BicBic - Mazurka Op.6 No.2
It’s true that Chopin often used Polish folk music motifs, especially in his mazurkas, and though he opposed to “unnecessary embellishments”, the “end product” is neither simple, nor easy to play well, far from it. But I think that you acquit yourself admirably in this performance, preserving the singing character of the piece. Very nicely played!

Rob - Pembrokeshire Promise
Great composition! There is nostalgia in it, but also a sense of solace and dignity. It all sounds like a beautiful anthem in its own right.

  • Rob likes this.

this post has been edited, it was my mistake.

Pathbreaker my goodness! That was lovely! And I loved being able to see your hands and the score. Thank you for sharing this!

Thanks for the nice comments all.

@ShiroKuro Here is the link to the sheet music
https://www.mymusicsheet.com/animenzzz/73691?srsltid=AfmBOoqfttkQ138RiuXU78mqpuBb8DLV1jhzv_MsJVdtLzEST64W6KY6

@Seeker Thanks for the plugin suggestion. I'm happy to enter in a private discussion with you, although be warned that my theoretical knowledge is pretty minimal and I had a lot of input (A LOT) from my teacher who basically helped me set it up from scratch. For the others, I'm using 3 cardioid mics at close range in AB spaced pair formation, 2 pairs of omnidirectionals further back for ambience (again spaced pair), and a large diaphragm condenser mic underneath the piano for extra bass and warmth.

    @Sam very nice!!

    Sam Yes, there are two grand pianos in my music room right now - I am helping a friend who had to move into assisted living and sell her car, house, and piano - very sad. So the extra piano is only temporary until it sells.

    Ahh that must be so hard. You’re kind for helping.

    Rob what a beautiful composition and such beautiful playing!

    I really, really love the composition!

    If you are selling the sheet music, I would buy it.

    • Rob likes this.
    • Edited

    Listened to a few more:

    Peyton — A Dream of Far Away (part two)
    What an interesting piece, as you said very oriental sounding. The instruments, harmonies and percussion work very well together with your actual playing. But around the 2:00 mark I wasn't sure if I had a few snortsies too many... the room positively started swaying. Then I realized it wasn't me, it was you. Just teasing!!!

    keff — Summertime
    A very pretty arrangement of Summertime! I always loved the piece and you did it justice. It's the type of music I hope to be able to play someday... it's like sweetly reminiscing about better times. Thank you!

    Rob — Pembrokeshire Promise
    Such a beautiful, pensive tune. Loved everything about it - including the picture of the castle. Agree, Wales is lovely... "Sut dach chi" (that's the only phrase I know, learned it from a Welsh friend).

    Gooseberry — Nights in White Satin
    I always loved the original by The Moody Blues - and you did it absolute justice. Perfectly played, I enjoyed it so much! That is definitely a piece I'd love to learn someday, so thank you for the inspiration 🙂

      rogerch — Flutter

      Great improv, with a lot of variation in the melody.

      Nightowl — Frankie and Johnnie

      Great job keeping a steady pattern in the bass! The transitions sounded a bit choppy, I would work on those more.

      Peyton — A Dream of Far Away (part two)

      This was a joy to listen to. The accompaniment really added a lot to the sections with repeated notes, but I thought the violin was turned up way too high in the mix and drowned out much of the piano.

      iternabe — Malagueña

      You nailed this one, especially the changing dynamics and keeping the chords even.

        iternabe Malagueña < - Fabulously done! The lessons are paying off big time.

        Sophia Sophia + Special Guest Star < - The piano performance is exceptional on its own, adding in the rest makes it one of the better submissions I've seen so far.

        rach3master rach3master < - Smoothly performed. I'm usually not a fan of anime soundtracks. They don't seem to be much more than noise sometimes, as the very disruptive sounding section starting around 3:45 bears witness, but this arrangement on the whole was better than most. Better still, the performance was very smooth. Things like the change of the melody from hand to hand were nearly imperceptible. I actually listened to this one twice and, as I said, I'm not really a fan of anime soundtracks. It really is that good.

        plop_symphony Arnold Lau < - Short and sweet but it shows off your skills.

        Player1 Player1 < - Sigh This guy...

        MarieJ MarieJ < - Beautiful. The montage was humbling through the illustration of how much you really wanted to learn how to play but couldn't seem to get past the "traditional" methods (and extremely terrible) music foisted off on students. Finding a genre which appealed to you enough that you could push through the "perpetual beginner" phase was the key.

        Well, I'm done for today. So far this recital is a huge change from past ones here and on that other website in the quality of the submissions. There are a few of the pieces I've listened to so far that I'd be overjoyed to be able to play to the same standard some day, they are that good. Everyone has done a superb job! I will listen and comment as time and my body permits on the rest.

        Pathbreaker Op. 116 No. 6, Intermezzo in E major - Brahms

        The romantic era at its best. Very delightfully played, Mr. Brahms. Thank you for sharing.

        Sgisela oh my goodness!! That was wonderful!! I’m not familiar with this composer or this piece, but the music and your playing captured my heart!!!

        Gooseberry that was lovely! And the sentimentality came through in your playing in the best possible way!!

          Calavera Antipyretic by Hitoshi Sakimoto

          Your anime film music is always a pleasure to listen to. In both forums. This one is no exception, lots of dynamic changes building up drama to an apex, softening down again, creating this cinematic mood. Still, I am not into anime my entire life, I appreciate it when I get to see a movie but usually the a****n-prime algorithm offers me other stuff to see. Well, this does not matter, when I am done with learning the basics, I definitely want to try out some pieces of your preferred genre. And if the time is ready I know whom to ask for a recommendation for a entry level beginner piece 😉. Thank you for sharing this wonderful tune!

          plop_symphony Thanks for sharing this. Such a fun little piece and well played! It also looks fun to play with hand overs. But I am sure it is harder than it looks. So probably out of reach to me (for years) but I am bookmarking the score for future. Thanks again.

          Player1 great to see your entry here. I hope you will get back your usual practice routine back. I've enjoyed listening this piece. Reminds me some eastern melodies. This piece actually sounds really nice. I am not sure if I want to follow Faber 3B after finishing AIO2. But I think I should get it just to pick and choose pieces like this one.

          MarieJ I enjoy listening Einaudi and this one was no exception. It is more than six minutes long! I am always impressed when people play so smoothly for such a long time. Well played. Thanks for sharing.

          Pathbreaker that is so impressive. That score has so much ink 🙂 And it sounds as impressive as it looks. Thanks for sharing.

          Calavera I agree that is a great title. I spent good chunk of my life with games but never involved with Final Fantasy somehow. But it keeps popping up everywhere. Anyhow, you have played this wonderfully. From what hear, I guess it is quite advanced. And this is one of your shorter gems? It is three and a half minute! Well done.

          WieWaldi See you are doing it again. You are making it look easy peasy. I've started to appreciate the difficulty only after attempting to follow very basic blues lessons. It is difficult in a completely different way! Christian says "We are just playing simple chords with blues scale". Yea.. right. It just has this horrible syncopation, triplets, big chord jumps, funny slides etc. OK. I will stop ranting. Well done on this piece. And thanks for your blues support in PT.

            Sophia Thank you.

            Sam Schumann op 15-6 - "An Important Event" from the Scenes from Childhood

            I played your version in 1.25x speed and of course at normal speed, too. In my humble opinion the normal speed sounded way better, nothing wrong with that. If you hadn't written it is under tempo, I would have never realized by my own. Your playing is very expressive and I can only
            say the piece is very good performed as it is.
            Sad to read about your friends situation. This will happen to all of us and it is good to have a friend like you, helping out in her distress. If she is still able to play her piano, you could do a duet with her, or maybe someone else? How often do you have the possibility to play 2 grand pianos in one music room?

            • Sam replied to this.

              bSharp that’s was wonderful!!! Very nice arrangement and very, very nicely played!! And it was the perfect combination of the original (which I can sing along with 100%, takes me back to junior high!!!) and also the pianistic qualities we want in a solo piece. Lovely!!

              I need to get a collection of Dan Coats arrangements, all the ones I’ve heard have been really nice.

              Listening to this recital is gonna cost me a lotta money… 😅

              SalmonJack Just Mist by SalmonJack

              Very lovely and musically. I think your playing is quite well and I really enjoyed to listen to it. So nice your music is, the thing that baffled me more, is how you managed to create the video with the spray bottle following the notes. Well, it is not about the spray bottle itself; it is how you did the perfect synchronization with the music. Is there a tool, or a software addon or did you just put a lot of manual effort into your video editing? If I think about my editing software, I have no clue how to realize that. Maybe one way could work, but that is a lot of hard work and very error prone, too.
              I find it also interesting, you wrote:

              SalmonJack The more I played, the worse I played.

              This happens to me all the time, especially when the camera is watching me. Either one of the 1st takes is good or it gets worse all the time. I usually start very musical, play freely but make some random mistakes. And then do a retake and pay attention to make the same mistake not again. But then another one happens. And the more I repeat, the more robotic my performance sounds until I have one recording without a major mistake. I am not sure if it wouldn't be better to use a musical and enjoyable recording with a few mistakes over a unmusical, but error free one.

              navindra that was great!! Fantastic playing and a very nice arrangement. And your piano sounds great!

              The perfect way to close out the recital!!
              ❤️🎶❤️🎶❤️