Piano Duo a la Caffeine

[jeffalu]

This is an older improv, and I apologize that there is some background buzz.  It's two tracks, the first a free improv, and the second a semi-composed track to "solidify" the first track. 

https://soundcloud.com/jeff-alu/piano-duo-a-la-caffeine

Hope you enjoy it,
Jeff

[ted]

This is an interesting sound, but it seems to me the rhythmic effect betrays its composite nature, as if there were two improvising minds. I have tried such processes myself and obtained similar results. On the other hand, if you find that particular effect exciting, then go for it. The musical material in this case would seem simple enough, however, to obviate any need of dubbing.

[jeffalu]

Thanks Ted...I do indeed find that slightly "out of sync" thing interesting, but I can see where it would not appeal to all.  Have you ever seen those yellow blinking lights, around construction sites, etc?  When there's two of them, and they're slightly out of sync, and how it can take maybe 20 blinks or so for them to complete a full cycle to where they're synced up again (but just for a second) and then they again go out of sync.  That kind of rhythmic effect is to me very interesting.

[ted]

I remember years ago, as a kid, I used to lie on the floor between two tape recorders playing a piano piece with a regular pulse, stride or swing mostly. Small differences in the mechanisms caused the recordings to fall in and out of sync. I too enjoyed the effect, and it possibly laid the foundation of my present fondness for rhythms which are "not quite right" in my improvisation. However, I have progressed beyond being satisfied with two simple periodic pulses. In fact, this latter is surprisingly easy to produce at the piano by one improviser, and in an infinite number of ways. Your recording has given me pause as to the precise difference between one improviser thinking asynchronously and two improvisers playing simultaneously. It is as clear as day to me that there is a marked difference but I'm damned if I understand it at present.

Thanks for triggering these thoughts.

[jeffalu]

Have you heard this Conlon Nancarrow piano study?  One hand gradually speeds up while the other slows down.  There's a moment in there when they're in perfect sync, but not for very long...

&index=20

[ted]

Thanks for the link. This sort of trick, and far more complicated ones, would be easy to produce nowadays with a few lines of code on a home computer. It must have taken ages to punch all those holes in paper and calculate their positions though. The question is whether the actual sound is enjoyable music on its own merits when considered without its calculation. Is the knowledge of the structure and means of generation of a piece of music essential to aural enjoyment ? This is one of the perennial arguments about music, both old-fashioned and modern, on forums and elsewhere, and its answer seems completely subjective.