Performer: Navindra Umanee in the USA. On and off piano lessons since September 2019.
Piece: Over The Rainbow by Harold Arlen & Yip Harburg arr. by Willard A. Palmer, Morton Manus, and Amanda Vick Lethco
Comment Policy: Critical Comments: Anything goes! Strong honest feedback helps me.

Source of music: Alfred's Basic Adult All-in-One Course, Book 1
Instrument: Estonia Model L168
Recording method: The piano was tuned using the amazing Grand CyberHammer with the equally mind-blowing pianoscope app. Unfortunately, Seattle hit a cold spell, which impacted the humidity and my tuning a little. I used close miking with the Audix SCX25APS system mounted on the Mirizio Microphone Mount, feeding into a TASCAM Portacapture X8 portable recorder. iZotope RX 10 Standard was used to attenuate the sustain pedal thumps via De-plosive, the tracks were mixed with Audacity, and a touch of reverb was added with Logic Pro using Space Designer’s Piano Warmth preset. The video was created with various generations of Sony Alpha mirrorless cameras and Final Cut Pro.
Additional info: The original song itself is a relatively simple one, so I was surprised that I enjoyed learning the Alfred arrangement as much as I did. I realize the performance could have been better, but this was the best I could do in time for the recital. I snuck in a triplet in there for fun! 🎶

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Beach L168, Wish, baCh, WOW Petrof, Fake Steinway, VS
TIME

    Wooo hoooo!!! Congratulations everyone, this looks to be a fabulous recital!!! (also, congrats to me for sliding in just under the deadline. 🙂

    And as always, THANK YOU @navindra -- for this recital of course, but also for this site!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

    I'm looking forward to listening! 🙂

      iternabe Nice job! A detail for watchers who may be playing the same piece - note that I've got him changing fingers on the repeated E's, first one is about 10 seconds in. Some of the chord fingerings are different than what is printed, too. Generally, we're working to help get familiarity with how the keyboard feels and to be able to move up and down it without tension. Go, Iternabe!

        • Kkeff

        • Post #31

        Rob Bravo. A gorgeous composition.

        • Rob likes this.

          rach3master Beautifully played on a gorgeous instrument. Lots of passion and intensity, and, yes, there will be, and are, extraneous noises that come with playing an acoustic piano. They are typically inaudible to a live audience even 6' away, but when we record, they make themselves known. I did like the spatial orientation of your recording, i.e., treble was coming at my right ear, bass at my left, just like when I sit at the piano. I'm interested in your recording technique and set-up. This is probably the wrong place to discuss. Could we do that in a private discussion? For here, I think people would find it useful to see where you placed your microphones and which ones were used where. Also, I can recommend a plug-in from Ozone, the "Spatializer" that I use to widen the sound stage. Used tastefully, I think it enhances the listening experience. Again, beautifully done.

            navindra

            Nice playing Navindra. Very smooth and melodic. The recording and the piano also sound great! You had me wondering about the "Grand CyberHammer". I always tuned my acoustic and wondered why no one had invented some kind of micro-electronic tuning hammer and thought maybe it had finally arrived! 🙂 I guess not yet. My technician used to tell me it was not possible. I suppose he is right but...still.

                navindra Wow, nice playing on a very well tuned piano. The microphones sounded great. I wonder, if your TASCAM has an extra input, if you put a 3rd mic about 7' high some distance from the piano, say 6' or more, to give you some room sound in the recording might enhance things. Not sure about the pedal thumps, maybe something that could be minimized by your tech. I heard no damper swoosh at all which is great considering the close microphones.

                    • rsl12

                    • Post #35

                    When Sophia approached me with the idea of doing a duet, I liked the idea but was hesitant. I felt possibly too busy to prepare properly. But I told my 12-yr old about it, and she offered me $5 to see the finished video! So even though my performance was not great, at least I get a commission! Also the star of the piece is the piano player, who continues to show off her great musicality!

                      My 5 comments of the day:

                      rogerch Flutter by rogerch - WoW!! What a nice piece, very well put together improv.

                      Nightowl Frankie and Johnnie - Super well done! I'm amazed at how far you've come in 14 months.

                      Peyton Peyton - The accompaniment track really makes this one take off. It has a very movie soundtrack feel. If I remember correctly I said the same about one of your other improv's.

                      Animisha To a wild rose by Edward MacDowell - Sweet. A very lyrical piece inspiring visions of rolling hills and wildflowers everywhere.

                      keff Summertime, originally from Porgy and Bess by G. Gershwin - Not a bad piece. Maybe a bit slow in tempo but I've done a lot worse than how this turned out. You can certainly be proud of your performance, just don't let it go to your head. 😄

                      That's all for now. I'll try to listen to more submissions tomorrow and the days to come in between doctor visits and stuff.

                                  rsl12 When Sophia approached me with the idea of doing a duet, I liked the idea but was hesitant. I felt possibly too busy to prepare properly. But I told my 12-yr old about it, and she offered me $5 to see the finished video!

                                  So we have your daughter to thank for this! @Sophia what an amazing idea to create a duet! rsl12 I can definitely hear an improvement in your singing from last year, and I love the showmanship in your body language and the unexpected melodica solo. You were both so great!

                                    Animisha This is one of my favorite pieces that I've ever learned, and from start to finish I thoroughly enjoyed your interpretation. Well done!

                                      BicBic I'm not as familiar with Chopin's mazurkas, but maybe I'll need to look into them because I enjoyed this! Well done on dynamics, both the dynamic range (crescendos and decrescendos), and the appropriate contrast between left and right hands.

                                        WieWaldi I do enjoy my Christian from Berlin! Nice interpretation of his arrangement. Some of these can have tricky interactions between the left and right hands but you made it look easy.

                                          navindra I love this song and it's on my "someday" list to learn a good arrangement. I like this one, and you played it very nicely. Sweet and soothing.

                                              ShiroKuro I'd never heard this piece before, but I really dig it. A little haunting, a little mysterious. Pretty cool! And very nicely played.

                                                rogerch — Flutter
                                                Another lovely piece of improvisation - you always set the bar high for the rest of us. 🙂 (On a side note - how's that picture in the attic faring these days?)
                                                Peyton — A Dream of Far Away (part two)
                                                That piece would not be out of place as the score to an epic film - your talent blows my mind. The bar just moved from high to the upper stratosphere, where mere mortals cannot breathe.
                                                Animisha — To a Wild Rose
                                                That was beautifully played and very relaxing to listen to.
                                                keff — Summertime
                                                A lovely arrangement of a timeless classic. The video was quite spooky and atmospheric and you played the piece smoothly.
                                                iternabe — Malagueña
                                                Your playing is relaxed and competent, you've made impressive progress in your first year of playing.
                                                Sophia & @rsl12 — Just a "Good Old Tune"
                                                What a great performance from you and RSL12 - this was worth the wait! 🤩 I've no idea how you managed to piece together your separate performances in such a seamless manner - your technical skills are as impressive as your piano playing! I love the innovation you bring to recitals, we never know what you'll do next, but it's always enjoyable. 🙂
                                                rach3master — Call of Silence: Attack on Titan OST
                                                Yes, you truly are the Rach3master! Very impressive playing! 🙂

                                                More comments will follow in due course.

                                                "Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)

                                                                rogerch that was absolutely lovely! Very peaceful but also with a nice sense of direction.

                                                                    rogerch Flutter by rogerch

                                                                    What a wonderful and lighthearted tune. And you played it so relaxed. There is no denying, you are doing improvisations for a long time. They were great in the last renditions and they are still getting better. The sky is you limit.

                                                                        Congratulations everyone! It looks like an wonderful recital.
                                                                        I will try not to be shy this time and leave as many comments as I can.

                                                                        rogerch your improvisation sounds great as usual. This is my end goal here. I don't think I will get there. But sure I will try.

                                                                        Nightowl I think you have improved a lot! I assume this is an Alfred 2 arrangement. It doesn't sound bad at all! I have a feeling that forum peeps are underrating Alfred pieces a lot.

                                                                        Peyton wow, that is amazing. I've ended up watching some more videos from your youtube. Also saw paintings in your website. I think my little engineer brain has an art overflow now. Things I hear and see are all amazing!

                                                                        Animisha this was very enjoyable to listen. It definitely sounds like a lovely piece to practice. I am putting it into my list of pieces to learn.

                                                                        keff my beginner ears don't hear any slips. I was not familiar with Gershwin's Summertime. Now I think it is a beautiful piece and played very well here.

                                                                        iternabe oh... this piece sounds wonderful. I will look forward it. But I don't think I will ever match your level of dynamics, articulations here.

                                                                        Sophia & @rsl12 oh my... I was not expecting this duet at all! Magnificent collaboration. I am glad I got to hear it. This sounds so fun. I just have a big grin here 🙂 Thank you both.

                                                                        rach3master well... you were not kidding about intensity. I am sorry about mechanical issues. But this sounds incredible! It really sounds like a professional recording to my untrained ears. Well done.