Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Live performance vs. artwork.

Trying to organize my youtube channel and put all my piano compositions there...but I'm stuck on making a decision on whether or not to use artwork as the video..or have my live piano playing as the video. I always record my works live with the video of my playing and share those on FB. But with just the artwork it seems so different. Not as 'distracting.' but I love the live performances. What do you guys think? I could upload both..but it would be just a mess. would rather have 1 raw version of every piece. I could also upload the painting I used for my pieces as the thumbnail and have my live playing as the video. Then have 2 different versions of the final entire project, 1 with live video and other just audio and artwork. What do you guys think?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjfOe7m8C9s here is one of my pieces with just audio.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InAMRgE4PK0 here is it with video. n

Wow you have a new fan.

Oh and if your looking for a vote, I would vote for the art with a link to the YT vid. which is also impressive.

Use the video of you playing. I doubt you'll find many people disagree with that on a piano forum.

Thank you very much Amyram !!This is giving me such bad ocd, I don't know which to choose lol. I'm kind of in favor of the art approach as well. Allows you to focus more on the music itself.

and thank you johnstaf. I think you're right on that hahah. This is what I will most likely do.

+2 Use the video of you playing.

I vote for only using Artwork if it is your original work, else I would rather watch your performance.

Could you do both, mostly art work but from time to time blend smoothly into the live performance, and then back again?

Do you have permission to use the artwork? Still, I think I prefer the video of you playing, it helps to understand the music better for me. I highly recommend that you work on getting better quality audio and video, the music is very good but I found the low quality distracting and some of the subtleties were lost. Perhaps that's why I prefer the video because it helped me get what was being played.

I know you didn't ask, so feel free to ignore this unsolicited advice: I think you have excellent ideas in your composition, but I feel 9 minutes of it is a bit much - not for the length, but for the ideas you present. Great composers of the past were masters at not only coming up with interesting ideas, but also the art of knowing just how much of it to give the listener: too little and you disappoint and frustrate the listener; too much and the interest is lost. It's better to leave the listener a little on the side of wanting to hear more. I hope this comment is helpful

+1! I also thought some of the ideas went on too long. Tantalizing is a lot better than hammering it home so much the viewer reaches for the stop button. Instead keep their interest by moving on to a a different idea before the old one is beaten to death.

Also note that sometimes, there may still be something for you (the composer) to artistically explore further, but for the viewer/listener, it is already enough. Imagine it from the listener's perspective.

(Making this comment in the spirit of helping OP improve!)

I agree with these comments; the content of the video went on far too long.

I think that you need to work on your composition skills a little more if you hope to gain a repeat and captive audience. I blanked out at about the three-minute mark because all I was hearing were endless arpeggios up and down the piano. Some of them were complex and harmonically interesting, but I heard no thematic material and felt no sense of structure and direction to the improvisation.

Take the two arpeggio Etudes by Chopin, for example: Op. 10, No. 1 and Op. 25, No. 12. They are brief, they have distinct melodic content and each moves from beginning to end with a sense of purpose and direction. Not that I want to compare your extemporizing with Chopin's writing, but to suggest that a single idea should be contained, not expanded upon to the point of exhausting the listener.

If that is going to be your style then the interest would be in watching you rather than gazing at a piece of static art work.

Regards,

Thank you for sharing your opinion SuzySue.

Thank you I was thinking of doing something like that, that could be a good idea. Maybe only show my playing when there's something technical, then the rest be a painting. I might do that in future pieces. Thank you for your input QuasiUnaFantasia

Thank you all for your criticisms. This is my 3rd piece of music I ever composed, but that's no excuse, I agree. Even nowadays I hammer points way too long, and I use way too many arpeggios, and especially back then, but it is who I am as a composer. I never grew up on classical music. I listened to music that was technical, but very repetitive. Classical is very very hard to compose because everyone wants constant movement and change, which is ok, but it's just not who I am. I agree this piece could be 'summed' up in a 4 minute etude, but where's the fun in that, sorry. Can't please everyone, especially in classical music, everyone always wants something changed. If it were a 3 minute piece, then people would be yelling why isn't it longer?? But thank you all for your criticism I really do appreciate you taking time out of your day to listen and give me advice. I too have noticed that about my composing as well over the years. I've realized I write better when I write short pieces. When I write long works, I get lost. My more recent pieces have been a little more focused.

"Not that I want to compare your extemporizing with Chopin's writing." Thanks for the insult. This is why I hate these classical forums. I just asked a simple artwork vs video opinion. Everyone's always trying to point out flaws in composition. Tell me instead what the piece made you think of, where it brought you...anything besides composition. Lord almighty.

Most composers who post here appreciate comments on the composition, and consider them helpful whether requested of not.

So if you don’t want any, you might want to include that in your original post.

Or you could ask With video or without? ...Oh wait that was the simple question.

I apologize for overstepping the limits of your question. Go with the video of your playing.

Regards,

I overstepped the question too. Sorry. I vote for the video.

I think better with the picture and the video. It did not sound like leaves to me. It reminded me of aquarium / carnival of the animals. Maybe with a shark breaking in to the aquarium and feeding frenzy. I thought it was good. Good luck with the composing !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sN3Xmnd5cs