Curious does anyone play the piano

[Ken Natton]

My strong feeling is that it is unlikely that anyone is actually interested in this, but the files I mentioned, old recordings of mine, that were about demonstrating the expressive possibilities of the Yamaha silent piano are now posted on SoundClick and can be found at SoundClick.com/kennatton. I am very grateful to ThomasT for directing me to that site, it is worth checking out for some of the stuff on there. Some of the things I have particularly liked there: One piece called Kiss the Rain by Piana; another called Song for Owen by Robb McCormick; and a performance of a Chopin Nocturne by a German guy called Peter Aberle. They can all be found in the Acoustic Piano chart. You can also hear Peter Aberle playing that same Bach 2 part invention I posted at a pace considerably above that at which I played it! I hesitate for this to seem too much like mutual backslapping, but ThomasT is also to be found in the chart and perhaps the best thing I can say about Thomas’s music is to reiterate what I already said – I am not in his class.

 

[WatermelonPig]

I'm in the process of relearning the keyboards after 4 years of not playing.

 

[elabed haidar]

I'm in the process of relearning the keyboards after 4 years of not playing.

hope you get back , cuase i really know how you feel these days

 

[ThomasT]

To make it easier to access the pieces that Ken posted at soundclick, here are some direct links:
On Golden Pond
Evergreen
Bach 2 Part Invention No. 13

I really enjoyed listening to Ken's playing. Hopefully he will post more as he finds time. And hopefully other readers of this thread and keyboard enthusiasts will post some of their stuff as well.

 

[ThomasT]

I'm in the process of relearning the keyboards after 4 years of not playing.

I think I can empathize with your situation. I hadn't played much in, oh, the last 5 or 6 years or so. I didn't even bother bringing my keyboards to Florida. Just gave them to friends. Then I got sick some months ago and a friend gave me a Casio portable, and it sort of rekindled my interest in learning. Not surprisingly, I've forgotten a lot of passages from specific tunes, even though the technique still seems to be mostly there. But it will be fun to get back up to speed and then see what I can learn beyond that.

Are you working on technical exercises, etc. mostly, or are you working through, learning certain pieces?

Anyway, it's exciting, eh? Have fun, and when you get something down that you like, then record it and post it so we can listen to it.

 

[Jonathan Scott]

Havant Symphony Orchestra's informal evening of concerto items went very well last night, including my Rachmaninoff contribution.

I got a recording of the whole evening by leaving my Zoom H1 handy recorder on at the back of the hall, which produced a surprisingly good quality recording apart from some occasional rather noticeable creaking seats in the audience.

My Rachmaninoff 2nd piano concerto 1st movement was easily recognizable enough to keep the audience and orchestra very happy, despite having had only one play-through a couple of weeks ago to prepare, no proper rehearsal and no chance to warm up on the piano in the concert hall! I didn't have any major accidents although I sometimes got just a little ahead of the orchestra in my enthusiasm. A horn came in early near the end, producing a dreadful semitone clash for a few seconds, but otherwise the recording sounds quite plausible. I hope to be able to post some or all of it on the web soon.

 

[ThomasT]

Havant Symphony Orchestra's informal evening of concerto items went very well last night, including my Rachmaninoff contribution.

I got a recording of the whole evening by leaving my Zoom H1 handy recorder on at the back of the hall, which produced a surprisingly good quality recording apart from some occasional rather noticeable creaking seats in the audience.

My Rachmaninoff 2nd piano concerto 1st movement was easily recognizable enough to keep the audience and orchestra very happy, despite having had only one play-through a couple of weeks ago to prepare, no proper rehearsal and no chance to warm up on the piano in the concert hall! I didn't have any major accidents although I sometimes got just a little ahead of the orchestra in my enthusiasm. A horn came in early near the end, producing a dreadful semitone clash for a few seconds, but otherwise the recording sounds quite plausible. I hope to be able to post some or all of it on the web soon.

Congratulations Jonathan, and fantastic that you got some video/audio that you can eventually post.

 

[mishrashubham]

Hey Thomas! Please post the link to your soundclick profile. I couldn't find you there.

 

[Jonathan Scott]

Congratulations Jonathan, and fantastic that you got some video/audio that you can eventually post.

This time it's audio only. For now, I've put my Rach 2 play-through on an unlinked page on the orchestra website, here:

http://www.havantorchestras.hampshire.org.uk/extracts.php"

It's just like being at a live performance in a community hall, complete with creaking chairs, coughing audience and the occasional accident. I didn't get a chance to warm up either, so some of my playing is a bit flaky and most of it is a bit heavy.

We are an amateur orchestra (no-one except the leader is a professional orchestral player, although some are music teachers), but I think the results were still mostly pretty good, if somewhat heavy and a bit sluggish in places.

I'm hoping to get permission to publish more excerpts or other whole items from the evening, in which case that page will probably change URL and end up linked from the relevant concert page.

I must say I'm impressed with the Zoom H1 Handy Recorder, which is a self-contained stereo recorder, about the size of a candy bar, that can record to WAV or MP3 files. I just stuck it on a small stand near the back of the hall before the concert and turned it on, then picked it up at the end nearly 3 hours later.

 

[ThomasT]

This time it's audio only. For now, I've put my Rach 2 play-through on an unlinked page on the orchestra website, here:

http://www.havantorchestras.hampshire.org.uk/extracts.php"

It's just like being at a live performance in a community hall, complete with creaking chairs, coughing audience and the occasional accident. I didn't get a chance to warm up either, so some of my playing is a bit flaky and most of it is a bit heavy.

We are an amateur orchestra (no-one except the leader is a professional orchestral player, although some are music teachers), but I think the results were still mostly pretty good, if somewhat heavy and a bit sluggish in places.

I'm hoping to get permission to publish more excerpts or other whole items from the evening, in which case that page will probably change URL and end up linked from the relevant concert page.

I must say I'm impressed with the Zoom H1 Handy Recorder, which is a self-contained stereo recorder, about the size of a candy bar, that can record to WAV or MP3 files. I just stuck it on a small stand near the back of the hall before the concert and turned it on, then picked it up at the end nearly 3 hours later.

Jonathan, I just listened to the recording. Wow, you have some wonderful musicians there. It was beautiful. Surprisingly clear considering what you recorded it with. Your playing comes through fairly clearly. It's fluid and dynamic. I don't know enough about the piece to critique anything ... it was just really enjoyable for me to listen to. I got shivers in some spots. Thanks for posting this. It will be interesting to revisit the Havant Orchestra web site.

 

[ThomasT]

Hey Thomas! Please post the link to your soundclick profile. I couldn't find you there.

Hi mishrashhubham. Here's a direct link to the profile page:
http://www.soundclick.com/members/default.cfm?member=ThomasTrotter

From the profile page you can access tunes on my 'stations' (there's a link on the left side of the profile page which says 'view my stations', which are composed of others' music at soundclick that I liked). Be sure to check those out. There's some really cool stuff there. I was just sort of getting started making stations when I got sick a few months ago, but plan to continue with it in the near future.

Here's a direct link to my music page(es):
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=221726&content=music

From the first music page you should see a link to the profile page on the left hand side.

Thanks for the interest. Have you got anything posted anywhere that we can check out?

 

[mishrashubham]

You have got amazing music there Thomas. it is really enjoyable listening to your music.

Thanks for the interest. Have you got anything posted anywhere that we can check out?

Well I just started with piano so my playing won't be worth posting online. Anyways the recordings that I do have (saved in my digital keyboard) are not stored in my PC due to lack of decent recording equipment or an midi cable. I would have tried noise cancellation in Audacity but it leaves distinctive shrill (soft but noticable) at some places.

 

[elabed haidar]

wowwwwwwwwwww seems to me that you guys have played for a long time

 

[ThomasT]

You have got amazing music there Thomas. it is really enjoyable listening to your music.

Thanks, glad you enjoyed some of it.

Well I just started with piano so my playing won't be worth posting online.

If you just started, then the most important thing is to get a practice plan/schedule and stick to it. But recording your progress can be beneficial.

Anyways the recordings that I do have (saved in my digital keyboard) are not stored in my PC due to lack of decent recording equipment or an midi cable.

The keyboards I used allowed me to record and store up to 6 tracks per tune, and up to 5 tunes simultaneously. I would then record a tune from the keyboard to the computer via the stereo line out jack on the keyboard to the stereo line in jack on the computer. (I should note here that the solo piano stuff is just one track from start to finish in real time, and sometimes I'd do a fade in and/or out. The other, ensemble, tunes consist of tracks also done in real time, each track over whatever preexisting stuff had been laid down, and then, when a tune was complete, recorded to the computer.) I used a little (free) program called LP recorder to record from the keyboard to the computer. As long as you watch your distortion levels you should get absolutely pristine, noise free .wav file recordings into your computer. From there you can do post production with Audacity or some other music editing software (I used Cool Edit Pro 2), and then make music cds, or compress the .wavs to mp3 for posting on the internet.

I would have tried noise cancellation in Audacity but it leaves distinctive shrill (soft but noticable) at some places.

I don't understand the need for the noise cancellation. What's happening?

What kind of keyboard do you have?

 

[mishrashubham]

If you just started, then the most important thing is to get a practice plan/schedule and stick to it. But recording your progress can be beneficial.

Sure. After learning Indian Classical for six years, I wanted to learn some western music and decided I would start with piano.

I don't understand the need for the noise cancellation. What's happening?

What kind of keyboard do you have?

It is a normal digital keyboard. You see I don't have any cables to connect my keyboard and my computer. And recording is not an option since I don't have pro microphones, so there is a lot of background noise.

 

[ThomasT]

Sure. After learning Indian Classical for six years, I wanted to learn some western music and decided I would start with piano.

Fantastic. So you're already a musician. I love Indian music.

It is a normal digital keyboard. You see I don't have any cables to connect my keyboard and my computer. And recording is not an option since I don't have pro microphones, so there is a lot of background noise.

If it's a digital keyboard, then it should have a line out port, or usb port, in addition to the midi port. I'm curious to know the make and model of the keyboard. If it's just a matter of cables, you can buy those for a few dollars.

 

[mishrashubham]

Fantastic. So you're already a musician.

Well I wouldn't call myself that.

I love Indian music.

I am glad you like it.

If it's a digital keyboard, then it should have a line out port, or usb port, in addition to the midi port. I'm curious to know the make and model of the keyboard. If it's just a matter of cables, you can buy those for a few dollars.

It is a basic Yamaha NPv60 (the fully weighted keyed ones are way too expensive). It does have those ports but I don't have the cables. I will have to take out some time and buy one of those.

 

[ThomasT]

It is a basic Yamaha NPv60 (the fully weighted keyed ones are way too expensive). It does have those ports but I don't have the cables. I will have to take out some time and buy one of those.

That's a nice keyboard. It's very much like the ones that I composed a lot of my tunes on. I think I might get one.

Anyway, you have all the necessary jacks/ports. And you can record multiple tracks in your keyboard using the keyboard's built in sequencer. All you need to do is spend just a few dollars on cables/adapters and you can record to your computer absolutely noise free.

Problem solved?

 

[leroyjenkens]

I was going to buy a cheap keyboard on ebay to learn how to play the piano. Pianos have like 88 keys, right? Well the keyboard I want to get only has 61. Will that make a difference? I want to be able to transition my keyboard skills to a piano.

 

[Ken Natton]

I don’t believe the smaller keyboard will be that much of a problem Leroy, particularly in the earlier days of getting to grips with playing, the fact that you are without the extremes of the keyboard is unlikely to matter. My greater concern would be the matter of technique, and in that regard, I suppose it would depend on what you want to achieve. To develop high level ‘classical’ piano technique, you would pretty much need to learn on an acoustic piano. Even an old upright with not that great a tone would be a better option than an electronic keyboard. There are, of course, some wonderful keyboard players out there who learned on and have only ever played on electronic keyboards. I am not, for one moment suggesting that they could not play an acoustic piano. For many types of music, they could play one very well. But there are other types of music that would be likely to expose weaknesses in their technique. The point of course, is that those types of music are what they would be unlikely to want to play. That is what I mean by – it depends on what you want to achieve.

 

[ThomasT]

I was going to buy a cheap keyboard on ebay to learn how to play the piano. Pianos have like 88 keys, right? Well the keyboard I want to get only has 61. Will that make a difference? I want to be able to transition my keyboard skills to a piano.

I agree with what Ken Natton said about this. If it's a matter of budget, you might want to wait a bit longer, pay a bit more, and get something that you'll be much happier with and will serve your purpose better.

I found this on the internet:
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Williams-Allegro-88-Key-Digital-Piano-106063399-i1551911.gc

I was surprised to find a weighted, hammer-action digital piano in this price range. The reviews by owners are generally quite good. What do you think?

 

[leroyjenkens]

Thanks for the responses. Right now I just want to get started on learning to play. I may purchase an actual piano within the next few years. There's an electric keyboard on ebay that this company sells for about 60$ including shipping. That's pretty cheap. Their feedback is pretty good and I've bought a guitar from them before and it was nice for how cheap it was (20$). So I may go ahead and get that one from them and maybe later buy a more expensive keyboard. The keyboard in your link is a little too expensive for me right now. I need to stay under 100$. And when I get started, learn how to play a bit, and realize that I like playing the piano, I'll invest in a higher quality one, like the one in your link, Thomas.
If this 61 key keyboard is alright to start with, I think I'll go with that. Thanks.