Schubert, Hungarian Melody D. 817

Hello,

I started this one more than 1 year ago. I shall still improve it but now I cannot continue with this piece any longer. I hope that it can be accepted as it is. :?:
Thank you for your indulgence.

EDIT: unvalid version removed.

 

I never heard this before, but it sounds good to me. Thanks for sharing a pleasant tune.

 

I don't know this piece and did not follow with the score so I can't comment on slips or misreadings It sounded pretty accurate to me. It seems to me your rhythmic stability has improved some since your last Schubert submission. But we're not there yet, you really struggle in the middle section (that sounds not at all easy btw). As Monica noted, thirds are not your forte as yet, most or all sound uneven. And Schubert is real fond of thirds.... Maybe you should spend some time on thirds (Bartok's Mikrokosmos has some great study material for thirds).

On the plus side, we have wonderful sound, a real Hungarian feeling, and a certain artistic liberty. Not sure I agree with your huge ritenuto for the ending, but it sounds good. I think this recording, despite its obvious flaws, can go up on the site, and can be enjoyed by many as honest effort (as well as work in progress :wink: )

 

Thank you juufa, Monica and Chris for your kind comments. I was well conscious about the strained thirds, especially the last ones on page 2 on which I spend all my Saturday evening... It was a kind of psychological barrier, I think, because they are not the most difficult one in this piece. I did not realize before that I was facing some difficulty here. Curious...
It was a bit better on Sunday morning.

Now, the slow end...
Note a choice. Only not assimilated enough, not printed in the fingers. I wanted to submit this piece before leaving tomorrow, coming backs at home on next week for a few days that should be very busy, before leaving again for 2 vacation weeks. So at best I will be able to record again this end at a more suitable tempo by the end of August. I intend to improve the whole piece but will need much more time to get it.

About the sound: I found a beautiful reverb as free impulse responses (IR) from a professional digital reverberation processor, the Bricasti M7: http://www.acousticas.net/World/IRs/AcousticasM7.zip. It's also available in a still more sophisticated form, 2 different stereo files for processing the left and right channel, from http://www.rhythminmind.net/presetblog/category/samples/impulse-sets/. For using these IR, one need a plugin like SIR, a free version of which is available from http://www.knufinke.de/sir/sir1.html, and an audio editor compatible with such a plugin. I think that Audacity is. Take care: this is not the simplest solution for adding reverb but the result sounds especially good. As good, according to some tests, as from the true Bricasti that costs more than 3000$. I used the IR named Music Room. There are also Amsterdam, Berlin and Vienne halls... :roll: (I don't play yet good enough for using these ones.)

 

Very nice, Didier. For me, playing the thirds fortissimo and lifting the fingers high while practicing helps to strengthen your technique for thirds - hey, thirds are my Achilles heel. As far as sound, I like the balance you've achieved in this recording.

Didier wrote:

IMHO, the Bricasti M7 is the finest and most realistic reverb unit for classical music, but at a premium price. It doesn't produce harsh reverb tails like software based reverbs, nor does it muffle the details, even if you extend it to 30 seconds. It's even better than convolution reverbs.
I made a deal with Casey, one of two innovators of Bricasti - If I buy the M7, he's going to come to my studio and personally show me the intricacies of the machine in my setup, and he's going to throw in an extra digital XLR/SPDIF converters. The company is local. I'll probably give him a case of beer for his time (he doesn't know that). But, seriously, those guys KNOW reverb and their algorithm is the finest in the industry!

 

Hi Andreas,

thank you for your careful listening. Yes this is far from being perfect, only my best today. I will pay more attention to hit all the notes at LH when I will work again this piece.

You can use any VST or DirectX plugin with Wavelab. The IRs of which I gave the links are not plugins, they are wav files to be used with a convolution reverberation plugin like SIR. I saw in the recent topic A liittle test from Monica that you was using plugins from Waves, who is proposing IR1 full, which accepts twin-stereo IRs.

I registered again the last page. I think it's better.

Schubert - Hungarian Melody in B minor, D817 ( 3:38 )

 

I like this one better.

 

Yes this is indeed better. A couple of technical issues do not really distract from what is otherwise a nice performance - and it has the benefit of great sound of course. I will proceed to put this one up on the site (unless Monica gets there first).

It seems to me that you have improved your rhythmic stability, Didier. It's far from optimal yet but much better than in your first Schubert recording, which I remember well because I bashed it to bits :wink: Keep up the good work ! And play Bach ! Oops, did I say this already ?

 

Yes, several times! At the end, you might convince me. :wink:

 

In the end, you'll do it just to shut me up

No kidding, it really helps, better than anything else.

 

Hi Chris,

the version on the site was the first one in this topic with the slow end, that I just removed. Please, could you replace it by the second one still available from here?

I acknowledge that I would have made your task easier if I would have submit only the right one. :?

Cheers,

Didier

 

Oh, I did not realize you had redone this one. I have replaced it.

 

Hi Andreas,

thank you for listening again this recording. I have the Henle score, which seems being the same like your one. I shall work again the LH, the RH thirds and the end.

 

An IR (impulse response) is a wav, or possibly another audio format, file. It is used by a plugin for adding reverberation to a recording by means of a mathematical operation combining both audio files, the IR and the recording, named convolution.
So you cannot use the Bricasti IRs without a convolution plugin. You have to put the wav IRs in a directory on your computer and load the one you want to use from the convolution plugin. True stereo IR is a set of two stereo IRs, one being used for generating L and R reverberation from the recording L channel, and the other one being combined the same with the recording R channel.

 

Yes.

Yes it is. The release of the IRs by both sources of which I gave the links was approved by Bricasti. Take care on not putting reverb in excess.... :wink:

Than you for the bottles. Your piano playing advices are much more worth to me. The few hundred bottles in the cellar located just under the floor at the piano place, with an air cooling device that is a bit noisy so that I must wait it stopping for recording, are enough to me. I stopped the whisky. I shall now reduce the wine, which is more difficult to me but absolutely mandatory for stabilizing, hopefully decreasing, my weight... :cry: