Klarinet Archive - Posting 000387.txt from 2000/10

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausmann1@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Real musicians don't.....
Date: Sun, 8 Oct 2000 17:50:16 -0400

At 01:34 PM 10/8/2000 -0700, Kevin Fay wrote:
>I recall hearing a recording of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue in which the
>piano soloist was Gershwin himself . . . on a scroll. My memory is
>fleeting, but I think it was the Pittsburgh Symphony or someone like that; I
>thought it was an interesting performance. (Must have been a real pain to
>record, though -- definitely a case where the soloist wasn't listening!)
>
Others may have done it, too, but I have the recording by Michael Tilson
Thomas and the Columbia Jazz Band, using the original Ferde Grofe scoring
for the Paul Whiteman's Orchestra accompanying the Gershwin piano roll.
The original scoring is for 3 woodwinds (doubling on 5 sizes of saxophones,
clarinet, bass clarinet, and oboe), 2 trumpets, 2 horns, 2 trombones, tuba
(doubling on string bass), percussion, banjo, celesta, piano (in addition
to the soloist), and 8 violins. It seems as if it would be the definitive
performance, but in some areas it seems a bit rushed to me, which works
fine on piano alone (I have that on a record, too), but I'd prefer it to
"breathe" a bit more in those spots when done with winds.

>Bill Hausmann posted:
>
><<<But remember, they still record the performances by having someone
>actually PLAY on a recording version of the machine, just like in the old
>days, at least on the Yamaha Disklavier. As before, post-production can be
>used to correct mistakes, etc.>>>
>
>This is fortunately not always true. It's very possible to program a player
>piano by carefully punching holes in the scroll (or doing the dancing
>electron equivalent for the modern versions). This allows you to create
>compositions that are not bound by the physical limitations of human beings.
>
Or, as in the case of that Gershwin roll, to do a second pass to add more
notes (The process was, in effect, what we now call "overdubbing"). The
original piano roll had both the solo and a piano reduction of the
accompaniment parts on it. For the recording they actually COVERED UP the
accompaniment holes, leaving only the solo part. The roll was made on a
Duo-Art Reproducing Piano, which has some capability to reproduce dynamics.
I would think that doing an entire piece from scratch, so to speak, by
hand punching the paper, would be unbelievably tedious, time consuming,
and, I should think, lacking in "soul."

Bill Hausmann bhausmann1@-----.com
451 Old Orchard Drive http://homepages.go.com/~zoot14/zoot14.html
Essexville, MI 48732 ICQ UIN 4862265

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is too loud.

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