Playing my composition "The Persimmon" for an audience of horses
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ก.ย. 2024
- Recorded at my parents' horse barn in sub-zero weather. Look at the hammers to see how frozen/sluggish my 1903 Heintzman piano is! I wrote this piece in 2011, and it was titled by my friend, composer-pianist Vincent M. Johnson.
It's been a while since I've uploaded with any regularity, so I wanted to offer an update on me and my plans:
This year I've returned to finish the last bits of my university studies, the non-music courses. I want to complete my degree-Bachelor of Music / piano major-so that I can take on a teaching position: specifically, music theory and arranging at a local college. Ultimately, my dream is to weave together a combined career of: musician/composer/producer; piano technician/maker; and, music educator.
Shortly before I returned to studies, I had totally disassembled my home piano's action for rebuilding. Since I've been working full-time hours running my piano technician business and being a student, there's been limited opportunity to assemble my own piano, record on others, or produce any new music.
That said, I look forward to building this channel into something bigger as my school schedule eases up. My tentative plan is to devote, say, every Monday to music, scheduling a video release every 4th Monday. Time will tell.
I want to give special thanks to those who've chosen to support me on Patreon (patreon.com/maxpiano). I equally appreciate those of you who have supported me in other ways, with your interest, comments, music, and friendship. Each of my videos will always be freely available on this channel.
If you've made it this far, thanks for reading, and here's to good music ahead.
I have become a major fan. Thank you for sharing your talent.
Amazing! I actually became a little teary eyed. You have a beautiful soul ❤
What a truly gorgeous piece, Max! Thank you so much for sharing it with us. ❤️
Oh… and thanks for the shout-out! 😄 Greetings from the opposite side of 🇨🇦
It's my pleasure, thank you my friend! I would love to return to CA someday. Any requests for future uploads?
@@maxkeenlyside We hope to return to PEI again! Anything you upload is amazing, Max. One of the things I love about your playing is your choice of music, both your own, and classic rags and stride pieces, too. And you are the ONLY ragtime player that I can get my Mom to watch videos of that I shot at WCRF! 😂
This is beautiful!
Simply a wonderful piece!
Much appreciated. :)
Wonderful Max.
Wonderful. I really enjoyed your performance.
Very nice and engaging piece! Thanks!
Awesome job Max.....from Fresno, CA
Beautiful rag.
Thank you.
I love it
It's always a pleasure to hear from you Max.
Hope everything with your musical endeavors goes well
Great to have a new video from you thanks and lovely composition, beautifully played - lucky horses! Look forward to the next upload.
Thank you! Maybe I'll include them in a future video.
I love it! :) Your original rags are lovely: they have that authentic 10's atmosphere but they never sound like imitations. One question: the second chord of the A strain doesn't sound like the Eb major that's written down; do you play a G major instead?
Thanks for your compliments. :) You are correct, I do play a G7 chord there! Truth be told, I haven't gone over the score of this piece more than a handful of times since I published it a decade ago. I always maintain compositions in my head as "set arrangements" of sorts, but over time, I find little details often change, consciously and subconsciously, for better or worse. In this case, I think I was probably inspired to harmonize it this way because I've been playing James Booker's version of "Sunny Side of the Street" lately. It opens with Eb - G7 - Ab!
@@maxkeenlyside Thank you very much for your reply! Very interesting. I have to say I do like this G7 chord here, so I hope you'll keep it. :)
Delightful composition!
Cheers!
Always great to hear from you Max. It's good to know you've been doing well!
Thanks Terroro, you as well! Hope things have been good on your end.
It's so good to have a new video out! I hope you get through the last of the university work! If someone has you as a teacher I can bet they'll have nothing but the best from you! Keep up the great work!
Thanks for the kind words! It's crunch-time right now leading up to exams.
@@maxkeenlyside Good luck!
So that’s what you’ve been up to! Thank you for updating us Max! And great playing as always...this rag is a delight!
❤ keep playing man, I hear Tom's had a bad accident. Keep that torch burning 🔥
Amazing composition. Truly beautiful. Greetings from Hawaii!
Thank you, and best regards from PEI, another island off the opposite coast!
@@maxkeenlyside oh also, I'm a fellow pianist too. What are some tips to composing my own ragtime?
@@dankr7009 Listen to a lot of it and try to improvise until you get something you like :)
@@PiotrBarcz oh ok I see 👍
@@maxkeenlyside ooh one more thing do you have the sheets for this anywhere? I might want to learn this in the future when I get better.
This has become of one my favourite pieces of yours. It's just beautiful, and the different parts fit together so well. Thank you for a stunning performance!
You must have some tough fingers if you can play that crisply without missing notes! My hands get stiff really quickly if the keys of the piano I'm playing are cold, when i did my live stream from The Barn Door then by the end of it my hands were sore as heck and hurt for the rest of the day!
Thankfully, the touch of this piano is extremely light! It's lost a lot of felt-mass from the hammers over the years, making it have the light touch and a too-bright tone.
@@maxkeenlyside Hmm, sounds like my kind of piano :D
Great work Max. Sounds like an authentic 100 year old song to me😎
I only just realized the design of the action is different on this piano! There are no conventional stickers, only those plungers like the Duo-Art and Ampico player grands had!
Good eye! This setup is very common in Canadian pianos from the 1880s through the 1980s. We call them dowel capstans.
@@maxkeenlyside Dowel capstans, interesting! I just learned a new piano term :D
@@maxkeenlyside Is this setup more durable or is it just easier to make?
@@PiotrBarcz Sticker actions are definitely more work: several more sets of 88 flanges to space/travel/regulate friction. Plus capstan screws to push on the sticker! Dowel capstans are durable and easy, but unlike stickers or rocker capstans, the pivoting motion of the key makes them pull back-to-front on the whippen. I recently tuned a 1970s Mason & Hamlin with a sticker action! Modern factories tend to use direct-contact or dowel capstans for their shorter and taller models.
@@maxkeenlyside interesting! thanks for the details on this, I really appreciate it!
I love how this piano has a lot of high overtones and is really bright! I love the half tenths you use in the left hand, on that piano they sound exceptionally good!!!
Heintzman certainly built a good enough piano that this one sounds nice even in disrepair! I can't wait to eventually hear it after I do the restringing, new hammers, etc. And thanks! By the half-tenths do you mean the sixths? I have enjoyed them in your playing as well - I hear you start with a 5th and climb up to a 6th.
@@maxkeenlyside I wouldn't mess with the hammers if I was you, they sounds so nice and bright but I bet new strings would do wonders! And yes, I meant the sixths, for people who can't span a tenth it's the best alternative. I usually climb up from a fifth to imitate the tenth bass lines in stride piano pieces. I also heard you use the same method in your rendition of The Pride OF Bucktown which rang a bell for some reason, I feel like I heard that walk up a very long time ago!
That was great, nice to see you upload again. Decent audio for a barn performance as well! :-D
Thank you! I mixed together audio from my Zoom H4n, an external condenser mic, and my cell phone. I don't know very much at all about audio engineering. I'm excited to improve the sound quality as well as the piano's tone.
So lovely, Max! Always a pleasure to hear (and see-score is pretty) your work.
Why thank you, maestro!
@@maxkeenlyside this is really awesome Max.
I do have one quick question.
Whenever you are back from your musical studies are you going to finish Utopia Rag
This piece is one my favourites of yours. Great performance as always, I hope the horses enjoyed it. ;)
I hope and trust you'll succeed with finishing the last bits of your university studies and I think you'd make a great teacher!
Your future schedule also seems like it'd be really nice! I'm looking forward to it. I know all too well how studies can take away from musical time... so I am glad your school schedule will ease up.
To good music ahead!
P.S. Thanks for subscribing... that really made me feel great. :D
Thanks again for the kind words. You're an inspiring talent and I'm enjoying following your channel.
@@maxkeenlyside Thanks a lot Max! By the way, did you know I wrote a little dedication to you a while back? I don't think you've seen it yet, but if I recall correctly I sent it to you over discord. You can find it on my musescore (linked below my vids) with the title "Keenlykind".
The piece is nothing major, though, so no rush to check it out. ;)
very nice composition, love how it sounds on this piano as well!
You are an awesome composer Max!
Beg your pardon, horses?
Indeed, three of them, on the other side of the wall!
That brief modulation to 3 in the trio is transcendent
edit: Metric* modulation
Publish some sheet music for this, we don't wanna just sit there playing the same rags over and over again, we wanna see new rags being published like Quarantine Rag
Hey bud, I just stumbled over your Thomas the tank engine performance from 2012 :D
Do you have any sheets for this piece?
Much love :D
Who did you recommend as your favourite pianist on saturdy night blues last year? I forget!
P.S. you're the best!
Thank you for this and your comment on my other piece. Whether or not you are the Alex from the Astrum channel (I'm a huge fan/follower), I'm so glad you enjoy my videos!
Oh, and the pianist was James Booker, playing "On The Sunny Side of the Street"! My favourite recording is the live one from a contest in Switzerland, I think 1976 or 77.
This is such a nice piece. Thanks for uploading.
Also is there anywhere I can purchase the sheets for royal oak rag?
Thank you! I don't think I have it available for sale, but if you send me an email I'll give you free access to the PDF on Google Drive.
@@maxkeenlyside My comment keeps getting deleted for having an email in it (since it's a link.) Where can I find your email?
@@maxlibertor my email is max ([at]) max piano ([dot]) ca, no spaces. Let's see if this makes it through. :P
Here it is! There's been a typo on the first page since 2005, should say "Brun". I don't think the co-composer Jaime Cardenas would mind if I made this visible to anyone with the link: drive.google.com/file/d/1jKpcRLLYglJQutvxgJ5eMsjbZ1is3fz_/view?usp=sharing
@@maxkeenlyside thanks! And wow, I wasn’t even born in 2005…
2:09
Stop being nit picky, this piece is great, and he uploaded it in good intention, so just enjoy it :)
@@pesty4592 ?
@@computerdynamo were you marking the change of theme, or the slight mess up on the chord
I see you do like to play in sub zero temperatures lol