Nyanko's Basket

Just a short post since I'm tired, but..

I had a really great time this evening with a friend from work ^_^ She invited me over to her house to practice together, and for dinner as well (though I didn't know about the dinner in advance).

To make a long story short, it was really funny intriguing to play on a real (baby grand) piano with real action again after more than 6 months. ^^;; And even though we made a ton of mistakes (I was playing the primo part and she was playing secondo), we were both able to play it twice without giving up completely, and we didn't blame each other for the mistakes, instead laughing at the mistakes. ^^;;;

I also got to meet a friend of hers and her family (her husband couldn't make it), and she sang so beautifully it brought tears into my eyes. T_T Which was what they said about my playing, too, especially when I tried the solo version of Pas de deux and later on played La Savane and Berceuse (Cradle Song)...

Overall, it was a really good time and I hope to meet my friend again to practice together with her. I think her piano teacher's even looking for duets that we can both play and is planning on hearing both of us play live. ^^;;;

I watched 타짜   (Tajja - War of Flowers) on Wednesday, and it was a really interesting movie. It centered around several gamblers and various card games, and ways that people would cheat at the card games and double-cross each other. There was quite a bit of violence, blood, nudity, sex and other things, but those didn't detract from the story line at all. ^^;;

It was really a good movie and I was really fortunate to be able to watch it with a (Korean) classmate of mine and his friend. :)

The Open Mic went off pretty well, although I had forgotten to take a stand and bench, so I had to put my keyboard on a table and sit in a chair. ^^;;; The keyboard vibrated quite a bit, but I was still able to give a pretty good performance. I'll see whether I can share out the recordings once I get them...

[Edit] I performed Souvenir de Porto Rico, Swipesy and Maple Leaf Rag, and I think a lot of people were really enchanted by Souvenir. ^^;

I went for dinner with itsacz last night at Bellevue Square, and after dinner we were wandering around for a while, and we found a music store. It was like offering a dying man water. :P

He ended up buying a ring-bound collection of 75 pieces (I saw some too, and one of them even had The Banjo and Kitten on the Keys as novelty solos!!), while I bought three scores. One was a collection of Scott Joplin's rags (I didn't know the Maple Leaf Rag had words...), and the other two were a set of Chopin's Ballades and Nocturnes each, including the famous Ballade no. 1 in G minor, which was featured in The Pianist.

And I decided to try it.

...

I must be insane. :D

But I can get (somewhat) through the first 5 and a half pages, although it of course sounds nothing at all like what it's supposed to be... ^^;;;;; I doubt I'll ever reach "Maksim"'s standard, much less a professional recording...

Edit: You can buy the soundtrack here on Amazon.com.

06/03/2007 09:36:48 <Phificks> -15 here
06/03/2007 09:38:09 <&Haplo> -26°C here. :(
06/03/2007 09:38:11 <%butsuri> [14:39] <Livia> it's still -38...

It went as high as 60 degrees F (15.5 degrees C) here during the day, and that was the warmest it's been in a while. And it was really great leaving at 5:30 and not having the sky become pitch-black. Although my ride to Bellevue American (or should I shorten it to American Music?) was slowed down both by the traffic (for which I got onto the sidewalk) and the fact that for about half the journey, there was this guy walking slowly in front of me, and the sidewalk wasn't wide enough to pass him safely. But I was still able to clock an average speed of about 7 mph. :P

I bought a carrying bag for my keyboard, which I had to leave in "layaway" (at the store) because I obviously couldn't carry it back when cycling, and some audio cables (2 10-foot 1/4 inch Peavey-branded audio cables, a 1/4" to 3.5mm adapter, and a Y-plug 1/4" to 3.5mm adapter). As a result, I can now record in stereo on my laptop, and hopefully I can put up some recordings soon if SmartFTP cooperates. I've recorded only once so far, but the quality is just amazing. ^^

In other news, work is starting to get really interesting and busy. I hope I won't have to work long hours, but it may become a reality soon...

I didn't find my YDP-213, unfortunately...

But I did find the CP-33 for the same price as the P-140 (a digital piano, but perhaps more suited for home use - it comes with two headphone outputs, among other things and its own internal speakers), and I'm already about halfway sold on the CP-33 (which is a stage piano, and moderately portable, at 38 pounds weight). With pedals (a set of 3 mounted), music stand and bench, it comes up to $1500; speakers or headphones (the CP-33 has no internal speakers of its own) are about an extra $100-150. The P-140 saves on the speakers/headphones, but is only about $50-80 cheaper (the stand is more expensive).

Plus, the CP-33 just feels at home on a stage. It's got direct amp/PA outputs, and has both MIDI and USB outputs as well, in addition to having pitch/modulation controls. I imagine it'd look great in PR1, or the AR, or UCC Theatre (dare I say Hall!?), or even at home. ^^;;

So, yeah, it's not cheap by any stretch, but it is an attractive deal. I also saw itsacz's model there, but I wasn't too keen on it, mostly because the touch seems rather odd to me (I can hear both my playing and the striking of the actual key). It is a pretty good keyboard for home use, though. :)

And the person in charge of the keyboard section is a really nice guy. Even if I decide not to buy from that store (which doesn't seem very likely), I appreciate the fact that he gave me advice about shopping online and some of the risks that are present in doing so, even though it can be significantly cheaper. He was also really helpful in trying to find a keyboard that suited my needs when I told him I really wanted something like the YDP-213 (three pedals, a stand and a 88-key keyboard), even though they didn't carry it at all. And he suggested that if I really wanted to find it, I could try Best Buy or Target, or another place like that.

Now I just need to find reviews and decide...

It's a good thing I didn't have my credit card today xD

So, I'm on a mailing list at work, and I posted a question about performance opportunities, and someone replied saying that he was going to organize an Open Mic event. In case you don't know what that is, it's basically like a free concert which doesn't have a fixed genre. So far, I think there are about 6 or 7 items, including several bands, and possibly even a jazz sextet (I think).

And... I'm thinking of performing some (maybe two or three) ragtime pieces. ^^;;;; I need to buy a keyboard first and practice like crazy, after my first paycheck I haven't decided exactly which ones yet, but I have some in mind, including possibly a certain ghostly rag. :P

I'm somewhat nervous about it, of course, but... We'll see how it goes?

In other news, mee goreng is coming up soon, and itsacz will finally get the chance to try my cooking and provide an unbiased review. Hopefully that will be enough to silence the critics such as wao... ^^;;;

So, yeah, I'm back. I needed some time off, but not that much.

Many thanks to el_espada for the CD yesterday, and to redacted as well for the wonderful time I spent with them and for even escorting me to the interchange :)

I'll be sad to miss both of you when I go whenever that is... but... let's keep in touch! ^^

So, following in haplo3k's footsteps...

Journal entries: 913 914
Comments posted: 1,952
Comments received: 1,698

I wonder whether I'll hit 2,000 comments posted or received before I hit 1,000 journal entries. :P

After a hiatus of a few months, I decided to play some old rags which I'd neglected for a while: Kitten on the Keys, Peacherine Rag and Ragtime Nightingale.

It was somewhat harder than I thought, and my fingers were at first unused to some of the jumps required. But after the first time, it got better and I was able to play them almost at the same level/standard as before.

And amazingly enough, playing Kitten on the Keys no longer makes my elbows ache tremendously! Perhaps that's a side effect of learning the Seabiscuits and Graceful Ghost rags, or maybe all the arm manipulation involved in practicing Bamboula, but it means that I can now play the piece faster without having to suffer for it afterwards. ^_^;;

I don't feel comfortable enough with any of them to make any public recordings yet (and since my piano's unlikely to get tuned unless I pay for it, who knows?) but perhaps in the future I may.

I can sympathize with el_espada and how he feels. :P

Right now I'm trying (Gottschalk's Bamboula, Danse de Negres, op. 2 (tempo allegro, 1 crotchet = 112 beats) for fun and it's a very nice piece to listen to (and I hope to be able to find a recording), even if playing it makes my arms feel like they no longer exist. :P

More information about the Bamboula can be found here.

( The source of the pain, part 1 )

( The source of the pain, part 2 )

( The source of the pain, part 3 )

Fortunately, I'm not playing them this time. :P

Unfortunately, I still don't like them a lot... although I do like this piece in general (Hesitation Tango).

( Did I mention I don't like triplets? )
( Double the trouble... )