Frédéric Chopin: Nocturne No. 20 in C-sharp minor, B. 49

[moritzloewen]

Hey guys, I just started recording my piano play and I would really appreciate your input on interpretation and recording quality. Please let me know!

[adodd81802]

I can only be picky with my comments so not much to say in all honesty.

I'd say on a couple of notes the sound was just a little harsh for me, maybe in a hall or something you wouldn't notice it, but up close it seemed like you just attacked a couple notes.

I'd say it was a smudge too slow in some areas, maybe again that's my personal preference so not an issue with you're playing.

Maybe a tad quieter in the left hand? could be just recording placement.

rather than leave it at that -

I enjoyed the clarity of your right hand, your runs were also good, I gotta say you don't look like you have long fingers so fair play it put me in my place.

I love Chopin and I felt like you enjoyed playing the piece so I furthermore enjoyed your performance.

[moritzloewen]

Thank you for your response!

Yeah, I did some missed attacks I encountered rewatching the recording, didn't even notice while playing. Guess my fingers are still a little bit too plump.

Still playing around with the mic placement, thing is it sounds very different depending on player device. On mobiles it sounds like there is no bass, but on quality speakers the bass is very present.

[chopinlover01]

Not bad.
The beginning doesn't sound like it's going anywhere; common issue, don't worry. Just lift off the first C sharp minor chord, keep the pedal depressed, and let the sound fade out.
As Adodd mentioned, you might keep the accompaniment quieter, and let the piece move a bit more.
Just general impressions. Nice work. Cheers!

[lateromantic]

I liked the way you handled the ending best - very nice.

Ditto the comments that others have made about the sometimes harsh sound and the overly loud left hand.  Actually, you know how to keep the left hand quiet, because you do so near the end of the piece.  I haven't played this nocturne, but within the left hand I think I would bring out (gently!) just the bass line and maybe a few moving voices here and there, keeping the rest of the left-hand part very quiet.

Anyway, thanks for offering this for us.  I enjoyed it!

[pencilart3]

I would second chopinlover's comment about it not going anywhere. Unfortunately, the same thing happens throughout the whole piece, from my view. Open a phrase, keep the audience - keep the audience - keep the audience (maybe crescendo, speed up a little bit) then gradually bring the phrase to a beautiful close. Like taking a breath in, a little faster at first and then slowly let it out and wait a second before drawing in the next one. Let the melody sing. Are you planning to play any other nocturnes? You're doing great work by the way, I just think that these forums are best for constructive feedback.

P.S. you also asked for audio feedback, perhaps try turning up the middle frequencies a bit, it's easiest in garageband under the "eq"section. That will give it a slightly more thick tone.