Chopin Nocturne op. 9 no. 1 (video)

[chopincat]

spam

[verqueue]

Some tips from me:

• try to play left hand more legato - it maybe the quality of the recording, but sometimes it was too loud and "knocked" (at the begininng the most I think).
• I don't like your rubato in some spots - it's too sudden. Especially before this contemplative ending of Db Major part it sounded a little hysterically.
• try to get better recording equipment, your performance may be distorted by this one

You play it musically, you really understand this music. I think it'll be very good when you fix these three things.

[chopincat]

Thank you so much! I'll definitely try to work on those things.

What's a good way to record a piece? This was my first time doing this and I just used Photobooth on my computer (which was clearly a very bad idea!) Is there another computer application that might work better, or other equipment I might be able to buy without spending too much?

[verqueue]

I only recently started to record myself, so I'm not specialist in this. But the things that I know, that it's not about which program you use. The equipment and settings in computer matters.

For my acoustic piano I use cheap mic connected with my laptop. It's still better than the mic in PC. The recording program I use is audacity. For the video I use my phone or some old camera (it has worse quality than my phone). Then I combine video and sound with kdenlive (yes, I use linux, but for other OS you can also find something). It's still bad quallity, but sound is better than yours.
Maybe you should try some other settings (try to change mic volume, mic boost, capture, etc) - try them for different dynamics, because in yours recording the forte was crackling, propably you didn't check it before.

[brogers70]

Nice job. I agree with the previous comments about LH legato. Also, there are lots of tempo changes marked in the B section, but I think you could make them a bit less extreme. The stretto where it goes into Eb minor, for example, maybe shouldn't accelerate quite so much. You did a nice job on varying the tone quality each time that sudden switch to D major occurs (all four of them); when you come back out of that section to the a tempo, I wouldn't speed up quite so much. I think maybe you started the B section a bit too fast, so you have nowhere to go but up on the stretto. That opening Db major theme could be slower, then the D major bit slower still, then when you speed up to get back to Db, you wouldn't get quite so fast.

Nice work on that final melisma; I end to choke on that one.

[bachstreetboys]

I played this piece last year!! took me many months to really get. beautiful isn't it?

-in the beginning, try doing the first 3 notes a bit softer/slower and build it into the volume/tempo you currently have - sort of like starting with an air of uncertainty and falling into the piece
-try doing repeated notes with different fingers, it will give each note a new sound
-good runs!
-for the softer section at 1:30 i feel like some of the accents were a bit sudden, try to crescendo to the note and really build the tension
-also at the middle section between 2:25-3:50 you sped up a lot, try practicing with the metronome, this will really help.  You'll be surprised at how much less rushed it really is. I had this same problem too last year my natural inclination was to rush it and when i went to adjudications/competitions they all commented on more metronome practice for me 
-the ending from like 5:20 on was really good imo
-basically try for crescendos that really build and are less sudden, and more metronome practice

hope this was helpful!

[ronde_des_sylphes]

You obviously have natural ideas about the phrasing; these mostly work. The two main things you should imo focus on are 1: encourage the left hand to be more in the background - it is the accompaniment, and the main interest is in the right hand (everyone gets balance of the two wrong from time to time) and 2: watch the tempo surges. Some of the rubato is ok, but some of it seems very impetuous and a bit extreme. Metronome practice (see above post) is a good suggestion; it might be worth, as an exercise in discipline, ensuring you can play the piece through fully at a constant tempo, then subsequently add rubato as you feel appropriate.

Re the recording noises, it sounds like the input level is far too high, causing distortion. It's always better to set too low than too high; free software like Audacity can easily boost the volume if it was too low, whereas fixing distortion ranges from difficult to impossible.

[chopincat]

Thanks everyone for the feedback and recording tips! I really appreciate it! 

[amytsuda]

You definitely stand up to your forum name! I really enjoy how relaxed and spontaneous you are!

[erick86]

btw is this video shot in a mirror?  I just realized near the end of the piece that your "left hand" in the video is playing the treble and the "right hand" is playing the base. 

Lovely piece, you play it magically.


Eric

[chopincat]

I shot it on a webcam (which I will probably never do again!) so yes, everything is flipped.

Thanks again to everyone for the suggestions and kind words! They were extremely helpful! I played it in a recital last weekend, and I ended up getting invited back for the encore recital.

[erick86]