Death of keyboards, pianos and CDs

[MrGongGong]

When I depress a key on my fake piano, I reproduce the sound recorded, several years ago in Japan, from a real piano. I still need to practise before playing, though if all else fails, I can always press the demo button.

Indeed
It's a real electric piano that uses samples
Somewhere I have a box of floppy discs for an Akai S950 sampler with every note on a model B sampled one at a time in multiple dynamics

BUT i'm more keen on getting electronic instruments to make "real" electronic music rather than pretending to be something else

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

BUT i'm more keen on getting electronic instruments to make "real" electronic music rather than pretending to be something else

With that, I'm in total agreement.

[MrGongGong]

I really don’t want to be glum. However I am very aware of at least one school which was recently forced to “lose” a perfectly good music teacher as there was no other reasonable way to balance the books. I don’t think this is particularly unusual in current times.

Politics! I couldn’t possibly comment. Some schools have become Academies, and might be able to afford more teachers and equipment, leaving the remaining state supported schools supported by Local Authorities which are often (IMO) starved of cash, and not only for education. The justification for some of these aspects seems very questionable.

I've just done a large scale project in multiple schools
One of them (a small rural village school) has recently become part of an academy chain
so now they don't do music (far too frivolous when there are "real" subjects to do) and the staffing has been reduced to make it more "efficient"

The truth is that those in charge of education

1: Don't send their own children to the schools they are in charge of
2: Don't give a sh*t about music or culture and it's value in the first place
3: Are entirely motivated by their own agendas of markets and the like


The solution

Don't vote for people who are like this
Pretty simple really apart from the fact that there is no-one to vote "for" (as previously discussed) who will do anything about this.

So being "glum" is a perfectly understandable way to be

Actually, the "solution" is to try and work outside these things and insist that when large organisations undertake music projects they have to make all of the resources and materials they use accessible to young people who might go to a school with NO music.

We CAN afford to pay for all sorts of things (dodgy deals with the DUP etc etc) but no-one is really shouting about this who holds any sway.

[Cockney Sparrow]

I'm in TOTAL agreement with this (#18) and for once, the way Mr GG has expressed it. It is depressing (sorry, but it makes me gloomy) that really, we are some way into entering the Dark Ages for music and arts education for the many. Music and arts education is increasingly for the few.

[MickyD]

I would certainly agree with Vints' recommendation of the 48 by Kenneth Gilbert - my personal favourite.

There are also fine versions by Christine Schornsheim (Capriccio) and Richard Egarr (Harmonia Mundi)

[MrGongGong]

How about this one then

https://www.edelweisspianos.com/le-silex/

This is Le Silex by Edelweiss Pianos. A totally bespoke fusion of all that is outstanding in art, all that is beautiful in sculpture and all that is perfect in pianos. This is a luxurious musical masterpiece.

erm nope

[Bryn]

Seems the nearest to the right place to post this:

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4opcNLIQqt4)

[Dave2002]

Entertaining - up to a point. I skipped from around 4 minutes in to close to the end - maybe 18 minutes in.

Crazy guy!

At least he still seems to be alive!

[Mal]

"bach well tempered" turns up 359 albums on spotify. Search seems very well tempered on Spotify, at least for this piece. Search for "bach well tempered egarr" and Egarr appears at the top of the list, even though the title on the album retains the German "Wohltemperierte" - the indexer translated it into English for the listing. I've noticed on Amazon they don't do this, at least not consistently - it may be that to find Eggar you will need to search for "Wohltemperierte".