http://www.box.net/shared/85m82czaup

I placed the microphone inside the piano this time, and I think I set the volume to a pretty good level.

Any opinions would be appreciated.

-Colin

Colin, I liked it. It's a different kind of style then I am used to but I really enjoyed listening to this open, free, improv.

Do you have any tips on playing these improvisations?

Matt

Sure,

Listen to as much free music as possible. Don't play exactly what you hear, but assimilate as much as possible. I learned a ton aurally by listening to Keith Jarrett's "Radiance". Listen to classical composers who have written modern music like Sorabji, Xenakis, Scriabin, Shostakovich, Penderecki, Bartok, and still others.

Next, just loosen up and play.

This is interesting. What inspired this?

Eternal befuddlement with reality.

...and since no one seems to be jumping into this thread, I'll give a little background about the way I've been playing.

I get infinitely more satisfaction and joy out of free improvisation than out of any other musical medium I have ever attempted. Classical study, jazz, "new-age" improvisation... it just doesn't fit me.

But there is something I absolutely adore about this art form that seems to go unexplored for the most part. It's not terribly original, but if I can apply it in a truly moving way, perhaps I'm onto something.

I discovered it after getting so incredibly frustrated with classical study that I quite simply began banging on the keys. I've done this a number of times, and then I tried to be more conservative with how I approached it and there I went - free improvisation.

It's both incredibly therapeutic and a valuable means of expression. I'm glad to see so many people enjoy what I've been able to create. It would be my dream to make this into a career, but I'm not betting on it. I'll just see what happens after I do the high-quality recording in Chicago.

-Colin

Cool, chaotic and ordered at the same time. I think banging on the keys is very modest, theres a very clear sonic landscape being built here (and some clever glimpses of tonality). Good luck with your Chicago recording.

On a slightly related note, I've beeen to a tribute concert to the late Derek Bailey - lots of big names - John Zorn, Bailey's own ensemble, Bill Laswell and a surprise addition of Mike Patton, that was great. Do you tend to listen to a lot of music from this style of playing?

Actually I haven't heard of Derek Bailey. I will have to look him up.

Very impressive, Colin, both technically and compositionally. It is indeed reminiscent of some of Keith Jarrett's work. And the fact that you're just sitting there improvising on the spot at the keyboard is even more impressive, considering the tempo at which you were playing. (Whenever I try to noodle around, I'm talking quarter notes. )

Thank you Monica.

I don't care for it very much because it doesn't grab my attention anywhere. Of course, my musical taste may not have developed enough to appreciate this kind of music -- I don't understand a lot of Keith Jarrett's stuff either (though he often has some underlying beat you can latch onto).

In any case, keep doing what you're doing.

I have to say, I agree with mahlzeit - it just seems to be 7 mins of mucking around rather than improvisation. The only kind of improvisation that interests me is where the listener can appreciate whats happening and can hear development of an idea etc. I'm not to keen on this kind-of atmospheric stuff.

Improvisation should be like a woman's skirt,
long enough to cover the subject, but short enough to be interesting.

The utter ambiguity of this statement leaves me befuddled.

Just attempting to convey an emotion, really. It's my best attempt.

Have you ever tried improvising with even the most simplest of ideas or motifs and seing how you can manipulate it and develop it? You might find that you can convey your emotions more clearly rather than through a wave of nonesense.

...are you a classical pianist?

I just consider myself as a pianist

If you don't mind, could you give me a little background? When did you start playing? How long have you been playing? Were your teachers very strict? How eclectic are your musical tastes?

The title of this thread - Free improvisation - what do you think. I've given you my thoughts, I just don't like this style - nothing against you or your improvisation.

My last comment in your recurrent ‘improvisation’ threads.

Making music in[/b] a society for[/b] a society is the only way you can do something with your natural talents. Otherwise you will be for ever confined into your auto complacent and ‘therapeutic’ imitative, formless, chaotic musical inventions, like this you have presented in the forum.
If that’s your aim, OK, what can I say? Stick to it. If not, you need serious academic studies in musical composition. You need to compare your achievements with others achievements. Unless you want to reinvent the wheel, you need to write your music on paper, and correct it, and write it again, and work on the form and the structure searching the proper musical narration that fits you message. And you need also to comprehend musical theory and musical history.
There’s no other way out, not for you, not for me, not for Wynton Marsalys, and not even for Mozart, go figure.
It seems to me that you don’t want to pay the price of time and effort.
It's a pitty because your music is heading nowhere.

Hmmm...

Kreisler, if you could move this to the non-classical forum I would appreciate it.

Good advice for Keith Jarrett.

I'm not sure I understand what you are trying to "say," Colin, in this improvisation.

There were moments when I thought: "That's interesting," or "I like that effect," but I couldn't find a structural, thematic or harmonic peg to hang those passages on. They seemed to come out of nowhere and lead nowhere.

I suppose that improvisation may be considered the musical equivalent of "stream of consciousness," but I'm still listening for some theme or structure or harmonic progression on which this might be built. I feel I should have the sense that this is "going somewhere" and that didn't come across for me.

Regards,

oh come on, his improvisations are out of this world! if you prefer shorter stuff, listen to "Radiance" or "Dark intervals", or the standards trio. I love the long improvisations

I like the comment about a woman's skirt and comparing it to improvisation. It is an interesting metaphor if nothing else.

Colin I think that there's something about your other improvisations I like a lot more. There's something about it that grabbed me emotionally a bit (which is very hard to do and rare). This improvisation doesn't really do it. It is cool though and it's always good to experiment. (I don't want you to think I'm putting you down.) And yes Cultor, compositional study can be helpful, BUT sometimes the science and mathematics of music doesn't feel right to the performer.

It does sound like eternal befuddlement with reality though. It is very chaotic with that confusion.

Just my bloody luck. Kreisler moved this thread into the non classical section -where I almost never post- literally moments after I mentioned Jarrett. Now I suppose the non-classical blokes are going to have me for lunch!

Colin - "reaper" - You will know I have been a supporter of yours - and pretty much everybody here is very nice and polite to you. But I notice two things.. first, you are interested in other people only insofar as they boost your ego, and secondly, your playing seems to be getting less interesting.. this latest effort is.. well.. politeness fails me..

Well I suppose I have nothing else to add. When my greatest efforts fail, what more can be done?

The post was moved at the request of the original poster. Sorry Argerichfan.