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Related, a couple of my favorite harpsichord albums: https://youtu.be/VOcGy4z8l0w?si=9w1vMO56ODJ9YqKB https://youtu.be/VOcGy4z8l0w?si=9w1vMO56ODJ9YqKB https:/

Related, a couple of my favorite harpsichord albums: https://youtu.be/VOcGy4z8l0w?si=9w1vMO56ODJ9YqKB https://youtu.be/VOcGy4z8l0w?si=9w1vMO56ODJ9YqKB https://youtu.be/u7wwYlScTrY?si=FNOJgFPChi2jzI6B https://youtu.be/u7wwYlScTrY?si=FNOJgFPChi2jzI6B

HPsquared 3y ago
While we're on E. Power Biggs, he did a couple of amazing albums of Scott Joplin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz4UvTJLrgg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz4UvTJLrgg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa5EhAZie3M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa5EhAZie3M The crisp harpsichord sound seems to fit perfectly with the music.
- eigenvalue 3y ago
  Yes, those are great too. It’s an amazing instrument and he’s a great player. Scott Ross was also a genius if you’re unfamiliar (you have to like Scarlatti though, which apparently isn’t universal!)
  - nescioquid 3y ago
    When you say a performing musician is a genius, it is a little mystifying since, as Bach wrote, "there's nothing to it -- just press the right key at the right time". All of my teachers felt that the true skill of musicianship consists in identifying problems and devising solutions -- and a genius is just much better at doing these two things. I once watched a video of Ross giving a lesson where he just had the student change a fingering and I got shivers at the result (was also impressed with that student, too). Scott Ross + Scarlatti's Cat's Fugue: https://youtu.be/kGJivsqbrz8 https://youtu.be/kGJivsqbrz8 Who could not like it? I just read the wiki article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_fugue https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_fugue) and didn't realize Scarlatti really claimed the theme came from an "improvisation" of his cat.
    - eigenvalue 3y ago
      It's the "right time" that's the rub! Ross was a true master of the micro articulations, the microsecond precise speedup or delay in between the notes that adds something magical to the music. It's funny, when you listen to a Scarlatti sonata in midi form that has been prepared through software sequencing and is metronomically precisely "correct," it sounds utterly dull, flat, and boring. The quick attack of the harpsichord and its lack of dynamics makes this the only way to add the emotion and excitement to the music that gives it a special feeling. I'm sure I'm not telling you anything you don't know, just thought others might find it interesting.
- HPsquared 3y ago
  Some more early jazz performed by Don Angle: https://youtu.be/QcsHc7zxsfM https://youtu.be/QcsHc7zxsfM https://youtu.be/ST1zZdNEvy8 https://youtu.be/ST1zZdNEvy8
- spindle 3y ago
  And he was important in the history of programming language theory, as an influence on Alan Kay (so Kay has said in talks - see YouTube passim).
- gfaure 3y ago
  I was bored today and was playing "Maple Leaf Rag" on an electric piano while cycling through the voices, and happened to discover exactly this when I chanced upon the harpsichord!
vintermann 3y ago
I only came across it because I subscribed to a weird idealistic music service back in the day, but I really liked Janine Johnson's harpsichord albums. It turns out she is a harpsichord builder first and foremost, which I suppose where why her albums were on Magnatune in the first place. I've found that I really like it when instrument builders record music on their own instruments. They know their instruments intimately, and that makes up for maybe in theory being 1% less technically brilliant than the star performers.

HPsquared 3y ago

While we're on E. Power Biggs, he did a couple of amazing albums of Scott Joplin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz4UvTJLrgg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz4UvTJLrgg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa5EhAZie3M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa5EhAZie3M The crisp harpsichord sound seems to fit perfectly with the music.

eigenvalue 3y ago
Yes, those are great too. It’s an amazing instrument and he’s a great player. Scott Ross was also a genius if you’re unfamiliar (you have to like Scarlatti though, which apparently isn’t universal!)
- nescioquid 3y ago
  When you say a performing musician is a genius, it is a little mystifying since, as Bach wrote, "there's nothing to it -- just press the right key at the right time". All of my teachers felt that the true skill of musicianship consists in identifying problems and devising solutions -- and a genius is just much better at doing these two things. I once watched a video of Ross giving a lesson where he just had the student change a fingering and I got shivers at the result (was also impressed with that student, too). Scott Ross + Scarlatti's Cat's Fugue: https://youtu.be/kGJivsqbrz8 https://youtu.be/kGJivsqbrz8 Who could not like it? I just read the wiki article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_fugue https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_fugue) and didn't realize Scarlatti really claimed the theme came from an "improvisation" of his cat.
  - eigenvalue 3y ago
    It's the "right time" that's the rub! Ross was a true master of the micro articulations, the microsecond precise speedup or delay in between the notes that adds something magical to the music. It's funny, when you listen to a Scarlatti sonata in midi form that has been prepared through software sequencing and is metronomically precisely "correct," it sounds utterly dull, flat, and boring. The quick attack of the harpsichord and its lack of dynamics makes this the only way to add the emotion and excitement to the music that gives it a special feeling. I'm sure I'm not telling you anything you don't know, just thought others might find it interesting.
HPsquared 3y ago
Some more early jazz performed by Don Angle: https://youtu.be/QcsHc7zxsfM https://youtu.be/QcsHc7zxsfM https://youtu.be/ST1zZdNEvy8 https://youtu.be/ST1zZdNEvy8
spindle 3y ago
And he was important in the history of programming language theory, as an influence on Alan Kay (so Kay has said in talks - see YouTube passim).
gfaure 3y ago
I was bored today and was playing "Maple Leaf Rag" on an electric piano while cycling through the voices, and happened to discover exactly this when I chanced upon the harpsichord!

vintermann 3y ago

I only came across it because I subscribed to a weird idealistic music service back in the day, but I really liked Janine Johnson's harpsichord albums. It turns out she is a harpsichord builder first and foremost, which I suppose where why her albums were on Magnatune in the first place. I've found that I really like it when instrument builders record music on their own instruments. They know their instruments intimately, and that makes up for maybe in theory being 1% less technically brilliant than the star performers.