I would love to hear what you think of my piano playing. My website currently has 2 videos (Turkish March arranged by Volodos and the beginning of a Chopin Nocturne). My website address is:

http://www.icarus3.com

Thanks very much for your time.
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Icarus

PS I recorded the Turkish March (Volodos version) having learned the piece in only 10 days, so I was not at my peak at the time. I will re-record it at some point, and keep you informed. And PLEASE sign my guestbook as I'd love to hear from you!

Icarus, welcome to the forums.

If you have a look at the Cafe, you'll see that we have a website where a number of us share recordings of our playing - why don't you contribute to that too?

Cheers

Katyjay

Just what I was thinking Katyjay. There is a website set up by YetAnotherPianist from these forums for us to submit recordings. Have a look at www.forumrecordings.co.uk edited typo!
And maybe submit some.

Blimey! your pretty good! Id love to hear more!

i just looked at this website and it isnt recognised...what have i done wrong?

OK, firstly:

Wow . To be able to pull off the volodos like that in 10 days is some achievement. I particularly noticed your good octave technique in your left hand .

Secondly:

Assuming the site is in the UK, one can only distribute a recording if the composer or arranger of the piece being played has been dead for 70 years without paying the Performing Rights Society for each person that downloads it. As Volodos is very much alive, you cannot legally have the Volodos recording on your website if it's hosted in the UK . If it's not in the UK, you need to place a notice stating that it may be illegal to download it depending on the laws of the country in which it is being downloaded.

lucie: Neil made a typo, the website address is www.forumrecordings.co.uk - not forumsrecordings .

Hi. Thanks for your complimentary remarks. I am aware of the UK copyright laws related to Music. My site is hosted in Germany, but in any case, the videos in question cannot be downloaded on my site. They can only be streamed (watched) so there is no possibility of somebody acquiring the video (for personal use, distribution or else). For that reason, I believe I am safe. Also, Volodos himself is aware of the arrangement of my performance (the sheet music doesn't exist and he even asked for a copy of my arrangement for himself as it was so accurate!).

If you still think I am breaking some rules, let me know. Have a good weekend and thanks again for your comments.
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Icarus

Nice site, Icarus. And great playing. I particularly liked the Chopin.

Interested in your philosophy section too!

Streaming audio over the Internet is classed as 'public performance'. Even though it's only streamed, the person viewing it has still heard a performance of a copyright work. As such, it does not make you safe from Performing Rights laws.



Maybe not. My German isn't that good; what does the following say:



Just be careful if it's a German server, you don't want to receive an Abmahnung .

I'm not trying to be obstructive; just trying to make sure you don't get in any legal bother. I take particular interest in these things as I'm responsible for the Forum's recording website.

I just watched it again and i must say its extremely impressive! well done you!

Thanks to July I now have a translation . In short, composers cannot exclude any pieces from those which they wish GEMA to collect money for. So at this point, I don't think you can make that recording available.

I enjoyed your playing too. Do you have several cameras or did you record them separately and then mix? I presume several cameras as I can see one tripod clearly. There were some clever angles that you used - the feet shot was not expected! I look forward to visiting your site again.

You pulled that off from memory in 10 days?! *dies* WOW! That's mighty impressive!

Yeah, I was wondering that, actually! You must be some kind of superman...to play so beautifully and record yourself playing at the same time! Hehe!
I loved you playing, I really did! The whole time, I just sat there with my jaw dropped, and then I watched it again and again! Oh, may I request a piece, please? If you have some other 10 spare days, could you please learn and record yourself playing Rachmaninoff's C sharp minor Prelude, please? I would be extremely greatful.
Oh, by the way, do you speak French?

I'll do it

katyjay, I am very sorry for posting twice. I am new here and had no idea that this forum was so lively. I promise it will never happen again. I will follow your recommendation of posting at forumrecordings.co.uk.

Thank you Benjaminja for your compliment. I plan to upload a new video once a fortnight.

Have a lovely week-end.
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Icarus

~Love is Music in Search for a Word~

Really? Oh, okay! Great!!! I look forward to hearing/watching you, then! I kind of started learning it...and then I got past the first page okay, but when I came to the triplets...I gave up. Hehe! They're just too fast, I don't know how to deal with them.
Good luck to you!!!

Hey thank you all! I'm very honoured that you like my playing so much!! You see, I live alone and I'm not around people who can encourage me in life, so sometimes I forget that maybe I have something to offer. I doubt my abilities. To be honest, I only play the piano to kill time. I'm a bit depressed.

However, I recently had the idea of creating a website with videos etc...I had no idea what the response would be, and I'm feeling a bit better, now that I know some people care.

Anyway, I have to answer your remarks:

YetAnotherPianist: what do I need to do about the legality of my Volodos video? Do I have to remove it completely, or can I add a message above the video (saying what?)? I will look into it too, but any advice would be appreciated.

JohnS - I'm very glad that you enjoyed my playing. I used 2 cameras. So the shots of the keys is in real-time. I filmed the piano strings shots after the peformance and used them as extras in post-production (editing). I rushed the editing (did it in 45 minutes!) because I really wanted to upload the video on my website's launch date (last Sunday) which I set as my deadline (When I say I'll do something, I always do it!).

Pianostar - I am not superhuman. I don't think my playing is that good. I just learn pieces quickly and have a pretty good memory. I started learning relatively late (10 or 11 years old). I don't practice scales or any other exercice really. I rarely practice in fact. I'd be happy to learn Rachmaninoff's C sharp minor Prelude. I'll have a listen to it. Et oui, je parle français. Je suis né en France et j’ai vécu là-bas jusqu'à l’âge de 11 ans. C’était les années les plus heureuses de ma vie. Maintenant, je ne suis plus heureux, mais je suis libre.

Hope you all have a lovely week-end.

Take care
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Icarus

~Love is Music in Search for a Word~

Well that's just showing off, isn't it!



Glad I wasn't the only one!

I find Mozart's version bloomin' difficult and I can never see myself playing that, nevermind without sheet music *and* from memory. Very talented.

I'd never heard of "Volodos" before, is this person similar to Yanni?

I ditto it all

Forums Members are asked to please refer to the forums rules when promoting your personal websites via the forums.

You can find the rules here: http://forums.abrsm.org/index.php?act=boardrules

Here's a brief summary about what's generally allowed. If you feel your case is exceptional, please contact a member of the moderation team before posting.

- you may use the “your web page” field in your user profile page to link to your website
- a link and promotional text for sites that are non-commercial are allowed in members signatures, providing the site content does not violate any of the other forums rules
- duplicate links to the same URL in a signature are not allowed
- if you wish to display a link to a commercial website, please include it as part of your user profile (visit My Controls for more information)
- links to commercial websites must not be commission based or linked to an affiliate programme
- linking to websites of other music examination boards or any other organisation deemed to be a direct competitor of the Associated Board is not allowed

Many thanks

Christine

is that really not allowed, I do it all the time (not that I've ever used another exam board ) if someone asks about another board I do usually point them to the syllabus though .

I have some new piano videos for you. The Rachmaninoff C# minor Prelude, the Gb major Schubert impromptu, and some on-the-spot improvisation. They can be viewed at http://www.icarus3.com in the Videos/Music section. Hope you'll have time to tell me what you think...
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Icarus

I've watched the video. It's really great! I love it a lot. It surprises me knowing that you only start learning piano at the age of 10, seldom practice, don't play scale or exercise, and just play the piano to kill time.

You're brilliant and very talented. I hope you can overcome all those 'copyright' problem and continue to share your music and I look forward to seeing you play more.

Thank you
God bless & all the best

HE DOES?!?!!! *faints*

*faints too*

You're amazing Icarus by the way!

Make the C# Rach Prelude look like a breeze...

It IS a breeze once you get to grips with the chords and the triplets (I personally found the chordal sections MUCH easier)

I wouldn't say it was a breeze, with 2 lines of music for each hand at some points...

I was kidding

I didn't actually find reading 4 staves too bad actually!

There are two staves per hand, but one only has to read one stave per hand at once - the extra staves actually make it easier to read as they eliminate frequent clef changes or hideous numbers of ledger lines. They're used in Debussy's General Lavine too - there are two staves for the right hand quite frequently, one with the melody and one with the accompaniment.

Still, it looks scary, tee hee....

And for Feux d'artifice, les tierces alternees, Liszt's Un Sospiro and various other pieces

I can't visualise what quite how that must work

I have always preferred leger lines to clef changes, I guess that comes from being a violinist and flautist. I have to watch out for clef changes when playing the viola or they can throw me horribly, but the time I spent playing viola with a bunch of terrifyingly adept musicians a couple of years ago helped. Now I just have to concentrate, before that quintet I couldn't cope with it at all!

Well Sarah, take the Rach C# minor prelude. You have HUGE leaps and two independant voices per hand i.e. thick chords at the bottom with a melody at the top. And because the leaps are at LEAST 2 and half octaves, extra staves are more useful (good job they're at octaves apart in the accompaninent )

As for something like Un Sospiro, it's to merely indicate the melody in places a bit better.

I get the concept and the reasoning, just can't visualise it.

Ummm... If you had MSN and Sibelius 3 I'd send you a couple of files

Incidentally, when you downloaded my video of the C# minor Rach Prelude, did it play smoothly or did it stop occasionally?

I'm interested to know because if it kept stopping, I can change it...
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Icarus

It was brill for me! Very smooth.

Don't have Sibelius at all and don't go on MSN if I can help it, end up staying on for hours

But thanks anyway.

If you want to see what 2 staves per hand looks like I can show you some next weekend.

Thanks sbhoa, that would be great.

I rather suspect my reaction will be