There was one other thing that I wanted to write about last night.
One of the most controversial classical pianists in the 20th century was Glenn Gould. He was so into being true to the music that he though live concerts were at best unfair and at worst immoral.
The reason for this startling opinion is that the reality of concerts is that the sound must be adjusted for the guy in the balcony. He thought that technology - recording was the way to truly capture the spirit of music, because you could have multiple tries and could produce it to sound just the way you thought it needed to sound.
What a strange idea, that concerts are bad because they aren't pure enough to the music.
Switching gears. This sounds exciting, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, on Statisticians' job outlook:
"Statisticians with knowledge of engineering and the physical sciences will find jobs in research and development, working with teams of scientists and engineers to help improve design and production processes to ensure consistent quality of newly developed products. Many statisticians also will find opportunities developing statistical software for computer software manufacturing firms."
And,
"Because of the widespread use of computers in this field, statisticians in all industries should have good computer programming skills..."
posted by Byran @ 1:43 PM
19 comments
19 Comments:
Wow, that is wild. Anymore you could think of it the other way, there's so many possible tricks in the studio that it could take away the performance aspect and just kind of "manufacture" the music.
Glenn Gould was a case. What other pianist would put his piano up on bricks and then have a bench that would adjust so low that his chin was nearly on the keys? What other pianist would mutter audibly during a recording session? You could recite the oddities of him for hours.
Well, Darin, you know a lot more about the man than I do. I just heard a piece about him on NPR. Last night was the first time I'd ever heard of him. You must be a fan of his?
No I'm not a fan of Glenn Gould, I'm just a pianist and I know about some of the more famous ones. Glenn Gould was famous for his Bach. I prefer Composers like Chopin, Rachmaninoff, and Lizst so my interests don't lead me to listen to Gould very often. For as much as that's worth.
Recite some more oddities, those are kind of cool!
Tom
Hey, Darin, how'd you find this blog? And to the rest of you, Darin IS a great pianist! I was at his senior recital, or something like that. You know, Darin, I'm living in the land of Chopin over here?
Crystal
I found the blog when I was checking up on the Tapestry stuff. And about me being a great pianist.....
Don't change the subject, more oddities!
Tom
Don't get so hyper, Tom!!!
Hey anon, I'm an excitable kind of guy!
Tom
Okay, Tom, you get your wish. Glenn Gould was the guy who complained that concert halls were kept much too cold and in response wore a volumous scarf at most of his performances with a muffler on a stand next to the piano for the purpose of warming his hands after each piece. If I'm not mistaken he also was very touchy about noise during a performance and (don't quote me on this) was known to stop in the middle of a piece and glare at the unfortunate individual who happened to cough ever so slightly. By the way, I'm not so sure that the muttering was so eccentric... no, maybe I'll say uncommon. It seems that so many great musicians tended to cultivate eccentricities. I have a recording of Alfred Brendel playing some Mozart and you can hear him humming and muttering quite audibly. One of my piano teachers who was a concert pianist, Ray Luck, would hum to himself as he played. I suppose it comes from immersing one's self so totally in the music. Enough said.
Thanks Darin, I appreciate it. I had to drag it out of you but you came through!
That reminds me, at BMA we were recording some songs, and when my bud Andy was cutting his guitar tracks (with headphones) he would be all concentrating on his licks and make goofy noises and ruin the take! We laughed at him.
PS My favorite blogger is at my house right now.
Tom
So Darin, what kind of a future do you expect/wish to have with piano?
Crystal
I feel a little appologetic to Byran for clogging up his blog with comments, but flinging all appologies aside, here I go. To be completely honest, Crystal, I have no concrete plans for piano. In some ways it would seem wasteful to not do something "great" with what I have. The hours and hundreds (or *urp* thousands) of dollars I spent on practice and lessons. The years spent learning. The hours of scales, and fingering, and learning interpretation. Yeah, it would seems a waste not to do something with it, but I'm coming to realize that all things are a waste unless we give them over to God's control. Whatever God wants me to do with my talent, I want to be willing to do. If that means giving it up for the rest of my life I want to be able to do that with joy knowing that it's for the glory of God. At this moment, I'm using the piano mainly as a source of relaxation. It may surprise you that when I'm playing is when I do the most of my deep thinking about life.
Darin, comment away. I'd like to hear you play piano.
My word. Don't worry about commenting too much. Lately I'm about the only non-fair-weather friend By has on his blog. All the commenters abandoned us.
Tom
Have you had any piano students, Darin? Maybe you should be a teacher. Little guys need people in their lives who can push their music buttons and help them develop their own talents.
Crystal
No, I've not had any music students. I've run the teaching idea by numerous times and it strikes out each time. Maybe someday the mood will hit.
Darin, I think I know what you're saying about the idea striking out. Do you enjoy performing? To elaborate -- Does that seem to make you "come alive"?
Just wondering,
Merry
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