Category Archives: Video

Concerts, New Ideas, Technology, Video, YouTube links

Richard Durrant – The Guitar Whisperer

2 Comments

Sixty-seven of my pupils are in Musselburgh/Wallyford schools. That’s one reason why I was pleased to see a gig, scheduled for Tue 1 March, by Richard Durrant (aka The Guitar Whisperer ) advertised in the Brunton Hall’s publicity. Not only does the playing look very promising – multimedia nature of the programme strikes me as something which might aid younger pupils in concentration/enjoyment. In addition to films, some pieces feature animations by Miranda Vincent.

The YouTube videos below will give you some idea of what we might expect:

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/tp45Xhan1nM?rel=0" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/e_xJd9nwAnA?rel=0" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/7udClrQtmws?rel=0" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/cc141Pf1ZWA?rel=0" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/grNPV21qEDE?rel=0" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/UF7A6eXOYys?rel=0" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/KEzrhGasv74?rel=0" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Concepts, Expression, Feeling, Lesson Content, New Ideas, Science, Technique, Video, YouTube links

YouTube Annotations

2 Comments

I’ve long believed that we learn a lot just by watching and copying – surely that’s how we evolved as a species? That’s certainly how tai chi chuan has been handed down.  A certain amount of dialogue and understanding is certainly necessary, but if watching and feeling the movements is not taking place then, experience tells me, various technical misapprehensions can arise.  Chancing upon the theory of mirror neurons strengthened this belief.

In that regard, it has crossed my mind that annotated videos might be a useful learning tool. By way of experimentation, I’ve added a couple to a video I made of a duo by Carulli which was to be performed by a couple of senior pupils. In each case I play one part while a laptop (using Sibelius) plays the other – not in the least expressive, but instructive. The annotations in this video aren’t instructive either – just a test run. They occur at 1:45 and 2:23.

Incidentally, I hit (accidentally) upon a keyboard short-cut which works with YouTube:

Home – returns the video to the beginning

End – shoots to the end

…and, of course, Right Cursor to jump forward – in handy-sized 17” chunks :-); Left Cursor for the reverse; Space bar to Pause and to Resume Playing.

p.s. I’ve noticed since writing this that these shortcuts only work if you’ve clicked on the video once (which will pause it, of course). I suppose it makes sense as, initially, these shortcuts are directed at the page as a whole. Clicking on the video seems to redirect these commands to the video itself. However, as you know, clicking on an embedded video, such as this, will simply redirect you to the source i.e. Youtube

p.p.s. see David Gilmour’s comment below for a link to further shortcuts

Does anyone know of any others?[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/8nE0n4oEgEc?rel=0" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Culture(s), Ensembles, Former Pupils, Language, Video

Seeker

One of my favourite expressions, much used (perhaps coined) by the late, great Ken Campbell is seeker. Former Knox Academy pupil, Simon Thacker, certainly deserves that label. Aside from being a virtuoso performer he has, for some time now, sought out new things, often by combining contrasting genres. He describes a new project here:[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/XiF-uDqRwmw?rel=0" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Hopefully there will be some local gigs soon?

Concepts, Connectedness, Ensembles, Harmony, IT, New Ideas, Technology, Video, YouTube links

Virtual Choir

Many thanks to Ewan McIntosh for flagging this up – Eric Whitacre‘s Virtual Choir singing Lux Aurumque (Light and Gold)  – a beautiful blend of music and technology:

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/D7o7BrlbaDs?rel=0" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]


The idea and its history is explained here:[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/zyLX2cke-Lw?rel=0" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

I found the following translation of the text of Lux Aurumque here:

Lux

Calida gravisque

Pura velut aurum

Et canunt angeli

Molliter modo natum

Light

Warm and heavy

As pure gold

And the angels sing softly

To the newborn babe

The following related videos might also be of interest:

Singing instruction (although this is for another work – Sleep):[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/dWCTKnbqE6s?rel=0" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]


Recording instruction:[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/IrQRVI8y5j8?rel=0" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]


Conducting track (instruction first and then real time conducting kicks in at 5:18)[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/uh1c2xWVWiA?rel=0" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Score of Lux Aurumque (moves along with music)[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/aLBKyLT-j4w?rel=0" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Culture(s), Expression, Harmonics, Harmony, History, Listening, Memory, Technique, Video, YouTube links

Hommage a Tansman

2 Comments

My friend, Marek Pasieczny, sent a link to his latest, and thoroughly engaging, composition on video (see below). Tansman, a fellow Pole, emigrated to USA, where he was aided in his bid to settle there by Charlie Chaplin. I’ll also embed other videos by Marek. Some have already appeared in this blog but, in the hope that pupils will be more likely to explore them if they all appear together, I’ll repeat myself.

Best wishes, to all who drop in on this blog, for Christmas and New Year!

[kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/r-wwFH2BrSk?rel=0″ width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]

[kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/eD1qPbJokNQ?rel=0″ width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]

[kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/6WcYYWDYir8?rel=0″ width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]

[kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/6LUOGllfYKs?rel=0″ width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]

[kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/3zOFfmGfShE?rel=0″ width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/d7HHSYpYuaI?rel=0" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/b_anaxif2Rw?rel=0" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

[kml_flashembed movie="https://www.youtube.com/v/S7XRo4oZ-Os?rel=0" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

http://www.youtube.com/user/TrustNooooo1

Community, Concepts, Connectedness, History, New Ideas, Recording, Technology, Video, YouTube links

Ideas are one thing and what happens another (John Cage 1912-92)

I must be getting younger and here’s what draws me to this unlikely conclusion. Have you ever had the experience where, relating an event and estimating its vintage, you discover that it took place, say, eleven years ago and not five? Does the tempo of life’s passing seem to hit home at such moments? Well, this morning I had the opposite experience. I heard that today marks the five-year anniversary of the official launch of YouTube – the Beta version having emerged some seven months earlier. I couldn’t believe it! Youtube – the third most visited website, after Google and Facebook – seems to have been part of my life for longer than I can remember. I can recall who first told me about Google and Facebook, but I don’t recall being led to YouTube – it just seemed always to be there.

What better way to mark this occasion than to stumble upon (if our networked world still permits such electronic happenstance) a video of the recording of a version of John Cage‘s 4′ 33′ by Cage Against The Machine (CATM). I’ll let The Guardian explain the provenance.

This much misunderstood and maligned piece is thought to be about silence – and only that. However, Cage’s intention was to allow listeners the time and space to notice and enjoy life’s everyday sounds, which we often take for granted, undervalue and ignore.

This film has some nice touches: introductory remarks to the musicians; performances phoned in by artists not available on the day of recording (4:00 into film); a variety of responses to the situation – some having fun, others perhaps a little self-conscious and some looking reflective/reverential. I’m no authority, but I suspect that John Cage would have been happy at recent events and would have smiled at those in the film, smiling and swaying, arm in arm and in time.[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/GYedTIMAf7E?rel=0" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

p.s. Re the title of this post – have a look at the story of CATM (the text on grey background) here.

Connectedness, Culture(s), Expression, History, Language, Listening, Practice, Radio Links, Rehearsals, Video, YouTube links

What are conductors for?

What are conductors for? This is a question often asked by those outside the world of music – and sometimes by those in it.

In the following three videos, Semyon Bychkov explains very articulately the collaborative and personal business of preparing for performance. There are some very interesting examples of his forensic research and some interesting points about a subject dear to my heart – the connections between music and language.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/ojyfjs7vU8E?rel=0" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/2jIv6kqX7SE?rel=0" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/ev3YCPO45vM?rel=0" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

If I’m entirely honest, I have to confess that I hadn’t heard of Bychkov until this morning when I heard him in a fascinating interview with Tom Service on approaching the music of Wagner – and the associated difficulties. A sucker for a nicely turned phrase, I noticed his gift for aphorism e.g. “in the end, the beauty of life is infinitely greater than the weaknesses of those who go through it.”

You can hear that interview here.