Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum My 2nd music video ....

I hope this is "ok" to just post this video as a new topic . if it should be somewhere in the forum , let me know. Any feedback is appreciated . I know there are some lengthy pauses at the tempo changes.

"The Godfather Waltz" composed by Nino Rota on a Casio PX Piano from Pianonewbie1 on Vimeo.

To be honest I did not think it was that good. I know you are a newbie but perhaps post videos when you have more experience like this version of what you played below.

http://youtu.be/4erAt0M4AEQ

Well thanks, I certainly could have used another week's practice at it.
I did notice of your "reccomended" comparison that the version I have has maked tempo changes where in doubt I paused, and ad lib'ed a little of the tempo.
His was sure great though.

..... Sure was fun to create the video .
I'll use a more practiced song next time.

practice makes perfect

Pianonewbie,

Great effort on the playing and the video! Keep up the great work! I also agree that one week more with it and you will most likely play it much better.

I noticed a slight sync problem. Did you record the audio and video separately? If so, getting the sync right can be quite tricky depending on what video editor you are using.

Posting like this is fine I think. But are you aware of the Piano bars here on ABF? It is a place to share pieces you are working on for others to listen to. There is also a quarterly recital that you might want to look into. There was one this month so the next will be in February 2014.

Cheers!

I would disagree that some thing has to be "good enough" to post. By that logic I would never submit anything and I suspect there are a good many people intimidated by the good playing of others on this forum who will never submit anything.

I did use a cable from the piano and recorded video separately , but I also thought it was in sync/time.
I’ve since realized I am able to connect my cam and piano cable both to my computer and record.
-( save on batteries for the camcorder).
Hopefully I have enough processor power to make a record video/sound simutaneously; I do like doing that creative thing there with the video layers though.

-I am not sure where the piano bar topics are located, unless they may be in another forum
I would’ve liked to read a more positive evaluation of the playing /video , I understand the criticisms. So, I hope to improve it .


I do agree with this, not only because of the proficiency of other players; but becuase playing piano is sort of developmental and there’s likely a level of proficiency that is excellent on one level ,but maybe fair on another “ higher or different genre of music ” level.
I more or less practice /play for skill and some enjoyment of my favorite songs . But skill is keystone no doubt , to bring out the beauty of the music.

Thanks for the feedback .

pianonewbie1 - the piano bar can be found in the Adult Beginners Forum where this post sits. A new piano bar (thread) opens on the first day of every month which can be opened by anyone with a piece for show. There are no rules and you are free to post your recordings and videos which will be seen by as many people as any other post but more likely to receive a few more responses. Good luck and keep posting, as it is wonderful to watch people progress in their journey which also helps keep us motivated.

So when you reach a high standard there is nowhere else to go to develop. Pianists such as Lang Lang are so good at what they do, they can go no further.

Well done, apart from the unwelcome rests (pauses) which you also mention in the original post.

About the recording, did you overlay the sound track from the piano with the video and sound tracks from the video recording? The keys of at least most Casio models make such noise and I thought I heard the noise from the keys when they hit bottom, especially in the beginning.

This is why it's best, when recording audio and video seperately, to leave out the audio track from the video file. It can be tricky to sync seperate audio and video tracks from two files, but the outcome will be a better recording, totally free from hum and hiss.

After more practice at this I just realized how RIGHT you were.. I was ad lib-ing the tempo to the point of my own syncopation.
I am going to redo this if only for comparison.
I would ask you please assess the song - then
Honestly, my ego did get in the way when I first read you post but I appreciate your honesty, because I wouldn’t have known to “fix” it and would have been smug.





Not sure what you mean “you reach a high standard there is nowhere else to go to develop” .
I bet you can always improve a style or level .




I recorded the video from my camcorder, and played the Casio to my dell laptop.
Then I muted the sound from the video in Windows moviemaker, and added the sound from my recorded casio piano.
Then I added layers in movie shop to my video for “creative purposes”.
I really am going to redo the video of my “performance”.
I believe it is lacking . I was just more eager to get it on here once I found my camcorder recently.

I am glad i did in spite of "having" to redo it.
Try not to judge my playing on that video alone

How can you improve on this?

http://youtu.be/avOy2QsXNCM

+1

The level of effort that goes into the syncing process depends on your video editor. My editor (FCPX) has an auto sync function and it syncs the external audio with the video in a split second!

This question seems a bit silly to ask on a beginner's forum, but I'd be willing to bet that if you asked the pianist herself she would have ideas on how the performance could be improved.

It was not meant to be a question. I said how can you improve on this because in my mind the pianist is so good at what she does there cannot be anything she needs to improve on technically at all.

Pianonewbie1, you can never judge a piano player from one performance. I was not doing that, sorry if it came out that way. For all I know you could be able to play The Godfather Waltz perfectly and just were nervous in this recording.

I'm pretty sure that happens to most of us, at least every now and then. I have such trouble with some chord progressions, that I don't even hit the right keys when I never take my eyes off the piano. I mean when I've reached the point of not having to look at the sheet, because I've played the part so often, I've forced my brain to memorize it.

Good for you to record audio and video entirely seperately, I was wrong about how you did that. All in all, keep up the good work, this was fine, keep on practising.

I think that performance can be improved too but I don't know how myself. You see what I have noticed since I started playing piano is that our hearing improves along with our ability to play piano. Thus, the better you get, the more things you hear in a performance.

Quite so but if you watch my clip again, the pianist playing is very very good. I do not think there is anything lacking technically in her performance whatsoever. You do not usually clap half way through a recital but this pianist played a part of the concerto so well that the audience gave her a clap. What she was playing was extremely difficult. The runs as you call them were so fast up and down the keys and the speed at which her fingers moved were incredible. But as a beginner someone playing at high concert pianist level would seem incredible, but to them it is ordinary. It has been said that the standard for trainee concert pianists is very high, whereas years ago what students are learning now would not have been taught because it would have been thought of as too hard

It's obviously a beginner's attempt, and as such it should be taken. I'm sure that after some practice it will sound much better, and the full point of recording one's work is to be able to compare with later works. You are very brave to make it public and accept criticism.

A beginner cannot play faultlessly, by definition. I would expect an better interpretation from somebody who's been playing for more time, a good one for those intermediate and a brilliant one for advanced. That's the point of different learning levels.

It would be interesting if the OP could upload the same piece after more practicing and then after a couple years. I'm sure the progress will be very obvious.

As earlofmar says, seeing progression not only helps the OP, but also other people in the forum, as we can see the results of the effort put into playing.

Anyway, well done!

I used two cables ( a-v to stereo headphone jack) and a camcorder but recorded at the same time.


I know it helps and motivates me, but who is the "OP"?