Rip This Apart - Piano Improvisation

I mentioned in another thread that I sometimes played the Piano and improvise. I recorded this for Grea, really but thought it might be worth sharing. My playing is very limited (I haven't played seriously in about fourteen years) but my naïvety on the instrument sometimes produces (allegedly) 'interesting' results. I listen to a lot of Piano music - mainly Messiaen - and sometimes steal motifs and work around those. This particular improvisation is based on a theme from Schoenberg's 'Drei Klavierstücke', specifically the second piece of three.

I quite literally threw up a couple of microphones on the family Piano (a nice Yamaha model), hit 'record' and played the first thing that came into my head so it's a little rough around the edges.

Now feel free to rip this apart. If anybody wants to ask about the microphones, etc. I'm more than happy to answer the questions but there really isn't much to talk about there I'm afraid.
 

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  • Duncan Piano Improvisation 26113.mp3
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OK I'll play. Listening as I type. ...I can only say how it makes me feel...which is introspective...perhaps a tad sad, some dissonant notes create an unresolved feeling, very effective. All in all it evoked a fairly melancholy feeling. I think that any piece that evokes emotion is a "success" as music. I get the feeling that something heavy is on your mind while playing this, and you use the keyboard as a porthole to peer into what is going on inside you emotionally. It definitely did not invoke a light hearted happy feel. To me, it's more like a feeling that life has deposited unwanted things to be dealt with and that this particular music is a response to things that aren't necessarily the way you want them, an unwanted/unhappy acceptance of situations.

I wonder if this interpretation is a surprise to you or if it is in line with what was going through your head when playing this.
 
It made me want a beer. I will admit however, this could be just my regular craving that I get at 12:44pm on a Saturday.
 
It's odd, Larry. I'm not very good at expressing my emotions in conversation at all and I only tend to be able to express what I want when I'm behind an instrument. I find the Piano very effective for that probably because of my inability at the instrument and the fact that it's all laid out in front of me.

I've been playing with this theme and improvisation for years and I'll only bring it out when I feel like playing, so I think you're basically right. It's definitely not a 'happy' piece by a longshot.

As for the beer? Yes. Tea will have to substitute in the meantime.
 
It made me want a beer. I will admit however, this could be just my regular craving that I get at 12:44pm on a Saturday.

If you were drinking that beer, this piece would make me want to snatch that beer from you. Like how can you sit there and enjoy yourself when this painful piece is playing? Like Nero fiddling as Rome burns. (I don't think Nero actually did fiddle when Rome burnt, urban legend, but it makes a good point)
 
Duncan, I enjoyed that. Great restraint and taste.

I enjoy playing pretend piano too, and in my experience it's hard to sound anything but spooky ... it's easier to be dissonant than concordant. I have a recording where I'm doo-doo-dum-dumming to myself and then I start the piano - CLAAANG!! - an evil dissonant chord :)
 
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