Improvisations
This one is more informal and playful. During the Street Piano Project, there would often be people milling around the pianos – waiting to take their turn, just listening, or wanting to join in. I started playing Autumn Leaves, and a guy who was standing behind me started singing along. Then he asked if he could play too, and we had some fun!
Part of the Boston Street Piano Project. This one explores different realms of sound from my usual palette. I mean, part of what I’m trying to do is be original and try something entirely new every time. But my ears and fingers have patterns they love to revisit. Sometimes I have to really push myself to shake things up, and I think this recording really did that!
Melsen’s Piano Log: Piano Log 2015-2-26 Part 2
This is a longer, meandering one. References to Dream Girls (a little bit!), as well as themes from previous Piano Logs.
For this improvisation, I found myself touching on a Chopin piece I’ve never actually learned. See if you can tell which one it is!
This is the second recording from tonight. It is much longer and lyrical than the first. I imagine playing this one for a dancer.
The first recording from tonight. This one is upbeat!
Melsen’s Piano Log: Piano Log 2015-2-16
Another longer post (too long to post the recording directly on tumblr!). Here in Boston, we have had so much snow in the past month! The snowbanks are at least 9 feet tall on either side of our driveway, and our little street is like a bobsled tunnel. The last time I remember seeing this much snow, I was a child, and the walkways went over my head because I was tiny! Needless to say, I have had snow on the brain. So this improvisation ends in a little tune I remember from when I was that small child, watching a sweet movie about another child and his snowman.
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In October 2014, I found a free piano on Craigslist. It was so out of tune that some of the treble keys (which have three strings each) played three different distinct notes at once! But I have played many, many upright pianos by now, in various states of disrepair, and I liked the feel of this one. The keys were intact, the soft pedal and damper pedal worked, and it was very resonant.
I paid movers to transport it to my apartment, and I hired a piano technician to fix up the action. When we opened up the cabinet of the instrument, we found so much dust and mold! So my task for the next couple months was to clean the keys and vacuum the interior as thoroughly as I could. When we finally put it back together, I attempted to tune it myself. I had adequate tools, and a relatively good ear, but it was my first time, and I didn’t realize that a bunch of the treble tuning pegs were loose.
Yesterday, I hired that same technician to tune it professionally, and he showed me how some of the pegs were so loose, they could slip very easily. So, I’m going to keep track of which keys slip out of tune, and eventually I will use a hammer to drive those pegs deeper into the wood of the soundboard before I get it tuned again!
I made this recording within two hours of having the piano tuned. It’s a longer format than usual – I couldn’t resist! Enjoy.
While you’re waiting for me to upload more recordings of street pianos, check out this guy! He sat down to play right after me in Chinatown, and I was so mesmerized, I just stood and listened to him for a long time! See my bicycle make a cameo appearance!
Play Me, I’m Yours is an artwork by UK artist Luke Jerram and has been touring internationally since 2008.
I’m going to try to find time to play a few of these before they leave Boston! If I can plan enough in advance, I’ll post a link to the ones I’ll be playing at, with the time I’ll be there…maybe you can come join me!