Bach, Brandenburg Concerto #3, First Movement, Allegro (ver. 2)

[moneyjr1122]

very intresting

[ParsleySnips]

I love this Brandenburg Concerto. I played the Violin II solo in my orchestra last year. Watching this brings back the memories.

[1GunKnight]

@smalin How did you learn to write this program? Are you a computer scientist?

[smalin]

@1GunKnight In 1979, I took an "introduction to computer programming" course in college (we learned to write FORTRAN programs on punch cards). In 1982, I bought an Atari 800 and taught myself how to program it out of books (BASIC, FORTH, and 6502 assembly language) so that I could write this program. As a result of what I learned doing that, I was able to get a job in 1984 as a programmer. I learned the C language at my first job. I taught myself C++ many years later.

[alf9q]

when will these new graphics be available on the MAM player? thanks

[smalin]

@alf9q I don't know.

[otavioandradas]

BRAVO! Very well done!!

It would be interesting to invert the process: the dots/lines generating music, not necessarily tonal music.

Congrats!

[LivingInTheCornfield]

Where did you get the, uh... music-color-move-ey thing?

[smalin]

@LivingInTheCornfield I wrote it.

[fishyflappers]

this is too happy. i like depressing songs

[pcfreck]

have watched your vids for a long time now! i know most of the music, but your vids gives a very different perspective to it. please continue doing this great work. cheers, great fan of yours.

[wnrostro]

im mexican, and im in love of your project... sometimes i want to give you money because this "thing" can not be free!

[smalin]

@wnrostro Many viewers have asked "where's the Donate button?" Maybe I will make one ...

[InTheSummerSnow]

i wish i could print this out and stick it along the wall in my room :)

[2darbit]

I've been listening to this for years and never tire of it.... just heaven!!

[AntuQum]

Please make this videos on top of channel, i also found this new version by accident just cause wanted to listen some bach.

[cubanbach]

BRILLIANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That was so much fun and I bet KNOWING the piece as well as I do might help but I wonder if people if DO NOT know it enjoy it as much?

[smalin]

@cubanbach I think one's enjoyment depends on what you know and don't know about the piece, and what you learn about it from watching the video. A person without much experience listening to contrapuntal music might be learning how to keep track of more than one melodic line at once, and might be thrilled by that, whereas a person who knows this piece well as a listener but hasn't studied it might learn more about how it is constructed and be thrilled by that ... (cont.) ...

[smalin]

@smalin ... (cont.) ... Interestingly, I've found that there are two groups of people who don't enjoy my videos. One group is made up of people who don't understand what's going on in them (one asked, in dead earnest, "is there some relationship between what I'm hearing and what I'm seeing?"), and therefore learn nothing. The other is made up of people who know the music inside out, and therefore have nothing more to learn about it (or, at least, nothing that's taught by my videos).

[cubanbach]

@smalin THANK you for your response, SMALIN. I think you are correct on all accounts. :) It was really thrilling to "watch" the venerable old Bach Brandenburg 3-a go by so delightfully. You can't please everyone, I always say. But you've pleased me greatly. Thanks again! :)

[dziban303]

Reminds me of an enormous Rube Goldberg-esque printing press. (Actually, if you've ever seen a large printing press, this video may be simplifying it some!)

[Ezekeiel]

just splendid... great program.. fantastic music.. bravissimo

[Xenocide31337]

Oh cool, just noticed the lines stop and go with the bows (mostly bottom two parts)

[monk130p]

wow! display extends

[bogbrush400]

Love the video!

Is there any chance you could do the third movement as well?

[juanluengo]

Sound good to me!! It's good music to my earsssssssssssssss.......

[POKIWOKI3]

Could you make a video with the Brandenburg Concerto #2 please?

[smalin]

@POKIWOKI3 I would like to, but I'm having trouble getting permission for the recording I'd like to use. I would like to use Rinaldo Alessandrini's recording. Maybe you could help me contact him?

[Anathiron]

@smalin I recommand the yellow pages.. :P but you've probably already tried that :P

[smalin]

@Anathiron I've tried lots of things ...

[jwillis7]

this is my new favorite one of your videos

[orboksanci]

Well, thanks, this floral result of the logic made my day!

[costep]

Great as always. I am wondering whether you would consider drawing vertical light grey lines to depict the bars?

[smalin]

@costep I've done that in some of my videos; I include it when I think it is more helpful than distracting.

[bpfastfeet25]

I had a heart attack at 3:21. Very very cool as always @smalin. thank you

[Keladan1337]

Have you ever thought of doing a piece by Holst, specifically the planets

[smalin]

@Keladan1337 I've considered pretty much every piece by every well-known composer.

[defencedragon]

My orchestra class in high school played an abridged version of this song. Thank you for bringing back some good memories from then.

[StevenBee2]

you know... this is pretty close to the video that's always played in my head to this song!

[MrBurnout1999]

Je redécouvre Bach!!! Quel génie!! Après plusieurs années d'étude du heavy metal, je retourne à mes sources et cet homme en fait partie. Merci.

De Québec city, Canada!

[Staudinka]

Very nice, though I liked your videos best in the style of e.g.Chopin, Nocturne in E-flat Major, opus 9 no.2 Piano Solo. It seemed more organic^^

[lePistolero]

Die hard 1

[elvin211]

wow

[nannymac47]

I had just a wee bit of trouble following at first as it is a new system for me. Got the hang of it quickly though. Even if our 'ear' couldn't hear the beautiful simplicity of this, your application makes it so clear. Whilst into my first listening I saw that the basso continuo would make beautiful embroidery so... I am going to copy that an create the Brandenburg Embroidery. It will make a quite beautiful edging on anything I should choose to use if for. Thank you so much.

[jonnsmusich]

The Smalin Evolves! Haven't been by for a while. Nice to see the graphic development. Very Nice

[lonesomeg]

What a wonderful piece of music! I never get tired of hearing it once more.....This visual accompaniment worked pretty well for me; one could keep track of all three major elements as they came and went and came together and separated. Tempo was a little too fast for my taste, but not objectionable. Good job!

[xValeify]

Awesome :) How long does it take to make one of these videos?

[smalin]

@xValeify It depends. The fastest take a few hours; the most complicated ones take a few weeks.

[nghung90]

@smalin How about this one? :)

[smalin]

@nghung90 The most time-consuming parts for this video were done as part of earlier versions of this piece and in service of other videos. For example, I wrote the "calligraphy" effect in about a week, to use in solo violin music, so I only had to spend a few hours customizing it for this piece. The score preparation took many hours, but I didn't have to change it much for this. The work that was specific to this video took less than a day (and much of it, like rendering, was mindless).

[ssw166]

Why do some notes have a curl, but others don't?

[Iemanonymous1]

Oh my, this is by far my favorite animation style!

It looks so fantastic to see little ribbons of color weave themselves around each note! I cannot WAIT until you release the revised MAM.

[MikeDaMasta1]

this is somewhat painful to look at with the white background, but still excellent job.

[Mhorstable]

I would love to see Vivaldi's Winter (from the Four Seasons, already a video for that) in this format, as well as the Marriage of Figaro...and I would love to see ANY video with the Music Animation Machine doing the first movement of Mozart's 41st!!! TOTALLY EPIC!!!

[Mhorstable]

Lol, this almost looks like Bach's nuerons working in his brain as he composed this! xD

[Mhorstable]

This is an absolutely beautiful way to watch the music! Is it possible to do this exact same visualization with a black background? I love the swirling lines that change thickness with the strength of the bowstroke. Very impressive.

[iwpoe]

I thought I was the only one to visualize little swirlies when I thought about music. Neat.

[linaseoyonpark]

Absolute amazement. Simple as that. Very entertaining to watch and suits the piece very well too, in my opinion. Keep up the good work, Smalin! _From a very grateful fan.

[mmcrosbie]

I think all your work is brilliant.

[XxmcrxlurverX]

this design is so pretty

[ZucchiniSky]

When will the revised Music Animation Machine be available for download? I can't wait to see these animations for any MIDI I'd like.

[smalin]

@ZucchiniSky Good question. I don't know.

[felipemp93]

Ich sehr viele liebe diese Musik von mein guter Freund, Bach. Und dies neues Design ist sehr schön, mir gefällt.

[xjtyu]

god I'm loving this new design

[experiment117]

I remember playing this last year for school. Now we are working on Mendelssohn's tenth symphony in B minor...

[TaomasaUchiha]

i wuna get up and dance to this

[smtwl90]

Incredible weave 3:23 - 3:30

[rodrigomg25]

Wonderful as always!

[Dreadnoughtification]

At 3:33, the cello and bass parts double each other, at the octave, so why does the cello note have the curl, and the bass doesn't?

[smalin]

@Dreadnoughtification No good reason. I mean, there's a reason (a side-effect of something), but it wasn't something I intended. If I were more of a perfectionist, I would have fixed it before releasing this video. There are lots of things which aren't exactly the way I wanted; I'll probably get to them eventually.

[yourBALDneighbor]

@smalin I think there should be something like that for single notes to show the volume.

[smalin]

@yourBALDneighbor For music with only a single instrument playing (where it's easy to measure the loudness of individual notes), I have done some videos (recently) that depict the loudness.

[0fatz0]

This makes me think of Christmas, aha!

[FuzzyConstant]

It looks like you are knitting music XD. I think it is cool, and suits this style.

[NuniMuS]

I love the swirls! Your visuals are great.

[khetnhio]

With what logic do some of the notes get circled? Does it mean something in particular. or is it just meant to make the score look pretty?

[LeTinctoire]

@khetnhio It looks like it happens for steep alterations in the pitch 'direction' (only when upwards progressions are followed by downward ones, or vice versa). Both the pitch difference of each two notes and the timing between those notes (long pause for one band -> no circle) seem to be observed.

[smalin]

@LeTinctoire If the neighbors of a note are both higher than it or both lower, the path loops; otherwise not.

[LeTinctoire]

@smalin Thanks, I always overthink things :P It's nice to see that a rule that simple works so well to visually support the 'dynamic' of the music.

[CasaPortale]

@khetnhio The notes that are surrounded by either lower notes or by higher notes get the circle.

[flippert0]

I like, how the instruments "branch out". Also, this new animation style makes it somehow clearer, that takeing the next note takes time physically, this is not an instantanous process. It is the best style yet to show the "instrument line", the line of notes, that belong together.

However, In terms of absolute readability the tried-and-true bar style can't probably be topped.

[zaalism]

don't get me wrong.. i love your work ..but can we get back to Bach, Fugue 4, C-sharp minor, Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, BWV 849. and a little less .. this.. ty

[smalin]

@zaalism If you go to the recent video of a violin piece using this style, you'll see a lot of viewers writing something along the lines of "your best so far." If I were to base what I did on the majority of viewer requests, I would have to move in that direction --- not back to the bar-graph style. However, that's not how I do it; I pretty much ignore the wishes of my viewers, and either use the style of animation I think works best for a given piece, or an experiment I'm curious about.

[ScarlettsLog]

Do you have plans to do Dvorak's 9th?

[smalin]

@ScarlettsLog No (and I'm not likely to make plans to).

[mvfasolfasoo]

un agasajo en verdad como disfruto de esta pieza, y de los videos en general

[rocky24724]

i feel like this looks alot nicer, but makes it much harder to watch the patterns in the music.

[adtuna1192]

@smalin, are you going to have a specific animation for each composer?

[smalin]

@adtuna1192 Sorry, I don't understand the question.

[turk1559]

@smalin i think he means will the animation for all bach pieces be this annimation, while beethoven for instance would have a different one

[smalin]

@turk1559 If that's what the question means, the answer is no. But if adtuna1192 looked at all my Bach animations, it would be obvious that I'm not using a single style, which made me doubt that it meant that.

[Schaezen]

@smalin he wants to know if you will use different animations for each composer, which i believe will not be the case..

[rafaravioli]

I very much enjoy this style of animating the scores.

[guyboy625]

Not my favorite Brandenburg Concerto. For example, I prefer #4, mvmt. 3.

[smalin]

@guyboy625 Well, I guess they can't all be your favorite.

[jeannypoo]

What's the difference between the line just going through the dot and the ilne looping around the dot?

[smalin]

@jeannypoo It loops when the direction changes from down to up or up to down.

[jeannypoo]

@smalin Okay, thanks. I thought that, but there are places in the lower parts where it changes direction but doesn't loop around, so I thought maybe I'd misunderstood. lol. I like this animation, though, it's one of the prettier ones visually. :D

[smalin]

@jeannypoo It only loops when it changes from up to down or down to up; if it goes down and stays down, or goes up and stays up, or goes up or down after staying on the same note, it doesn't loop.

[jeannypoo]

@smalin Oh. I see. :)

[M000tube]

this is amazing

[sc1592]

ok, you are officially my best friend.

[BirdMan33201]

ART

[ThisMetalGuy]

I've watching your channel for a while, and I was wondering: Do you do anything more contemporary? For example, I think it would be really incredible if you did something like the theme from Inception (Mind Heist) in this style.

[smalin]

@ThisMetalGuy There are problems with that. I don't have much experience with it, so I usually am not the right person to perform it myself. The music is often not notated, which makes it hard for me to make the animation. The composition and the performance are protected by copyright, which means I can't use them in a video without permission (which often costs money). I've tried a few times, but I've learned that it's not worth the trouble unless I know the composer and performer myself.

[PTNLemay]

@ThisMetalGuy

Lol, Mind Heist? You're asking for a bit much there.

A lot of that is probably tweeked with all sorts of other sophisticated computer software, it's more than just a simple orchestra.

[Dreadnoughtification]

I think you should blend colours when the same pitch is hit by more than one instrument, or something similar.

[smalin]

@Dreadnoughtification Sometimes I do. In this, the instruments either play in groups of three (3 violins, 3 violas, 3 violoncellos), or solo; when they play together, you have the fat line with a primary color, and when they separate out into solos, you have thin lines with variations on that group's color.

[Dreadnoughtification]

@smalin But what about when the cellos and a solo violin meet? At 1:06 (more or less), you had the violin get the dot, while the cellos looped around. Sure, that's what they're supposed to do, but what if both were supposed to loop? Blending the colours, or dividing it half-half just seems to reduce the importance of the note, which can be interpreted as a diminuation of importance. Given how this is more contrapunctal in nature, this seems to especially be important.

[smalin]

@Dreadnoughtification  The visual perception mirrors the auditory perception. If the 'cellos and violin played in unison all the time, you'd find it very difficult to hear that there were two instruments, but in Baroque counterpoint, that doesn't happen --- two parts can share a note briefly, but they must arrive and/or leave from it in a way that allows the listener to make sense of it. The same is true with the animation; the connecting lines tell you what's going on when two parts meet.

[EMCHost]

ohh xD i played this during my freshmen year in high school. awesome piece!

[melof29]

much prefer the other version you did of this.

[eatme690808]

This style of animation (not sure what it's called?) is absolutely incredible! Well done. Looking forward to your future work.

[smalin]

@eatme690808 So am I.

[beatchef]

I'm a bit confused as to which line the Contrabass is and which the harpsichord is? The contrabass line seems to be more simplified than the actual notes being played but that's probably me just misinterpreting it..

[smalin]

@beatchef This visualization only shows the contrabass line (at the played pitch, which is an octave lower than written). The harpsichord plays from that part, but improvises everything except that (bass) note; it is not notated. Since what I'm showing is sort of like a score (and I'm not willing to spend time transcribing the harpsichord part), I've omitted what the harpsichord plays. Where does the contrabass part seem simplified?

[philateliceun]

Really like the style, them circly things really fit the music.

[rui278]

very cool. Though harder to follow thatn the normal bar animations. Though visualy this new stile es very good. The music as always is sublime.

[Carassius8]

Bravo! This style seems particularly fitting for Bach concerti -- perhaps some day you will do all of the Branderburgs. (I can dream.)

[Elix17]

This is probably the most spectacular visualization up-to-date.

[joseramon1402]

Aahh! Wonderfull. excellent work.

[franielee38]

Great work!!

[1964Yojimbo]

follow the bouncing ball has come a long way!

[Voxezi]

It seems this style would lend itself nicely to large prints/scrolls.

[VitCor9595]

awesome!

[compaq1275]

You should have done the third movement with the piccolo trumpet solo at the beginning! Great music anyway, and again, this visual is my favorite of you new animations. Good job!

[smalin]

@compaq1275 I would like to do all the Brandenburgs, but I'm holding out until I can get permission to use the Rinaldo Alessandrini recording (his group is called Concerto Italiano), my favorite.

[eltrentoro]

look i know about your policy on requests, but i'm just saying, if you do a video like this for brandenburg 5 i will LOVE YOU FOREVER

[bbbbmer]

These are actually a WONDERFUL resource for those who wish to learn to read music, but don't know how to start.... THANK YOU for these wonderful videos, especially these WONDERFUL versions of Bach!!! 

[or1gam]

love this visual style



[aaronlaw97]

Can you do some Kreisler?

[B8Av3]

Love this, smalin! The visualization is so fluid and seamless with the evoked emotions of this piece.

[piggemz]

this IZ the fanciest animation yet.

[yfrag]

Love the visualisation style.

[LeTinctoire]

Looks great, but could you upload it with a higher frame rate in the future? 30 fps looks stuttery, regardless of what many cinephiles may say.

[CPLains]

@LeTinctoire I think that's youtube's fault. 30 fps is max isn't it? I can't recall seeing any 40-50-60 fps videos on youtube?

Anyway, great video! :)

[LeTinctoire]

@CPLains Good point. It seems Flash player likes to limit playback to 10 fps here, even on low processor load :(

[CPLains]

@LeTinctoire I've been cursing youtube for this mehself. Gamers of fast FPS games like Quake 3 have realized the differences in fps up in the 90-100s. Wipeout gamers realized this too, as the newest was 60 fps :) Also saw an AMV maker (anime music video) nicked "nostromox" realized this a few years ago. Elite visual people unite! And Google, i am disappoint.

[heinz1357]

@CPLains Uh, I always thought the videos stuttered because of firefox (I have around 80 tabs open), I never knew youtube limits the framerate.

I just watched the video in internet explorer where it stutters, too (firefox closed).

[smalin]

@LeTinctoire I experimented with this. YouTube is presenting the videos at 30 fps (or less), regardless of the framerate of the original I upload. If I make it in 60 fps, it looks worse because YouTube mixes two frames into one, so it looks blurry AND jittery.

[MozasFury]

have you ever considered animating paganini caprice 24? Or Rachmaninoff's variations of it? I think it could be quite the spectacle

[jfblunnie]

Brilliant visualisation , and Bach rocks.

[Booza70]

Yet another beautiful visualization from you. I love your work! Thank you for sharing.

[drive83]

Great work!

Thank you very much!

BTW, it's much better without vertical lines.

[smalin]

@drive83 I put the barlines in the other one because there was a place where the notes you tend to hear as the downbeat don't actually fall on the downbeat, and I thought it was interesting to see that.

[drive83]

@smalin Oh, now I'll may attention. Appreciate you work. Thank you.

[Lesgalapagos]

Thanks, many thanks.

[AlmightyDuckBall]

Reminds me of Longwood Gardens if anyone's ever heard of it. Beautiful place, that.

[Ar0n13]

hey thanks, the virtualization is beautiful.

[PR0H0LDEM]

one of my fav. pieces, thank you for giving so much joy. Keep up with your work:)

[roullemaskin]

this is amazing i realy like the aniamtions

[CheffMLG]

This is amazing. Thankyou for giving me a reliable source for great classics. Keep posting these videos.