Testing ... Scriabin Etude Op. 2 No. 1

So... I'm kinda back. Sorta. Maybe. A little.

Yeah, I'm actually still computerless at the moment (because I'm too cheap to buy a new one), so I'm still not really able to actively participate on here much at the moment... At least not until I end up getting a new computer.

Anyways... My college auditions are coming up... and I decided to make my first CD thingy. BUT, rather than using my digital to do the recordings on, I decided to experiment and record on my neighbor's baby grand.

Sadly, said baby grand isn't in terribly good condition... and it hasn't been tuned in over 3 years. Thus... it sounds like crap.

And on top of that, I bought a microphone to use while recording... and I don't think it's particularly good quality.

And on top of THAT... I was in a rush this morning to record it. I didn't have much time before I had to get back home to help my mom out with Thanksgiving preperations. Therefore I had to accept some recordings as useable that I would normally have rejected.

It was just a bad session in general. :cry:

Anyways... I did these recordings by borrowing a friend's laptop. So while I still have it, I figured I'd post some stuff. And here's Scriabin's C# Minor Etude. I just want to post one for now to see if it's audio quality is acceptable for submission onto the site. If this is okay, I may (depending on if I can get over the crappiness of it all) post some more recordings.

But um... yeah, don't worry to much about leaving detailed comments and stuff, because I really won't be able to do that for others still, and I'd feel guilty getting critiqued when I can't do the same for others. Sorry...

Ummm... I'll probably be posting some more "interesting" pieces in the near future. As I prepare more for the live auditions, I'll be finishing up with polishing some of my more advanced repertoire. Expect things such as Prokofiev's Suggestion Diabolique and Beethoven's 1st sonata in the months to come.

So yeah... sorry I'm still not really active here much. I really feel bad not being around... but there's little I can do at the moment. Hopefully I can rectify all issues soon enough though. Here's hoping everyone on here is still doing well.

(OH... and you'll probably hear a noise near the end of the recording that lasts a few seconds. That's my neighbor's dog. It decided that it wanted to come up to me RIGHT THEN to sniff me out. Yeah. But this was still the best take I got done, so there wasn't much I could do).

 

Good to see you back Chris M. I would not have noticed the dog if you had not mentioned it.

But you did not really believe this could be ok for the site, I hope... The awful sound renders any comment on the playing quite irrelevant. Unless the neighbour at least gets his baby tuned, I'd stick to the digital if I were you.

I don't know this piece from the inside, never played it, so I can't offer detailed comments, but I did not hear any real problems except you get rather carried away at times and then seem to stumble over your own fingers. More control, please, and definitely it must sound sorta pleasant to listen to. Lastly, keep in mind there are already 5 good recordings of this piece on the site. Not to say there can't be another one, but it must be up to standard.

 

Hi Christopher, nice to see you here again!
I used a headphone for listening and from the right side of that I couldn't hear any sound but the terrible hiss. Can't you make the music to come from the both side?
To the interpretation: Your tempo and hurrying mood make this piece sound unusually merry. But I fully understand that one could play so in such a recording situation - the dog, the lack of time, a neighbour's house and a recording equipment with which you are not so acquinted...
Anyway, good luck for preparing the college audition!

 

It was pretty painful playing that piano... I'd hear the music in it's proper key in my head, and it'd clash with the incorrectly tuned piano, causing a nasty mental dissonence. Ugh.

I would have done my recordings on my digital, but certain pieces are essentially unplayable on it due to it's heavy keys. For example, I couldn't manage C.P.E. Bach's Solfeggietto or Rachmaninoff's C# Minor Prelude at proper tempo because I have to "fight" the keys. Another example being that I often have difficulty playing those little "ornaments" in Beethoven's 1st Sonata on my keyboard, but had no trouble on my neighbor's piano.

And my audition CD is due monday. DAMNIT!

Now I need to decide between sub-par audio quality or sub-par technique.

Anyone have a gun I can borrow? You can have it back when I'm done shooting myself...

*EDIT* In regards to my fast tempo, I always play it that way. It's marked "andante" and all in 8th notes, but most people play as if though it's andante with quarters. I HATE all those slow recordings out there... If Scriabin wanted it "Lento" he'd have marked it as such. :wink: There's one Horowitz recording in particular that's nearly 3:30 long and DRIPPING rubato from every orifice. Disgusting.

 

Ok. But I want you to hand it back to me in persona

Bit of a bleak choice you have there. Can't you get that grand get tuned ? Go dutch with the owner perhaps ? Personally I would not want to put that sound on a CD. Else stick to the digital and choose pieces you can play comfortably on it.

 

I wouldn't be able to get it tuned soon enough. Today's Thanksgiving, so nobody's working. And I NEED to mail it by tommorrow or else it won't arrive by the deadline. And I can't get it tuned, record, make the CD, AND mail it in one day... especially since I'm working till 3:00 PM.

I guess I need to use the digital... but the Solfeggietto was the piece that was going to meet the baroque requirements... and my digital makes it hard to play. So unless I magically learn something new today, they're gonna have to settle for a recording over a minute long...

*sigh* And the Rachmaninoff was supposed to be my showcase...

... ... ... damnit.

 

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

I totally agree with you concerning the tempo, some versions I've heard actually threaten to put one to sleep. As far as execution goes, even through that HORRIBLE piano, nice touch with bringing out the different melodies intertwining in this piece. Most versions that I've heard totally ignore the voicings. I'm really looking forward to hearing you play this on a tuned piano. I personally have big problems with electric and electronic pianos, since I feel they cut out so much of the expressiveness of good playing, so I'd personally rather wait and hear this on a properly tuned grand rather than your digital.

As to the rubato, most of it works in this piece, i.e. it doesn't detract from the melodies, except in one spot(more on that later). The problem I usually have listening to excessive "rubato" in Scriabin is that many people never learn the melody of a piece first (how the melody interacts with the different parts as well as the intricate rhythmic interactions one finds in Scriabin's compositions). IMNHO one MUST first learn the piece without ANY "rubato", and then later the "rubato" will "find itself" within the piece. Your performance demonstrates that you DO understand the melodies. Great job.

As to the one spot where the rubato detracts... If I can manage it, I'll attach a MIDI orchestration of this piece that I played around with a while back. This demonstrates how the tempo can make all the difference in the world. I'm aware that MIDI is not allowed on the site, this is ONLY for your interest, if you have any. The part I'm referring to is where the oboe solo comes in near the end. In your piano performance, you appear to hesitate slightly which throws off the melody too much. Also beware of getting to carried away and turning it into an allegro through excessive accellerando.

Hopefully you'll convince your neighbor to GIVE you the grand piano. I hate people that use pianos for art pieces and portrait stands. LOL

Love is the law, love under will.
Aryobrand

PS: I just realized how BIG that MIDI wav file is!!! If someone has an audio conversion program, would it be possible to convert to a smaller format like mp3, Chris, Monica? Or let me know a target date to remove this file. . .

 

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

Thank you so much for converting this file. From 26 MB as wav to so much fewer. This orchestration is not ANYONE playing, it was entirely computerized - a rather slow and tedious process. Although I do appreciate any comments on it, I must say here (just so people remember) that this thread is for demonic_advent's REAL version. (So if anyone needs to comment on my MIDI file, I require that they must also comment on demonic_advent's version as well) I only posted that version to demonstrate how I hear a LOT of Scriabin's music, split up into different voicings or instruments. If you listen to demonic_advent's performance again you can hear how he's doing a great job bringing out some of the different voicings which I orchestrated as different instruments. I know, it's difficult to hear because that piano is so horribly out of tune, but it still comes through 8) despite the piano he's (she's? ) using.

In regards to my MIDI orchestration, most of it I absolutely cannot stand, myself. The only parts that are kinda still interesting to me are when the jazzy trumpet comes in, then the strings, then the oboe, etc. It's the part (on mine) where the oboe comes in that the rubato of demonic_advent tends to detract from the melodies; and this was the other reason I posted that. Listen to his version again and tell me what you think, if you will.

Love is the law, love under will.
Aryobrand

BTW, if I were to actually re-orchestrate it, I'd probably use more tuned church bells and harps, but like I said it was an old experiment of mine.

 

Thank you for your comments aryobrand.

I'd love to listen to your orchestration, but sadly I'm now computerless again, and my only viable means of getting online is via my Wii... which can't download MP3's.

Thank you for taking note of my voicings. Scriabin's music is very special to me, even to a point where I wrote my college application essay on the topic of his 7th Sonata's influence on me (I can post a link to the essay for those who would care to peruse it). So I try to bring out those little aspects that make Scriabin's music so much more deliciously magical than other romantic composers.

I know what you're talking about with my issues near the end though. I've always found the coda the most difficult section to play, if only for the relative LACK of action. As the voices all start disappearing and the amount of movement decreases, I find I have to work to make sure I don't trip over the "simplicity" of it all.

If you like multiple voices though, it's a shame the piano weren't in better condition, else I'd have posted my (re-)recording of his Op. 74, No. 2 prelude. THAT'S a wonderful piece for bringing out multiple voices. It's sad though, that I've never been happy with the digital recording that I have hosted here. A digital just can't capture the "Mysterium" hidden within that piece...

Oh, and I'm a boy, FYI. :wink: