Here is my just-completed "Exercise In C# Minor" for solo Steinway Model D piano.

Link: http://www.alexandermusic.com/resources/ExerciseInCSharpMinor.mp3

Regards,

Larry G. Alexander

OK, I'll comment, to support your further contributions. It was nice and I liked the alternate section in the major key. I didn't care for the off-beat stuff in there randomly since it didn't fit the style (if you were trying to mimic the style in some pure sense) and it made the rhythm seem to "turn" in such a way that you (as a listener) lost the sense of where beat 1 was for awhile. Which, like I said, seems an odd thing in this style of music.
Maybe a live performance would have mitigated that effect?

Thanks for your comments and thank you for taking the time to listen. I appreciate it.

I don't know to what 'style' you are referring. (?) What does "...off-beat stuff in there randomly..." mean? Inquiring minds want to know. :-)

Regards,

Larry G. Alexander

I liked it. My own two cents (from one hearing without a score, so take with a grain of salt), it seemed a bit involved to simply be called an "Exercise" - what you have there is basically in Sonata-Allegro form with a good AABA structure. I think with perhaps a little more development of the themes, you could have the workings of a sonata movement.

While I liked it, I thought it could have used a little more variety in the repeated sections. It seemed to me that the first section was repeated verbatim, and then at the recapitulation, it was repeated yet again with a coda at the end. It just seemed that all that repetition could have used a little more flavoring instead of just going over the exact same thing. It also seemed a little "too" stable tonally. It never really got away from c# minor (or C#M in the B section). But again, this was just on a single hearing, maybe I'm missing it.

Nice work - I would like to hear it with a real performance as I'm sure a MIDI performance doesn't really do it justice.

Hey Larry! I thought it was great. The L.H. syncopation near the beginning (probably what musiccr8r was referring to) I liked a lot.

The only nit I have is in the title. Boring title for such an adventurous piece. I know in prior eras Exercise, Etude, Fantasy, etc. were used often, but today, feel free to create your own original title. Maybe "The Edge of Insanity" - I don't know, but I'm sure you can come up with something more exciting than "Exercise" (almost stopped me from listening (ha, ha).

Wondering what piano sample you’re using? I'm always on the look-out for new samples; and I like this one.

Best, John :-)

I see it was written for "Steinway Model D piano". Is that from Native Instruments or the East West Orchestra samples?

I appreciate your comments and suggestions.

Regards,

Larry G. Alexander

The piano is the Garritan Authorized Steinway Model D. In my not so humble opinion, it is the best sampled piano in the universe and beyond. :-)

If you want to see some outrageous original titles for some of my compositions, visit my music website. The URL is below.

Thanks for listening, Mister John.

Regards,

I guess I'll have to add the Garritan to my arsenal of piano samples. Did you process the sample, or is it straight out of the box?

Have you ever heard the "Ivory" piano sample? I've read over & over they're the absolute top-of-the-line. So expensive though. The demos sound amazing.

Does Garritan still have the $99 special on the Steinway? Do you know if they require the ILok security. The Garritan Steinway worked great on your piece.

Again, great piece.

Best, John

I use no processing on the Garritan Steinway.

I haven't heard the Ivory instrument. I am totally satisfied with the Garritan Steinway.

I believe that he is still selling the Steinway Model D "Basic" for ninety-nine dollars. This includes only one microphone perspective, which is under the lid. There is no ILok involved. If there were, I personally wouldn't buy it. His price is the biggest bargain I have ever seen!

Regards,

Thanks Larry! Are you using the "under the lid" setting on this piece?

I'll probably buy it tomorrow.

Best, John

Yes, I have the "Basic" Garritan Steinway only.

Regards,

Thanks! I see it can be downloaded from the Garritan website.

John :-)

Back again, sorry I was away from the only computer that remembers my password! Anyway I was referring more to RH things like in m. 11 (as best I can guess by counting it the way I hear it, it may even be meas. 22 I guess if my subdivision was wrong), at any rate there's a brief section where the flow changes from more focus on 1 and 3, by leaving out downbeats, to a more 2/4 feel that seemed slightly out-of-place somehow. By "style" I was referring, I guess, to Bach and his ilk. It was just an off-the-cuff impression before my first cup of coffee was digested, so perhaps meaningless. That measure in and of itself is really not the issue, I guess it just caught my attention because, to me, it felt like you were going for a pretty solid Bach invention sort of thing, then there was that blip of oddity (to my ear) which made me feel like maybe you didn't really WANT to sound Bach-y, in which case I think you should add much MORE stuff like that (rythmic "anomalies") and make it a neo-Bach piece or something like that. Sorry for my imprecise language, I am sure there are much better ways to analyze your work and state what I'm hearing.

I don't knowingly imitate the style of anyone, living or dead. I just write what I feel and what I hear in my mind.

To me, playing two different rhythms against each other is just another compositional tool. I use it frequently. It's a good brain workout because it's not easy to do.

Regards,

Hi Larry,
That was fun to listening to that composition. Very excellent!

The exercises I use for C#-min are Rachmaninoff's Prelude and Beethoven's Moonlight.

I am so naive...I actually thought it was you playing the piano and I was about to ask about the microhpone(s) and their placement. doh!

Looking forward to listening to some of your other computer enabled compositions and learning more about this program.



Glen

The computer really doesn't "enable" anything except sequencing what I compose. :-)

Sampled music will never take the place of live performance but it is a wonderful tool nonetheless.

Thank you for listening. If I may help you in any way in the world of samples, please let me know.

Regards,

The piano tones are nicely sampled, that is for sure. That is what first captured my attention and why I was about inquire about the microphone placement and type, etc. Clearly, that's part of the program and not part of what's done as a piece of the composition.

No question you like Bach. I do enjoy Bach as well, and also enjoy music with carefully placed spaces between the notes, Count Basie style.

Thanks again and good luck - you do good work.

I would have to agree with that. I kept waiting for the music to modulate, go somewhere unexpected.

I don't mind the "syncopated" rhythm, although I don't think it's quite syncopation, at least the stresses aren't shifted from the main beats. Those rhythmic surprises generated intrigue, so I appreciated that.

Solid work! Thank you for posting.

Thank you for responding to my post. I appreciate the listen.

Regards,