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lost all my comments. Dontcha love it? Take 2 . .

2 Sma55

Lovely steady work on the arabesque. Def. one of my favourites, and a keeper, too.

16 PianogriNW

Well, I just got a free lesson on this. I'm struggling on page 1, as happens . . . you played this beautifully, with aplomb and sensitivity. Loved it.

17 richard

Thought this was another tune; but i wasn;t disappointed with this sensitively played piece. Very very nice!

23 kalos piano

Yes, I saw the film. Great job on this, you bring it to life.

24 kalos

Splendid job on the Gymnopedie. some like it slow, it creates wonderful ambience and is so relaxing to listen to.

25 Kalos

Gnoss 1 like all the Gnosses is hard work. I tried them; 3 is the best for me I think. But for the sake of my sanity, i decided not to persevere! Well done for sticking it out!

34 Fish and Chips

Your Gnossiene was good to listen to. Now, these aren't easy listening stuff, but I liked your interpretation of it.

36 Ivojnovic

Lovely piece; you handled it very well indeed. took me ages to learn this.

39 Pianoperformance

Hard to play these little pieces. By the end of 'em you begin to wonder if it was worth it . . . .You did a splendid job.

Thanks Peter, I know what you mean! I played the recording to my teacher, and got thumbs up on rhythm and musicality, which are my two key goals in polishing a piece. It is a lot of work for sure!

Thank you very much everyone for the extremely kind comments.
@Gandalf: glad to know I look relaxed while playing. I'm actually dying inside in each and every single one of my videos and my fingers are drowning in sweat

I'll start my first batch of comments with the pieces I'm most familiar with:



02. SMA55 (Shepherd Abrams) - Arabesque 1
such a nice performance. Nearly flawless from a technical point of view.
On the interpretation side, the only thing I would change would be to slow down a bit on those parts like 4:07-4:10: it gives me the impression of being a bit too hasty, but maybe it's just me.
I look forward to tackling this piece one day, hopefully soon.



19. Whizbang (Chris) - Reverie
I only recently discovered this piece, and I'm so glad I did.
Your performance was just... perfect.



27. Sam S - The Little Shepherd
funny story about your teacher it was a good performance. In this piece I particularly like those few dreamy notes between 2:00 and 2:20.



29. Cathryn999 - Comptine d'une autre ete
a couple of flubs here and there but still very pleasant to listen to.
Some more slow practice on each isolated bar will get the piece to be perfect.



31. peterws - Gymnopedie 2
damn fine work. Very atmospheric.



32. peterws - Gymnopedie 3
same as above. Makes me wanna start playing the full Gymnopedie set.



33. peterws - Arabesque 1
I personally think a slower pace is more indicated for this piece, and also it would have allowed you to play certain parts with more clarity, but it was still a very nice performance.



34. fishandchips - Gnossienne 1
very very interesting. This is a slower interpretation than mine and then most I usually hear. Felt like something new. Enjoyed it a lot.



36. lvojnovic - La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin
so beautiful and soothing. Very well done.



37. Richard (zrtf90) - Danse Macabre
damn this sounded hard, both for the necessary technical skills and the sheer length of the piece.
Well played! Kudos to you for even attempting to tackle it!



39. PianoPerformance - Gnossienne No1
you're being too mean to yourself it was a very nice listening. It's definitely got a few imprecisions but nothing insurmountable if you just work on it a bit more.

Kalos Piano

Thanks for the comments. Concerning Arabesque, well, if i play it slow, i have time to think about what i'm playing. That's when it goes belly up . . .speed is everything! i'm an old cyclist/motorcyclist . . . AND I don't have a teacher to rap my errant knuckles . . . .

Hi, peterws! Since you posted regarding the Arabesque #1, I just wanted to indicate how much I enjoyed your rendition of this piece. Sure, there were missed notes and some lumpy rhythms, but there was such a sense of in-the-moment joy in your approach, a spontaneity that was irresistible. I'd love to hear your approach paired with Arabesque #2 -- it would be the bomb!

Hi,Kalos! Just a quick note to say that I very much enjoyed your performances of Satie and Tiersen, and I especially your accompanying visuals on several of the YouTube postings. Many years back (I'm going to guess about 50 or so), I can remember the Satie Gymnopedies set as background music while still photos of many decrepit buildings in the Paris area were featured, as part of a wordless collage. I can still "feel" the intense melancholy and sadness that it evoked, after all these years. Well, sweaty palms and armpits aside, I appreciate your efforts in this e-Cital -- hey, what's a little bodily odor among friends?

I'm embarrassed not to have yet had a chance to listen to some of the performances in this recital. But I've been busy with making preparations for hosting a home recital for a local piano group, and I'm preparing for two more recitals coming up over the next week. But hopefully after that, things will calm down enough for me to begin listening. For now, I did want to thank all of those who listened to my performance here, and to thank personally those who commented.

Pianoperformance:
Thank you for the kind words. Glad to have inspired!

Ralphiano
Thank you also for the sweet comments. I agree with you: I’m still trying to figure out optimal placement and recording level settings on my Zoom devices. It’s tricky business, because only certain frequencies on either of my two acoustic pianos result in some distortion on my Zoom recorders. Still trying to find a happy medium. And also, the mics on these recorders APPEAR to be compressing the dynamics.

Tubbie0075
I appreciate your kind words and your advice for dealing with the aforementioned limited dynamic range of the Zoom mics. But I don’t know if I can alter my playing technique to accommodate the mics. Shouldn’t the mics instead work around my technique? Haha.

Ganddalf
I’m glad that my interpretation held your interest. I especially take that as a complement, because I know for myself that it is only the interpretive nuances of certain pianist’s playing that keeps me coming back to listen again and again. I like freshness, as long as it appears to be within striking distance of the composer’s intentions.

peterws
Thank you for your kind comments. I look forward to giving your own rendition of this piece a listen, just as soon as I’m able.

Kalos Piano
Thanks for listening to and kindly commenting upon my performance. Regarding your sense that certain sections sound a little rushed, yes, that was indeed my intent. Yet I can see that my interpretation of this piece might not appeal to all. Still, this is but one of my interpretations, as I play this piece and its various sections at a variety of tempi, depending on my mood of the moment. I guess "rushed" was just my mood that day. 😅

Sometimes I think of a mic as the ear of an audience. When we play, we sit right at the piano, and we hear things differently from what an audience would hear from a distance. So, if we play for ourselves, then yes, the mic should accommodate our playing. If we are playing for an audience, then our playing should accommodate the audience (in this case, the mic).

Where to place the mic and how loud the recording level makes a difference in the results. I have yet to find the sweet spot that balances between mic distance and recording volume. I finding that the closer the mic is, the clearer the recording is but my playing will have to be a lot more sensitive. That's because it will pick up every subtle differences. Also, the recording volume would have to be low enough to accommodate loud sections. Because it's close, even 'p' or 'pp' sections sometimes sound like 'mf'. The acoustics in the room also makes a difference. My piano is in a small room and it makes the bass notes loud and blur. Then there's the quality of the mic and what sort of dynamic ranges it can capture. I think if you get a mic that is not built for recording music, then it may tend to "even things out", like recording a speech or an interview, making your playing sounds like mf even when you play 'p' or 'f'.

I'm no sound engineer but I think if we are in an ideal setting for recording (like a proper recording studio with high-end recording equipment and setups), then everything will have to setup in a way that accommodates our playing. If all we have is a regular mic, then our playing will have to accommodate it. The other option is a good for digital piano, like the Roland LX-17, where the piano can record our playing digitally rather than using a mic to record the sound it generates. That's my take on the subject.


Do you use the una coda pedal actively when you play? It helps with exaggerate the dynamic differences.

interesting you picked up on the lumpy rhythms! I've noticed that lately, and don't seem able to steady things out much, either slower or otherwise. On reflection, the way I (tried to) play Fantasie impromptu in comparison to others suggested it's always been there.

And there's me blaming perfectly good keyboards . . .no wonder I can't tell the difference between a good 'un and a bad 'un - my fingers won't talk to each other!

Anybody want a lumpy clumpy piano player ?

31. peterws - Gymnopedie 2
Not so famous as the first Gymnopedie, but a fine piece. I enjoyed your performance. Steady rhythm and dynamics that suits the piece very well.

32. peterws - Gymnopedie 3
Very beautiful! I really enjoyed your performance.

33. peterws - Arabesque 1
Some fine moments in your performance. Particularly I enjoyed the middle part which you shaped beautifully. You balanced the pedal very well throughout the piece.

34. fishandchips - Gnossienne 1
I think you should be very satisfied with your performance of this piece. I think is was well polished.

36. lvojnovic - La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin
This is perhaps the most famous of the Debussy preludes. It is not an easy piece to play because it requires very careful use of the pedal. I think you managed very well. Good dynamics!

37. Richard (zrtf90) - Danse Macabre
This piece was one of the first classical pieces that caught my ear. I’m speaking of the orchestral version, of course, and I had no idea that there was any piano transcription around. I’m impressed by your performance. As expected from my knowledge about the original there are some pretty demanding passages, and you managed to capture the spirit of the piece, I think.

What a wonderful recital! One can hear that the composers have something in common. And thank you for the piece by Lili Boulanger, what an interesting figure.

38. gingko2 - Menuet en Rondeau
Very fine performance of this small baroque piece! Sounded flawless to me, and I think that the instrument suited the music well.

39. PianoPerformance - Gnossienne No1
You play with a beautiful melodic tone. Some small misses do not disturb me. Thanks for sharing!

40. Peter071 - Album Leaf
It was very interesting to hear a second interpretation of this piece. Before this recital it was completely unknown to me. You play with much attention to detail and fine dynamics. I enjoyed your performance.

41. Schubertian - Nouvelles Suites 1728
Thanks for contributing with a baroque piece. I’m not too familiar with French baroque, but you managed to demonstrate some of the delicacy and elegance of this music. It was very nice to listen to your performance.

42. Hector D. Barreto - Menuet from Suite Bergamasque
Suite Bergamasque is best known for “Clair de lune”. But I like the other movements just as much, the menuet being no exception. It’s pretty demanding technically, but I think you did a god job with it. Nice conclusion of the recital!

Thanks for your reply. Some of what you had written got me to rethinking the recording methods I had previously tried. Well, I'm now going to try yet another one: close miking, using two separate condenser mics--one centered over the treble strings and one centered over the bass strings. That is, just as soon as they ship me the second mic!

That's exciting! Let us know how you go with the condenser mic. Will you use it with your Zoom H4n recorder? I might be able to learn something from your experiment.

More comments soon, guys. Sorry for the delay, I've been a bit tied up lately . . . .

1 Richard ZRT90

Lovely! words fail me . . . Bloody delightful . . .D'ya like my tech feedback?

10 PianogriNW

All I hear these days are faultless performances . . . and this sounded superb on that lovely piano of yours . . .

11 Tim Adrianson

Very nice, Tim. Reminds me of a dozen similar tunes, none of which I can name . . . You always play so well. I might have aspirations if I wasn't past my sell by. . .

12 Tim Adrianson

Sounds abstract to me; part of the strange stuff coming in at around the time . . .Art Deco, Impressionism .. . (wrong way round?) But it would make excellent film music. for the right film. I enjoyed it in a strange way! I always envy those who can play this material.

13 Timmyab

Two more strange ones! I guess composers follow trends the same as motor manufacturers . .but sometimes you're left wondering what was in their minds . . .I don't want it in mine. Now Debussy did such wonderful stuff, and if he "progressed" as he got older, then I'm a tad worried . . .Very nice playing, mind!

15 pianogriNW

A nice piece of music, and very nicely played.

just a quick addition in no particular order:


01. Richard (zrtf90) - An Old Musical Box
wow! This was really a surprise. Extremely cute piece, perfect execution.

03. Tim Adrianson - Les Semailles
very nice piece. Again, as far as I can judge on a piece I never heard before, it seemed like a perfect execution to me.

09. Tim Adrianson - Prelude
very interesting and mysterious. One more time, excellent playing.

10. PianogrlNW (Ellen) - Romances Sans Paroles Op 17 No 3
such a peaceful and... well... romantic romance extremely well played. I'm glad to discover all this music that is new to me thanks to these recitals.

38. gingko2 - Menuet en Rondeau
I must admit I don't particularly like the sound of the keyboard, which is strange cos I normally love Kawais. Is it recorded directly from the instrument itself?
Nonetheless, this doesn't take anything away from your performance, which I enjoyed very much.

The music presented in this recital was so outstanding it should be released on a CD! Very impressive. I can only hope to get to the point where I can play as beautifully for others as those in this recital can. I am in no position to critique so will just comment on a few selections.....

01. Richard (zrtf90) - An Old Musical Box That did sound like a fun song to play; it was fun to listen to!

02. SMA55 (Shepherd Abrams) - Arabesque 1 Such a beautiful piece, I could listen to it over and over.

05. Tubbie0075 - La Vallee Des Cloches I’m starting to really like Ravel, especially after seeing Valentina Lisitsa’s performance recently. Ravel is new to me, as is the world of classical music in general. Thanks for playing me something new!

09. Tim Adrianson - Prelude Ravel Prelude – outstanding.

10. PianogrlNW (Ellen) - Romances Sans Paroles Op 17 No 3 THAT was beautiful! I might like to look up this sheet music.

11. Tim Adrianson - A la Maniere de Borodin I think I prefer the prior prelude that you played to this one.

17. Richard (zrtf90) - Intermezzo from Carmen Beautiful piece. Nicely arranged. Although I am nowhere near your level, I too enjoy modifying sheet music, using Muse Score, to suit my needs or help fill in gaps from other (missing) instruments. I think it helps me learn and enjoy the process more.

19. Whizbang (Chris) - Reverie That’s a really pretty piece.

21. Kalos Piano - Comptine d'Une Autre Ete That was really nice. Only 1.5 years experience?

28. PianogrlNW (Ellen) - Album Leaf Very pretty piece. Thanks for your hard work arranging this recital!

29. Cathryn999 - Comptine d'une autre ete Really enjoyed this one!

31. peterws - Gymnopedie 2 Very nicely played.

33. peterws - Arabesque 1 I love this piece!

I'm trying to listen to the rest....