Microwave Improv

[lostinidlewonder]

Ok since Derek has called for more improvisations I'll post a couple!

These two are both under 1 minute in length each. A friend of mine asked me to do an improvisation which doesn't sound too "out there" and which doesn't go on forever (something I like to do when improvising) here is the result. It was recorded on my Korg digital which of course isn't that pleasing to the ear!

[Derek]

These are both lovely and tuneful pieces. I'd never heard you play in a more melodic style, that I can recall (edit, wait maybe I do recall at least one), before. My only memory of your playing is usually something cataclysmic in response to a cataclysmic world or personal event of some kind (not that there's anything wrong with that). It's just neat to see different sides of each other here in the improv room!

[quantum]

The second piece makes you yearn for more.  Nonetheless, it feels like a complete piece.  Beautiful miniatures. 

[pianowolfi]

I enjoyed both! It's an interesting task: say as much as you can within the time limit of one minute. That might be as well a general thread within the improvisation board
Rachmaninoff said (I have read that in one of the biographies)  that it was one of the most difficult tasks for him to compose his preludes for piano, to communicate the essence of what he had to say within the frame of such relatively short pieces for one single instrument.

[lostinidlewonder]

Thanks guys for taking time to listen to these two improvs.

These are both lovely and tuneful pieces. I'd never heard you play in a more melodic style, that I can recall (edit, wait maybe I do recall at least one), before. My only memory of your playing is usually something cataclysmic in response to a cataclysmic world or personal event of some kind (not that there's anything wrong with that). It's just neat to see different sides of each other here in the improv room!

Hey Derek. Yes I find when I play in a more melodic style it sorta takes me away and out of a meditative state and I am focusing more on theory and movements I have made before in many other standard pieces. I feel I can't "lose myself" enough which is a real reason why I want to do improvisations. It is almost like a raw picture of sound connected to a world or personal event as you put it quite well. I do a lot of improvising in the cocktail style which I have posted on pianostreet a couple of times,  but that is more like embellishing standards but that can sorta be considered improv too huh?

The second piece makes you yearn for more.  Nonetheless, it feels like a complete piece.  Beautiful miniatures.  

I appreciate your compliment, I like the 2nd too, I like the LH pulses it is like 1/3 of an alberti bass which I find quite hypnotic. I made another improv "Sound of E" which experiments with single note pulse too. https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=36067.0

I enjoyed both! It's an interesting task: say as much as you can within the time limit of one minute. That might be as well a general thread within the improvisation board
Rachmaninoff said (I have read that in one of the biographies)  that it was one of the most difficult tasks for him to compose his preludes for piano, to communicate the essence of what he had to say within the frame of such relatively short pieces for one single instrument.

That is a cool idea to make a thread with very short improvisations, I think it would be great for people who are not so into improvs, 1 minute everyone can manage to listen to. I like doing short improvisations as they often form a solid basis for more ideas and as you say also it challenges you to say what you need to say in a limited time.

I am sure most of us have improvised for 1 hour+ and not even realized it, can you imagine the strain on the listener though! For us it is wonderful to bask in improvisation, it feeds your soul very differently than playing compositions and with technology these days we can record ourselves quite easily and be bewildered listening to ourselves without being in the trance state

[chopinatic]

These are great short improvs, I really like the way the second starts off soft and passionate, but slowly builds keeping the same feel, and finally resolved. I'd love to hear more from you!

[lostinidlewonder]

Thanks for your comment chopinatic I hope to share some more improvs in the future its just a matter of getting the time and reason to do so (often I post improv here after I posted them to other people and because I am in the process of posting improv might as well share it with you all!) It is interesting to me that a few of you where drawn more to the 2nd than the 1st. I put a lot more planning effort into the 1st one where the 2nd was completely spontaneous. I think the less we plan the more natural an improvisation sounds but there must be some kind of balance to strike up, I haven't quite found that yet.

The 2nd improv is being used in a University project for a short film (we recorded it on a grand piano so it sounds much better), when she posts it on the net I'll see if she will let me post the link.