Jimmy Webb. 2 B's. fixed it!

I have actually been to MacAuthur Park, so this thread stirred up some nostalgia. It was the 70's and I'd driven to LA from Sacramento in my Ford Pinto one weekend on a whim. I saw signs for Mac Park and decided to check it out. Those being younger and wilder days, I hooked up with some locals, and large quantities of wine were soon procured and partaken of. I remember the lake in the park but there were no cakes or rain that day. I remember one of the locals got very drunk and started harassing me, and I vamoosed back to my Pinto and drove up the "grapevine" -- a very dangerous mountain highway out of LA into the Central Valley -- in dense fog and in no condition to be on the road. I'm utterly amazed that I'm alive and able to tell that tale.

Anyway, I think I've done about 13 recitals in a row, but this one is a definite maybe. I was going to do Ballade Por Adeline by Toussant. It was coming along nicely until my hearing problem happened. Now I'm finding it hard to stay motivated. I've gone from practicing 3 or 4 hours a day down to maybe one. I hope I can keep my piano passion alive now that I have to play wearing ear plugs, but I don't know. This hearing thing is some major soggy cake.

Yes, and you are welcome to join us. All skill and experience levels are welcome. Here's a link to the last recital:

Recital #18

Sam

bluekeys,
Not sure if we share the same problem, but I have had a noise in my left ear for about (6) weeks now. It is sensitive to sound and I have had to play my piano with the lid closed, and even then it sounds distorted. It is very depressing.

Possible ear wax buildup? It happened to me once and I shower often...(ladies love the fresh scent!).

Doctor put very warm water in my ear with some squirt gun like thing to melt and dislodge a wax buildup.

It can happen to the best of us! haha.

My hearing afterwards (2 minute procedure) was like going from mono to stereo. Very clear stereo with good reception.

That would be me Had the same problem & procedure. Made a big difference.

But, I thought this was only a "geezer" problem & you're a relatively young dude SH - unless you've been posting someone else's photos!

JF

TMI!

I have a head full of crickets, tinnitus, from too many years of rock and roll, skeet shooting and busted eardrums from scuba diving. After a while I just kind of fit it into my playing.

When is the recital due date?

Recital opens Aug. 1; deadline for submissions is Aug. 14, 9:00 pm.

Hubby and son are leaving on a 4-day trip tomorrow. I hope to put in some solid chunks of time with the Zoom and get my recital piece recorded while they're gone.

S&W - Your problem does sound like mine, and mine is definitely not wax. I've had that a couple of times. Don't even go to the doc for it anymore. Just buy an ear syringe and some drops at the drug store. This is more like Peyton's crickets, but as well as he plays with it, I see no reason to let it limit my playing. I've discovered that putting a slab of carpet behind the Charles Walter has softened it enough to play without ear plugs. So now I only need the plugs for the grand, which is probably a good idea anyway, since it's in a small room with wood floors and VERY loud. I wouldn't be surprised if that partly damaged my ears to begin with and hammering my brick pavers just pushed them over the edge. I still have high hopes for Ballade Por Adeline by the 15th.

So when does Signore Einaudi arrive?

Just kidding - your comment reminded me of a very old joke - sort of like me.

Sam

Unfortunately for any (purely hypothetical!!) Einaudi dalliances, my daughter is still at home. But she is a bookworm, so I can easily banish her to her bedroom with a few books while I grapple with the Zoom. My son is noisy and rambunctious and not easily banished.

I doubt it is wax. It sounds like Cicadas in my head. The pitch and volume varies but it is constant. I have an appointment to visit the ear doctor next week.

I hope it's not Meniers. I had serious hearing problems for a while around ten years ago and got diagnosed with Meniers. For a while I lost all my hearing in my left ear. It turned out to not be Meniers (thankfully) but did leave me deafer and with worse tinnitus than ever. The "cicadas" you describe sounds like tinnitus which can occur with Meniers as well as with hearing loss. As mentioned, I just live with mine. It's most annoying when things quite around me.

*bump*

Six more days until the recital opens!!!

I spent two hours yesterday with the Red Dot and got an okay recording of the piece I didn't want to use for the recital and a sub-okay recording (4 skipped notes, one outright clunker of a wrong note, and no dynamics to speak of) for the piece I did want to use for the recital.

Good thing I still have a while before the deadline...

Same thing here, Monica. I recorded two pieces today, just to get myself in the spirit of things (and to see how they're going to sound at my lesson this week). The one that I started more recently and that I wasn't planning on playing for the recital sounded better than the one I've been trying to prepare. Hmmm... time for a change of plans?

And I have cicadas in the trees outside my house. They were so loud today, I think you could hear them on my recordings. I'll have to close the door next time I record. I'm just thankful it's not a hearing problem like many of you are suffering from.

I got a good enough recording today. It's not the best, but good enough.

Hopefully this will take the pressure off and I CAN get a really good one.

Kinda like fishing in a way. You never really know what your going to have at the end of the day!

Your backup choir?

Reminds me of a CD I bought while visiting the famous black and white striped Cape Hatteras Lighthouse on the Outer Banks of NC a couple of years ago - beautiful, original piano music set against a background of the multitude of the sounds of nature (surf, gulls, wind, etc.) pre-recorded in various National Seashore conservation areas around the country. Lovely and soothing listening experience.

There are a number of similar "nature albums" out there and they were very popular for awhile (maybe still are).

JF

Edited for spelling.

Drowned worms?

JF

Has anyone done a study on how a microphone can lower one's IQ by up to 50 points?!!

The Red Light Blues.... once again.

I think I have a couple of those.

I actually got a take of my piece last night. It sucks, but it's a step in the right direction, I guess.

I don't have a piece yet

Congratulations, moscheles!

Cathy

You like living on the edge, Cathy!!

I'm happier with my play-throughs of my piece when I'm just practicing without the Zoom. Now I just need to reproduce that while the Red Dot is on.

Yes, it's that be-brilliant-and-talented-on-cue part that's difficult.

I've decided what I'll submit - just need to find some time to try and record, AND hope I can get a decent take. A couple days ago I thought I wouldn't be able to take part in this recital...I burned my thumb and four fingers on my left hand by stupidly trying to pick up a barbeque skillet without a mitt. A lot of aloe and luckily no blisters, just some red lines on the fingers.

Ow, CMohr. I hope you're OK.

You should leave the hand-related injuries to Murray Perahia.

I've been having trouble with getting a reasonable take of my submission piece, Solfegietto by CPE Bach. But one thing I discovered today was if I play a more difficult piece or a different difficult piece first, after my warmups, then I play the submission piece better. It may have just been a fluke but hopefully it'll work when I try to record it again...

I'm in for the first time in a long time. Was hoping to do Chopin op 9#1 but not ready... so something else.