ESTUARIES - G.Steinway (Sosnowski)

[nikolas]

David,

I'm listening through cans (Beyerdynamics) and it sounds fine, exactly as a piano should sound. Not too much reverb (I actually don't think you touched any settins on the reverb), and pedal as it should be on such a piece.

The piece is magnificent. The lower specturm shines and the higher glimses through. Yes, the lower spectrum shines, I mean it!

Your playing is fantastic and if this is an impro with no retouches afterwards on the midi then I should find a way to send you some kind of gift (maybe to Gary as well, for chating with you so early in the morning...)

Once again, thanks for sharing.

And, BTW

WHY didn't I get any e-mail notification for this?

Nikolas

[trentpmcd]

Hi David. I really enjoyed this. I'm obviously listening to the updated version - no problems with this.

As i said in your last post of improvised music - this type of improvisation really impresses me. I sometimes create my music through "preplanned" improvisation, but I could never come up with anything nearly this complex.

Hope your sound card troubles end soon and we hear more orchestral works from you.

[etLux]

Hi Bill,

David,

What a magnificent improvisation!

Many thanks for your kindness, my friend! These improvisations
are somewhat hit-or-miss, as you might guess... depending on
whether my brain and fingers are all working on the same day.

As I was carried away by this, I heard so many different things and different influences. What came to me most (and everyone will hear something different) was Charles Ives. Not his style or idioms, but his spirit. A lot of your work has the same effect on me, the Ives.

Thanks, Bill; I cannot think of better company to be placed in;
and surely my neighbor Mr. Ives has taught me a great deal.

Brilliant work. Didn't hear any clams. Gary must have been speaking soft, lol.

You might be amused to hear that, in a much, much younger day, I
played hotel bars. What can I say -- the money was great, and tuition
was expensive. But if you couldn't talk and play at the same time, it cut
your tips in half... lol... so I got quite good at talking and playing at the
same time.

All my best,



David
-----
David Sosnowski
www.DavidSosnowski.com

[Pingu]

Forgive the delayed response David. I saw the characteristic capital letters on the listening room, got all excited, then realised I'd left my headphones at my parents' house. My studio is completely dismantled, and I didn't want my first listening to be on laptop speakers.

Well I thought the piece was fantastic. I can't believe how coherently you keep so many lines going in an improvisation. I mean, developing gestures is one thing, and having a semi-coherent harmonic language, but to remember to tie lie lines together over time...I was staggered. It reminded me a great deal of Sorabji's more impressionistic works, which are pieces that I love.

[Raymond62]

Now I like it. What a dark mood. And a very creative improvisation, worth polishing, very worthy indeed. Lots of different dishes are presented here.

Raymond

[etLux]

Hi Ron,

David

I don't know what it is about your music, but it always inspires me to do something.

I listened to Devil's Sea the other day and immediately started a piece for strings that I completed in just a matter of hours. Today I listened to this new one of yours, began a new piece and 2 hours later, the piano part is finished and the violin part is a quarter of the way done.

One time I opened your page, saw the piece called The Perseids and without even listening to it, I immediately started a piece I called The Leonids. Since then I have also done The Orionids and just posted my version of The Perseids.

It seems like every time I open your page (which I have bookmarked), I get inspired to compose. Sometimes even without listening to any of the music but I always go back again.

At its best, Ron, that's how it works in an artistic community:
we springboard off the thoughts and ideas and techniques of
our colleagues.

Every piece of music begins somewhere. And usually it's
somewhere very simple: a single word that sends you down
a certain train of thought; a passing orchestral color that
spins out into full development; a few tones or a harmonic
moment of interest...

I'm most pleased I've been a fertile provider of seed material!

I live less than a mile away from the Chesapeake Bay which is the largest estuary in the United States. I have improv'ed many a night out on the bay in many different ways.

Water has a particular fascination for me. So does light. One
or the other seems somehow involved in a great deal of what I
write.

Improv is the rawest form of music and as such is one of my favorite styles.

I guess there are varieties of impovisation, as with anything else;
ranging from making pretty sounds to quite formal creations. All
have their place... from the raw to the elegant, the sound canvas
to the fully structured effort.

For my part, I approach improvisation no differently than formal
writing. Well, other than the fact that you don't get do-overs...

There is some clipping just shy of 2/3 of the way thru.

Since fixed, I think, in a subsequent re-recording, Ron. Fortunately,
I keep a midi recording of the original performance, which I can
simply plug back into the G.Steinway standalone if I blow the
audio treatment.

Great work

Ron

Thanks for listening, my friend.

All my best,



David
-----
David Sosnowski
www.DavidSosnowski.com

[rbowser-]

Hi, David - Finally catching up on your latest offering.

Interesting drama involved with the recording of this - I've read through the thread. That earlier recording must have been very odd sounding, and out of curiosity I find myself wanting to hear it - But I'm grateful I'm hearing the improved version which, as has been said here, seems to have the right amount of reverb, with the lower frequencies not being muddy, with the whole recording having plenty of clarity despite the heavy pedal.

There is still an odd little sound glitch about half way through, I think the one Ron was mentioning.

The music itself is the sort of thing I know I have to be in a rather unusual mood to enjoy, unlike most music I've heard from you which drags me right into a mood where it works for me. Improvisation in general can be not much more than "interesting" to me. It's difficult for me to not to hear improvs as self indulgent - maybe I keep getting distracted with the thought of how editing would shape the outbursts into something that would engage me more. I have the sensation of going through a writer's circular file, reading the early drafts not meant to be looked at.

So, it was "interesting," and I can admire this as something way beyond what I'd be capable of doing while sitting at a piano and trying to be connected to the instrument in this straight-from-the-brain way. But perhaps as I get older, I seem to have less taste for chaos.

Best of luck sorting these odd sound card problems out.

Randy

[sunbird]

David,

Hearing your improvisation I couldn't help but see and hear a river......

As if this water body was somehow confined so far and all of a sudden
has found the way to stream again in its natural boundaries.

Along its way it sometimes encounters obstacles adjusting to them,
at other times it comes to peaceful areas resting for a while...

I found it interesting and am really amazed at the ease
with which you improvise!

Well done, etLux...

~Yudit~

[etLux]

Hi Michael,

David,

A very impressive work. I was, in a sense, carried away with the flow and texture. Seems to get a bit more hectic or agitated toward the end.

A great blend of dissonance and consonance; being a "impromptu" makes it even more brilliant.

Much enjoyed, ... sincerely.

Thanks for listening and the good word, Michael!

PS, How come the lights on your site went out?

You mean my switch back to black... lol? I swear, I must
have redesigned that site two dozen times now. But it
never looks "right" to me other than in basic black.

Much of it has to do with my complete lack of talent as a
designer.

ALL:

My servers were down on and off the last couple of days, as
I migrated a number of my sites to faster servers with better
connectivity. Mail was also down if you were trying to reach
me. All should be well now.

Best,



David
-----
David Sosnowski
www.DavidSosnowski.com

[sosmus]

David:
Wow! What an impressive gem you have created. If I could play piano AND improvise as you do, I'd never write anything down again as I would be whiling away my hours, 'gassing' myself with my marvelous, musical musings.
It has already been mentioned but I was struck by the coherence of the entire piece. I've heard other "modern" pieces (the written down kind) that could not hold a candle to your formal construction. To further the Ives connection, places in your piece brought back recollections of walking down the hall passing the practice rooms and hearing two or three pianists working on totally different pieces, that would mysteriously coalesce.
It is evident that your "improvisations" are the product of a very logical and disciplined mind.
Steve