scott wrote:

> AWSOME ROLEX!

Hmm, that was the only comment on my test video too. :-P

> It sounds so good that it doesn't seem like it's coming from the 
> keyboard, maybe that's also the sound samples you are using, but still 
> really good.

...or the crappy camcorder microphone? ;-)

(I wonder if there's a way of directly connecting my PC to the camera? 
Oh well, if not, I can always try synching it afterwards...)

> PS Yes, your room is really untidy :-)

You haven't seen the REST of it!! ;-)

Notice that in this shot alone we see a full-size keyboard, a rack of 
several hundred CDs, a laser printer, a digital camera, and the keyboard 
and monitor for a computer. You can also see the edge of my stereo 
system (although there's nothing to prove that's what it is). My room 
also contains A WARDROBE and A BED. (!)

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On 21-4-2009 10:27, Invisible wrote:
> Orchid XP v8 wrote:
> 
>> I wonder if anybody will point out any of the other interesting 
>> objects in my room...
> 
> Well let me see now... There's a copy of Godel, Escher, Bach clearly 
> visible. Oh, and take a look at my monitor stand - looks like I found a 
> good use for A New Kind of Science after all! :-D
> 
> Less obviously, there's a copy of Classic FM Organ Tocattas resting on 
> my keyboard. There's also a plasma ball in shot, and several glass paper 
> weights. There's the box for a Casio graphing calculator. (That's not 
> actually mine; my graphing calculator is a higher spec.)
> 
> Even less obvious, there's my latest bank statement resting on top of 
> the book. I hadn't noticed that - but I'm fairly sure you can't read it. 
> There's a HP LaserJet 1000 printer behind that. The black thing resting 
> on top of it is my IR thermometer in its black leather carry case. Next 
> to the printer you can just make out a grey thing; that's my camera.
> 
> Getting *really* freaking obscure... you can just make out a copy of 
> Widor's Tocatta propped up in the bottom-right corner of the frame. 
> Notice the hand-written scape of notes balanced on the function knob on 
> my synthesizer. (I suck at reading music!) The mini CD you can see is an 
> earlier recording of my playing this tocatta, as luck would have it. You 
> can also see Enya's "And Winter Came" propped up. Next to it is Mike 
> Oldfield's "Music of the Spheres". (Even *I* only know that because I 
> remember it.)
> 
> So there we have it. Aren't you enlightened? :-P

Not really ;)
Everything you mention is only recognizable if you know how it looks. 
The only thing I can recognize for certain even after your explanation 
is GEB end even that is positioned in such an unconventional way that I 
can not know if it is the actual book or a prop.
The relevant question here would be: why would I care?

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>> So there we have it. Aren't you enlightened? :-P
> 
> Not really ;)
> The relevant question here would be: why would I care?

Well, true...

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> Notice that in this shot alone we see a full-size keyboard, a rack of 
> several hundred CDs, a laser printer, a digital camera, and the keyboard 
> and monitor for a computer. You can also see the edge of my stereo 
> system (although there's nothing to prove that's what it is). My room 
> also contains A WARDROBE and A BED. (!)

I just noticed the deodorant can...

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>> My room also contains A WARDROBE and A BED. (!)
> 
> I just noticed the deodorant can...

There's actually more than one in shot. ;-)

Your point being...?

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Orchid XP v8 wrote:

>   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1tmjA_c8SQ
> 
> PS. And then watch this:
> 
>   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKejfYzB3ak
> 
> and see how the master does it. Maybe in ten years' time, eh?

You know, watching these, I think I'm actually playing it a little bit 
too fast.

Obviously there is no exact speed. But I think I'm rushing it a little. 
I had a go at practising last night (and actually learned some new notes 
for the first time in a while, rather than just repeating what I already 
know). Playing it slower, I can actually hit more of the notes 
correctly, but more importantly my playing is more fluid. It flows 
better. And I can [sometimes] hit the double-strikes properly.

I also discovered that one or two notes in my performance are actually 
incorrect. (As in, I misread the score.) Always fun. :-/ But anyway, 
I've learned another small chunk of the score, and I spent last night 
practising hard. We'll see where that gets me...

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>>> My room also contains A WARDROBE and A BED. (!)
>> 
>> I just noticed the deodorant can...
> 
> There's actually more than one in shot. ;-)
> 
> Your point being...?

Is it hard work playing the keyboard :-D

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>> Your point being...?
> 
> Is it hard work playing the keyboard :-D

Why yes, yes it is.

The first bar alone as THIRTY TWO NOTES.

FOR THE RIGHT HAND ONLY.

WITH NO RESTS.

It has another dozen or so for the left hand. And that's just the first 
bar. The piece is several hundred bars long. And the arpeggio, while it 
does swap from hand to hand (which is very hard, by the way), contains 
not one single rest for the entire 6 minute duration of the piece.

The 4th bar or so contains a chord for the left hand containing a major 
12th interval. (Recall that an octave is an 8th, so a 12th is even 
larger than an octave. And this chord has *other* notes in the middle of 
it.)

Arguably the most challenging thing is that the arpeggio contains 
sections where it is actually PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE to reach all of the 
notes at once, so you MUST move your hand up and down the keyboard as 
you play it, finding and refinding the notes each time you need to play 
them. This involves some unusually advanced hand movements that I'm not 
used to doing.

Of course, doing this with my LEFT hand is even harder. Usually the bass 
part of a piece is much slower, so usually your left hand doesn't need 
to do very much. Not so with this tocatta. That took me weeks to adjust 
to...

In summary, YES, it's very hot work! :-P

(And when your fingers get hot, they get wet and slipperly and slide off 
the keys and it's impossible to play well.)

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