PianoTell Recital #1 Is Now Live!

rsl12 You are right! The band named themselves after the book! I've never read it. Is it any good? Since you read them all, I assume the answer is yes!

I liked it when I read it over 50 years ago when I was just out of college. "Revenge of the Lawn" was my favorite and I also liked "Confederate General from Big Sur".

navindra Thank you for the compliments. StaffPad allows you to use a stylus directly on a recent iPad or a compatible Windows tablet. The recognition is pretty good, but there is a learning curve in adjusting to what StaffPad requires, as it doesn't actually "learn" from the user. There are some quirks for which I and others have had to develop some workarounds. In general, StaffPad is not designed as a full-fledged music notation program; more properly, it's a musical sketchpad. You don't have a whole lot of control over the pagination or the general layout, but you can produce a serviceable document as a PDF. It would be perfectly fine, say, for giving to studio musicians or band/orchestra members. It's just not a completely professional look, and any publisher would want/have it redone in an application such as Finale, etc. for publication.

navindra I feel like lately many people are making the leap to tablets for sheet music. Maybe I should as well?

You haven't yet?? I'm very surprised. I think you will like it!

navindra Sgisela Mindblowing! I really loved the fast-paced rhythm and how you brought this piece alive musically.

The video is very well done! I had no idea the plush doll was a special effect until it changed... what software do you use? How much work was it to blend it in like that? I really loved all the imagery on this, it really contributed to my enjoyment of the piece.

And wow, that piano sings! That voice could bring one to tears. I love that bass.

Absolutely riveting performance! Bravo!

Thanks, @navindra ! About the video, I used iMovie. I don’t have any special skills with video editing, but the program make it quite easy to do this king of editing. I also used Dall-E to generate some of the toy graphics, but the nutcracker was available for purchase on Amazon, and the advert had pics from different angles.

Rob Sunday Morning - The music, image and composition title are just perfect. I can't think of a better Sunday morning.

diretonic Borrowed Blues - Love it! You're also keeping alive the time honored musical tradition of borrowing it from Dr. John who borrowed the style from another 'cat'.

Rubens @Josephine Waltz Op. 70 no. 2 - Impressive collaboration! It sure sounded seamless to me. Bravo to both of you.

Serge88 Misty - That's an interesting arrangement. I've never heard one with a solo section included and I love that smooth ending that you played so well.

twocats Rustle of Spring - Beautiful. I first heard this piece in a movie years ago, but have rarely heard it since. Thank you for sharing it.

navindra Bluebird - I loved the way the video came about. It reminds me of some of the more casual settings in Alexis Ffrench music videos I've seen on YouTube. You did an outstanding job of playing the piece and appearing calm and unfazed by all the distractions going on around you.

Thank you for putting this recital together and also starting Piano Tell forum. Your skills that probably make the technical side of the work easy or at least pleasantly engaging for you. The 'herding cats' part can't be easy, but you seem to calmly take it in stride at the same time.

navindra Thank you! I used the C. Bechstein on Pianoteq. I chose it as my free instrument over the Steinways!

navindra Thanks Nav, but I'm confused when you imply that you are working from a level 1 book, because your playing is very advanced and I thought that you've been playing for several years? Do you currently play by ear or are you just bushing up on the basics?
I'm pleased with the sound quality on my recording, as my previous recordings sounding very muffled, but I managed to adjust the microphone setting on my laptop and it seemed to do the trick. (This was an achievement for me - I'm not exactly a tech wizard! )

Nightowl Thanks Nav, but I'm confused when you imply that you are working from a level 1 book, because your playing is very advanced and I thought that you've been playing for several years?

Same here. @navindra, I was always assuming you play for 15 years or more... something like that... And you have a lot of good videos uploaded that won't sound like someone playing only 5 years.

navindra And only now have I realized the tactical error I made... instead of focusing completely on a piece for weeks or months at a time, I should have employed interleaved and spaced practice methods.

Same error here. I was thinking from the beginning if I learn just a piece, this will provide me with so many technical challenges during learning that I get the basics from alone. After 7 months in total, I played a beginner version of the Entertainer, and I was very proud of it. But I couldn't play anything else. Everything was baked into my muscle memory and I couldn't read the notes properly. I scribbled a ton of note names into my sheet music.
After finishing the Entertainer, I was so frustrated how big long it would take to learn a new piece because I realized I had no proper technique, and it would take ages again. Then I stopped playing due to frustration and picked it up 1¹/₂ years later with the Beginner's Blues Course from Christian. Still, the Entertainer is my most difficult piece or exercise I ever played.

Btw: I can't play the Entertainer today anymore. Forgot everything and muscle memory got deleted.

navindra I'm thinking I should learn an Einaudi piece... any recommendations for a first piece?

Give Nuvole Bianche a try