Dvorak - Legends Op.59 nos 1-5 (4-hands)

[cbreemer]

Hi all,

I haven't been here since a brief stint in 2012. Happy to see things are still lively in this forum !
Maybe there is some interest in 4-hand music. Some weeks ago I recorded the first 5 of Dvorak's
Legends with my good friend David Dekker (also an occasional visitor of this forum, I believe).
Isn't this just the most wonderful music ! Surpassed only by the Slavonic Dances. Any comments
welcome.

Ye9GA

Cheers,
Chris

[awesom_o]

Thank you very much for posting! I have a tremendous interest in 4 hands music, and play quite a bit of it myself. I haven't time to listen to your recording in its entirety at the moment... hopefully I'll be able to finish it tonight. 

4 hands music is extremely challenging in terms of creating real synergy between two people. It's also one of the hardest types of music to record. I'm not an expert, but I think standard mic-placement that works well for solo-piano tends not to work very well for duets. It's important to record the sound in the room, rather than the instrument itself.

Still, synchronization is pretty good! I'm not familiar with these works, although I've played several of the Slavonic Dances. Lovely music-thanks again for posting.

[cbreemer]

Thanks for the feedback ! Indeed playing 4-hand is a challenge. You can practice your part
until eternity, as you should do, and yet the real practice only begins when you sit together and
discover how wickedly the composer has intertwined the parts in the middle. Lots of decisions to be made ! One session together is never really enough but we make do. It's frustrating that
when you listen back, the synchronizing is always worse than it sounded when you were playing.
I wonder  why that is. Can't think it is because of microphone placing - the sound comes from
the same place(s), only a bit more of it. So I used my usual setup.

But it is immensely rewarding and educational. And this music is just heavenly, IMO 4-hand music
doesn't get much better than this. We hope to record the second half of this lovely set soon.

[rachfan]

Hi Chris,

Bravo to you and Mr.Dekker! This is a very good collaboration and performance of "Legends".  You both have a wonderful and sympathetic sense of timing which aids coordination in the playing.  One session or not, this performance has much to commend it.  For example, it is sometimes difficult enough in solo piano pieces to manage dynamics and shadings as intended, but doing so as duo pianists must be even more difficult. 

Regarding recording, for duo piano works I would think that a matched pair of small diaphragm omni-directional mics would be the best choice as they pick up the room ambiance as well as the sound as it leaves the piano. For this application, cartioid mics might be too focused on the piano per se.  I believe that would give you even more a blended and finished sound as captured by the recorder.

Again, wonderful playing!  Looking forward to the second half.

David

[cbreemer]

Thank you David ! There's things here to frown about, mainly sync issues and the occasional little slip, but there is also much that came out really well and we are happy about.

Regarding microphones, as you know I have to make do with my Tascam DR2 device, and I have neither the space, money or patience to experiment with fancy microphones. I believe the sound quality to be just as good as that of your recordings, but I admit not being not too critical of the sound as soon as I think it's acceptable What matters to me far more is the music itself.

[rachfan]

Hi Chris,

I had thought of getting a Tascam and liked what I saw, but was steered away to the Roland instead based on the fact that the Roland had the larger flash card which would be better for me during recording sessions where I do all complete takes.  That being said, Tascam is still a great brand.  I agree with you on mics.  It's a strange world.  If one wants to upgrade within the same brand and model, it's all about a marginal difference in sound for $$$$.  At today's prices I should hope that the mics outlive me rather than vice versa. 

David     

[gvans]

Bravo! These are played with taste and fine romantic sensibility. Thanks for posting this.
Much appreciated.

[cbreemer]

Thanks Glenn ! I am glad they are enjoyable. Come saturday we hope the record the remaining 5.
It bothers me that the grand has gone out of tune since due to the very warm weather. Will
have to do some patching, it's too late to get the tuner in.

[gvans]

Right, fix those unisons and she'll be all right, mate.