Hey man...i know i was critical...i'm sorry. It may be slow, but it is so MUSICAL! And you are so expressive. The 1st movement of this is much harder than it looks on paper...i know when I played it I had to mess around a lot with different mallets and roll types, often changing roll types all within one roll. Andrew Thomas wants all ripple rolls but i'm pretty sure as long as the color is there then it doesn't matter what kind of rolls you use.
Alex, you were one of my best friends through college and I hate to say this but it's just way too slow. You also missed the accelerando at 1:40. Just my opinion. Of course I'm watching this 2 years after you posted it...so I'm sure after being at TBC that you are a BEAST now...well...you always were.
Personally I think this piece is more effective with a mix of both. Technically if you want to do exactly what the composer asks, you would do it all rippled, but if you listen to 90% of the professional recordings of this piece, most of them take some liberties (adding ritards in the second movement where none are marked, etc).
thats the thing, ive heard at least 3 recordings, and none of them stay strict to the page, they all embellish and thats what any good musician would do, it sets them apart
@frewen20 If you read nancy zeltsmans book, you see that Andrew Thomas and her had a discussion about that and he meant ripple rolls, which isn't what he is doing here, BUT is completely different from the independent rolls you are thinking which I am assuming would be two separate one handed rolls. Nancy's recording of this is with ripple rolls.
my prof wouldnt let me play the movement without independent unless i had proof it wasnt meant to be played as such! whats the book called you read that from?
The great thing about pieces like Merlin is that no one is going to play it the same way. Everyone is going to have their own version of a piece.
My point being that, in your opinion, just because Alex did not have as many independtly shaped rolls as your performance may have had does not mean that his peformace lacked "feeling."
Hey man...i know i was critical...i'm sorry. It may be slow, but it is so MUSICAL! And you are so expressive. The 1st movement of this is much harder than it looks on paper...i know when I played it I had to mess around a lot with different mallets and roll types, often changing roll types all within one roll. Andrew Thomas wants all ripple rolls but i'm pretty sure as long as the color is there then it doesn't matter what kind of rolls you use.
iluvperkushun 1 year ago
Alex, you were one of my best friends through college and I hate to say this but it's just way too slow. You also missed the accelerando at 1:40. Just my opinion. Of course I'm watching this 2 years after you posted it...so I'm sure after being at TBC that you are a BEAST now...well...you always were.
iluvperkushun 1 year ago
love it Mr. Delgado!
scottiedog45 1 year ago
the independent rolls was another thing that has got me confused still, why is it that nobody plays it that way?
every roll is suppose to be independent but every record ive heard its all traditional rolls
frewen20 2 years ago
Personally I think this piece is more effective with a mix of both. Technically if you want to do exactly what the composer asks, you would do it all rippled, but if you listen to 90% of the professional recordings of this piece, most of them take some liberties (adding ritards in the second movement where none are marked, etc).
XBeebsX 2 years ago
@XBeebsX
thats the thing, ive heard at least 3 recordings, and none of them stay strict to the page, they all embellish and thats what any good musician would do, it sets them apart
frewen20 2 years ago
@frewen20 If you read nancy zeltsmans book, you see that Andrew Thomas and her had a discussion about that and he meant ripple rolls, which isn't what he is doing here, BUT is completely different from the independent rolls you are thinking which I am assuming would be two separate one handed rolls. Nancy's recording of this is with ripple rolls.
hypermonky560 1 year ago
@hypermonky560 thank you... SO.... much
my prof wouldnt let me play the movement without independent unless i had proof it wasnt meant to be played as such! whats the book called you read that from?
frewen20 1 year ago
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hi i just learnt the piece. i would have liked to have seen more independently shaped rolls. eg slower to faster
In my performances it added much more feeling. but none the less i viewed the second part also and loved it!
shaunyP1989 2 years ago
Everything is in matter of interpretation.
The great thing about pieces like Merlin is that no one is going to play it the same way. Everyone is going to have their own version of a piece.
My point being that, in your opinion, just because Alex did not have as many independtly shaped rolls as your performance may have had does not mean that his peformace lacked "feeling."
lcrunion1210 2 years ago
This movement makes me tearful each time I play it. Nice phrasing man.
bagsjr1987 3 years ago 5
I don't know how Thomas found them, but these chords are incredibly powerful, especially the first few lines.
slumsquirrel21 3 years ago 4