Ok, I'll participate. Putting stuff out here more often gets the Simon treatment so stay strong. Given the prompt: IS this EXCEPTIONAL or "even better" I will call it exceptional. That term gives enough grey area to whatever criteria there actually is to offer my own take. It was interesting technique(s) and a creative approach. The actual tune was somewhere there and a bit of a distraction -kind "oh, that's what this is" for me. The articulation of notes and chords really was good -OB's at pure pitch is no small feat. Summary: It sounded like an excersize but I'd vote for you to come back next week.
I know I'm splittin hairs here Littoral...but "exceptional" is actually better then "even better"..Please don't ask me to explain - but, you probably meant to say "even better"...Mind you, it's all rather confusing, though your critique of the fellows tune is even better then my less then exceptional explanation of what is more or less the same thing :)
I dunno - but I LOVE that "drone + melody" stuff. It take a tongue with more talent than mine. Another player who can do AMAZING things like that is James Conway. ---------- /Greg
I play a kiss pop like that on one song. When I recorded it it looked really strange in Audacity. Usually a wave line shows up as a shape both above and below the center, and the two shapes usually look kind of similar. On a strong kiss pop, the shape lifts up and completely and there is actually not just blank space below the line, but blank space above the line below the wave shape. I don't know if it's a digital artifact. I asked on the Audacity forum. One person replied that it looked like I was sucking the element out of the mic. I don't like kiss pops on most harps, but they sound pretty cool on lower tuned harps. They sound downright awesome on a LLF.
I've intended, for some time, to try to really figure out playing a drone line. I do it a little bit on a couple really simple pieces. I want to try playing rounds all by myself. I thought I'd start with something simple like 'Row Row Row Your Boat' but even that's proved difficult. The hardest part with playing two things at once isn't getting the right holes, it's separating the two parts rhythmically. I think if I were to sit down and tab out what I should be playing I could do a round that was straight forward rhythmically (assuming the blows and draws lined up, I don't even want to think about trying to play a blow and a draw note at the same time!)
There's some very hard techniques being used in that video. In this video though tmf714 does makes some valid comments about it being "off" in certain places. If you look at this guys YouTube channel though it's seems that he's most likely a student of Howard Levy's. He has some serious skills and plays really nice music. Some of the videos of the Bach he has posted are beautiful and sound as if they could have been written purposely for harmonica, as they suit the instrument so well. He can also play very fast and incorporates overblows into his playing as well as anyone except maybe the the very best of the overblow players. Here's one of the Bach numbers.
Miles -The song in the first video is "Auld Lang Syne". Which is of course the song most associated with New Year.
This guy is a student of Howard's. This clip is one of his submission videos to Howard. Ok, so it has some mistakes here and there, but I'd bet that there ain't many guys on this forum (if any) who could play this Bach composition that well, let alone perfectly. I know for a fact that I couldn't.
tmf714 - I think you're being a little harsh on the guy. Yes I know it has mistakes. He is a student and it's a work in progress. The point is though he's doing lot's of things right on that harmonica. His playing and techniques will improve over time. He has a very good solid base on which to build. I believe he deserves credit for what he has achieved so far. Could you play that Bach piece better than he does? I know I couldn't. If you or any other member of this forum that is not a pro player can beat it, then I'd like to hear it.
Last Edited by on Jan 03, 2013 12:38 PM
I'm not so sure if tmf714 is intending to be harsh, but I see where he's coming from. I think he's pointing out that there's something to be said for playing clean and precise. Buddy Greene is also one of my heroes, and is one of the cleanest, most precise players I know.
As for the young man in these videos, I do think he is on his way to playing some great things. There are some rough spots, but he is tackling some tough pieces to play.
People post absolute wankery here and get nothing but praise and encouragement, yet this guy, who's attempting something really difficult, gets beaten up. Strange. ----------
They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art. Charlie Parker
No worries on my part, Kingley. I think some folks just call the things they way they see it, and I can appreciate that. When you put material on YouTube, you have to be prepared for comments and critique. And I think it is important to note, as tmf714 stated earlier, that these appear to be practice videos to send to Howard.
One thing that I have noticed about tmf714 is that when he critiques something, he usually follows up by posting what he believes is a better example, to backup his viewpoint. I can appreciate that as well.
It will definitely be interesting to follow this guy's progress.
"Using an innovative scientific method, Hall has proven the tempos Bach intended for virtually all his music."
About Dr. Cory Hall, Founder & President
"Cory Hall played two works of towering artistic content and difficulty with a power and a finish that were startling. Hall was up to it — all over the keyboard, but always conscious of the magic the notes were designed to evoke. It was an impressive performance." (The Sacramento Bee)
Cory Hall (b. 1963) is a classical pianist, composer/arranger, recording artist, music editor, master music engraver, and independent scholar who operates the popular BachScholar™ YouTube Channel, which currently features over 400 performance and tutorial videos that receive over 12,000 daily views worldwide. Hall is renowned for his pure tone and virtuoso technique, rapid learning abilities, and prodigious memory (with several hundred memorized piano performances) and records on his vintage 1929 Model L Steinway. Hall has many interests and has served many capacities including: concert artist (solo and accompanist), private piano teacher, college professor (humanities, music, piano), church organist, independent scholar.
Hall holds music degrees from California State University, Sacramento (B.M. in piano), The Eastman School of Music (M.M. in piano), and The University of Kansas (M.M. in historical musicology, D.M.A. in piano). His major piano professors include Dr. David Burge at the Eastman School of Music and Richard Reber at the University of Kansas. In addition, Hall has participated in masterclasses taught by some of the world's foremost artists and pedagogues, including: Abbey Simon, Claude Frank, Daniel Pollack, John Perry, Nelita True. During his doctoral studies at the University of Kansas, Hall studied musicology under the late Professor Dr. J. Bunker Clark, a renowned music editor in his own right and scholar of American music. The present publishing company is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Clark, who for many years, even after graduating and moving on, served as Hall's professional mentor who provided much inspiration, encouragement, and advice.
In addition to excelling in the traditional classical piano literature, Hall is regarded by many to be one of the world's foremost interpreters of Scott Joplin and classic ragtime music, ca. 1900-1920, which he often livens up and embellishes with his own unique arrangements. Hall has recorded most of Joplin's works on YouTube. As a composer, Hall often combines intriguing blends of diverse styles such as classical, pop, and new age and at other times uses his own unique romantic virtuoso style to create evocative character works, both sacred and secular. Hall's main research interests include tempo and alphanumeric symbolism in the music of J.S. Bach. Still in progress for twenty years is his theoretical treatise "Discovering Bach's Secret Tempo Code", which introduces a groundbreaking theory that determines the precise tempos (in beats per minute) Bach intended for all his works.
In 2010 after two years of hard work on the BachScholar™ YouTube Channel, Hall began to have visions of a new and exciting kind of music publishing company. This company would truly be a dynamic and multi-faceted company of the 21st century that takes full advantage of our current online and global world — a company that engraves and publishes quality music editions, retails musical instruments, offers Skype music instruction, and offers the online world an educationally oriented website.
Last Edited by on Jan 03, 2013 1:39 AM