their second album... And its been an amazing journey with them. Seen them live twice and can't wait for a third time.

Wow loved the improv piano on the last chorus! I'll watch this again just to hear that. Wish I could play piano.

how fucking awesome is it that you were playing along! it made it so much more real. that was great. thank you.

Great this little playing along where we can hear and see the harmony of the song!!

2:15 Gotta love whenever Doug is jolted from his chair by some chord or tempo change :-)

That's a song from the Anette era, but Floor ofc would perform her own beautiful way, the same way she did with Ghost Love Score, that is a Tarja era song.

I was at that concert. Hadn't heard Floor at all before, but Nightwish had been my favourite band ever since "Once" was released. One of the best days of my life, no doubt.

Doug really shreds piece by piece this amazing song with such detail that I've watched this several times. Really awesome!!

Wow Doug, that piano playing actually added something very nice for me! :D

Really loving the fact that you analyse the musical composition and the piano adds a lot to that! BTW, check out Therion's Voyage of Gurdjeff! Cheers!

damn dude! awsome to hear you play along! keep it goin!

I love this concept Doug playing along!

5:49 Very interesting explanation. This is why I tune in to your channel.

Oh, man! I really enjoyed the part when you played the piano along with the music! Can you make a piano cover of this song?????? Please? :) That was fantastic!!!

I loved you playing along with the music at the end

Very good man, we like anyone that shows our band love. Glad you enjoying them too, so hard to believe more Americans know so little about how talented this group is, I mean I felt like I had been living under a rock.

Thanks. Loved your comments. Love these musicians

Great breakdown of the song, thanks again for your reaction!

Great video Doug ! You quickly became my favorite reactor/musician on RU-vid :)

Nightwish Army, Pennsylvania Division here. Every time I watch you break down one of the songs so many of us love, I get more and more impressed. As I'm sure you know, many content providers on YT claim to be this or that expert, but so few actually are. You truly are a virtuoso. Please keep going. PS, the pipe organ in the background is gorgeous.

Congrats! It’s good to see you playing along and showing your skills on melody!

So so glad I found this channel!!

awesome analysis of chord progression; keep more content like this coming, thanks!

i need that full version of you doug

I loved how you started playing along with the band!!! That was so cool!!!

I'm a clarinetist start to dive into the composition world and I appreciate your analysis I'd love to take classes from you

I love the way your inner head banger is coming out! And I love that you play along with them, it's awesome!

Great reaction and loved the moment you played along on the piano! More!!

Opeth’s “To Bid You Farewell” would be great

Now that you brought up the piano this channel is complete. Cant wait to see more. Greetings form Romania

Since my first encounter with this band, I've watched many of their songs over and over and over. Mainly watching the reactions to them and thus learning more and more. About singing technique, rhythms, understanding lyrics and so on. You, sir, definitely contribute to that with a (for me) new angle of approach. Love to watch you reacting to Nightwish and understanding and explaining from the composers point of view. Keep up the good work!

I found your channel today and I must say that these reactions with you on the piano bring a whole other layer to these songs. I am not musical at all and still your insight is well recieved. Keep it up!

Well, that was fun!! I liked how you added flairs - sweet!

Thanks for deconstructing the chorus like that. I absolutely love the way it sounds, nice to hear some of the music theory behind it.

Loved when you played along!

You are amazing sir!!! AWESOME!!! Greetings from Guatemala 🇬🇹

Loved your piano play along on that. It was great!

another awesome and insightful reaction. thanks Doug.

Really loved when you played piano along! and also all the explaining with piano, it was really good. Keep going!

Great reaction and great job on the piano Doug! Very enjoyable.