Debussy - La plus que lente

very nice, Monica!

and again... the lack of lessons are making you play better and better!

 

Hi Monica,

I love this piece and I think you did a great job with the
pacing of it. It moves so beautifully and the style is spot
on. The tone is rich and the interpretation is not at all
sentimental but rather rich. The sections are clearly defined
and yet very connected.

Thank you for sharing.

Kaila

 

Nice playing. I'm disappointed with the piano sound though - it sounds muffled, lacklustre, and swimmy. Have you been experimenting again ?

 

I used my same headphones as always. I'm surprised I am the only one hearing this. Usually your recordings sound bright and open, but not so here. Your previous Debussy recording I found rather muffled too, and with a definite sound of the dampers/pedal. I don't think it is a great idea to have the recorder underneath. Personally I never change my recording setup.

 

I had the same reaction. Overall I enjoyed the performance, but to my ears I remember Monica's recording quality to be brighter and more transparent before. Agree that this one sounds muffled.

 

I don't use any noise reduction in my recordings, no. From what I've heard, noise reduction can cause sound distortion since I believe what one is effectively doing to remove the hiss is to cancel out certain frequencies in the recording. My own belief is that it's best to capture a recording in its original state with as little post-processing as possible. For us who record in a small room, some reverb will be necessary of course, though even there I try to go on the crisp and light side. FWIW, the only features I add are reverb and some EQ adjustment, which I finally started doing with my recent Chopin recordings and I have found makes a significant difference (to turn up the treble a bit and take out some of the boomier mid-range).

Of course, mic placement could be the most important factor of all, and yes, putting the recorder on the floor doesn't sound like a good idea to me since I don't think that is where the sound is principally traveling and bouncing around in the room, hence the muffling (perhaps you're also picking up some sound board reverberation or echo from this position?).

Probably more than you wanted to hear, especially from a complete nonexpert and experimenter with recording like me

 

I tried noise reduction once (on an organ recording where you can hear the wind machine) but the result was a mess.
While there is some inherent hiss on recordings made with our type of recorder (using built-in mics), I don't find it obtrusive and certainly not worth trying to get rid of. Only those rare people especially susceptible to hiss may be bothered by the hiss in our recordings. A very small minority, I would guess.

 

That suprises me. I've heard it before, when the volume is way up. Right now I can't hear any in my recordings either. Either I'm getting deafer by the day, or the Tascam
is a good little machine. I do take care of avoiding ambient noises best as possible. And never change my setup or procedures.

 

Wonderful interpretation, Monica.

I have to agree with Chris et al about the sound. I listened through speakers as always and it came off as too much reverb - like the piano was being played in a large room in another part of the building. "Muffled" was mentioned, and that's also part of the impression (again, as if I was not in the same room as the piano).

Not to say that it is necessarily from the reverb in your editing; it may very well be the mic placement. Sorry this comment is a little late in being posted.

 

I have to repeat what has already been said: really very well done, in particular the pacing and the rubatos. I get the feeling you really love this piece! (I also concur that the sound is more muffled than usual, and yes it sounds like an overeager noise reduction clipping the high frequencies. But certainly not bad enough to discard the recording.)

Joachim

 

Hi Monica,

I enjoyed hearing your rendition of "La plus que lente". I've recorded the piece too, so know the challenges there. I think you've played this piece very well. You maintain the waltz spirit throughout the piece, keeping the rubato subtle, and you also avoid unnecessary accents that could otherwise distort the musical line. Your dynamics are also according to the score. I believe if nothing else that this is a very romantic and sensuous waltz. In that regard I think your playing is a bit more cautious than I would play it. But that's a matter of interpretation.

On the third page (in the original edition by United Music Publishers LTD they number this page 4, because they count the front title page as music :lol: ). Beginning at the top, and having been marked Appassionato from the previous page, I think you could play that section with more abandon (and risk) even though it's not specifically marked that way.

On page 4 (they call it 5), third line down, second measure in, the initial measure there is marked cedez, but I believe you could treat the second measure there allargando to good effect. Also on the bottom line on that page, the first measure in, that can be allargando as well. On this same page those double note passages in the RH are killers! You play them really well. You could consider taking more risk in those passages, but not at the sacrifice of accuracy.

On the last page approaching the coda, Debussy marks it "De plus en plus lent et pp a la fin", and once into the coda he wants morendo. I think this coda can give and reinforce the impression of "slower than slow" which is la plus que lente. You can take as much liberty with the morendo as you wish within good taste.

Again, very good work on this wonderful piece!

P.S. The first time I heard this piece, it was the version for violin and piano--also lovely music.

David