Debussy, Arabesque #1, Piano Solo (animation ver. 2)

[PianoJZB]

Oh how I love this channel. Thanks a lot for this!

[liadainsperanza]

@smalin - by creating a visual trajectory alongside the melody - you bring the music to life in a vivid way - would you be on for trying the same idea with dance? highlighting notes and chords through movement - composing choreography like your animation is indeed what i meant. another approach would be segmenting dance clips into the sliding frames type thing you do. am an absolute fan of your work. nice one

[smalin]

@liadainsperanza A dance company (I think it was in Australia) once did some choreography with one of my animations projected behind them. As for doing it myself ... hmm ... I'd have to practice a long time ... maybe with computer-animated dancers ... before I felt that I knew what I was doing ... life is short ...

[redelpe1]

A short glimpse of heaven, a sylvan glade after a summer downpour, sunrays reflected through raindrops, a radiant rainbow

[blastpower5]

is it true he was friends with claude monet?

[Cindereve]

This piece is enjoyable, and fun! :3 X3

[Cindereve]

I'm playing this piece and this recording really helped me like ALOT.

[lflaviorochan]

Reminds me of Disney's Fantasia...

[musiloko787]

So inspiring, very beautiful interpretation

[jlmadill]

Amazing visualization.... The original work is of course awesome but it's intriguing how you put this together....

[ashy13241]

That was so pretty :3

[bluexrhapsody81]

all time favorite of your videos, and my second favorite piece of music. i'd love to see you do my first - rachmaninoff's prelude in c sharp minor

[smalin]

@bluexrhapsody81 You'd have to bribe me, I'm afraid.

[Andronizer]

Genius!

[agnelovesya]

This is sooooooooooooooooo beautiful..!!!!

[xxyanlixx]

wow..probably the most beautiful thing i've ever seen..i like the speed you play it, excels the song to its climax

[xenelith]

Mes...mer...ized *_*

[bruisedbyakiss]

Would the animations only work with piano? Or would you be able to sync them with Violin or Viola?

[AndiKnipp]

smalin, you're the man! awesome animation!

[srs32896]

I really like your rendition, it's very beautiful.

I think I'm the only one who feels this, but most recordings, including this one, the b section rushed rushed to me. Maybe it's just because that's my favorite part and I hold it to great importance. I like to take it slow and contemplatively.

[Sm3gH3adx]

makes me think of racing through little french towns by the sea, happily, solemnly alone

[XieYali]

This will forever remind of Jack Horkheimer. We'll keep looking up, always. :)

[kur1tan]

@XieYali 

watch?v=igHOaMOzzUo

[XieYali]

@kur1tan Thank you. Tomita Isao is one of my favorites! I love his rendition of the Planets.

[Kaynato]

I love playing this so much.

Sometimes I wonder if I use too much rubatto though...

(And uploading a recording would be silly; there's all these child prodigies, so I wouldn't have a purpose, haha.)

[razorwar11]

Great video. Should make a video for Erik Satie.

[lakerfan82k3]

I bet videos made with this program would get people who don't normally listen to classical to listen to it all the time!

[smalin]

@lakerfan82k3  It appears to have that effect; lots of viewers comment "I never liked classical music until I watched your videos."

[SOSTacoJohnson]

@smalin That's because you learn when you listen, and Audiovisual learning is brawsome.

[rui278]

@smalin yap. Started listening to classical music thanks to you. Thanks for shouwing me such a wonderfull world of music. You rock.

[smalin]

@rui278 Thanks! Welcome to my world.

[bober19952005]

this video is mesmorizing

[MaximilianPs]

I've already told you Thank you.. do I ? :)

[jaddajn1]

you are very gifted smalin

[doomsday1216]

This is by far the coolest of your animation styles.

[DiviAnteros]

Thank you for all that you do

[TheMiles631]

This is completely gorgeous. You have inspired me to learn this song on piano too!

[visionree]

Nice, love it

[Mharakan]

This is by far the best interpretation of this piece I have ever heard.

[Irisje27]

Likeit likeit likeit <3

[LightStopStudios]

Sick animation! And of course the music rocks.

[cozmoG]

What a perfectly beautiful and original tribute to one of the most amazing pieces of music...thank you!

[Drowninginantimatter]

Amazing piece. I'm playing an arrangement for string quartet and this was a great help.

[RuudDude1]

This is lovely. Can anyone recommend music/pieces, with a similiar vibe to this?

[SuperCrazygirl47]

@RuudDude1 Clair De Lune Debussy.Very calming.

[RuudDude1]

@SuperCrazygirl47 Yes, it's lovely. Thank you =)

[RuudDude1]

@SuperCrazygirl47 Yes, it's delightful. Thanks =)

[technicallyabsurd]

4:30 awwwww man here comes something awesome

[TeamNinaDobrev]

the video is very calming

[gosaimasitas]

Uuuuffff! Sooooo beautiful, so delicate.. Those bubbles throbbing weightlessness to the music but also with a feeling of inertia. Amazing Music Machine. Thank you sooooo much for adding such visual beauty to this piece I´ve always loved. I had actually never SEEN the music until this. I´m really touched. Oh sí!

[Malleolust]

I'd give nearly anything to be a master of piano such as yourself. Dumbest thing I've ever done was stop lessons as a child...solely because they were "boring." Your playing is anything but.

[durumclapclap]

I love the way you played it... tempo and volume control is almost perfect! Well, i haven't heard a better one yet, so maybe it's perfect :) If you decide to make one video of Chopin's Prelude Op. 28 no. 04 one day, I would be soo happy. I'm able to play that one and it doesn't sound too bad, but this performance it's totally out of my reach. Thanks for giving us this beautiful music! :)

[scotnick59]

Perhaps the most ethereal piece ever written. Reminds me of ancient Greece, for some reason

[culobu]

Excelente

bellísimo

[ferllio23]

genius..

[randizle7]

Very relaxing animated score. Just curious, it seems that you are ambidextrous. Are you.? Your touch is perfectly light sounding to the ears, coming from your right AND left hand

[lollolllolllll]

The aniticipations and gradations of the animation made it a really successfull piece

[Digadogup]

nice graphics but i tried to imaging the thought process of actually playing, it would be one line jumping around the place and would look like spikes not as nice as this though

[good5453]

im color blind... but its a great song

[TheMozilla79]

I am right now attempting to play this, but I am completely stumped on how to work the fingering in measures 6-9 (referencing the free sheet music link in description). Anyone with any tips? It would be much appreciated.

[LilianeNightshade]

hypnotized by the screen for five minutes there

[mustbeunlisted]

By far the most beautiful thing I've heard in my entire life.

[syco50]

This is my favorite of your work great effort with all these videos smalin! It always lights up my day to see that you have uploaded a new video, especially Debussy!

[MrTwixish]

@smalin Thanks so much for this. Im working on a paper that if I don't complete I wont pass sophomore year (highschool) and listening to this somehow helps me think.

[uberbleachfan]

shit thats hard



[ArtistJimJunk]

Really nice representation of the music for the people, like me, who can't read sheet music. Love it!

[TTsne]

ooo

[fernita00]

Es una hermosa animación, sobre todos cuando está hecha con los círculos.

Saludos, gracias por hacer el video.

[MissDeyanyra]

amo este tema...me encanta como suena...y el interpretárlo que lleva a otra dimensión

[robman8855]

3:08 gives me chills :P

[mofoshrimp]

Nice work Smalin!!

[psychopavel]

An excellent animation, It is like being under hipnosis.

[Elina11yz]

Awesome! very good combination of vision and sound. :-)

[TheNemanjaCvetkovic]

Is this version is slower then original?

[msbabydesire]

@TheNemanjaCvetkovic is think so. i play it way quicker and so does my teacher but hey, who am i ;)

[ilovememi]

@TheNemanjaCvetkovic does it matter

[RockerGirl1020]

I love the way you treated this piece. I hear a lot of recordings where the crescendos seem almost ignored for sake of keeping it "gentle" or "soft". Your approach proves that "quiet" is definitely a relative way of thinking and in no way synonymous with either of those terms.

[2413pianoandmore]

even though i am new to piano i can tell that he is a good piano player

[8kSarah]

The music is amazing, no doubt on that! I love debussy's work. But the animation is incredible! so creative! Well done whoever came up with this idea! 

[fytch7]

well done !

[BrothersFreedive]

juuuuuuuuust beautiful

[Castle3179]

I like the soft music the most. Its beutiful.

[smalin]

@Castle3179 I'm finishing off a video of the second arabesque; it should be available in a few hours ...

[Rudramast]

@smalin Men.. I Love your work.. everytime I need to relax after a hard day, I'm coming here.. could you make a video of Andante Spianato - Chopin ?

[smalin]

@Rudramast I'm not taking any requests, but I hope to do all of Chopin's music eventually.

[MrMicoXa]

This is amazing! What do you use to record the video?

[smalin]

@MrMicoXa Something I wrote.

[djaychannohatsukoi]

@smalin Did you wrote a program that renders MIDI's visually? Life's great if you're a programmer. For example I need to keep a useless browser to store the bookmarks (hundreds of them) and my Google earth place coord's are inconveniently stored in a text file. A "handmade"manager for for both things would be great.

[smalin]

@djaychannohatsukoi Yes, being a programmer is great --- the new literacy.

[Kuckooracha]

@smalin Do you mean that one should know the programming languages, much like we need to know how to learn and write?

Do you believe that citizens should be taught this during their school years...?

[smalin]

@Kuckooracha I don't know whether it should be taught in school, but it should be learned. It's like learning to drive, or to cook, or to use a hammer, a saw, or a screwdriver --- if you don't learn how to do these things, you are more dependent on other people to do them. Also, programming is like writing, in that it's a means of expression. I have ideas about music, and I write software to express those ideas; it is not only personally rewarding, but other people enjoy them.

[drizzy8450]

Debussy: genius. 'Nuff said...

[ryder133]

This wonderful sound simply will never age. People will still be listening to this 500 years from now.

[MorbidlyObeseCat]

Why has this not got 100,000,000 views? xD

[monafique]

This is so beautiful. The piece, the visual, the performance. Like a lullaby. THank you!

[ciallbr]

your what i aspire to be :).

[Saalmarnir]

I've literally just picked up piano like a month ago, an I might have made the mistake of picking this piece as my very first piece to play! Im almost finished with it, and yes the rhythms were very hard to get down! Took me like a week to get the triplet/eighth note rhythm in place, but once you get it down it appears throughout the song which makes it easier. I've watched this video so many times to help learn the song, and I plan on performing it for UIL In a few weeks! Very beautiful piece

[SOMBRADELNUBLO7]

Un verdadero placer escuchar esto......!!!

[nannymac47]

Bubbles filled with sound that burst together and free music.

[katielauralaurakatie]

I've fallen asleep to this for the past 7 months. It's so beautiful. :)

[scotnick59]

This has got to be among the most ETHEREAL pieces of music ever written. Reminds me of ancient Greece, for some reason...

[4c00h]

looks like a nervous system

[JokerFans100]

omfg im inluv with ur vids!!

[Detelinka68]

Very interesting way to visualize the music harmony!

[treehuggrrerr]

haha trying to learn this song with almost no piano experience... it's gunna take me forever!

[Zappyguy111]

I always feel a rush of calm come over me when I hear this. It's a little unnerving but feeling calm is something I haven't been feeling much lately.

[thecam4444]

@Zappyguy111 i like you comment and feel the same

[vvasiliok]

1:16 my favorit

[LaVarona08]

I feel high

[Zappyguy111]

@LaVarona08

You're not the only one.

[Cockerspanieli]

FIrst of all, this song is amazing but I was just wondering is this 4-handed or 2? Somehow it seems more like a 4....Second, do you think that a 13-year-old who has been playing for about 7 years could be capable of playing this? Thank you!

[smalin]

@Cockerspanieli Q1: 2-handed. Q2: it depends on the person; for most, it would probably be a bit too subtle, but I'm sure some could make a decent showing with it.

[mainmenu895]

@smalin I think that if you played 7years of piano already, you can play this quite easily. I've only done 1 year and I'm in the process of learning this piece, although I don't have the pretension of playing this anywhere near good (in terms of interpretation). I think the hardest thing in this piece is getting the rythm right, because the right hand plays three notes while the left hand plays only two.

[TheJonahWhale]

@Cockerspanieli I'm 14 and have been playing for about 7 years... I tried playing this, and the parts that I could successfully play were beautiful(:

I hope you can play it, I had to put it off... I think I personally struggled most with the double sharps and the triplets v. eighth notes the most, so good luck!

[TheNefertitibrown]

@Cockerspanieli you can do anything you put your mind too. So I say yes to the 13 yr old playing it. Nothing wrong with trying.

[domiD1999]

@Cockerspanielit not an easy song to play but if you practice enough you'll be able to play this song.And i agree with you,this song is amazing.And if you learn to play this song it would be awesome if you could take a video of you playing and put it on youtube

[pigsandfishes777]

@Cockerspanieli I am 13 and have been playing for 10 years. it is a hard peice because of so many 2s against 3s, so practice someof those before trying this

[maaaky12]

@Cockerspanieli Já hraji na klavír od svých asi 3/4 let a teď jsem v 8třídě, je mi 13 let a hraji ji. (Letos s touto skladbou budu absolvovat a mimo jiné ještě se sonátou,,,.) Hraji tedy asi 10 let a byla jsem asi na 13 soutěžích.

[shadowater28]

@Cockerspanieli The different colors correspond to different melodic lines within the music. Very often with piano each hand plays more than than one line at once, so that may be why it sounds like four hands to you. =)

[PenelopeofIthaca]

@Cockerspanieli It's a two-handed piece. And whether you can play it now depends how quickly you progressed through the levels. I personally started piano in second grade, and I didn't start learning this piece until freshman year of college.

[blackdiamond288]

@PenelopeofIthaca I started in second grade too! I learned this back in sixth grade.

[tukkek]

Thanks for the (quick) reply. This is a great example of stretching at work, I now get it. As a amateur musician myself I think I prefer animations without this 'artificial' movement, more sheet-like - as I said before - but I think it helps non-musicians get the feel of the player's perspective, that feeling of "I'm releasing this note/I have to play this now". I hope I'm making sense here.

As usual, great work towards bringing the full musical experience to the masses - a truly noble endeavor.

[smalin]

@tukkek Yes, as you can see, the time warping works better in some contexts than others. My sense is that there's a much better way to do this, that I haven't figured out yet.

[xxmakerelxx]

I so wish I could play.

[SergeonCuts]

Great playing..and coding

[PianoDude1011]

what do the colors stand for?

[smalin]

@PianoDude1011 The different parts (different melodic strands, etc.).

[MrVagabondo]

I listened a ton of music, I am not sure but probably this version of Arabesque is the best song that I ever heard in my life, thank you, and thank to Claude!

A 25 boy from Italy

[CINEMAN8]

Completely captivating, Sir, you are a true artist.

[Hayashigame]

Am I the only one that got a Final Fantasy vibe at 4:19?

[tukkek]

@Hayashigame LOL!!!

[juresaiyan]

this is absolutely heartbreaking. Debussy is probably my favourite piano composer.

[elinal855]

I love with this song, listen to this almost daily :P

[rexbravo83]

@smalin Beautifully played and fantastic animation! This is like sheet music come alive. And the piece fits perfectly with the visuals especially because of the clearly defined different voices in the music. I love it - great job!

[liadainsperanza]

@smalin - have you ever considered working with dance in an animation kind of way? I really enjoy watching this audio visual composition - from the lips of a dancer / choreographer. great work. thank you.

[smalin]

@liadainsperanza I'm not sure I understand what you have in mind when you say "working with dance in an animation kind of way" ... do you mean composing choreography that is like my animations?

[mrnikoray]

BRAVO! 

[banaraskobi]

Amazing! But is the animation created by this pianist, or someone else?

[smalin]

@banaraskobi Both are by me.

[thenewest1]

@smalin You seem to be an extremely talented individual. Just curious but what do you do for a living?

[smalin]

@thenewest1 I'm retired; this is my hobby. Before that, I wrote software. Before that, I worked as a musician (in various capacities). Before that, I did office work and washed dishes.

[banaraskobi]

@smalin Wow, I understand, from your comment to someone, that you wrote software for this work. I envy of your talent! I will let my music students know your videos Thank your for your reply.

[ALPHANUMERICLE]

These animations are delicious...

[DanCarq]

this is, from every aspect, beautiful. the video really does justice to the fluidity of the song

[muglgy97]

The video's entrancing *-* Love the song :D

[weisteady]

I love this visual effect!

[pianissimo5]

this interpretation is exactly perfect. I hate when people play this too slow or too fast.

[KnockOnTheSky]

This video serves a perfect combination of tranquility and being mesmerizing.

[squirralicious]

Seriously, this is the best ever... this song just drifts me away like no other.

[masssiiiii]

Awesome!

Will you do the second arabesque in some time too?

[smalin]

@masssiiiii  Maybe.

[giselealquimia7]

Perfect

[SundaraYoga]

Beautiful!

[Vanin0u20]

Waouw just amazing how you made the video. I play the piano and I played that piece, and with all the little bowls I could re-live the notes on the partition and the moment I played it. The effect is very very beautiful. Thank you !

[Jimster666]

this is pure as it gets.

[lexibenn08]

I watched this to keep from smashing something, thank you for uploading it

[BrotherOrchid]

Very unique, well done!

[farfle10]

this is the best interpretation of this piece i've heard, even among all the great pianists on youtube.

[tester083]

@farfle10 i agree. this is the one that i compare all others to.

[Ginnyjeep]

Absolutely beautiful, uplifting.  Debussy was amazing! Thank you!!

[BeesKnees405]

This is such a nice piece. So lovely.

[kumalover4life]

Oh crap, that was good. :D The video and the piece!! I am trying to play it and this video is a really cool visual! Thanks!

[pilipili1969]

It looks like the notes ,that are beeing played in the Arabesque,

[PoppyB2011]

I'm curious... Are you a synesthete by any chance. Although the colors are wrong to my own sensabilities, they may be correct to you? I loved this more than anything I have ever viewed on youtube. Fantastique! Bravo Ancora!

*Please do Satie!

[lilyfleur7]

gives me chills.

[demianxss]

very very well played o.O

[slthomp2]

this is beauty.

[shatikal]

Stephen Malinowski, you look like the doctor from Back To The Future. I love You! Lol

[zebranice0102]

This is soooo cute! :3

[nannymac47]

this one looks like a someone crocheting a beautiful lace story. Honestly.

[ksilversona9]

Wow, Now thats a video clip...

[seannyeah]

woww how was this video made?

[smalin]

@seannyeah I did it with software I wrote.

[Gerome63120m3]

@smalin its simple but looks amazing maybe if you have more free time you can improve it maybe put a little more flash into it if you get the idea of what im trying to say xD anyways its beautiful(thevideo and song)

[smalin]

@Gerome63120m3 Have you looked at my recent videos?

[Ongarukat]

The video is so mesmerizing...can't look away @.@

[redelpe1]

Exquisite is an understatement.

[orangebhuddy29]

Smalin, i have to know:

How did you play the eighth notes against the triplets? I always get frustrated because i cant do this.

[smalin]

@orangebhuddy29  I'm sorry, I can't explain it. At the beginning (forty years ago?), I approximated by subdividing (playing the duplet halfway between the second and third triplets), but at some point I was no longer doing that. i did lots of exercises, but it's hard to say which if any had an effect. I feel like it was more like I just developed a clearer and clearer feeling of the rhythm over the years.

[n00b1356]

@orangebhuddy29 It's the 2nd note of the triple shortly before the 2nd one of the eighths and the third triplet somewhere in between of the 2nd and 3rd eighth. but it really took me some piano lessons to get behind that :/