Project Notes: Für Elise

link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFh_-Krt3Ck

I found the visualizer for this video almost by accident.  It is called 3dMIDI.  It never made it to a 1.0 release as far as I could find, and the website for the software provided in the documentation is no longer available.  The main feature that caught my attention was the ability to render right from the program which would eliminate the need for screen capture software such as FRAPS.  While FRAPS does an excellent job, the quality is seriously limited.  My eventual goal is to make videos with decent quality, and to do this I will most likely need to learn software such as Blender.

That being said the results of this video were decent but definitely not stunning.  The render option would not work properly so I was forced to use FRAPS for this video.  3dMIDI definitely feels like an alpha release.  Random crashes, settings anomalies, you name it.  However I really like the look of it so I decided to use it in spite of its raw feel.  The graphics look dated but I am a sucker for all things vintage.  The only problem with the video is that 3dMIDI does not sync with tempo changes very well.  If you pay attention you will see that at certain times the balls do not hit the keys exactly in time.  This is not an alignment problem but rather the software not adjusting to the midi input correctly.  My guess is that some decimal rounding error is involved.

I wanted to do a visualization of Für Elise for a while now.  I chose the visualization before I began work on the sequence.  Right away I knew that I had to use something besides piano samples for this piece.  The look of it called out for a good bell-like synth patch.  I tried using several instruments in my arsenal before deciding on FM8 which had the best sound for this project.  I adjusted phrasing and velocity levels to give the piece more expression.  Many of the synth pieces I see on Youtube have a single velocity and no phrasing which tends to give them a dull and lifeless feel.  That is actually a good thing in some cases but I felt this piece needed some expression.

Project notes: Zwei Praeludien op 39 by Beethoven

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q7kA_U_XCY

This video was a long project mostly because of demands on my time such as the birth of a new infant.  I kept working at it even when I only had a few minutes to spare.

This piece was challenging to sequence because it is Beethoven's version of counterpoint.  This basically means that instead of worrying about one melody, I had to shape several melodies that happened simultaneously, bringing each one out.

Some may be surprised by the liberties I have taken with this performance.   The phrasing and tempo changes that I used are a little unusual.  However one goal that I always have is to create a new interpretation of a work.  Why make a pale imitation of what a pianist recorded?  There are so many talented musicians that there is little point to attempt an emulation of a past performance.  One on my main influences along these lines is Glen Gould.  Quite often his performances would be less than good (I am thinking of recordings such as Rondo alla Turca).  however he usually tried something different to make the performance his own, and when he was on it was amazing.  Some of my favorite (and least favorite) performances were recorded by Gould.  Of course the risk I take is that many will not like my own interpretation.  However I prefer that to a bland performance. 

The visualizer used for this video is the Music Animation Machine, which can be found here: http://www.musanim.com/player/

I sequenced this using Cubase and Kontakt.