Classical music hasn’t died. If you don’t believe us, just listen to Nils Frahm. Raised on classical and jazz with an extensive collection of ECM records at his fingertips (Thanks, Dad), Frahm grew up in Germany with a heartbeat already in line with the romantic side of music. As a child, he began taking piano lessons from Nahum Brodski, a remarkable musician who was one of Tchaikovsky’s final students, and immediately fell in love. Soon he was crafting his own pieces, leaning heavily on improvisation and repetition, stirring up sonic wonders with ease.

Frahm may as well be an agile octopus cloaked in human skin. His hands fly across the piano, often jumping onto adjacent keyboards and organs places next to him onstage, the instruments boxed around him like a musical fort. Originally, his music was pressed as a gift for friends. Wintermusik was picked up after a record label executive fell in love with the material at one of his shows. She convinced him to do a limited pressing of 333, and within months, they all sold out. They did a second run of 500 copies, and within days, they all sold out. His music was in demand, and he was left dumbfounded. Fans, on the otherhand, weren’t. He is a modern day genius, and to not realize that is practically equivalent to being deaf. Since then, Frahm has gone on to release ten albums. Last year’s Spaces may be his best yet.

Now, the 32-year-old improvisational genius is swinging by Boston’s Brighton Music Hall to finish up his tour and put a cap on a wonderful year. He talked to us in advance about his new book of sheet music, studying under Brodski, and why the music business isn’t as awful as it seems.

Allston Pudding: Sheets if your music book of selected works. How did you decide what to write down and notate for that? Or were they all songs that had already been written out? 

Nils Frahm: Some songs involve a song structure, but that’s it. It’s easy to notate but also easy to play. Certain songs aren’t easy but they’re very structured. Other songs are just livid.

AP: Was the visual aesthetic part of your goal?

NF: Definitely. I had the feeling it should be a very simple but very beautiful book. The materials should just be of good quality. My designer always knows how to make it look good, too. The pictures in the book are from an artist, a photographer, who has close ideas to work with. He shot them for the book.

AP: If someone was new to playing music, this looks like the type of book that could inspire them to pick up an instrument. Was that intentional? 

NF: It’s always my goal to inspire people. It is also why I am producing music. With the book, I wanted to give people the chance to play songs and pieces. I feel like every time I release something, it should be a very good, quality. This was the same. I wanted to make something worth sharing.

AP: If you received this book when you were first learning how to play, how would it have inspired you?

NF: I think I would have been happy to have the book because it’s a good book, not just in a magazine style. I think the pictures in the beginning would have really intrigued me. I would have liked it a lot for crossing the arts.

AP: When you were younger, you played with Nahum Brodski, who is a bit of an icon, when he was around 80 years old, right?

NF: Yes.

AP: What was it like working with him? And at that point in his life, too?

NF: Yeah, I mean, that’s the problem with having an old teacher. It seems like nothing special when you’re young, but he was a very special guy. He could speak little German, but was a very experienced player. It wasn’t easy to get explanations from him. He was talking this German and coming from Russia. He was kind of still a foreginer in Germany, even after 20 or 25 years there. So I respect him a lot. His lessons were really good. It was basically listening. I was the young kid; he was the old guy. It was an easy relationship. I just had to follow whatever he was thinking and saying and presenting. I obeyed. I guess I learned a lot from him.

AP: Was there anything he taught you that’s stuck with you over the years?

NF: Hm, I’m sure. [pauses] Yeah. You got to practice. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You’ve got to repeat and repeat and repeat certain things, and after a while, even if you don’t think you can play them, it always works.

AP: Did you start improvising around that age as well, then?

NF: It was pretty much at the start, yes. I played a little bit at home, too.

AP: So how do you know when a piece is done if you’re improvising while creating it? How do you remember what you would like to keep? How do you know you’ve reached the end of a piece? It all sounds rather stressful.

NF: [laughs] I don’t know, really. Hm. Maybe it’s something I just have an intuition for? I try not to think about it too much. I don’t know, just do it. It’s hard to explain, you know? A piece can be five minutes long, three minutes long, or twenty minutes long. It depends on the mood and what you’re feeling and what you’re thinking. For people who don’t improvise a lot, for them, it’s sometimes very strange. But maybe it’s easy to understand what we’re doing right now, talking, and why it’s important, even though I’m not knowing exactly when I want to end a sentence. I’m still saying what I want to say. I always know there can be revision after.

AP: Do you change your songs up a lot live?

NF: I think so, yeah. All the songs are still in progress. That’s actually really nice when you tour a lot and play many shows. There’s no strict set to play every night. It gives yourself some freedom to develop new things on the fly while you’re touring. Sometimes you just have a pop shot and you focus on another thing you have that’s better than what you did before. I change instruments a lot, too. It depends on the circumstances.

AP: What can change it? Are there things you see when you walk into the venue that trigger what you’ll play?

NF: Yes, yes, yes. Good instruments are good, for one. If you want to hear the extended version of a song, it will most likely happen when the instrument is good. Also, the people, how they’re listening. That’s important.

AP: So what’s it like writing music in Berlin? Does that rub off on how you write?

NF: I don’t know. I would only be able to say that if it was all political, then definitely. I’m not sure. I can’t imagine that anything throughout doesn’t have protective layers, so yes, it must effect it somehow, but I can’t isolate it. When I think about growing up in Hamburg with what I’m doing now in Berlin, it’s hard to compare because so much time has passed. Of course I’m working on a different scale than what I would have worked ten years ago. It doesn’t have to do with the city, but the city must also be a factor. I can’t tell what it is. The long winter definitely makes you work inside more [laughs].

AP: Since you combine classical forms of piano playing with electronics, it seems to lend itself towards creating songs meant to last longer in people’s minds. Do you feel that sense of timelessness? That someone doesn’t have to be alive in 2014 to understand your songs?

NF: Yeah, actually, I think about that sometimes. Only time will tell if I can reach that ideal. It would be incredible. Some songs could work like that and others maybe not. It would be really nice.

AP: Are you ever tempted to use a loop machine when you play?

NF: I use a number of delays. In a way, those are like looping because you repeat an initial signal a number of times, but in a much shorter way. But no, I am not.

AP: Your gear is pretty specific, especially the piano that was just made specifically for you. How is it different from other pianos?

NF: It’s much longer than a 64-piece. It has less strings; each key only has one string instead of three. Because it only has one string, it sounds a little more like a harpsichord. It sounds quieter. It’s not good for volume; it’s good for tone. It’s very beautiful. Yeah, I was just interested in having a piano that is also not covered with wood because that blocks the sound away. I wanted a piano that’s open by means. I think I achieved something really beautiful. The guy built the piano entirely by himself, which is fantastic.

AP: Does that change microphone placement? That’s always important, especially in your music, to pick up the right tone and reverb. 

NF: Yeah, we need to explore how to record that thing in the best way. You’ve got to be sensitive to that when you’re recording an instrument. Moving a microphone a few inches can have a huge effect. You have to explore and take your time and be patient to find a good way to record. I wish I had it with me [laughs]. It’s sitting at home wiating for me when I come back from tour.

AP: When did you get it?

NF: A few weeks ago. I played it at one concert in Berlin, but then I had to go straight to the US to tour. I couldn’t bring it this time. I hope I can bring it one time! That would be really nice.

AP: How are you able to carry a piano, nevertheless multiple, even if some are electronic? It seems like it would be very difficult. 

NF: Right now we only carry stuff we can bring ourselves. We are poor people so we are poor people on the road. Everybody carries a little bit, including me. If we could bring the piano, we would rent a sideliner and do it with a bigger crew and a piano tuner to take care of the maintenance. It’s all do-able, it’s just a matter of cost. That’s the profession, though. You have to put in what you can. We are happy to be picking up more in America, though. We have in Europe after seven tours. I think it’s fair to say that we worked for it. If things keep progressing that way, it’s just a matter of time until we can pull it off in the US.

AP: People are often blind regarding what goes into music, including that, the cost. From the money that goes in to making an album to the mixing process to most behind-the-scenes stuff, the general listening audience is unaware. What’s something, in your opinion, that often goes overlooked?

NF: The money, of course. Everything costs money. The hard work of the music business people isn’t understood, as well. There’s a historic kind of disrespect against the music business in general. It’s almost like a square word out of the mouth. The times changed and with more independent labels, you have the chance to work with someone who can really make a difference for your career, your headache, your creativity, for everything. We’re living in a time where everybody turns away from the music business and towards Soundcloud and Bandcamp. In my opinion, if you really want to go far with your work, you need help. You need friends. It’s a great business and it’s worth it.

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Nils Frahm plays Brighton Music Hall this Sunday, November 23. Tickets are $25.