Chopin - Prelude #15 in Db Major (Raindrop)

[tetmin]

This is my first post here, would appreciate your opinion...

Recorded yesterday and it's not perfect, the bit where the ff left hand chord drowns out the raindrop note during in the middle section is not ideal, and there are one or two tiny flubs. Comments and suggestions would be hugely appreciated since I've not really had anyone with a discerning ear ever listen to my playing. Don't worry about being overly critical, I want to get this nailed down before I move polish something else.

Cheers

[tetmin]

bump...

[mrba1979]

You have a good start and really only needs some polishing.  Here are my suggestions.  It is always difficult to find the correct tempo for this song.  I have heard it played slower where you are at and faster.  I prefer the faster tempos.  Though beautiful it is rather long and repetitive.  A slightly faster rhythm keeps the beauty and gives a nice flow to the piece.  Though to fast and you will lose the songs gracefulness.  Second issue is phrasing.  Best way to fix that is play with out pedal and then play with pedal.  Really pay attention to where the piece should not bleed over and into the next phrase.  Third issue is dynamics.  Going into the second melody or minor melody you go from soft to loud in levels.  At one point your pp and you sit there for a few seconds, then you are mp, and then all of sudden you are ff.  Try to make this blend.  I think part of the issue is the keyboard you use. With electronic and or digital it is harder to give the softness the piece requires.  If I am mistaken and indeed it is an acoustic piano then that is a very peculiar sound.  Also since you are new to posting it is often customary to tell us what instrument you recorded the piece on.  Overall though good job, keep it up.

Hope this helps
 

[tetmin]

Thankyou for the advice. You are correct about it being digital, I have a Yamaha P-120 digital piano as my keyboard and recorded this using the Erad preset on Pianoteq v2.3. Pianoteq seems to give the best sound and playability, however I'm thinking of getting a good sampled library and having a go with that.

I see what you mean about my dynamics in the middle section, I do find it hard to gradually build up to ff on the keyboard, but should be able to improve that. I'm not exactly sure what you mean about the phrasing though, could you give me an example of where I'm blending phrases so I can understand more clearly?

I really enjoy playing at this relaxed tempo, but for performances it may flow a little better slightly faster.