A brief history of the dulcimer
May 27, 2006
The dulcimer, a predecessor to the piano, often associated with folk music, has an interesting history.
An article over at The Norman Transcript talks to Barbara Gibson, of Ohio, where in the town of Coshocton in May they hold “Dulcimer Days”.
An interesting article that covers the origins of the dulcimer, different types of dulcimer, tuning, and playing technique.
Read the full article: Old-fashioned dulcimer music: How sweet the sound
Elton John’s piano visits Charlottesville
May 27, 2006
One of the thirty replicas of the piano Elton John played in a Las Vegas show, complete with recordings of him playing, is in Charlottesville for a Pay to Play benefit where people can donate $5 to play it, the proceeds going to UVa Children’s Hospital.
Arturia Analog Factory virtual instrument released
May 25, 2006
Arturia have released a virtual synth for Mac and PC featuring over 2000 analog synthesizer sounds from classics such as the minimoog V, Moog Modular V, CS-80V, ARP 2600 V, Prophet V and Prophet VS.
It features straightforward editing, with the most essential parameters for personalizing presets: (Filter and LFO sections, 4 Key Parameters differing for each preset, Chorus & Delay mix, ADSR envelope)
It can integrate with your existing sequencer or be used as a standalone softsynth.
It has up to 32 notes of polyphony, depending upon the preset being used.
It will cost US$249 and be available from July 2006.
Read more: Classic Synth Sounds From The Analog Factory
Piano reverses the years for Alzheimer patient
May 24, 2006
There’s a touching story in the Ottawa Citizen of an 89-year-old woman with well-advanced Alzheimer’s disease who, despite not knowing who or where she is, or those around her, is able to play the piano to classical perfection.
Her husband places her on a cushion on the piano bench in front of the old upright in the dining room of the nursing home. When he places sheet music in front of her, a miracle happens.
It starts in her shoulders. They start to move rhythmically. Then her hands raise over the keys in the style of a concert pianist. The hands come down fast and the fingers land on all the right keys.
Flawless classical music pours out of the piano, fills the empty dining room and drifts down the corridor of The Manoir St. Joseph nursing home in Orleans. Ambulatory patients start to gather in the doorway.
Most of Doris McCallum has disappeared into the disease, but the process by which the eyes translate written music into movement of the fingers is still working.
Read more: “Piano sounds clear notes for alzheimer’s patient”
Piano found on Ben Nevis
May 24, 2006
The wooden casing and iron frame of a piano were found on Ben Nevis, Britain’s highest mountain, by a group of conservationists tidying the area. It had been buried under a pile of stones near the summit.
“Our guys couldn’t believe their eyes,” trust director Nigel Hawkins said. “At first they thought it was just the wooden casing, but then they saw the whole cast iron frame complete with strings. “The only thing that was missing was the keyboard, and that’s another mystery.”
The piano may have been there for nearly twenty years, possibly pushed up the mountain as part of a charity event.
It’s certainly not playable.
Gator’s GK-LT-25W Laptop / Midi Controller Bag
May 13, 2006
Gator has released a new versatile case to carry 25 note controllers along with a laptop. The case has a unique expandable top to accommodate up to 32 & 37 note controllers and can be rolled, carried by hand or strapped to your back. The retractable handle and wheel assembly is removable to use as a backpack, and the back pack straps can be hidden inside the exterior pocket when the handle is in use. The case is constructed of 1680-Denier rugged nylon with a padded interior and includes a padded interior insert to use between your gear for protection. The GK-LT-25W also has additional exterior pockets for storage of interfaces, cables and other recording accessories.
Yundi Li gives phenomenal performance: review
May 6, 2006
24-year-old Chinese pianist Yundi Li gave a virtuoso performance last month in Toronto, to which he received a standing ovation.
At age 18, Li was the first person in 15 years to win first prize in the prestigious Chopin International Piano Competition in Poland.
This man is also a player with personality, much like superstars of yore like Vladimir Horowitz and Arthur Rubinstein. Like those 20th-century legends, Li imprints the music he plays with a personal esthetic that may not necessarily be true to the original score or to mainstream style.
In the case of last night’s program of crowd-pleasing dazzlers by Mozart, Schumann and Liszt, Li grabbed great handfuls of notes and shaped them into his own artworks with an iron will and breathtaking virtuosity.
But many of the results were odd, even off-putting.
In the case of Mozart’s popular Piano Sonata No. 10 in C Major, K.330, Li overlaid the Classical-era purity of sound with a Romantic sensibility. This made for a sweetness that became downright saccharine in the slower second movement.
Read the full review: Young pianist’s technique magical
Admin note [boring]
May 3, 2006
Because certain sections of the web community can’t be trusted, and insist on coping entire chunks of RSS feed and claiming it as their own, I’m disabling full RSS feeds from now on.
This means more work for me, and frustration for those of you who like to read full news in your RSS aggregator.
More work for me, because I will try to write a meaningful excerpt of the piece (rather than just supplying the first few lines of the article) that will hopefully help you to know whether it’s worth clicking through to the site to read the entire article.
I do hope you’ll stick with us here, either via feed or by visiting the web site. Things have slowed a bit recently due to other commitments and a short bout of ill health, but we aim to bring you the best in piano and synth news, views and reviews every day.
If any of you are interested, we still have writing opportunities at Piano and Synth.
