Here are just a few of quick things that came across our radar over the weekend that we felt were worth sharing.
Yamaha Disklavier ‘Lends a Hand’ To Mike Garson’s Acclaimed Bowie Variations CD:
In crafting his latest release, The Bowie Variations, celebrated composer, pianist and session musician, Mike Garson, relied on the Yamaha Disklavier performance reproducing piano not only to unleash his creativity, but to singlehandedly compose and create works in ways previously unimaginable.
According to Garson, The Bowie Variations was the perfect vehicle for the Disklavier. “There was no studio or hall involved initially and no need to force creativity all at once,” says Garson, noting that he was able to spread out the recording over the period of a month and work on it at home at his own pace. Once the creative process was complete, Yamaha provided a duplicate Disklavier piano at Oxnard Performing Arts Centre, where famed recording engineer Professor Johnson expertly mic’d the piano and it then played itself for the next several hours. The CD is now available on Reference Recordings, an audiophile label that records the best classical and jazz artists of our times.
The record and playback function likewise enabled him to layer multiple piano parts. “It’s like having six hands,” he relates. “The Disklavier has really allowed me to record track over track, and let me completely abandon myself to the creative process. It was fun. I wasn’t pressured in any way and wrote or improvised when I felt it.”
Some fun new Doug MacLeod videos: