ESTUARIES - G.Steinway (Sosnowski)

[etLux]

Hi Ron,

David,

I don't get much time to stop by the Listening Post these days, but I did have a chance to hear this latest (your orch/choir piece will have to wait for another day...). I guess I heard the un-muddy version,

Yes, that was the "fixed" version...

And, much to my relief and pleasure, I have since gotten
a brand new box -- a Dell XPS435 with a 3.06 Ghz i7
processor and 12G RAM.

The prior system was going on four years old; and aside
from speed and RAM, I've found there comes a point of no
return: Windows cruds up so badly, even an experienced
programmer can't untangle it short of a wipe and re-up.

In that it takes me as much as a month to get a system
completely configured and tuned, when things get to
that point... time to go new.

because while there was much pedal, there was also much clarity.

The G.Steinway is a joy in this regard (as in others): you
can pedal it so much like a real piano... especially important
on the very low, tight, mixed soft and sustain work in this.

I thoroughly enjoy this, and love the way melodic lines rise up, take prominence, then recede; the movement from intense chromaticism to the diatonic - and back - was a delight, and very touching.

I don't know much about improvisation except to say that there is the create-on-the-spot kind of extemporaneous playing, and the improvising on something pre-existing. Both have their great traditions and practitioners - you fall into the category of the former, and with flying colors.

Many thanks for the kind thoughts, Ron. While there's a
certain pleasure in improvisation for the sake of it, building
a piece on the spot, completely out of whole cloth, is a
disciplined exercise that I recommend to all writers...
even if one isn't the best at the keyboard. It greases
the compositional wheels -- and, more importantly, helps
one learn to draw readily on material that is generally
more subconscious than rational. Most of us have a
tendency to edit out many developmental possibilities
when we're behind the pen -- but the immediacy of
improvisation allows those possibilities daylight.

If Gary is at "fault" for this by having called you, then you two ought to get a "friends and family" deal so you can speak more often!

A very moving rumination, and for that, many thanks.

Be well.

All my best,



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

[etLux]

Hi David;
Great stuff, these improvs of yours! Thank you!
BTW, I appreciate your website makeover, you have added a lot more active links to play your other works, so I will be drilling down and exploring!!
Best regards,
sd cisco

Many thanks for the listen and the good word, SD.

It seems I'm forever revising the website... as soon
as I can get to it, I'll be adding direct .mp3 links for
the pieces that currently aren't linked that way.

Best,



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

[Andy Brick]

Well I have to say Im going the opposite direction of some of the other responses here. I think this is fantastic. Man I wish I could let go and improvise like that! Its on that blissful edge between chaos and control and oh how I like the way you walk that razors edge!

Im listening on really nice Adam monitors and even in the lowest sections its not muddy at all and the piano sounds great here.

Now this would be a piece to orchestrate!

Terrific!

Andy

[etLux]

Hello 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 pedal work in this, especially in the very
low parts... it's tricky to keep that clean and
clear. I'm pleased you found it so.

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...)

Thank you, Nikolas, for the kind thoughts.

And you know my rules on improvisation, I think.
One opens the lid of the piano, without preparation,
starts the recording, and... plays. Absolutely no
retouching! That would be cheating. What I play
is what you hear, better or worse... lol!

Once again, thanks for sharing.

And, BTW

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

I've discontinued that for the moment, my friend,
awaiting later revisions to the site.

Always my best,



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

[MikeInFL]

this is a brilliant improvisation, some really nice moments, though it wanders aimlessly a little too much for my particular taste. The less chromatic moments are the moments I like the most, the chromatic moments I feel are the more 'aimless' moments, if that makes sense. There are some inspiriing chords you play that I wish you lingered on, they pass on too fast. I especially like 10:37 to the end! Very nice!

[etLux]

Hi Trent,

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

Yes. The first version had a reverb problem that
muddied it considerably. In the low, tight parts,
that was pretty deadly... lol.

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.

I've probably had a little more practice at it, having
been playing a good many years (fifty or so). Like
anything, one improves with experience... or so one
hopes.

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

Indeed. My solution was to junk the machine... rofl.

Thanks for listening, Trent.

Always my best,



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

[etLux]

Hello David!

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.

I appreciate that, David. I'm no Dan Kury; nor
will I ever be; but I've become increasingly critical,
myself, of what I listen to music through.

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.

Thank you so much, David. For me -- this is the
whole point, the real challenge of it... to sit down
with nothing, and weave a cogent, fully formed
piece.

It reminded me a great deal of Sorabji's more impressionistic works, which are pieces that I love.

I can't think of better company in which to be placed,
my friend -- Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji's work is beyond
the reach of many pianists due to its difficulty... but
it's really quite extraordinary.

All my best,



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

[germancomponist]

Sorry that I was missing this.

David, what the others said + 1

A perfect player plays on a perfect sampled piano.

A very coooool improvisation! BRAVO!

Best

Gunther

[etLux]

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

Many thanks for taking time to re-listen this, Raymond. And
again, I thank you for the heads-up on the initial faulty
recording that induced me to redo it. I appreciate that a
great deal.

All my best,



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

[etLux]

Hi Randy,

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 -

With regrets, I did not save the first version, my friend.
This was a very peculiar technical situation... something to
do with sample rates that I honestly just do not follow.
On the machine upon which it was recorded, it sounded
right, all well. But when I listened to it on a second machine,
it sounded like it was under water.

I've since upgraded to a new system.

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

I appreciate your comments and perspective, Randy; and
there's certainly a degree of truth in them. I might only mention
that disciplined, structured improvisation has a long and highly
respected history among many of the luminaries of our musical
heritage. Whether my own efforts meet that measure I could
not judge.

All the best,



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