Africa (Toto) – Piano Recording Session in One Take

This video captures the piano recording session for my instrumental remake of "Africa" by Toto — the Grammy-winning classic from the album Toto IV (1982), written by David Paich and Jeff Porcaro. The song's keyboard parts, played by David Paich and Steve Porcaro on the original recording, are central to its iconic sound.

I rehearsed for almost an hour, carefully reviewing the chord voicings and harmonic rhythm. The piano in Africa isn't flashy, but it needs to sit perfectly in the groove — every chord change has to feel natural within the song's complex rhythmic framework of layered percussion. Once I felt confident with every section, I started recording and captured it in a single take.

This track was created for Malinda (Translator Fails), and you can see my studio setup in the video — keyboard, laptop with the DAW, and a couple of familiar figurines keeping me company during the session.