The April CASL Improvisations (Piano and improvisation notes)

To listen to the full suite of piano improvisations (about 20 minutes total):

http://soundcloud.com/greatlakesian/sets/the-april-casl-improvisations/

Set notes (notes about each individual improvisation listed further below):

A potentially enjoyable set/suite of four improvisations on piano made between classes at the University of Michigan-Dearborn College of Arts, Sciences and Letters in April of 2012. I someday hope to make them a bit more concise when I can afford the focus. Listen and you might find: sentiment, pensiveness, wist, and playful mischief (possibly in that order).

I was trying to settle a lot of buzzing concerns and by the time I finished (about half an hour later) I felt really refreshed for the first time probably in months. This was a "sit down and go" session, I just started plunking on the piano. I re-discovered the set in late May or early June (I forgot I recorded it) and realized I could probably make a suite or something out of it all. I'm pretty sure I can trim each "movement" by a minute at least if I'm concise.

About Improv #1 
http://soundcloud.com/greatlakesian/casl-improvisation-1-circa
I sat down, thought, thought I should start playing, started playing, and probably pulled pensive inspiration from motifs of a song called "Overreacting" by the band "Brad Sucks" (http://youtu.be/jOWAs65u5MQ ), and The Sims game (one of the building themes http://youtu.be/UbA58yOhPH4 ).

About Improv #2

http://soundcloud.com/greatlakesian/casl-improv-2-1
This was fairly sprawling, I'm pretty sure I can shorten it by 2 minutes to make the entire tune approximately 3 minutes.

Appeal and rhythm of lower notes attribution might be attributable to Ravel, hard to say if I just really like that interval, or if that sound was learned from hearing his “Concerto for Left Hand”. I recall a hint of U of M dissertation recital nostalgia--I've seen/experienced some strange states of consciousness/emotions from people playing borderline melodramatic piano at a few of those free concerts.

There’s a motif I came up with several years ago which I like to call the “archaic groove thing”, depending on where it’s played on the piano it can sound rather dark. I almost tried playing it here but resolved to come up with something new instead. I’m also drawing a tad of inspiration from some of Lee G. Brooks’s/SunBC’s piano work elsewhere.

Uncertainty, unfun, and doubtful darkness were common themes in this improvisation.

About Improv #3 

http://soundcloud.com/greatlakesian/casl-improv-2

In the vein of Debussy, Ravel, and Eric Satie: foggy, soft, fluid, then bright and tender. Probably inspired by Lee G. Brooks's piano work ( Hear the opening/closing theme to this short film, wonderful!http://youtu.be/-A4kFpscYKE ) too. I recall wishing I could play more sophisticated chord structures at this point. Somewhere around 1:24 I was really tempted to play a dark 7th, but since I tend to do that in most of my improvisations I also refrained from doing so. I later played a random note which was even more "wrong" sounding (though I like it, a benefit of that unintentional improvisation)!

This is perhaps one of the first times I started to explore nuances of quieter dynamics and gentler piano articulations. I suppose there's some yearning behind it.

About Improv #4 "Playing With the Wrong Notes" 

http://soundcloud.com/greatlakesian/playing-with-the-wrong-notes
I had a violin teacher who couldn't stand what music theory calls "tritones" which to him basically sound like "wrong" notes. Maybe I'm spiting him with this, either way, playing with 'wrong' notes—harmless mischief and little children/being one comes to mind, and I really like it.

Almost certainly inspired by the six Roumanian Folk Dances collected by Bartok (especially the playful feel of dance #2 http://youtu.be/UHZt6ITdSto ) along with some Hungarian and other Eastern European folk tunes; my cheerful Romanian-American friend Alex , plus HEAVY stomping and hyperactivity too.

There's some vivid imagery that comes to mind for me. I'm curious to know if it does so for anyone else too.

In some places it reminds me of getting ahead of myself with enthusiasm and not caring—like when watching a kid trying to mount a scooter with a running start before realizing that most of the scooter isn’t even in line with where they intended to go.

Here's a bit of what came to mind for me as I played:
1:22 playful running along
Intentional dancing emphasis (stomping foot to emphasize)
~1:45 Jaunty playing
Happy running in a field by a stream? Vigours of youth.
Playful teasing [not chiding] w/ percussive [piano] stomps
3:55 timid play/poke
~5:00 It’s been a good day. Yeah.
5:32 resurgent jolt of excitement just before you're supposed to sleep?

Time to sleep! #

(note to self: I might be able to trim a minute off of this tune?)

Improvisation disclaimer: 

I'm self taught (somewhat, I didn't really make a focused effort to teach myself in the first place) on the piano, I've been trained and perform on violin/fiddle much more extensively, and sometimes alto saxophone too. Since playing the instrument with both hands on a piano is a mysterious process to me, the underlying chords and rhythms tend to be more repetitive than I'd prefer, but I like to play nonetheless.

My improvisations are as one might imagine: on-the-fly experimentation with various ideas and innovations. Sometimes I have a theme in mind, sometimes I simply start playing. Most of these musical ideas are my own, but I do my best to attribute any inspirations and origins in accord with good scholarship and an open source ethos. In any case, I'm still averse to making musical gibberish when improvising.

I frequently improvise, and opportunities to explain the context and potential significance of a piece are rare depending on the situation I'm in. As an occasional busker, I thoroughly enjoy the opportunity for human dialog and interaction with those who enjoy what they hear or take interest in what I do. Furthermore, some people are accustomed to experiencing music as a passive and pleasant diversion. Sometimes, maybe most of the time, I try to challenge this expectation.

In everything I create, I strive to combine insight and consideration about the possible implications of my actions, especially when disseminating ideas to many people. I encourage everyone to explore a more intentional, active, engaging, and conscientious paradigm for how we "consume" experiences and communication.

I think I played on a Kawai Upright piano. Recorded using an Olympus VN-6200PC voice recorder (mono, best for lectures and such) placed on top of the piano or my backpack next to the piano.

[note, these notes were written well after {months after} the date of the post, I gave it April 30th since the recordings took place sometime during April {probably mid-April like April 14th, 16th, or 17th}.  It just recently occurred to me that a blog was probably most effective for coupling notes with a video/audio file online.]