Scott Joplin: Gladiolus Rag

[carpetime]

Outstanding!

[mikespiano190]

AMAZING JOB! I'm learning this right now, and I love you interpretation.! :) by the way, nice Elton John reference, there ;)

[SwePianoholic]

A comment du our earlier discussion about tempo; One should play it two times , once slow and once fast :)

[BlutoUSN]

Nice, very Nice!...Cheers!

[HappyJohnnyInco]

Wow, you're excellent

[alinnman]

@HappyJohnnyInco

Thanks! More Scott Joplin is coming soon.. :-)

[speechrighter]

Excellent! Pay no attention to those criticizing your pace. It is vigorous and entertaining without sounding rushed. The great ragtime players of yesterday would vary the pace, always keeping it lively enough to dance to. It wasn't a concert performance -- this was cutting-edge popular music, composed and performed by African American artists -- never boring!

[alinnman]

@speechrighter

Thanks! You are right, boring is not good.. ;) And the fact that opinions differ so greatly is also rather exciting (as opposed to boring). I have noticed that ragtime interpretations *really* tend to start discussions. Regarding the tempo I chose: I think it is is close to being too rushed. On the other hand I really find a 62 BPM rendering of this piece.. boring. At least when I try (slow+beatiful=difficult). Thanks for stepping by, and thanks for your comment!

[tmpq1lzy]

@speechrighter

slow is not boring, it's what Joplin wanted

[alinnman]

@tmpq1lzy

What is your preferred tempo for this piece?

[borwell1984]

Too fast

[Thunkful2]

too fast

[vexal]

Can you upload another version with dotted eighths / swing? This is the best version I could find on Youtube so far, and I can't find any swung.

[alinnman]

@vexal

Hi Vexal! To be honest I am not sure if I am able to do this. Playing it dotted makes it far more difficult and I have very little time right now. And to be honest I like the non-dotted style best for ragtime. Taste differs :) But for a good version check out "BachScholar". His version is swinging and slightly dotted. And he makes some fun variations at the end.

Thanks for listening!

[vexal]

@alinnman I gave a dotted-eighth a shot. I sent it as a video response if you're interested. I had to stop a bit before the ending because I was overcome with nervousness since the piano was in a very public place.

[alinnman]

@vexal

Thanks for your video response! Very refreshing! Also really awsome to play outdoors :) Hope to hear more from you.

[carljr890]

Hi may i know where u get the sheet music? need it urgently...thanks!

[alinnman]

@carljr890

You can find it at HOTEL TANGO TANGO PAPA COLON SLASH SLASH imslp DOT org SLASH wiki SLASH Gladiolus_Rag_%28Joplin,_Scott­%29

(Web links cannot be posted in clear text in youtube comments, you have to re-create it using my hints above..)

[carljr890]

@alinnman thanks...loved ur playing!!

[SwePianoholic]

I cannot play this piece this fast, it sounds good however - nice to hear that it can be played a little faster .

[alinnman]

@SwePianoholic

There is a lot of debate about "correct" ragtime tempos, you can find it right here on Youtube.

Glad you liked the recording! Actually you can play this is many different tempos, but after having listened to fabulous pianist Susan Cordell I decided to settle for this pace. Most other Joplin rags should be played slower, like "Heliotrope Bouquet" I recorded around christmas for instance.

Thanks for stepping by my channel and hope to c u soon!

[alinnman]

Check out the clip on youtube of Gladiolus R made by Susan Cordell. Bulls-eye! Exactly in my taste!

[paopaomanalansan]

Beautiful... what motivated you to detune the piano? What effect does it have on the sound and the music as a whole?

[alinnman]

@paopaomanalansan

Thanks! I always detune the Pianoteq synth a little, it gives a more "alive" sound IMHO. For this recording I did some more adjustments, created a faster response curve (lighter touch) and detuned it a little more. The detuning is very slight, max 2-3 cents for each note (The "randomize" feature in "Note Edit"). I had the idea of using the Bechstein plugin first, but this plugin doesnt sound very well, it cant be compared to the Pleyel or the Erard.

[piamorex]

Thank you very much dear friend!!

[alinnman]

@piamorex

Gott nytt år till dig! Kämpe!

Vi får fortsätta 2011.. :-)

[piamorexi]

@alinnman TAAAAAAAACK VÄNNEN!!!