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Topic: Incantations Live Video Footage, Fogle/Miller/Fields Performance< Next Oldest | Next Newest >
GusFogle Offline




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Posted: Nov. 10 2012, 07:30

Due to technical reasons the video could not be uploaded in HD.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q260pQgfVNE
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Priabonia Offline




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Posted: Nov. 22 2012, 13:49

Hi Gus

Shame no one has commented on this so far…my excuse for the delay is that I wanted to give it a proper listen.

Firstly congratulations on  a fine performance of a demanding piece…your right hand must have hurt from all those arpeggios! I hope this wasn't a one off, as it would be a shame to have put in all that effort in rehearsal for just one performance.

To offer some constructive criticism:

- it may be that there's nothing you can do about this as you are limited by the type of musicians you have around you, but you really could have done with another instrument to give a bit more "light and shade"…one of the beauties of Incantations is just that, and in your version the end result suffered a little. The obvious answer is some electric guitar, but finding anyone who could play all the relevant parts anywhere would be tough, let alone in your neck of the woods! There's a lot of repetition in Incantations (didn't Mike say if something is good it's worth repeating?) but on the album it's (e.g.) flute then vibes then guitar or whatever…if it's all piano it tends to get a bit monochrome).

- on the subject of light and shade, I think you overdid it with the piano parts, particularly in "Side 1" where there was a lot of left hand going on as well as the right hand arpeggios (full marks for playing ability though!;)…by contrast the beginning of "Side 2" was so much better, where you were right hand only, and let the other instruments "breathe" (nice use of the bass btw, picking up some of the tunes and arpeggios).

- end of Side 2 (Hiawatha), I would have left out the (seemingly) improv bit - it sounded all a bit Michael Nyman/Piano?

- generally on the piano, I assume you were all amped? In which case I would suggest playing some of the piano more, er, piano, rather than all forte! (try this test…dip into the video at any point and there is a tendency for it to sound the same, whereas the album most certainly doesn't)

As I said, all of this is intended as constructive criticism…I'm really looking forward to your next concert (Ommadawn maybe?!;)

N


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GusFogle Offline




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Posted: Nov. 23 2012, 01:43

Thanks, N, for your comments.

The concert definitely wasn't perfect. I did feel the mix was clearer than with Amarok. Once again, with instruments that are mic'd/amplified, dynamic range is greatly reduced, even on a dynamic sensitive digital piano like I was playing. The camera also homogenizes dynamics to a certain degree- the way you hear it on the video isn't exactly how it sounded live. Sort of like some cameras have an "auto-focus" lense to keep objects in focus, this camera also has a "volume adjustment" feature (which I can't turn off) that makes everything seemingly the same volume.

Having more musicians would have been great, but finding musicians and getting them to rehearse the music (on the tiny budget that I had) was not possible. The trombonist and bassist were literally the only 2 people I knew who were willing to take the project on. So, while not ideal, that's what I had to work with.

This will be the only performance we will do of Incantations. Our rendition of the piece is documented with this video, in spite of the flaws. It does not need to be performed again (and few people seem to want to see it performed).

I will not be doing any more Mike Oldfield projects. I still enjoy listening to his music, but having spent so much time on his music over the last 2 years, I'm really looking forward to writing my own music again. I won't be visiting the forum much anymore, though I'll check in from time to time. There are some nice folks here but I've never felt all that welcome here. I'll definitely buy Mike's new album when it comes out.

Peace out, everyone

Gus
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Cavalier (Lost Version) Offline




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Posted: Nov. 24 2012, 10:00

My timing is one reason I'm no musician and it's certainly not been ideal here.  I saw the lack of immediate response to yours, Jason and Adam's efforts, Gus, but didn't change my plans to watch it this weekend, when I could chew up the library's data and not my pay-as-you-go.  I wasn't anticipating your performance to be worth £10, and the money wasn't going to you sadly.  :/

Live would have been a different matter - £7.50 maybe! :D - and, short of a professional mix, the best way to experience the whole.  It's again been very enjoyable - sometimes just there as familiar melodies kick in whilst I was typing elsewhere, and sometimes a fascinating watch.  Watching Amarok a couple of other times, I've known I was just tolerating some sections, and the same was true here.  But when high, you were very, very high!  Congratuations.


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qjamesfloyd Offline




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Posted: April 23 2014, 07:20

I know It's a while after the event now Gus, but I wanted to say well done on this performance, and to the other 2 players. This was a difficult task that you took on. It's a shame you didn't get the reponce you were looking for, but I feel maybe it's because reducing Mike's music to 2 or 3 instuments is doing it an injustice. Mike's music needs to have more than 3 instuments, Amarok for certain, but Incantations aswell. It's also a shame you didn't feel welcome here, I hope that has changed now.
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