Videos

Piano Log 2016-5-17

Friends, I was so excited to learn that the Boston Street Piano Project is coming back! Last year, I created videos by stitching together audio from my phone and video from a tiny little pinhole digital camera (that itself had terrible audio). In preparation for another season of outdoor performances, I just invested in a Zoom q4 video recorder which can do wide angle. It takes wonderful audio quality, and the video picture is better than my little pinhole camera by far. I made this piano log to test it out. Enjoy!

If you love the Zoom q4 so much that you must have one for yourself, please consider using my GuitarCenter.com affiliate link!

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(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

melsenspianolog:

10-1-2013 – Longy School of Music (Piano 10)

I have so many videos and recordings to upload! Please bear with me as I stitch together the sound recordings I made on my phone and the videos I took on a little fisheye camera (which had terrible sound quality, since it was resting and buzzing on the piano as I played!). It might be another week or two before I get everything posted 🙂

This piano was my tenth “grab”, if you will. So far, I’ve played 30 pianos, and I’m hoping to hit 40 by the time they are taken away.

This improvisation grew out of the slow movement from Ravel’s G minor piano concerto. I started playing around with it because there was a trumpet player outside in the courtyard practicing his part for that same concerto, but the first movement!

The audio recording of this improvisation will be coming out on the Podcast tomorrow!

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

10-13-2013 – Piano #40 – Titus Sparrow Park

This was the last public piano I played. I chose it because Nancy-Lee (the artist of this particular piano) actually messaged me on my tumblr feed, and I wanted to play her piano before they were all gone. It was so beautiful!

For the first time during this whole project, I did an improvisation with my left hand only. It was getting late, so you can’t see much from the video except the light from my phone and the pink Pru in the background, but you’ll also see my watch glinting in the half-light.

I was so sad to see this installation come to an end. I hope that someday “Play Me I’m Yours” comes back to Boston, and I’m taking inspiration from it to make more public music on my own.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

10-13-2013 – Piano #1, revisited – Part 2a

I wanted to play one more improvisation at JP Licks, and I thought Maggie was done dancing, so I turned the camera away, but she starting dancing again!  In this video, you get a better view of me and the onlookers, but you’ll have to mostly imagine the dancer! However, Maggie’s wife – Mel – did take a video of Maggie dancing, so I’m going to post that next!

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

10-13-2013 – JP Licks – Piano #1, revisited – Part 1

After Washington Square, we came back to JP and decided to visit the JP Licks piano. In this video, Maggie danced on the picnic table. This video really shows a lot of her dancing, and it is especially beautiful to see her silhouette against the sky behind. About the sirens, I can only smile. They were a constant backdrop for these public pianos, and you’ll hear them in many of my recordings.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

10-13-2013 – Washington Square in Brookline – Piano #39, Part 2

Theadora brought her West Side Story sheet music, so I sight-read “I feel Pretty!”, and Maggie danced during the second half. There was a mini-party happening at this piano when we got there, so we had a lovely appreciative audience!

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)