Mozart K333 Sonata – Andante. What’s the story in this piece?
Music has groove or metre like poetry. It generates musical sense or syntax. Follow the poetic unfolding of this Mozart slow movement and allow its deep meanings to enter your consciousness. Listen with your body and soul to the story it tells. Allow yourself to go deep inside, so that the hypnotic effect of the musical narrative takes you on a journey.
Pianoteq give us gorgeous, atmospheric Felt Pianos!
Pianoteq have introduced felted versions of their pianos. These beautiful, atmospheric pianos are incredibly expressive and playable, with all kinds of rich, complex colours possible. To demonstrate this, Phil improvises, exploring the range of sonorities, on the C. Bechstein DG Felt.
How do you feel as the tempo gets slower and slower?
When we listen actively to music with a clear groove which slows down gradually, we relax, unwind and feel ease. In this video, I improvise using a pulse that constantly slows down. Notice how it makes you feel!
How being musically genre-fluid affected my confidence
Being genre-fluid and challenging conventions about musical manners can only be a good thing but it can be difficult to find the confidence to play music in your own authentic voice, especially across more than one genre. We live in a mimetic society and the style gatekeepers guard norms ferociously. But for music to truly entertain, move and inspire listeners, artists must find the courage to be 100% expressively honest.
What kind of music sounds good on Pianoteq’s C. Bechstein DG Snappy?
In this video I explore the refreshing, clear sounds of the Pianoteq C. Bechstein DG Snappy preset and improvise to illustrate how its qualities really shine to create great musical textures in two different types of piano arrangement.
Impromptu in E flat – unplanned improvisation
In this short improvised piece, Phil explores romantic impressionism, with some jazz influences in the harmonies. The feeling is tender with a certain urgency that resolves into warmth with a hint of melancholy by the end.
Rachmaninov Prelude in G op. 32 no. 5
The irregular and cross rhythms of this exquisitely beautiful Prelude sound so natural and uncontrived. The music flows with a gloriously liquid, impressionistic, harmonious quality evoking feelings of sweet sadness and a sense of pastoral beauty.
Rachmaninov Prelude in G sharp minor op. 32 no. 12
The deliciously sparkling texture and beautiful melodies – often in the left hand – fill this Prelude with nervous energy, drive and slightly understated passion.
Resisting the urge to change presets too much
The presets in Pianoteq and Waves that I use are designed by highly skilled people. So I resist the temptation to fiddle too much with them as they work very well out of the box. A few subtle adjustments are often all that is needed to find just the sound you’re after.
Volume settings like a concert grand using Pianoteq
To recreate a realistic-sounding piano recording using Pianoteq, the experience must be very much the same. A concert grand piano is loud. To generate the same experience of playing one, we need to set the volume higher than normal listening.