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Alex Vachon Improvisation No. 3


by

UnderThePianoMan

 Genre: Piano

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Description
Under the Piano is a business I created recently. A client lies under my grand piano and I then create 40 minutes of improvisations. The vibrations of the piano envelope and permeate the client as he or she lies under the piano. This is one of the improvisations I created for Alex Vachon.

Alex is a filmmaker. He is passionate and imaginative, and yes, if you listen carefully, that is him singing along with the music as he lay under my grand piano and I created improvisations for him. Here is his description of the experience:

Dear Craig:

As I lied down on the silk pillows, under the piano, a sense of goodness and peace, not unlike when you step in a cathedral, permeated me.  Here, under a roof of thick wooden beams going in all directions, I felt as if I could hide and be completely myself, whoever that is. 

Such confinement, such freedom, suspended, between earth and heaven. 

Time came to a stand still.  Silence.   I knew of a rendez-vous taking place. 

Then you open the floodgates.  A river of vibrations swept my entire body.  You made me feel connected with an instrument, a vibrational device that transformed every sensation into sweetness and passion. 

Past, present and future disappeared.  Traumatic events, joy, beauty, love all swept in one full wave of energy, then another wave, and another, the river kept me going strong.  What a ride!  I didn't want it to end.  All is beautiful.  All is well.

Thank you Craig Addy for your Art.

Alex Vachon
Filmmaker
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Song Stats
Hits: 223
Comments: 15
Fans: 8
Plays: 35
Downloads: 15
Votes: 2
Uploaded: Oct 06, 2009 - 01:59:48 AM
Last Updated: Oct 06, 2009 - 01:59:48 AM Last Played: Nov 02, 2009 - 02:55:44 AM
Song License
Creative Commons License:
Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial

Creative Commons

Song Actions
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Hardware:
Zoom Handy Recorder H4n and my Kawaii KG-2 Grand Piano
Software:
Audacity
Comments
Feter said 51 days ago (October 6th, 2009)
Alex Vachon Improvisation No. 3
This is so wonderful ..very lovely theme ...
feel and flow so sweetly ..H4 did right to
the piano ..another example for how H4 work
fine for live music ..this is extremely cool
thnx alot for such gem !!!!
UnderThePianoMan said 51 days ago (October 6th, 2009)
Alex Vachon Improvisation No. 3
Thanks for listening. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Several of the improvisations from this 40 minute Under the Piano session were quite inspiring. I'll be posting 3 or 4 of them in the days to come.
Check out my latest song called Star Showers (Improvisation for Dianne No. 4)
crissew said 51 days ago (October 6th, 2009)
WOW
Such a large conglomeration of great pianists on MJ. Very interesting idea there too. Sounds like a wonderful experience being enveloped in all that sound! Enjoyed it. Especially the change at around 2:10. Just gorgeous. Hope Karen, Kassia and Paul Page hear this one!
crissew said 51 days ago (October 6th, 2009)
BTW
Fav'd and DL'ed. That piano tone.... GAWWWWD!
SmokeyVW said 51 days ago (October 6th, 2009)
nice
i really enjoyed this - nice improv!

thanks
Check out my latest song called One For Me
magnatone said 51 days ago (October 6th, 2009)
Alex Improv
gorgeous work! very full, reflective, soulful - thanks!
Check out my latest song called Symphonic Smackdown
paul f. page said 51 days ago (October 7th, 2009)
The composition itself...
gorgeous! I can imagine that Alex had a wonderful time just relaxing and meditating under the soundboard. What a unique idea,indeed. THIS recording is much different than the Nostalgia piece in that the piano sounds (to me) a little muffled. Maybe it was the mic placement. Don't know. You play with passion and the emotion comes through in the shadings you give to your phrasing...
Peace.
Paul
Check out my latest song called Double Etude
UnderThePianoMan said 50 days ago (October 7th, 2009)
About the Piano
Ha Ha! I fooled you with the Nostalgia recording. Your not the first to be fooled either. A number of professional pianists I know have been fooled as well. It was recorded with my digital piano - a Yamaha Clavinova CLP-270. So there is no mic placement issue or tuning issue. In the case of this piece, of course I am using my "real" piano - a 5' 10" Kawaii Grand - as you can't lie under a Clavinova and even if you could it would not produce the vibrations that a real piano does. To my ears, even though the real piano is less clear and not perfectly in tune, there is a richness to the sound that I prefer. There are overtones and sympathetic reverberations that a digital piano just can't reproduce (not yet at any rate). Perhaps this is more powerfully apparent to me because when I listen I am intimately connected to the original experience, which is vastly different than hearing it on a stereo or computer speakers. Past attempts to record my Kawaii had produced such dismal results that I had more or less given up on it. Then quite by accident, I was introduced to a Zoom Handy Recorder about a month ago. The results I am getting now cost me only $475. I'll be uploading recordings done on both instruments and it will be interesting to see if others pick up on the difference and what they prefer.

Thanks for listening and for your comments. I've been listening to you as well and I am honored indeed.

Craig
Check out my latest song called Star Showers (Improvisation for Dianne No. 4)
crissew said 43 days ago (October 14th, 2009)
If a layman's opinion mean anything
It surprises me that pro pianists couldnt tell the difference because I could tell the difference between the two immediately and greatly prefer this tone. I thought the tone of "nostalgia" while maybe clearer, was artificial and lacking in the emotion that is so well conveyed in this piece. So much richer with lush full sounds. You can always tell a real piano from a keyboard especially when you get on the keys. The there is just a touch of dissonance that to me makes the notes really pop. Love the tone you get here, I would not change a thing.
drakonis said 50 days ago (October 7th, 2009)
the story, the music, the idea
got me all misty... what a wonderful therapeutic idea. And given with the touch of a skilled craftsman of musical imagery. Welcome to Macjams, and thank you for giving a peek at the background/motivation for your pieces, that adds a lot of meaning and weight to the already rich music.

Indeed, what a ride. I believe you'll find many like-minded souls here at Macjams, carrying the musical torch, so to speak. Welcome.
ttfn,
Drakonis
Check out my latest song called Lullaby for the Inner Child
UnderThePianoMan said 49 days ago (October 8th, 2009)
Thanks for the warm welcome
And also thanks for subscribing to my YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/CAddysUnderThePiano). I've done the same and subscribed to yours (http://www.youtube.com/user/schwansongs). Now I know all about sheep shearing and certinly didn't expect to discover that over here on MacJams. It's strange how docile the sheep are during the shearing. I'd be squirming and kicking like mad.
Check out my latest song called Star Showers (Improvisation for Dianne No. 4)
awigze said 50 days ago (October 7th, 2009)
Timeless
Yes, like Alex said, Past present and future disappeared. I think this is the dimension where you could say God is in the neighborhood. Wonderfully conceived concept and appreciate the experiences that you have mentioned. I have similar memories when my mother would play the concert harp. Profound.
Check out my latest song called We got to Jive in Blues by (Feter)
UnderThePianoMan said 49 days ago (October 8th, 2009)
Past, Present & Future
Yes, it is the absence of a predetermined musical future and the acceptance of the music in the past that has just happened that draws me to improvising so powerfully. It is a wonderful way to be in the present moment.

There are many children that experience being under the piano or in your case connected physically to the vibrations of a harp - it is a simple sense of play that has children do that. Why, as adults, do we lose that. "Adults" keep telling me they would never thought of getting under a piano, yet it's an immediately obvious thing for children to do.
Check out my latest song called Star Showers (Improvisation for Dianne No. 4)
persona said 43 days ago (October 14th, 2009)
Wow Craig!
Such a nice piece and improvisation. Really makes me want to be under the piano for the full experience!
Check out my latest song called Here, but Gone
PaulaMunk said 25 days ago (November 2nd, 2009)
Well..
Maybe we should thank Alex for allowing others to hear what he heard. So very inspired. Thanks.
Check out my latest song called The Conqueror Worm
Artist Info
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Name: Craig Addy
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Vancouver pianist and composer Craig Addy was born in 1962 and has been improvising at the piano since he was a child. He has two music degrees: A B.Mus from the University of British Columbia and an ARCT Performer’s Diploma from the Royal Conserva... [see more]

Check out some of my other songs:

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