<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Mark A. Galang]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://markgalang.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[Mark A. Galang]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://markgalang.wordpress.com/author/markgalang/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Piano Testing with Romantic and Impressionist&nbsp;Music]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p>During the last quarter of 2012, I finally was able to get the old piano I grew up with reconditioned and tuned. So, here are some videos of me testing it out. These videos were shot using my iPad.</p>
<p>The first clip here features my attempts at Frederic Chopin&#8217;s Etude Numbers 1 and 12 from Opus 10:</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The second clip is features Claude Debussy&#8217;s Arabesque No. 1:</p>
<span class="embed-youtube" style="text-align:center; display: block;"><iframe class="youtube-player" width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Jc7jpj87l8Q?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent" allowfullscreen="true" style="border:0;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation"></iframe></span>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The last clip is a crack at Claude Debussy&#8217;s Reflets Dans L&#8217;Eau from Images Book 1 with an improvisation added as an intro. Of all the pieces I play on the piano, this is probably my favorite:</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<span class="embed-youtube" style="text-align:center; display: block;"><iframe class="youtube-player" width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1R7NAPWg1jo?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent" allowfullscreen="true" style="border:0;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation"></iframe></span>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>My sister and I grew up on this piano, and so it holds a lot of memories. It&#8217;s a good thing that I didn&#8217;t have this piano traded in for another. To my ears, it sounds fantastic whenever I&#8217;m playing it. However, it does have that effect where it doesn&#8217;t sound as well as I would like it to be when recorded. Every time I record this piano, it doesn&#8217;t sound like how I&#8217;m hearing it when playing. Perhaps I&#8217;m fooling myself to thinking how fantastic it sounds every time I play, much in the same way that any person would love his or her own voice when one is singing in the shower. At the very least I don&#8217;t despise the sound when it&#8217;s recorded (I can&#8217;t say the same thing for my vocals, the timbre of which I&#8217;m not fond of).</p>
<p>I could say that my technician really did a good job restoring a once-neglected piano. This actually reminds me that I need to call him up again for this piano&#8217;s supposedly biannual tuning and maintenance requirements. On that note, with regard to tuning, I would really appreciate it if anyone could point me to where I can purchase a piano tuning wrench and a set of mutes locally. It&#8217;s best if I can tune the piano myself rather than hiring a technician to do it. Given the way I batter the piano almost every day, I do need my own piano tuning kit.</p>
<p>Perhaps when I feel like it I might post more recent clips of me playing the piano. I hope you all enjoy this one.</p>
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