Bach - Prelude and Fugue in e minor, BWV879 (WTC II)

[andhow04]

the prelude and fugue from the second book is a large set. the prelude is an ingenious invention, that attracted a lot of attention from theorists apparently even in bach's day (well, just after at least). a careful listen or glance at the score will show you that the main "inventio" contains both the opening line and its inversion, and bach builds on that by adding accompanying gestures and clever modulations.  musically it is not as satisfying for me but it is fascintating to study.

the fugue is really a large-scale piece, with a cadenza, and two dramatic fermata pauses, one before a climactic final subject intoned in the bass. it's oneo f those fugues with just a lot of notes, a lot of detail, a lot to listen to. but it's a grand and dramatic subject... bach apparently revised this fugue later on, adding one of the fermata sections if not both, and then changing a bass line in the last few bars, which i observe.

here's a link to e minor fro book I.
https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=42215.msg465095#msg465095


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UPDATE 12/17/12 surreptitiously replaced this as the recording quality was bad, but i wonder if my recorder is starting to go out, because there is some kind of feedback issue that was not there before. anyways this is clearer at least

[birba]

 Very fine Bach, as always.  You've hit the right balance between a purist and a...well, what would we call them, a romantic interpreter?  At any rate, it was not as enjoyable here as usual.  The acoustics were horrible.  So much was lost in the general echo - rythm, harmonic sonorities.  It was like one big smudged canvas.  I mean, you could tell it wasn't your fault or intention, but the outcome was disappointing.

[oxy60]

If there ever was an argument for wire to wire recordings this is one. I know that mentioning a digital piano where we can record without worrying about tuning, echo, etc., is frowned upon on this forum.

It is a shame that after all that work, the result is so awful. Please find another piano which is in a better acoustic situation and in better condition and make another recording before you loose any of your work.

Alternatively find a digital with an internal recording system that makes a file you can save.

This is not the first time that someone has invested a ton of time and work to not have the result come out well.

I can hear you have it down perfect!

[andhow04]

yikes! gues i should not have published this one.  the piano is a very good 9 foot steinway, the acoustic is quite wet, and i think i put my cheap microphone too far away from the piano.

trying to figure out meteor mic at the moment, and its hard because if i get too close i get a lot of noise in the loud parts, but too far and it sounds not right.  i am not much of a technical person in this regard but trying to figure out on my own if anyone can offer tips would be good.

[oxy60]

First find a dead room with a well tuned and maintained piano. Open the lid and put the microphone about a meter away and about half a meter above the level of the piano with the lid closed.

These days any solid state recorder (roland-05 or equivalent) with its built in microphones can do the job. There is even a tripod socket so you can use a cheap camera tripod as a mic/recorder stand. On the rowland there is a "rehearsal" feature that will set the level after you play through the loudest section.