Beethoven - Sonata Pathétique 2nd mov.

[bronnestam]

I thought it was about time to contribute to this department as well ...

Of course I did the Classic here: made the recording of my life and was extremely pleased with myself ... until I discovered that the recording never had started.    So, nobody will ever know how good it was, ha ha ha. Angrily I made a new recording which of course was not nearly as good, but this is what I have right now.
I am fairly pleased with the first half of the piece ... and nobody have to tell me how it sucks near the end. I don't know why I hesitated so much there. But I know what to focus on next time, hopefully I can upload a better version later.

[hfmadopter]

I did this quite a long time ago and was telling my wife that honestly I do not recall working on the second movement. I know I did it, so does she remember but I don't recall the actual work.

Anyway, I think it sounded very nice. You did a great job on it ! Also, if that is your digital grand you are playing on ( I seem to recall that you own a Yamaha digital grand , excuse me if that is incorrect), then a lot of people around these forums should take notice of that who feel digital is not good !! Both your playing and the piano came through quite well, you can be proud IMO.

[j_menz]

I enjoyed this a great deal. You have a good fundamental approach to the piece. There are a few clunky areas, but I'm pretty sure you know what they are and can fix them. I very much look forward to the new version.

Also, if that is your digital grand you are playing on ( I seem to recall that you own a Yamaha digital grand , excuse me if that is incorrect), then a lot of people around these forums should take notice of that who feel digital is not good !!

+ 1

[bronnestam]

Thanks a lot for your kind feedback! Yeah, I slipped on the keys a few times but that is minor. But I got a bit annoyed that I did not manage to keep up the strong melody voice at the end, with the triplets, where it still sounds like I'm playing with lead shoes on. Recordings are good, they can be very revealing ...

Yes, there are two interesting things about this recording: I learned this piece last fall, after 28 years in "maintenance mode", that is, learning absolutely nothing new, just playing things I already knew. (And playing them worse and worse ... )
So, I finally decided to get going again, and studied this one. The first bars took me WEEKS, the whole piece more than two months ... After that I have learned a whole lotta more, of course, and now I am a bit more effective, ehm.

Yes, I play on a Yamaha digital grand, which in most aspects is the same as the rest of the 440 series. However, the volume of the recording is always too low, so I have to process it a bit in Audacity (freeware). There, I have also experimented a bit with the equalizer and "Gverb" (phaser and reverb) functions. Actually I try to make the sound less "perfect", less digital if you like, by adding slight distorsions, phaser effect on the lowest register and some other acoustic effects. Digital recordings are very easy to make and you don't have to worry about surrounding noise - nobody heard me yell LATER! to my poor son during this one, eh? - but the pitfall, in my opinion, is that the total perfection is a bit lifeless. 
Well, adding flaws is easier than removing them ... 

[hfmadopter]

Well what ever mindset you have yourself in now I suggest you keep at it cause the results are sounding great.

Yes, on my Kawai digital I dial what you are speaking of in at the piano. Especially the Mellow Grand setting I have internally altered quite a bit and the reverb base amount saved. It makes a huge difference , plus the tone and EQ settings are saved as preset as well. I have that tone ( Mellow Grand) set to sound as close to my acoustic grand as I could get it ( you can tweak forever of course). The factory set Mellow Grand was rather thin sounding, short sustain to the notes . I replicated that off my acoustic grand as well, which has a very long sustain for an 1898 model grand piano..

The problem now as I get used to playing the digital is the acoustic sounds kind of ratty, I must tend to tuning it very soon !

[bronnestam]

Yes, on my Kawai digital I dial what you are speaking of in at the piano. Especially the Mellow Grand setting I have internally altered quite a bit and the reverb base amount saved. It makes a huge difference , plus the tone and EQ settings are saved as preset as well. I have that tone ( Mellow Grand) set to sound as close to my acoustic grand as I could get it ( you can tweak forever of course). The factory set Mellow Grand was rather thin sounding, short sustain to the notes . I replicated that off my acoustic grand as well, which has a very long sustain for an 1898 model grand piano..

Now you have to tell me how you did that, specifically. And most of all: I want to HEAR the result.

I was glancing at the virtual pianos from Ivory as I think they sound great, but I thought they were a bit expensive - not the application itself, but it demanded so much hard disc space that I would have to make special arrangements and blah blah - I decided it was not worth the trouble, as my existing digital, with the help of Audacity, could offer just about the same.

[hfmadopter]

Now you have to tell me how you did that, specifically. And most of all: I want to HEAR the result.

I was glancing at the virtual pianos from Ivory as I think they sound great, but I thought they were a bit expensive - not the application itself, but it demanded so much hard disc space that I would have to make special arrangements and blah blah - I decided it was not worth the trouble, as my existing digital, with the help of Audacity, could offer just about the same.

Bronnestam, it's a stage model with controls for all that. It can work as a master so has the EQ and deep tweakability. A bit short of synth capability but for on board control you can tweak 4 sections of the keyboard all differently. NOt sure your digital grand has that capability.

Some day I will build myself back up to a level where I will be willing to offer a recording of something I have worked on. That day hasn't come yet, I've only been back at the piano for just over a year now.

[bronnestam]

Bronnestam, it's a stage model with controls for all that. It can work as a master so has the EQ and deep tweakability. A bit short of synth capability but for on board control you can tweak 4 sections of the keyboard all differently. NOt sure your digital grand has that capability.

Some day I will build myself back up to a level where I will be willing to offer a recording of something I have worked on. That day hasn't come yet, I've only been back at the piano for just over a year now.

Same for me, dude. Same for me. 
No, unfortunately I don't have such features on my piano, so I guess I have to stick to Audacity - which is not that bad. I designed a profile in the equalizer tool which works fine for me.

[hfmadopter]

Same for me, dude. Same for me. 
No, unfortunately I don't have such features on my piano, so I guess I have to stick to Audacity - which is not that bad. I designed a profile in the equalizer tool which works fine for me.

I think you are doing really well !


I'm pleased with how I've progressed over the last year but am not ready to present anything to the forum as yet. I'm fine with playing for family etc. but they wouldn't know the difference anyway. They just think it's great that I'm playing again. I foolishly was away from piano far too long.