So, I've been busy again...

JCitron

Trainzing since 12-2003
Here's a couple more piano pieces I've been working on.

Baumfelder (1836 - 1916) Coral Polonaise
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mdelaw5txlbomu5/Baumfelder Coral Polonaise.mp3?dl=0


Mozart, Romance (There is no Köchel number provided.)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6ttupvsl9bvys4z/Mozart - Romance.mp3?dl=0

These recordings are created digitally using a Roland LX-17 digital piano that's driven by Modartt's Pianoteq software. www.modartt.com instead of using the built-in piano sound. Modartt's Pianoteq software utilizes mathematical models of actual piano sounds and is run from my nearby desktop PC that is connected to my digital piano via the USB port and audio cable from the soundcard to the line-in on the piano. What is meant by mathematical modeling is the piano sound is recorded then digitally represented using math formulas.

Unlike sampled instruments, which are bulky and are limited in their sound to what was captured by microphones, and to what the sound engineers could do with the recording, a mathematically modeled instrument is quite small but can have numerous variations by changing parameters to create many iterations similar to reskinning or the numbering scripts used for road names and numbers. This technology is quite common in today's most of the top-brand digital instruments because so much more can be done with it. The difference here is Modartt has taken this one step further and they've been at it since the early 1990s.

An instrument file, such as the instrument used here, is only a few kilobytes instead of hundreds of megabytes. That's KB instead of MB! Within the Pianoteq software, parameters can be adjusted such as the condition of the instrument, the tuning and adjustment of single notes, mic location, or even the environment where the piano is located, and this only scratches the surface! I've barely used even a smidge of these functions.

The piano here is a Bechstein DG concert grand. This is a 273 cm grand piano that normally costs about $200,000. My digital version cost me $63 and I have many variants. This particular instrument is the "Recording 3" that I have modified slightly to add a bit more reverb to it. In addition to this instrument, I have many others including antiques such as a Broadwood grand from 1790, a Conrad Graf from 1830, three modern Steinways, as well as pianos by Steingraeber, Petrof and so many others. Their software versions of these particular pianos is approved and licensed by the companies they represent. All and all it's great playing on some of the greatest and most famous concert grands even from the comfort of my practice room.

Why am I using my digital piano and not using my real Vogel 177T grand? A question asked by so many people. The answer is simple. Noise. I live in a wicked noisy neighborhood with lots of heavy traffic, school buses, people in my house, phones ringing, and parrots. If I were to record myself playing, I would have to edit furiously and fruitlessly to rid the recordings of noise, and then there's no guaranty I can do that well enough to create anything acceptable. I do prefer the real deal, but with my digital instrument, I can do this kind of work without the chaos and confusion creeping in all the time.
 
The digital version very sounds very nice.
I didn't finish piano lessons when I was young. I'd have to start all over.
But I did try to imagine what your fingers and hands were doing while listening to the recording.
Nicely done.
 
Awesome stuff John! I took piano three times in my life and dropped it each time for different reasons. I always wanted to play it, but now I can hardly work two hands at once on the keyboard. :confused:
 
I want to thank you all for the compliments! :D This has been a long journey as I work through each piece carefully and accurately. My old, now late teacher, would be proud of me as I work S L O W L Y
through each piece before bringing it up to its proper tempo.

To answer some of your questions...

The reason why I chose MP3 instead of OGG or FLK formats is because I chose the best of evils. I had tried these other formats and some people had difficulty loading them, so I went with the tried and true. The Pianoteq software writes out .WAV format, and really huge files at that, so bringing them down to MP3 is best compromise to keep the sound okay as well as the the compatibility.

Yes, this is a lot of work. As I mentioned above, each piece is practiced slowly as I strive for accuracy. Once the piece is under the fingers with the time and fingering worked out, I work on the next level like building a mountain with wireframe underneath. What is meant about this, is with the notes under the fingers, I can then work on the expression, tempo, and subtleties without worrying about what the fingers have to do. It's like turning on a car and going without worrying about the cylinders in the engine, because the muscle memory is taking care of the proper finger movements.

This process does take time and a lot of patience, and this is where I think you guys that studied didn't go far with it. It doesn't help if you've got a lousy teacher, but it's that time spent focused on the music is what counts. Speaking of which, I only put in an hour or two per day at once. I discovered this myself in 2009 when I was at UMass-Lowell as a music major. I would practice 5-6 hours per day with most done at the campus and the rest at home. I would practice for a bit, go for a walk, come back and do some more. Today, I do a similar thing. My recent teacher mentioned that this is good because prevents building in mistakes due to losing concentration.

The slow practice means really, really slow as my late teacher used to write in my lesson books so many years ago. I "rediscovered" this in 2017 when my current teacher, although I'm not studying with him now, had me do. At the very first lesson he had me learn 3 Bach Inventions. Just like so many people, I worked on these as a piano student when I was about 14 years old. He said to me work on them slowly so I did... When I had my next lesson a month later, he said they weren't slow enough! I spent the next month working on them even slower. I mean, these were so slow that I could only put in a line at a time per day, otherwise, I'd lose my concentration. I noticed that once the pieces were learned this way, they were 100% accurate. I then applied this to other things I worked on including these pieces here in the recordings as well as some current works I'm working on now. The thing is I need absolutely no interruptions and that's difficult in my house to achieve.

Because I strive for 100% accuracy right from the beginning, I can play nearly note-perfect through most pieces I play. This saves time because there is nearly no editing required for any piece other than trimming the ends a bit.

I agree that these pianos sound amazing. I love the fact that I have so many concert grands to choose from. These pianos in real life are in the $200,000 range and up today, so being able to play on a hand made Steingraeber 272 cm grand is heaven. The problem, though, is these are fake pianos and I know it. They're fun to play and are a great to listen to, and above all great for recording, but my real piano is better. It's the whole acoustic versus digital thing, and acoustic rules always.


Speaking of recordings, here's another.

This is Chopin's Nocturne No. 20 in C-sharp minor, Opus Posthumous.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1yejm826it914ak/Chopin Nocturne No. 20 Op. Posth.mp3?dl=0

This is played on the Steingraeber 272. Now if I win the Publisher's Clearing House $7,000 per week for life... :)
 
And now for that perennial question - what is the Trainz connection? Just kidding, LOL, beautiful music doesn't need any justification. Thank you for sharing.

On a related note, several years ago, I was at the Montreal Jazz festival where I saw Eric West Millette and heard his group play West Trainz. All the pieces were train inspired from railways around the world. On the spot I bought the double CD and have been enjoying that jazz music over the years, and this from someone who never gave jazz a second listen.
 
All 3 very nice pieces
although electronic generated tones it sounds natural and you are playing with feeling


My brother studied piano and for a few years was a piano teacher
At my parents we used to have an Ibach grand in the living room, which my mum used to play (too much a la turka lol)
When ever i visit I used to play on it just improvising and both mum and bro, could never understand how I could just do that
no real technical skill, can't read music very well, but somehow any instrument I pickup the music just comes out


anyway enjoyed the music, ty for sharing John
 
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