I have never played a Hauptwerk sample set with a Zimbelstern before and this organ from Giubiasco has it! I was so excited to play this demonstration for you. The acoustics of the room is wonderful and the organ built by Mascioni in 2008 is very versatile. It has 22 stops over 2 manuals and pedals. Piotr Grabowski recorded the sample set which is a joy to play!
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Today was an online meeting with our book club friends. In it we celebrated a birthday of one friend. I was asked to improvise a piece based on the Memory from the musical Cats. On this occasion I mixed it with Happy Birthday, Podmoskovnyje vechera and Ilgiausiu metu. Hope you will enjoy the result on the Sauer organ sample set from Chemnitz and my Hauptwerk setup.
Score of Memory from Cats for piano: https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/... Thank you for your support! You get early access and I get to keep going. Get early access: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/organduo https://www.patreon.com/secretsoforga... Yesterday I started to practice Adeste fideles by Jeanne Demessieux on Melcel Chamber Music Hall sample set by Piotr Grabowski and my Hauptwerk setup. I noticed that this piece was too difficult to record the same evening so this morning I came back to it. It is based on the well-known Christmas carol and reminds of a musette with the long pedal point on the note D. The stops alternate between the flute combination and the dialogue with the Clarinet (in this case I use Krommhorn stop). To enhance the acoustics I selected Caen impulse response reverb with 6 seconds of reverberation by Sonus Paradisi. Hope you will enjoy it!
Score: https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/... Thank you for your support! You get early access and I get to keep going. Get early access: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/organduo https://www.patreon.com/secretsoforga... In today's organ demonstration you will hear me playing sample set by Piotr Grabowski from Saint-Jean-de-Luz Gonzales organ. It was built in 1930 and has 16 stops over 2 manuals and pedals. This instruments has really sweet sound and responds so well to the church's beautiful acoustics. Hope you will enjoy it!
Thank you for your support! You get early access and I get to keep going. Get early access: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/organduo https://www.patreon.com/secretsoforga... The rocking rhythm of this Prelude from 24 pieces en style libre by Louis Vierne is so relaxing to listen to. Couple this with some lush harmonies and sweet sounds of Saint-Jean-de-Luz sample set by Piotr Grabowski and you get a truly healing experience.
Score: https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/... Thanks so much for your support! You get early access and I get to keep going. Would you like to learn Een Vaste Burg ist onze God by Jan Zwart? I hope you'll enjoy playing this piece yourself from my PDF score. Thanks to Alan Peterson for his meticulous transcription from the video. What will you get? PDF score with fingering and pedaling written out for fast and efficient practice. Basic Level. 2 pages. Let me know how your practice goes. This score is free for Total Organist students. Check it out here
Vidas: Hello and welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast!
Ausra: This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better organist. V: We’re your hosts Vidas Pinkevicius... A: ...and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene. V: We have over 25 years of experience of playing the organ A: ...and we’ve been teaching thousands of organists online from 89 countries since 2011. V: So now let’s jump in and get started with the podcast for today. A: We hope you’ll enjoy it! V: Hi guys! This is Vidas. A: And Ausra. Vidas: Let’s start episode 634 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Andrew, and he writes: “I just wanted to say thank you for your "Mastering" series on YouTube. I am a percussionist turned organist, and every time I'm struggling to learn a new piece, it really helps to watch your videos. Even though I'm not learning the same music as you, the same principles of practicing apply, and I learn so much better when I remind myself to take things in small parts in repetition. You are doing a wonderful job of producing great content to help people like me. Right now, I'm working on "In dulci jubilo" by JM Bach, "Nun danket" by Karg-Elert, and "I Love Thee, My Lord" by Shearing, as well as some other long term Franck pieces that will be taking me a while to finish learning. The most challenging thing for me in playing organ is developing my kinesthetic sense between hands and feet, so I don't have to look away from the music and lose my place. I'm not a keyboard player by training, so I'm trying to take things slowly and learn from my mistakes as they happen, instead of just getting frustrated. Once the pandemic hit hard, I decided it was time to get an organ for my house so I could practice whenever it would be convenient for me. I also have a 2 year old son, so it's hard to get away from home for a long time to practice at church. I bought a nice custom package from Content Organs that I enjoy, but I also really like your creative setup and what you were able to put together from online stores. Looking forward to seeing more videos from you soon! Thanks! Andrew Fuhrman Austin, Texas, USA PS I will support you on Patreon!” Vidas: So, Andrew is one of our recent Patreon supporters, which is very, very nice. Thank you very much for your generosity, Andrew! My CD, “Veni Creator Spiritus” is being sent to him as one of the benefits for this subscription level. So, what do you think, Ausra? Ausra: Yes, that’s a very nice letter. Actually, I never thought about people switching from percussion, as Andrew did, to the organ, but it’s really, really nice! I think percussionists have such a different experience, I think, compared to other musicians, but I think he could benefit from it very well, at least, you know, he won’t have to learn how to count music, you know, and to read the rhythms right. Vidas: Right! Percussionists have very great… probably… diversification between hands and feet. Coordination between them is probably one of the best things they can do. Right? Because they play different rhythms in different hands and even feet! Ausra: True! I think this might help a lot while switching the instruments. Vidas: So, obviously it’s very nice to have him as a Patreon supporter. People like Andrew, and there are, I think, nine total Patreon supporters as of now, they really enable us to create more interesting organ videos for free for everybody to see on YouTube, and later to share with our Secrets of Organ Playing community! Ausra: Yes, and it’s very nice that someone appreciates your videos, while I know that I spend half my day alone not without a reason, that you are doing a meaningful job! Vidas: Yes, you’re probably referring to my long, long training video sessions. Yesterday, I think, I decided to create a video training on “Canonic Variations by Bach, on ‘Vom Himmel hoch da komm’ ich her’.” It has five variations, but in one hour or even more than an hour, I was only able to create half of the training program for this, and left the other half for another day. And you were waiting, sitting silently. Right? What were you doing at that time? Ausra: Well, I was working on something as well, because I am busy, too! I am busy, too, as you well know. Vidas: When you work, I just sleep! I just feel so relaxed when you play those ear training exercises, and I get on my couch and doze off. Ausra: I hope my students won’t fall asleep while I’m playing for them. Vidas: It’s possible if you are teaching them online. You never know what they are doing. Ausra: Oh yes, believe me, I know now, because now we have to have their cameras turned on all the time. Otherwise I can just mark that they were absent during the lesson. Vidas: Mhm, that’s right. Ausra: But of course, I can see they turn their mics off, and I see that they are talking, for example, on the phone. Vidas: Oh! You see that!? Ausra: Yes! I see that and other things, believe me, you wouldn’t want to know! Vidas: That’s not nice. They disrespect your work. Ausra: Or, they turn on the camera but they slide slightly on the side that I still could not see their faces. Vidas: Really? Ausra: Yes. Vidas: They’re so clever! Ausra: Yes. Vidas: Not even clever, but I would say cunning! Ausra: Yeah… Vidas: You know, sort of, they want to do their own thing while you’re teaching them! Ausra: That’s right. Or I can see that they are watching something completely different, because I see the expression on their faces, and they’re watching, for example, something funny. Vidas: It’s so stupid! Ausra: I know, it is, but what can I do? Vidas: You can… nothing, actually! You can only shame them in public in our podcasts! Ausra: That’s true, but they probably won’t listen to them. Vidas: Give them the link to this conversation when it’s live! Ausra: Oh yes! Maybe I will! Vidas: Yeah. If you won’t, I will! But I have no access to your class! Ausra: True! Vidas: So, Andrew has now a two manual organ setup, and it’s really nice. I think he has Hauptwerk installed, as you understand. Or not? Ausra: Yes, probably. Vidas: Hauptwerk really helps create beautiful sounds from home. What else? We can say, of course, he’s practicing those pieces… this was written a little bit earlier, so “Nun Danket” was suitable for Thanksgiving, but “In Dulci Jubilo,” by Johann Michael Bach is suitable for Christmas, upcoming! Ausra: Yes, it’s a very beautiful piece for Christmas! A very beautiful chorale tune. Vidas: I wish I could play it tomorrow. I’m playing at the church tomorrow, but it’s not that occasion. Ausra: If you will not forget to go and to play as you did a couple Sundays ago. Vidas: Right… good that not a couple Sundays in a row. Ausra: I already thought they would never ask you to play in church again after that mistake! Vidas: Yeah. Every day is the same, the schedule is the same. I’m staying at home and doing the same thing over and over, so it doesn’t make sense if it’s Sunday or Monday or Tuesday or Saturday. I don’t know what day it is today. Ausra: Well, I think after this pandemic is over, we all need to see shrinks! Vidas: Can I be your shrink? Ausra: I highly doubt it. Vidas: But I’ll be nice! I’d advise you to take some vitamins, stretch, walk! Ausra: I think the only advice you would give me is to record and to put something on YouTube every day! Vidas: mmm….. yeah, that would be part of my treatment to you! YouTube treatment, program! Ausra: I know you too well, and you know me too well! Vidas: Oh guys, you see, we are so different! Ausra likes to create but not share, and I like to share everything! Oversharing sometimes. Ausra: But people like your videos, so I think you are on the right track. Vidas: I think they would like your videos, too, if you posted more often. Ausra: Hmm… after spending half of my day every day teaching online, I don’t think you would want to do any extra videos. Vidas: It’s hard to imagine, of course, because I’m not teaching half of the day online. If I were you, probably I would… of course I would not create long videos like I’m doing right now, and I would even not create organ videos, probably, but I would probably do harmonic analysis videos—something that comes very easily to me. You know, sit down, 10 minutes or 5 minutes and I’m gone, but creates value for people. You know? Less pain, but greater value. Ausra: Well, you know, if I would receive so many nice comments as you do, maybe I would work on that more. But, since I don’t, why bother? I would rather watch Netflix. Vidas: <laughs> Do you receive nice comments from Netflix? Ausra: Well, at least I receive the satisfaction! Vidas: Guys, if you’re listening to this, please, please, please go to Ausra’s YouTube channel and say nice comments to her. Or else, I will create fake YouTube accounts and start spamming your channel with nice comments. Ausra: Please don’t do that; I will find out about it eventually and you will be in big trouble. Vidas: How would you know? Ausra: Intuition! Vidas: Oh yeah! Ausra has good intuition! Ausra: Because right now, I guess only my students who are forced to watch my YouTube channel are watching it because they have to take that ear training course every week, to write one oral dictation and to do other exercises, and they don’t leave nice comments to me. Vidas: Ever… Ausra: Yes. But, you know, I’m thankful that they don’t leave nasty comments as well, which is, I think, some kind of progress already. Vidas: True. True. Alright guys, this was Vidas, Ausra: And Ausra! Vidas: Please send us more of your questions; we love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, Ausra: Miracles happen. V: This podcast is supported by Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online. A: It has hundreds of courses, coaching and practice materials for every area of organ playing, thousands of instructional videos and PDF's. You will NOT find more value anywhere else online... V: Total Organist helps you to master any piece, perfect your technique, develop your sight-reading skills, and improvise or compose your own music and much much more… A: Sign up and begin your training today at organduo.lt and click on Total Organist. And of course, you will get the 1st month free too. You can cancel anytime. V: If you like our organ music, you can also support us on Patreon and BMC and get early access to our videos. A: Find out more at patreon.com/secretsoforganplaying and buymeacoffee.com/organduo
Vidas: Hello and welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast!
Ausra: This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better organist. V: We’re your hosts Vidas Pinkevicius... A: ...and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene. V: We have over 25 years of experience of playing the organ A: ...and we’ve been teaching thousands of organists online from 89 countries since 2011. V: So now let’s jump in and get started with the podcast for today. A: We hope you’ll enjoy it! V: Hi guys! This is Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 641 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by John, and he writes, Dear Ausra, thanks so much for this superb recital! Sorry I couldn't join it live, I've been very busy traveling and catching up with family, Covid restrictions are returning in Australia so I am cherishing every moment with family. Well done on the Bach, it sounded great, your articulation was so clear! How do you decide on a tempo for these Prelude & Fugues, do we have any historical indications or is it more based on how it sounds in the acoustic you play in? And please thank Vidas from me for his lovely contributions also! I am so lucky to know you both as friends and my teacher, you are so inspirational! Happy New Year to you and your family! Please stay safe and well! Take care, John V: Ausra, please give me John’s thanks! A: I give you John’s thanks. V: Thank you. And now over to you - entire question is dedicated to you. A: Yes. It’s such a rare case, yes? V: I’m free now, I can relax and sleep a little. A: Well, let me just enlighten you a little bit on John’s question. Actually, this was his response to our last Christmas recital, where we both actually performed solo pieces, and also we both performed a duet - entire quartet by Josef Haydn. So if you haven’t listened, you can find it on my channel - on my YouTube channel. And since not I wasn’t alone who played Bach, I did the G Major Prelude and Fugue, BWV 541, and Vidas did the C Major Toccata, but it’s not original C Major Toccata, it’s actually original E Major Toccata, BWV 566, only transposed by Bach himself to the C Major key. And so Vidas did the C Major Toccata, which is actually E Major Toccata. (laughs) So the tempo issue is a question for us both. So how do you take tempo when you are working on Bach’s fugues and preludes? V: It’s not fair. You are deflecting John’s question. He asked you first. A: Well, okay. Then I may start about what I think in general about taking tempo. I think every person has different tempo for every piece that he or she plays, and I don’t think there is one correct answer to how to pick out the right tempo, because I don’t think there’s even such a thing as the right tempo or wrong tempo. I think for each person a different tempo is the right one. Because I like to take such, to pick up such a tempo that I would still be in control of the piece. Because very often when people want just to play faster, we lose the control of what is going on, and this is especially true with virtuosic pieces by J.S. Bach. And I have heard a recording of Koopman’s… V: Ton Koopman. A: Ton Koopman, yes, of the same same piece, G Major Prelude and Fugue and it was way, way much faster comparing to my recording. And it was fine. He plays everything really, really fast, too fast for my taste, for example. But who I am to criticize Ton Koopman, who is one of the top 10 performers of Baroque music in the world? And, well, how I choose tempo, I choose according to acoustics, according to the instrument that I’m playing on, because for example, on our Hauptwerk setup, we have truly soft keyboards. It’s really really very, very soft. And simply I very often cannot pick up the fast tempo, or as fast as I would like to, it to be, because the keyboard gives me no resistance, and if I would play it even on the faster tempo, it simply would just collapse, and because I still want to have an articulation. So I have to sort of sacrifice a little bit on the tempo. V: You’re right. Our Hauptwerk setup is quite customized, right? And I bought those keyboards, Nektar keyboards - they’re extremely light touch. The real benefit is of course affordability of the price. They cost very little in comparison to, let’s say, tracker action keyboards. So, but of course it was the mechanical touch. But obviously it’s like with car - you won’t, you wouldn’t often buy a first car for yourself like a luxury car or the best car you could buy. You try it out on the cheaper side, more economic side. And then if you still continue to drive and you like luxury, then you might invest in something more comfortable. The same is with Hauptwerk. I believe we will invest into real mechanical touch, tracker action keyboards, on a later date. A: Yes, and of course when choosing the tempo, you also need to listen to the acoustics, it’s so important. For example, Vidas’ mom just sent us our older recording from 2017. I will publish it on our YouTube channels pretty soon. It was arrangement that Vidas made out of J.S. Bach’s cantata, Ein Feste Burg. And I already have forgotten that we had performed it there. And she was present, and basically she recorded it from downstairs. And I was just simply surprised that I forgot how big the acoustics are at St. John’s, because I used to play upstairs, and listen to Vidas’ playing upstairs, and I am always upstairs. And now I could listen to our duet from downstairs, where Vidas’ mom recorded us, and acoustic was just so much larger than what we hear while being upstairs at the balcony. V: Very true. We could hear to our playing, like through listeners’ ears. A: Yes, and I always articulate a lot actually, and while listening it from downstairs, I could barely hear it. Of course it wasn’t like all the legato, but I think I could have articulated even much more. V: But you know, the point about articulation, it’s a different topic of course, but the point is not to articulate, but the point is to play clearly - clearly for listeners, not for yourself. So, when you listen to this recording from downstairs, was it really unclear? A: No, it was fine. It was still fine. V: I think we managed to listen to the echo as well to what we’re hearing upstairs. A: Yes, but as you said that articulation is not related with picking out the tempo, I think you are not right. V: I didn’t say that. A: You said that we are talking about different topic, and I think that articulation and tempo, picking out a tempo is very much connected. V: Oh okay. But it’s a wider topic on articulation - not only for this podcast episode. That’s what I meant. So obviously, it’s good to consider your acoustics and your instrument, what kind of instrument you have when you choose the tempo. And of course, you could choose a different tempo tomorrow, if you’re comfortable with that. Don’t you think, Ausra? A: Sure. I think in the future when I will perform it, for example at St. John’s, I will play it faster. V: Yeah. It’s a different instrument, mechanical touch - you are much more in control, and you can do many more things. A: Yes, but you know, the tempo is often the topic that arouses lots of discussions, and I think after hearing discussion by professionals, I am left with more questions than answers. Because you would need to hear how people discuss, for example, how to play the Fugue in E flat Major by J.S. Bach, and how to pick out the right tempo, and if you have to keep the same tempo through all the three fugues, or change it while going from one fugue to another one. And people start to discuss it, and we have different opinions. And basically, we start to argue, and there is I think no one right answer. Because we actually don’t have very strongly proved historical evidence about what the right tempo should be in a given piece. V: It’s because in Bach’s days, those metronomes didn’t exist, modern metronomes at least. So what we have now, even editions with metronome markings, those were written in later. And they were subjective things, based on editors’ opinions. And today of course, with online music streaming, you can get 100 or 1,000 different recordings on the same piece. And you can compare and choose, and discover your favorites or least favorites this way. And this puts performer in a very unfortunate position, because you’re being judged against 100 other recordings. Remember you were playing Litanies by Alain, and how you were actually, how you were not, I wouldn’t say scared, but basically distracted with the recording of Marie-Claire Alain, right? She plays it very fast, and comments around her recording are extremely positive. And when you post something on the same theme, like Litanies, people who know this piece always compare your recording to Marie-Claire Alain’s recording. And you can compare yourself to Marie-Claire Alain, right? And you say, “Oh no, I played it in five minutes instead of four minutes” you see? A: Yes, but you know, about this recording and this about others, I listened to Olivier Latry’s recording at Notre Dame de Paris, and I read people’s comments. Of course many of them were very positive, but I read such nonsense as basically that, “Well, look! He’s playing from the score, he hasn’t memorized it! Look, he’s using the assistant to do all that kind of stuff to help him.” And also very very constant complaints about comparing him to Marie-Claire Alain, and I just love his recording so much. I think it’s really musical. It’s very well done. It’s - actually if I would have to choose between Marie-Claire Alain and Olivier Latry’s performance of this piece, I would probably choose Olivier Latry’s performance, because musically, it was more convincing to me. Because, it’s just my opinion. You know, you can have other opinions. And after reading all these comments I just felt so good that people criticize Olivier Latry, but I just adore his performance. So, well, let them just criticize mine and do whatever. I really don’t care. Everybody has its own opinion, and it’s okay. But usually the most of your critics cannot play themselves. That’s almost a rule, with rare exceptions. V: Yes. So, you’re so right. People who criticize rarely, rarely take the time and effort, make the effort of learning difficult music. And even if they do, they almost never share it with other people to criticize. So they feel safe behind the screen. Even behind anonymous user name, let’s say, of YouTube user - we don’t even know of other person’s real name. So that’s the reality of social media today, that you can get criticized by armchair critics - experts, so-called - who listen to hundreds of, thousands of recordings, you know, and they think they have the right to criticize everyone. They do, actually, because you give them the right. Because you share your work, and you’re not disabling comments like some people. You’re not afraid. But it doesn’t mean that it’s morally correct to criticize even if you have technical possibility to criticize, you see? A: Well, so you know, from my critics, I just say - either I write it down or I just say in my mind - “Well, do it better!” V: Yeah, obviously the best response is either to ignore or just to ask for their own rendition of the same piece. A: Yes, and when I ask about their rendition, usually they just simply disappear. V: Or they start to come up with some excuse: they don’t have keyboard, they don’t have something, you know. But they have the time to criticize. So obviously, let’s thank John for his great feedback. A: Yes, it’s so nice to read and to know that people appreciate what you are doing. It really gives us support, and inspiration to go on and keep going and creating. V: And if anybody else listening would like to support us even further, you can buy us some coffee. You can go to the “Buy me a coffee” page that I have set up. It’s buymeacoffee.com/organduo. And you can buy us some coffee. In return you will get, obviously, early access to these videos. And we will get to keep going. A: Yes. And if we are returning back to John’s question about picking up a tempo, I think you need to look at the particular instrument, particular acoustics, maybe record yourself from upstairs or from downstairs, and then listen to yourself, how it sounds. But the most important thing is that you need to be comfortable while playing the certain piece, and to be able to control of what you are doing. Basically, your head needs to lead you, not your fingers. V: Well said. So please guys, send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, A: Miracles happen. V: This podcast is supported by Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online. A: It has hundreds of courses, coaching and practice materials for every area of organ playing, thousands of instructional videos and PDF's. You will NOT find more value anywhere else online... V: Total Organist helps you to master any piece, perfect your technique, develop your sight-reading skills, and improvise or compose your own music and much much more… A: Sign up and begin your training today at organduo.lt and click on Total Organist. And of course, you will get the 1st month free too. You can cancel anytime. V: If you like our organ music, you can also support us on Patreon and BMC and get early access to our videos. A: Find out more at patreon.com/secretsoforganplaying and buymeacoffee.com/organduo Thank you everyone for participating! You all made us very happy with your entries. We have all selected the following winners. You can congratulate them here. And here are the rules for next week's contest.
Would you like to learn Menuet Gothique from Suite Gothique, Op. 25 by Leon Boellmann? I hope you'll enjoy playing this piece yourself from my PDF score. Thanks to Alan Peterson for his meticulous transcription from the video. What will you get? PDF score with fingering and pedaling written out for fast and efficient practice. Intermediate Level. 5 pages. Let me know how your practice goes. This score is free for Total Organist students. Check it out here |
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Drs. Vidas Pinkevicius and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene Organists of Vilnius University , creators of Secrets of Organ Playing. Our Hauptwerk Setup:
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