Greetings! Last October, Terrytunes contacted me about a topic in the Coffee Room called "Moon River". Within the topic, NAK and Terrytunes had expressed an interest in hearing a recording of my arrangement of "Someone To Watch Over Me". This past weekend, I finally got the chance to throw some mics up on my piano and make the recording. Here it is:

http://www.cecilramirez.com/pianoworld/someonetowatch.mp3

I hope you enjoy the music. Thank you for taking the time to listen.

Best regards,

Cecil

WOW WOW WOW!!! That was gorgeous! Thanks Cecil. I enjoyed it very much.

Oh, Cecil... I was overjoyed hearing your very touching arrangement of this song last May and tonight... well, I'm just a mess... but I was smart enough to bring the box of tissues over before the recording started!!

I only hope I don't wear it out by listening to it too many times!!

Thank you!

WOW....very very very lovely. Thank you.

Very very nice Cecil!

What piano are we listening to?

Thank you all for checking out the recording, and for your kind comments.

Markjpcs: my piano is a Mason & Hamlin Model BB.

Cecil

That was so great! I really enjoyed listening to it. Thank you for posting this recording.

Cecil,

It sounds beautiful! Your recording is very good.

What recording equipment do you use ?

Mark

Mark,

The mics are a pair of MXL 603s condensers. Those run to a MOTU 828MkII interface using the onboard mic preamps. The 828 routes audio to my DAW, which is an Athlon based PC. For this particular project, I recorded into Sound Forge 7 at 44.1 24-bit.

Cecil

Very nice sound and playing.
I was impressed with the BB's I played in NY.
But I'd love to hear a recording on a CC too.

Calin

That was very nice to listen to, Cecil. I remembered your playing from Haverhill, and was happy to hear it again.

(I kinda figured it was a M&H something[/b], because, while I'm quite sure your employers furnish you with an instrument free of charge, I would think they would insist on it being one of theirs. ) :p

Bob

That was a nice arrangement! Reminded me that I did an arrangement recording of the same tune on a Steinway grand in a church with my little Sony tape recorder a few years ago. And - though I am not a classical pianist - the Steinway sound seemed to tease out somethings in the left hand I never knew I was capable of.

When I get home tonight I am going to try out the tune again. (Alas - I don't own a Steinway!). Thanks for re-inspiring, Cecil.

Robert:

Thanks for listening; STWOM is one of the great tunes. And a great piano really does bring out another dimension in one's playing.

I'd really like to hear your arrangement sometime. Make the recording!

Cecil

I'll try tonight. I have a Kawai upright to practice on, but the recording will be from my Roland digital piano straight to my PC. I don't own a decent miking system yet.

Cecil,

this is a very nice arrangement, you played wonderfully, and the piano has a gorgeous sound. Next time I come to the U.S.A. I will go and find a Mason & Hamlin to play since I didn't have the chance to experience one so far.

As the National Sales Manager of Mason & Hamlin you might have some insight in this so I'd like to ask you a question: Do you have any idea why M&H is not exported to Germany (at least I have never seen one over here, and most people (I'm speaking of piano lovers) don't even know the name, except they were traveling to the US (or read the pianoworld forum :-) )?

BTW, I noticed some clicks in the recording. Do you want to know how to avoid them?

Best regards,
Jens

Woah, I really, truly enjoyed that!
Beautiful! One to keep!

Hi, Jens:

Thanks for listening. To answer your questions...

Currently, it's an issue of production numbers. Because of how we manufacture our pianos, Mason & Hamlin produces only 300-350 grand pianos a year. Nearly everything we produce is sold in the United States, with a few pianos being sold in Canada. That doesn't leave much left over for export to Europe.

If you're going to MusikMesse in Frankfurt, you will be able to see one of our new concert grand Model CC's at the show. I'll be at the show and it would be great to see you there.

Congratulations, you have good ears. I know why the clicks are there, and I'm sure you do too. Next time, I'll try to do cleaner edits. Of course, if I would just play it perfectly, that would solve the problem as well.

Best regards,

Cecil

Bravo!

Loved it.
More - More

- Frank B.

Cecil, that was beautiful. Thanks.

Cecil - thank you - it was absoltely beautiful.

I got to play a couple of Mason Hamlin's last week - and they are a joy to play .

Cecil,

thanks for answering my questions concerning Mason & Hamlin. I was indeed thinking about going to Frankfurt but the problem is that it usually is so noisy there that it is impossible to judge the quality of an instrument. But it might be worth the trip anyway. If I come I'll say hello.

Yes, I know why the clicks are there, and I think there's nothing wrong with using edits.

I assume you used the normal cut and merge function. This will almost alwyays result in clicks because the two wav-files will never fit together except you'd find a position where both waveforms were crossing the zero-line. This can be very time consuming.

There's an esier way: You can use the cross-fade function over a time-frame of about 10ms. This will not do any harm to the timing of the music but will blend the two wave sections together without any noticeable artefacts. Try it and you'll be amazed by the results.

Best regards,
Jens

Hi, Jens:

Thanks for your advice; you're correct about my editing process. Sound Forge 7 does not do non-destructive waveform editing or crossfading. And despite Sound Forge's "zero-snap" function for finding the zero crossing on the waveforms, a hard cut almost always results in a click.

Since I was not preparing this recording for CD release, I choose the quick and dirty "cut and merge" method of editing. After posting this file, I did go back and load the original audio into another sound editing program and was able to split the audio and crossfade the waveforms. I agree that this method always produces a better result on edits.

It's been years since I worked full-time as an audio engineer. I wish we had today's sound editing tools back then. Thank you for reminding me to always present the best audio possible.

Best regards,

Cecil

Truly beautiful! That happens to be one of my all time favorite songs.

For the first half or so, although I was admiring the arrangement, I found myself hoping for some more feeling, some more tenderness, in your playing. And then you delivered what I was hoping for. I think the mood shift was very effective.

Once again, superb! I wonder if you or anyone else here has a special arrangement of another favorite of mine: "The Summer Knows" (from the film "Summer of '42")

Cecil-

It may take until the weekend!

I worked out a few different keys last night on my piano. I think I’ve mostly played it in Eb because of the main fake book I use. I found a full version in C in a Gershwin collection I own. I probably ignored this before because in my youthful haughtiness I decided that anything in C must be too easy, etc. I tried this one and it gels with me. (Is there one key George himself might have used?). I also did some ‘ear’ arrangements in F, G and Bb and I like the Bb as well, so we’ll see.

Amazing that a melody which starts with a simple ascending pentatonic scale, can evolve with such beauty into one of the most memorable tunes of all time!

I tried a bit on my digital but I don’t feel as comfortable yet. I think because headphones are my main way of listening. I have to bring my stereo speakers to the digital, I think. I sound about 50% less capable doing the Gershwin on digital than on my acoustic.

re- cross-fade, edits:
wow - when I screw up on my digital with the sequencer (one track) I just start over again!

Hi, Robert:

Take you time and get the recording you really like. It'll be worth it. I'm looking forward to hearing your performance, and I'm sure other PianoWorld members are as well.

When I do projects for PianoDisc, I normally capture MIDI from the record strip into the computer, fix any problems via MIDI, and use the computer to play back the piano on the recording. For live audio recordings, I'll use edits if I feel the energy of the performance was really great on a certain take and I don't want to lose that by playing the entire piece over.

You might be surprised to know how many classical (and non-classical) recordings are made this way.

Best regards,

Cecil

Hey we had Glenn Gould!
I was just teasing about the edits. My lack of gear, beyond my digital and computer doesn't give me much lee-way. If I like what I put on the basic Roland sequencer (can't save anything - deletes when piano is turned off) I then record it to the PC.

I should just go to a music store with a recordable CD and play on a grand with Pianodisc!

Hi Cecil

Absolutely beautiful...I've only just noticed there was a forum of member recordings so sorry if I am bit late.

It gave me little goosebumps


thanks for letting me hear your music


Lee

Cecil,
I have to say that this rendition is simply beautiful. Looking forward to hearing the CC this fall, in Minneapolis. Jim Laabs told me that you can really tear it up---he's right.
Great meeting you in Haverill this past May, and please try to keep-them rolling. Much interest in M&H among players of all abilities.

WOW! That was incredibly beautifull!! I've already listened to it three times coz i love it so much!

x

that was awesome. what other arrangements have you done?