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Disney, A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes
It’s been a while since I last shared anything I played on the piano, and I figure everyone likes Disney, so here’s one of its most iconic piece—and arguably my favorite, too.
October 8, 2011
Why I wanted to stop playing the piano
I’ve had the luxury of two relationships in my life, both heterosexual. What both my exes fell in love with wasn’t my face, my smile, my personality; they fell in love with fingers that ran across slivers of ivory plated bass wood and created stories from song. Everywhere I play, I get the same response.
You’re really good.
A hundred voices have said the same thing, even the occasional anonymous letter. Friends, acquaintances, neighbors whose faces I would have never seen. People fall in love with my music.
And so I wanted to stop.
I wanted people to want me for me, not my talents. I wanted to be more than just a pair of hands, more than an album of songs to be played on demand.
Then I saw the irony. Beautiful people don’t want to be loved for their bodies. Intelligent people don’t want to be used as how-to guides for life. Sick people don’t want pity, and the rich don’t want sponges. We seek acceptance and love for the sum of our personality traits, not a choice dehumanized selection thereof. I am a pianist. But I’m also smart, empathetic, compassionate, caring, distant, courteous, dedicated, nerdy, curious, egotistical, punctilious, brave, gay, and insecure about all the above. And the people who make it a point to become my friends know all this. And they love me for all of who I am.
September 18, 2011
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Nobuo Uematsu (Aerith’s Theme)
Well, there you have it—my latest recording, the song that scored me this. It starts deceptively simple, but the later half gets more complex; we’re talking triplet-quavers paired with regular semiquavers.
Anyone even remotely familiar with the series will know that this song ranks high up for emotional weight. Aerith dies, and I think her death would have had less impact were this song any less poignant. You can almost taste the bittersweetness.
May 23, 2011
Classical song medley on the violin, piano and guzheng
The most impressive is the violin’s blatant disregard for physics — it just stays on her neck, unmoving.
What faith I once had in my talent has now firmly retracted into my abdomen, where it will stay. Forever. Infinite.
May 13, 2011
I was walking out of my bathroom when I saw this note under my door. Cue untimely death by euphoria overload.
This means so much to me. Over Easter, when I was back at home, my father cut me off mid-song with an unmistakeable gesture hand-waving gesture so full of vexation it made me want to stop altogether. It happened always, without fail. I refrain from playing the piano when he is in the house, but the three times I did were met by an unyielding command to stop. Ironically, then I was playing Evanescence’s Good Enough. Evidently, I was not.
This note boosted my spirit up so much you can’t even begin to imagine how much by.
May 6, 2011
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I Want To Hold Your Hand (Glee Cover)
I was moved by this song when I finally saw the episode with Kurt singing it over Christmas. I just had to play it.
January 13, 2011
Thanks!
The piece that I played is truly somber. In fact, they played this in the composer's funeral. However, there were numerous unheard notes due to the fact that I played them in ppp (pianissimo possibile) but they could not be heard in the recording. :(
I am so jealous with your piano. Your piano must be your refuge/reprieve whilst in med school. It has everything that a pianist could want except for the genuine and authentic sound that only the strings and vibrating air can produce (not pre-recorded sounds).
I have several questions for you:
Who is your favorite composer? How long have you been playing the piano?
epinephren
It is unfortunate that cameras often fail to record the softer notes because they are the ones that add most character to a piece. Anyone with functioning motor skills has the capacity to hit a few keys on the piano, but it takes true skill to create and invoke emotion.
Indeed the piano is my haven from the all too frequent hardships of med school; however, that the sounds are prerecorded has affected my pleasure from it little. Yes, I miss my upright grand Kawai back home, but the sound quality of my sexy, new Yamaha is phenomenal. The lower octaves shake the bench, and the resistance of the keys is almost real—discernible from a piano, but authentic nonetheless. Like you, I expected to bemoan the loss of warm tones from proper strings, though experience has taught otherwise. And if your budget allows, and you want to make future recordings, I strongly recommend making the purchase too—it’s more convincing than you think.
My favorite composer is the creator of the best tracks I’ve heard in my life: the one, the only, Nobuo Uematsu. His pieces are auditory perfection and capture in melody stories and emotions. He is unparalleled in composing music for the piano and even entire orchestras. It is downright criminal to have escaped the grace of his To Zanarkand.
Video game music composers are as talented and valid as their classical counterparts; however, in asking that question, most seek a response that involve the latter. In this restriction, Johann Pachelbel wins my commendation for favorite. Pachelbel’s Canon remains to date my most enjoyed classical piece.
I believe you have asked the question referring to my piano experience before, but it’s all good—I love all questions. I’ve been playing the piano for a decade (oh my gosh, I’m a relic now), and I love every second of it.
December 13, 2010
hi! what do you use to record your piano music?
fantastic job!
berlin457
First, thank you for listening to my pieces; the knowledge of a pleased audience never ceases to encourage and motivate.
I play on a Yamaha DGX-640C, which among weighted keys, phenomenal touch response and stellar sound, has an inbuilt recording function. I record directly on the keyboard and transfer the recorded MIDI file onto a USB drive via the keyboard’s USB port, finally converting it to an MP3 on Garageband.
Thank you again for listening!
November 24, 2010
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