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The Recording Thread


James H.

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I am a self taught piano player, so my teacher was an idiot that didn't know what he was doing. But I have been playing off and on for a long time.

This is played live into Sibelius from my keyboard. I did remove around 15 notes that were doubled up with others due to my clumsy fingers and then used GPO Steinway for the end product, but James said it basically fits the bill.

Here it is

http://www.youngcomposers.com/forum/feb-9-2008-piano-13300.html#post209714

Ron

James

The above piece is different from the one you commented on, but I like this one better.

I went back and listened to you on the horn. Not bad for 14 months!!!

I have played Guitar and piano for most of my life and the most important thing I have found is that when playing, the beat is the most important aspect of it all. If you hit a wrong note, yet keep the tempo right, most people don't even notice the mistake.

As you play this, you get better. A lot of that is because you keep the beat, instead of pausing when you make a mistake. That pause is what makes a mistake stand out.

Great job.

Ron

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Sounds like a good idea to me. A sub-forum of the Performance one, perhaps.

Though I'm limited to a crappy keyboard, a decade-old $20 desktop mic, a $2.25 desktop mic and a $2 dynamic mic.

I've tried on the decade-old one... both flute and trumpet sound awful (unless my tone is really that bad, but I'd doubt it on the flute). Clarinet sounds dry.

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Sounds pretty good, Will! I always liked solo acoustic guitar, and you play it well!

By the way, is it electronically amplified, or are you using some kind of special technique at 2:10?

Here is something of mine- a short piece, and not perfect, but it's the best thing I have recorded yet. It is the first movement of Kabalevsky's Sonatina #1 in C. I am playing on an upright piano, so it isn't the best sound ever, but it actually kind of fits with the type of piece I'm playing.

Enjoy!

http://www.esnips.com/doc/22defcd8-6c9d-4a79-a66f-9843f1b8a366/Kabalevskys-Sonatina-1-in-C--first-movement

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Sounds pretty good, Will! I always liked solo acoustic guitar, and you play it well!

By the way, is it electronically amplified, or are you using some kind of special technique at 2:10?

Thanks Alan

And yes it is amplified and it's run directly to the camera

And at 2:10 the technique is called Artificial Harmonics, they add alot of depth to the music because they're so bell like

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I'm going to be quite critical about this cygnusdei-

Actually, only two things-

Your position at the keys needs to be closer. I myself just finished breaking your habit- you should lean into the keys more.

I think you could have more dynamic contrast. Now I know there are probably no dynamics in the piece, but you need to do more with phrasing. It sounds kinda dry...

That's all! You're certainly capable, and you did a fine job- I just wanted to point out those things. :)

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I'm going to be quite critical about this cygnusdei-

Actually, only two things-

Your position at the keys needs to be closer. I myself just finished breaking your habit- you should lean into the keys more.

I think you could have more dynamic contrast. Now I know there are probably no dynamics in the piece, but you need to do more with phrasing. It sounds kinda dry...

That's all! You're certainly capable, and you did a fine job- I just wanted to point out those things. :)

Hi Alan - thanks for listening/watching! About the posture I'll try to experiment with closer position. About the dynamics: they were there but youtube totally screwed them up! LOL .....

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I put those videos in a YouTube embed, a brilliant new feature that some might not yet be aware of. Just take the part of the URL after the "=" and put it in a tag, [noparse]

Caption here.

[/noparse]

Okay, I'm going to watch these videos now... :w00t:

Cygnusdei... I can't say much, since the dynamics were "lost in translation." This is why I suggested against video recording unless you have a good mic, BUT, Alan did point out that you should be leaning more into the keys. Use your weight to press the keys, not your fingers. It's hard to imagine, but once you start thinking that way, things get a little more effortless. Make sure your arms are at about a 90 degree angle, in a perfect L shape, or closer to the keyboard as necessary. This is key to having a good tone in addition to greater control. The idea is to use as little effort as possible, thus use the forward weight of your body to your advantage.

Will... that was very pretty. I liked how you made a piece almost entirely of harmonics, it sounded really dreamy. Nice to see good guitarists on the scene. ;)

Hmm.... I think an overflow of input is imminent... I wonder if Mike ever discussed the sub-forum idea with the rest of the mods... I DID ask him to look into it.

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There we go!

Sounding pretty neat so far! Now I'm hearing some slapping sounds coming from the guitar- is this because you are getting closer to the bridge, or am I imagining it?

How about the rubato- is it supposed to be? It sounds like you are rushing, then catching yourself. Try to use any kind of rubato in shorter bursts so that it doesn't sound like you're rushing. :)

Other than that i sounds great!!

Alan

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There we go!

Sounding pretty neat so far! Now I'm hearing some slapping sounds coming from the guitar- is this because you are getting closer to the bridge, or am I imagining it?

How about the rubato- is it supposed to be? It sounds like you are rushing, then catching yourself. Try to use any kind of rubato in shorter bursts so that it doesn't sound like you're rushing. :)

Other than that i sounds great!!

Alan

The little slapping sound is a side affect of the technique, I'm hitting the string extremely far up the neck, the further up you go the looser the string gets resulting in a warmer tone, but it also makes it easier to snap the strings on accident against the fretboard

And I do plan to make a better recording of Clouds in the near future, but I was feeling so good about it when I recorded it that I just had to do it :P

Thanks for listening by the way :)

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