Contextualization?
Posted by Chris on Apr 27th, 2008
2008
Apr 27
Not sure but I think John Elefante (Kansas fame and then christian recording) has been officially contextualized based on this video.
This 10 year old Japanese girl, as we say in Detroit, handles her business.
HT to Marko
April 27th, 2008 at 8:12 am
Wow!!
Chris - title = contextualization
April 27th, 2008 at 8:24 am
Thanks Rick,
Fixed!
April 27th, 2008 at 9:24 am
Ah the power of MIDI. Me thinks she borrowed another’s MIDI sequence to help her along…
April 27th, 2008 at 11:38 am
Scotty,
No doubt she used MIDI but I still think she does great.
April 27th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
haha, that freakin’ rules.
April 27th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Chris said: “No doubt she used MIDI but I still think she does great”
And a little slight of hand too. You’ll notice the keyboard has a disk drive on the lower left corner. Watch her, as she has her back to the audience, she loads in her disk with the sequence of the song on it.
I’m almost positive you’ve been watching the equivalent of keyboard lip syncing. She may have been playing a few notes within the leads, but I have my doubts.
Reason I’m suspect is a few years back I down loaded that song from some web site someplace and it was note for note what she appeared to be playing. I just got around to tweaking that song a few months ago and laid down my vocal tracks on it. I’d been wanting to sing that song for a while and finding that sequence saved me a TON of work.
Lots of talented folks writing some great tunes out there via MIDI and a lot of folks are taking credit for their unsigned works. A couple of my works were plagiarized this very way!
April 27th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
well, i’m a concert pianist, and i was watching her hands.
she was doing the bulk of it herself.
April 27th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
So am I. Classically trained on organ and piano.
April 27th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
I am just a keyboard hack and I was impressed! Where can I get my hands on a MIDI, I know I can fool people!
April 27th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
Well, I’m a classically trained pianist as well, and I have to say . . . What is with 10 year old Japanese girls and pianos? The ones I have heard perform make me feel like I’m still on the level of playing chopsticks, the way their fingers just fly. Is it something in the water over there? Take me to Japan!
April 27th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
what is this weird correlation between musicians and message boards…
yeah, i definitely grew up competing against “The Asians.”
their secret is simple: diligent practice.
what’s neat is when you find one who, technique aside, can really PLAY.
i’ve been practicing Beethoven’s “Waldstein” Sonata today, and i’ve heard so many people play it who can hit all the right notes, but yet there’s nothing there…and then some of the greats hit wrong notes all over the place, but you can just tell they’re actually inside the music.
April 27th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
“their secret is simple: diligent practice.
what’s neat is when you find one who, technique aside, can really PLAY.”
Diligent practice, as in, practicing 3-4 hours a day? I mean, I practice every day 6 days a week, but I only have time to practice about an hour a day.
But I know what you mean by really PLAY. It takes a natural ability for music, and a special touch.
April 27th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
Scotty,
I don’t think it’s slight of hand for a few reasons.
1) She does most of the “lyrical” part of the song on the piano. I will concede that the drum track, and part of the guitar is MIDI.
2) The most convincing reason that it isn’t slight of hand is that there are many kids videos in this same place on YOUTUBE. If you go to the channel of the person who put it up you would see that this is from an actual recital.
April 27th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
oh, those kids practice 3-4 hours and more.
when i was in college, i was practicing 6 hrs a day.
just about drove me insane.
April 27th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
i thought we were taking for granted that the drum was pre-recorded.
not sure about the guitar, though…her left hand is pretty active.
April 27th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
“just about drove me insane.”
Don’t blame you! Six hours–that’s impressive. Piano isn’t exactly my first love, so practicing just one hour drives me insane. But then, I take voice lessons too, so I practice music closer to 2 hours a day. Not fun, but it pays off.
April 27th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Oh yeah? I can play minuet in G (BWV Anh. 114)!
April 27th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
“Oh yeah? I can play minuet in G (BWV Anh. 114)!”
Oh yeah? I can play chopsticks! Wait . . . I already said that.
You’re way ahead of a lot of people!
April 27th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
That was balls to the walls the coolest Kansas cover ever.
She played most of it, I’d bet my life on it. Drum track was pretty much the only thing she wasn’t playing.
April 28th, 2008 at 12:46 am
yeah…
everyone noticed she’s playing a keyboard with her left foot, right?
April 28th, 2008 at 1:06 am
That’s what you do on an organ. It’s the 3rd part. It’s for the bass notes. In her case, she’s litterally playing the bass guitar with the foot notes.
April 28th, 2008 at 2:52 am
Organs attach a bass guitar inside and the foot pedals pluck the strings and barr off the appropriate fret.
April 28th, 2008 at 6:46 am
I can play Tori Amos on my Zune. *smiles at Evan*
April 28th, 2008 at 8:32 am
“everyone noticed she’s playing a keyboard with her left foot, right?”
That’s what triggered my first suspicion. Her foot work isn’t always consistent with the bass parts being played. There’s times when the bass chops are still being played and she isn’t doing any footwork. As an organist that stood out for me. Being one that reads three staffs at a time as is it necessary to play any organ piece, so I always watch the feet too. I never miss a Diane Bish show I TV when she’s playing all those pipe organs around the world.
In the beginning of the song when she uses the bass peddles for the bass drum kick it’s the wrong MIDI note. Bass drum on a MIDI track is always the lower register C. On the majority of MIDI organs like the she’s playing, the percussion MIDIs wouldn’t be sent to the bass pedals.
There’s one time when she plays the guitar lead but, yet when the guitar is doing some chops in other parts of the song she isn’t physically playing those notes. She’s doing other things. There’s at least 7 tracks of music being played in that song. She may be playing some of the parts of the music as I said initially, but it’s the other parts of the sequence that’s really making it all shine.
There’s a few other things, but I’ll leave it at that don’t want to bore anyone to tears the the technical workings of the MIDI world. Been at the game since the mid seventies when my first state of the art music composing computer was an Atari 1050 ST.
April 28th, 2008 at 8:39 am
Rick said: “I am just a keyboard hack and I was impressed! Where can I get my hands on a MIDI, I know I can fool people!”
You have the most important part , Rick. The computer. All you need is a keyboard with the MIDI ports. Some of the newer ones are starting to use the USB ports now too.
You can get some “OK” starting software for fifty or sixty bucks and then you’re in business.
” I know I can fool people!”
I’ve been doing it for YEARS!! Some of my best chops are ones other folks did!! (grins).
April 28th, 2008 at 8:43 am
One more point, Rick. Keyword, e-Bay. About 90 percent of my gear in my studio here came by way of e-Bay. Great place to shop and bid on music gear.
April 28th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Scotty - my problem is when it comes to computers I’m Fred Flintstone!
April 28th, 2008 at 10:20 am
Dave,
Just wanted to let you know that I rescued your last two comments from the spam queue. For whatever reason, it’s been sending random things there again. I just wanted to let you know that you weren’t being moderated or anything.
April 28th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
I can play the spoons. Does that count?
April 28th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
“Scotty - my problem is when it comes to computers I’m Fred Flintstone!”
Me thinks yer underdogging me……I think you know a bit more than what you let on.
Besides, that’s what you have kids for. To fix the screws up you did on the computer for you!
April 29th, 2008 at 7:20 am
Thanks. I was guessing but not sure
It’s been spamming me heaps! I wonder if that’s got anything to do with my new E-mail address harvester…
Seriously, I didn’t know that song could be played like that!