The Atheist Forums Playlist

[Tea Earl Grey Hot]

New Order is never a bad thing to be hooked on

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Concerto for 4 harpsichords. Count them. 4 freakin harpsichords!

Wow... it's like music porn for a baroque pianist such as yourself

"pianist"?! ಠ_ಠ

[Annik]

He works his organ.

[Tea Earl Grey Hot]

He works his organ.

Yeah!

Wait...

[festive1]

New Order is never a bad thing to be hooked on

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Wow... it's like music porn for a baroque pianist such as yourself

"pianist"?! ಠ_ಠ

My sincerest apologies good sir! 'Twas my mistake.

[Tea Earl Grey Hot]

Incase there's still any confusion

AN ORGAN:




A PIANO:

[festive1]

NAY!!! This is a piano (and a piece I'm currently working on):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG2tc-knlUs

But the organ is very cool too I'd love to play one... I have a friend who has offered to get me into the National Cathedral after hours :3 I just wouldn't know what to do with all those pedals!

[Angrboda]

Click: M.I.A. -

[Tea Earl Grey Hot]

This is a recording of me from last week. I'm playing the harpsichord providing an improvised accompaniment to a small college orchestra. There are three movements. In the third movement, I changed the stops on the harpsichord to make it sound like a lute. The performance went fairly good considering most of the students in it are amateurs. There were some slight timing issues in the first movement because the students haven't had very much experience in over-dotting.

The notation I'm reading is called figured bass. I'm given the same line as the cellos plus numbers that tell me the harmonies I have to improvise. It sounds simple but it's actually very complicated and takes a lot of practice and concentration. What I have to make up has to be fairly strict in accordance with the rules of counterpoint. I have to worry about doubling chords properly, preparing and resolving dissonances correctly, and avoiding parallel perfect intervals. Plus I have to be expressive on the harpsichord by matching the dynamics of the orchestra by increasing or reducing the number of notes I strike. The harpsichord isn't a dynamic instrument like a piano. I can't hit a note harder or softer to change the dynamics. The dynamics are always the same no matter what. So to make the harpsichord seem louder or softer, I play more or fewer notes. For loud spots I play chords with 4 to 8 notes and for soft spot I play 2 to 4 notes.

http://f.cl.ly/items/0M34252o3H3L0U0I0q43/1-Handel.m4a

This is a page of what I was reading (the violin part I ignore, I just concentrate on the bass):

[Annik]

About the last third of the recording is my favorite.

[Cato]

I enjoyed this very much. The second movement reminded me of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gxufscgTWQ