>> Well, for a start I only played 2 of the 3 staffs in that particular 
>> performance... I *have* a recording of me playing the other two. 
> 
> Your spelling seems to have improved a bit recently (do you use a spell 
> checker now?). Your math still is somewhat shaky.

Thunderbird has a built-in spell checker. But for some reason it doesn't 
work. (It tells me all words are mispelt.)

My math? Now do you mean mathematics or arithmetic? I *know* my 
arithmetic sucks! :-S

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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Darren New wrote:

> Seriously, tho, I'd be hard-pressed to play a scale on that particular 
> organ. :-)

No - the *keys* would [have to be] hard-pressed. ;-)

Did I mention being half-frozen? It's a stone-built church! In October! 
I was shivering like hell... (Hence the very un-fashionable clothing...)

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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Florian Pesth wrote:
> Thank you, I enjoyed it a lot.

Well that's certainly what I'm aiming for!

> Of course - like Tom Austin said - people 
> who don't play piano will not notice how difficult it is to hit it just 
> right - even more so on an organ with heavy keys I guess (?). And they 
> compare it to professional performances and hear the glitches, but you 
> shouldn't care about that.

What I would be interested to know... compared to a propper performance, 
does my rendition sound "recognisibly" like the real time?

I always think that if a tune is similar enough that people recognise 
what it is, that's a solid way to start.

> I play trombone myself. I know, that compared to some other "more 
> professional amateur" trombone players it's probably not "good enough", 
> but I enjoy doing it. It gives me something, which I miss, if I don't 
> play for some time. And I keep steadily improving.

The truly astounding thing about this toccata is just how far I've come. 
When I first started trying to play it, it was painfully slow and 
mechanical. There were parts of it where I knew the notes but I 
literally couldn't play those parts because it was just too hard. And 
look at me now! I played the entire thing, end to end, with no gaps at 
all. (OK, actually I missed about half a bar at the end. So shoot me!) 
Parts which seemed impossibly hard just weeks ago now slow past with 
effortless grace.

I haven't reached that stage with all of the score yet. My next 
challenge is getting both hands working. I've made some good progress. 
Maybe I'll post a video for that too...

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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> What I would be interested to know... compared to a propper performance,
> does my rendition sound "recognisibly" like the real time?

Yes, it is recognizable. I couldn't tell you the name if you didn't tell 
me, but that is because I don't listen so much to classical music at home 
(But for some time I went to performances of the local symphonic 
orchestra (it was cheap as a student) and my sister played piano. I think 
I have a good musical memory.).

> 
> I always think that if a tune is similar enough that people recognise
> what it is, that's a solid way to start.

It sure is! I would think that already the different response of the keys 
makes it a completely different (and more difficult) to play. Do you have 
chance of getting there more often and getting used to the instrument? 

> 
>> I play trombone myself. I know, that compared to some other "more
>> professional amateur" trombone players it's probably not "good enough",
>> but I enjoy doing it. It gives me something, which I miss, if I don't
>> play for some time. And I keep steadily improving.
> 
> The truly astounding thing about this toccata is just how far I've come.
> When I first started trying to play it, it was painfully slow and
> mechanical. There were parts of it where I knew the notes but I
> literally couldn't play those parts because it was just too hard.

Yeah, muscle memory is amazing, isn't it? But without it I guess you 
really couldn't play time critical parts on any instrument - it is just 
to fast to think about it.

> And
> look at me now! I played the entire thing, end to end, with no gaps at
> all. (OK, actually I missed about half a bar at the end. So shoot me!)
> Parts which seemed impossibly hard just weeks ago now slow past with
> effortless grace.
> 
> I haven't reached that stage with all of the score yet. My next
> challenge is getting both hands working. I've made some good progress.
> Maybe I'll post a video for that too...

Do you take (or took) classes or are you learning completely on your own? 
Maybe it would help to take some lessons (not necessarily regulary, but 
sometimes it is good to get some hints and correct some mistakes).

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Orchid XP v8 wrote:
> http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Z-mokvpoo

That sounds great! Better than I would be able to play it :)

Also good job on getting a decent video quality for YouTube (it looked quite
good), although it started to screw up near the end just as I was typing
this sentence :D

BTW, the way you wrote the video title, you probably WILL get 12 year olds
saying you suck. People who would click on "nerd playing the organ" are the
people who would then post saying "haha nerd!". Don't be so hard on
yourself.

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On 05-Nov-08 22:49, Orchid XP v8 wrote:
>>> Well, for a start I only played 2 of the 3 staffs in that particular 
>>> performance... I *have* a recording of me playing the other two. 
>>
>> Your spelling seems to have improved a bit recently (do you use a 
>> spell checker now?). Your math still is somewhat shaky.
> 
> Thunderbird has a built-in spell checker. But for some reason it doesn't 
> work. (It tells me all words are mispelt.)

Strange, mine works. It tells me e.g. that in your message the only word 
that is misspelled is mispelt

> My math? Now do you mean mathematics or arithmetic? I *know* my 
> arithmetic sucks! :-S

I think arithmetic may be more accurate for 2+2=3 but OTOH I though that 
  it was generally referred to as maths. I am not a native though.

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> (Seriously... 7 attempts to make the file upload?? How on earth does so 
> much stuff get onto YouTube when it's this hard to post anything?!)

Try it from work?  I've uploaded a few videos on our 2MBit SDSL connection 
and it's pretty quick :-)

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Mike the Elder wrote:
> It's nice to know I'm not the only organ music fan hereabouts.
> (I just listen and, to the great benefit of all, do not play.)
> Thanks for the post. I quite enjoyed it.

Yay. :-D

Gotta love the power and majesty of a large, fully-working organ. What 
other purely accoustic instrument can send ladies' handbags scurrying 
across the floor like startled rodents?

> Here's a quick link to something by my favorite organist (and Moog
> synthesizer player)E. Power Biggs:
> 
> http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=GVu0auaZu7s

I'll have to wait until I get home to play that...

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Florian Pesth wrote:

> Yes, it is recognizable.

Yay! :-D

(Unlike my attempt at pronouncing some of the stop names on this 
instrument...)

>> I always think that if a tune is similar enough that people recognise
>> what it is, that's a solid way to start.
> 
> It sure is! I would think that already the different response of the keys 
> makes it a completely different (and more difficult) to play. Do you have 
> chance of getting there more often and getting used to the instrument? 

Yeah, but... the organ is in need of repair. This is due to happen soon. 
I think I'll wait until after that happens. Right now, too many things 
don't work right. (E.g., I discovered that with a certain combination of 
stops, the F3 key "sticks". As in, you press it and it doesn't release. 
Until you play some notes next to it, which unsticks it.)

> Yeah, muscle memory is amazing, isn't it? But without it I guess you 
> really couldn't play time critical parts on any instrument - it is just 
> to fast to think about it.

The bizzare thing is that it's difficult to play it slower - I keep 
forgetting where I've got to! ;-)

> Do you take (or took) classes or are you learning completely on your own? 
> Maybe it would help to take some lessons (not necessarily regulary, but 
> sometimes it is good to get some hints and correct some mistakes).

Organ lessons seem like an appealing concept... Not sure where to get 
those from though.

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Nicolas Alvarez wrote:

> That sounds great! Better than I would be able to play it :)

Yay! Thanks.

You know, when I first heard this at the Royal Albert Hall, I just 
assumed it was impossible to play. And now I'm playing it! o_O

> Also good job on getting a decent video quality for YouTube (it looked quite
> good), although it started to screw up near the end just as I was typing
> this sentence :D

Yeah - the video on my HD is perfect, but what actually ended up on 
YouTube breaks up in several places... WTF? Still, at least the sound is OK.

(You know that the crackling is only in the normal-quality version, 
right? If you select "play in high-quality" the crackling goes away. You 
still have to put up with the compander and the limited frequency 
response of my camera tho...)

> BTW, the way you wrote the video title, you probably WILL get 12 year olds
> saying you suck. People who would click on "nerd playing the organ" are the
> people who would then post saying "haha nerd!". Don't be so hard on
> yourself.

Well, everybody else is pretty hard on me... :-S

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