Pics of Your Musical Instruments!!!

<--- deaf pianist :wave: and can play ragtime tune as well. Sure is fun as hell!
 
jillio said:
As I've stated prior, ragtime is nothing more than a genre. Any accomplished pianist, and I consider those deaf/hoh pianists who have been classically trained and work professionally, quite capable of producing a tune in style of ragtime.

Knowing ragtime history does not a player make. Your post was made under the assumption that a deaf pianist was virtually unheard of, and that being able to imitate a style is a rare accomplishment. Obviously, there are many deaf/hoh pianists, and moreover, many who are accomplished enough musicians to actually make a living at their craft. Let me ask you...do you play by ear, or do you have to rely on printed scores?
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Yes, ragtime is a genre. So is Jazz. But so what? I never said that a classically trained pianist cannot play ragtime or cannot do well in other music genre. Ever hear of Marvin Hamlisch? (see Marvin Hamlisch - Official Website ). He is a classically trainned pianist who got his training at Julliard (essentially a school for gifted musician). The first time I heard ragtime was from that guy in a record he produced on piano ragtime music. Ever hear of the movie called "The Sting"? That alone helped push the revival of ragtime.

Now, what I stated was all about choice and that there is a difference to those who devote to ragtime music (a ragtime aficionado) and live in it. Just as those who devote their time with jazz and promote it to the audience's delight and enjoyment. Then there are those who are accomplished pianists who do well in all categories. But funny thing is I spent several years doing classical music by playing Sonatas and pieces by Brahms, Chopin, Haydn, Mozart, Bach, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, and so on going from simple versions to original ones by the time I got to age 14 or 15 and that's when I discovered ragtime and fell in love with it. It so much fun and challenging to play ragtime era pieces. It simply better than classical in my opinion. Listen to this piece. Ragtime Piano!: The Easy Winners
One is a classically trained violinist while the pianist is not but the music is so great and pleasing to listen to using only two instruments. Ironically, after your classically trained spiel of yours.


Knowing the history is what makes playing the genre of your choice allows you to be that much more appreciative of the music and the people that came before you who kept the ragtime genre alive and kicking today. I never said that just knowing history is what makes a player. You have to play it and to have a love for it. And knowing the history is only half the story here.

There are many professional pianists who do not play for a living or in this case very little money is generated. You mistake "professional" as those who make a living playing their musical instruments. Many are very, very accomplished, even such people as a rare but gifted Tom Brier or the up and coming Adam Swanson, and all those people who actually compete and/or perform in such venues like the World Champion Old Time Piano Playing Contest or attend the Scott Joplin International Ragtime festival or at any of the ragtime festivals held across the United States in various places. Many of these ragtime pianists have full time jobs but loves playing ragtime. You mistake passion for a genre in playing a musical instrument requiring to fullfill the "profession" status as one who must earn a living through it. Not so. I suggest you look around my blogsite. Click on the many names I have linked on the right side column to YouTube videos of them playing. Some do earn quite well others just enjoy playing ragtime and like to keep the genre alive, while many are able to supplement their income with there proficient pyrotechnical skill playing ragtime. It's simply not that simple when people think "professional" means to earn a living. That'd be nothing more than a simple mindset to even think that way. I have a passion for the longest time and where it will take me, it will take me there.

No. There are not that "many" deaf/hh pianists compared to the number of hearing pianists out there. I belong to several piano forums and this question was raised several times over the years. It's simply not the case. They are out there but not in great numbers. There are indeed many deaf/hh musicians which is a bit different than in trying to say the same thing for deaf/hh pianists regarding a single musical instrument. And certainly there's even less of them who actually devote their time in the ragtime genre. If you know a deaf/hh ragtime pianist let me know. And no I didn't even say anything (nor implied) that a deaf/hh pianist was unheard of. I said, again, "...the only deaf/hh ragtime pianist around (as far as I know)."

I play by printed scores. I sight read. I read up on the composer's history and the song's history and background from the likes of Lamb, Botsford, MacKanlass, Hirokazu Tanaka, Zez Confrey, Joplin, and many more. I play the original ragtime pieces at the turn of the century (1900s) to today modern ragtime scores that still fun to play.

Now, back to my piano practicing. Nice break tho'. I suggest you go through my blog, click on the links and so on before you look down on ragtime the next time.
 
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My acoustic set is very similar to this but with the cymbals

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My electronic kit is like this one.

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Ye gods. Looky at that drum set. I played in the marching band as part of the drum set (played the drums from middle school to high school) and had a blast competing as a team in marching band competitions all over the southeast in Florida, Georgia, SC and Tennessee. Pretty cool to be in that limelight.

Oh yeah, wait til I get an Estonia baby grand piano....someday. I played on one last year at a piano showroom and OMG! Never heard such richness for such a long time. My upright console piano will do. But that Estonia piano I played on. Loved the action. The feel. The touch and the sound! Now, if I have $28,000 lying around that I can freely spend I'd buy it.

Estonia Pianos » Home » Estonia pianos » Unique Sound

pahkel.jpg
 
I don't have any musical instruments...but I like to play on the flute with random sounds and vibrations also the guitar and drums. My parents have few of those stuff. :)
 
kokonut said:
Ye gods. Looky at that drum set. I played in the marching band as part of the drum set (played the drums from middle school to high school) and had a blast competing as a team in marching band competitions all over the southeast in Florida, Georgia, SC and Tennessee. Pretty cool to be in that limelight.

Oh yeah, wait til I get an Estonia baby grand piano....someday. I played on one last year at a piano showroom and OMG! Never heard such richness for such a long time. My upright console piano will do. But that Estonia piano I played on. Loved the action. The feel. The touch and the sound! Now, if I have $28,000 lying around that I can freely spend I'd buy it.

Estonia Pianos » Home » Estonia pianos » Unique Sound

pahkel.jpg
Click to expand...

I've got a liking for Steinway :cool2:
 
kokonut said:
Yes, ragtime is a genre. So is Jazz. But so what? I never said that a classically trained pianist cannot play ragtime or cannot do well in other music genre. Ever hear of Marvin Hamlisch? (see Marvin Hamlisch - Official Website ). He is a classically trainned pianist who got his training at Julliard (essentially a school for gifted musician). The first time I heard ragtime was from that guy in a record he produced on piano ragtime music. Ever hear of the movie called "The Sting"? That alone helped push the revival of ragtime.

Now, what I stated was all about choice and that there is a difference to those who devote to ragtime music (a ragtime aficionado) and live in it. Just as those who devote their time with jazz and promote it to the audience's delight and enjoyment. Then there are those who are accomplished pianists who do well in all categories. But funny thing is I spent several years doing classical music by playing Sonatas and pieces by Brahms, Chopin, Haydn, Mozart, Bach, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, and so on going from simple versions to original ones by the time I got to age 14 or 15 and that's when I discovered ragtime and fell in love with it. It so much fun and challenging to play ragtime era pieces. It simply better than classical in my opinion. Listen to this piece. Ragtime Piano!: The Easy Winners
One is a classically trained violinist while the pianist is not but the music is so great and pleasing to listen to using only two instruments. Ironically, after your classically trained spiel of yours.


Knowing the history is what makes playing the genre of your choice allows you to be that much more appreciative of the music and the people that came before you who kept the ragtime genre alive and kicking today. I never said that just knowing history is what makes a player. You have to play it and to have a love for it. And knowing the history is only half the story here.

There are many professional pianists who do not play for a living or in this case very little money is generated. You mistake "professional" as those who make a living playing their musical instruments. Many are very, very accomplished, even such people as a rare but gifted Tom Brier or the up and coming Adam Swanson, and all those people who actually compete and/or perform in such venues like the World Champion Old Time Piano Playing Contest or attend the Scott Joplin International Ragtime festival or at any of the ragtime festivals held across the United States in various places. Many of these ragtime pianists have full time jobs but loves playing ragtime. You mistake passion for a genre in playing a musical instrument requiring to fullfill the "profession" status as one who must earn a living through it. Not so. I suggest you look around my blogsite. Click on the many names I have linked on the right side column to YouTube videos of them playing. Some do earn quite well others just enjoy playing ragtime and like to keep the genre alive, while many are able to supplement their income with there proficient pyrotechnical skill playing ragtime. It's simply not that simple when people think "professional" means to earn a living. That'd be nothing more than a simple mindset to even think that way. I have a passion for the longest time and where it will take me, it will take me there.

No. There are not that "many" deaf/hh pianists compared to the number of hearing pianists out there. I belong to several piano forums and this question was raised several times over the years. It's simply not the case. They are out there but not in great numbers. There are indeed many deaf/hh musicians which is a bit different than in trying to say the same thing for deaf/hh pianists regarding a single musical instrument. And certainly there's even less of them who actually devote their time in the ragtime genre. If you know a deaf/hh ragtime pianist let me know. And no I didn't even say anything (nor implied) that a deaf/hh pianist was unheard of. I said, again, "...the only deaf/hh ragtime pianist around (as far as I know)."

I play by printed scores. I sight read. I read up on the composer's history and the song's history and background from the likes of Lamb, Botsford, MacKanlass, Hirokazu Tanaka, Zez Confrey, Joplin, and many more. I play the original ragtime pieces at the turn of the century (1900s) to today modern ragtime scores that still fun to play.

Now, back to my piano practicing. Nice break tho'. I suggest you go through my blog, click on the links and so on before you look down on ragtime the next time.
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I am well aware of Juliard and the purpose of the school.

There aren't as many deaf people as there are hearing people. Naturally there will be more hearing pianists...there are more hearing people. There are also more sighted pianists than blind pianists for the exact same reason.

No where in any of my posts did I look down on ragtime. It is a valid genre. My point was your assumption that you are the only deaf pianist that can play ragtime. As I stated before, the deaf/hoh pianists who have been classically trained can switch to ragtime much, much easier than you can switch to classical. Ragtime is not particularly complicated as a genre, however.

"Proficient pyrotechnical skill?" Are we discussing musical talent or skill at setting off fireworks?:laugh2: If you need pyrotechnics during a piano recital, chances are the audience needs to be distracted from the less than skilled playing.

I have not misused the word professional. A profession is a skill that one earns their living with. A professional musician gets paid for entertaining an audience with their talent and their skill. An amateur plays for their own enjoyment and does not get paid to entertain an audience.

The contests you referenced are not intended for professional musicians. They are intended for amateurs.

No thank you. I prefer to listen to the professionals. You know, the ones that create the music rather than simply try to imitate it.
 
Jiro said:
I've got a liking for Steinway :cool2:
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I've played on Steinways before but this Estonia piano is so much better! Steinways have the tendency to be bit "stiff" (for a lack of a better word). It's a great piano, don't get me wrong. I'd love to have one. But there was something about that Estonia piano when I played on one last year. It's a German made piano. The piano action and sound are quite unbelievable. It sounds almost like a singing sound to it. Hard to describe it to you but that's best way I can describe it. Plus you hava the German Renner actions and hammers that really make the difference on sound quality as one reason. I have heard in the past how bad Estonia pianos were but that suddenly changed several years ago to produce now world class pianos.

Let me find an article.
 
Ha ha. I knew it. Remember reading it in a Forbes magazine after I came across that Estonia last year and did some research on it.

A Fine Way to Treat ... an Estonia - Forbes.com

"An Estonia Concert Grand can be had for roughly half the price of a Steinway Concert Grand," says Irving Faust of Faust Harrison, a New York dealer and restorer of "vintage" American Steinway, Mason & Hamlin and Estonia pianos. "This great piano is giving pause to a lot of other manufacturers, because they'll have to meet the standard of the Estonia if they want to survive."
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:)
 
kokonut said:
I've played on Steinways before but this Estonia piano is so much better! Steinways have the tendency to be bit "stiff" (for a lack of a better word). It's a great piano, don't get me wrong. I'd love to have one. But there was something about that Estonia piano when I played on one last year. It's a German made piano. The piano action and sound are quite unbelievable. It sounds almost like a singing sound to it. Hard to describe it to you but that's best way I can describe it. Plus you hava the German Renner actions and hammers that really make the difference on sound quality as one reason. I have heard in the past how bad Estonia pianos were but that suddenly changed several years ago to produce now world class pianos.

Let me find an article.
Click to expand...

you're right that Steinway is "stiff". That was my major complaint. Its keyboard was bit hard to press. That's why I like playing on "old" well-maintained piano. Not sure where I can go to find Estonia piano around here but I'll eventually bump into it.
 
Jiro said:
you're right that Steinway is "stiff". That was my major complaint. Its keyboard was bit hard to press. That's why I like playing on "old" well-maintained piano. Not sure where I can go to find Estonia piano around here but I'll eventually bump into it.
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Actually, it's not the keyboard that's stiff but the hammer action. You can tell how well it respond by playing it. The keyboard's fine. But with the Estonia it's a major difference because it has the Renner actions and hammers. Totally different from the Steinways and other pianos. And that's one major reason for Estonia's success.
 
You say you play the piano? What songs do you play? When did you started playing? A serious piano player or something you dabble in?
 
kokonut said:
You say you play the piano? What songs do you play? When did you started playing? A serious piano player or something you dabble in?
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semi-serious. I played for charity concerts and hospital, not competition - mostly sonatinas like Kuhlau. I dabbled in ragtime tunes like Maple Leaf Rag and some. Started playing piano at around 1st grade.
 
Jiro said:
I've got a liking for Steinway :cool2:
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Perhaps because you have a concern for quality of sound. Most ragtime players have historically played on an old tinny sounding upright, not a baby grand.
 
jillio said:
Perhaps because you have a concern for quality of sound. Most ragtime players have historically played on an old tinny sounding upright, not a baby grand.
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I wouldn't play ragtime tune on grand piano. that's a :nono: but at home, I own an upright.
 
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