Christmas on Piano

I honestly didn't think it would happen this week considering the way it started out but, fortunately, I was feeling fairly well this morning so I spent some time at the piano recording a few video clips.  I included the video at the bottom of this blog entry.

I don't do too well at the piano when I'm not feeling well so my time at the piano is often quite limited.  I felt pretty miserable the first half of this week so it was a pleasant surprise that I had this opportunity today to put together a few recordings.  

My extensive spinal injuries don't help at all either especially when it comes to the piano.  Spinal pain significantly limits the amount of time I can spend at the piano.  

Trying to do anything that is the least bit artistic is out of the question unless I am feeling well and this is especially so when it comes to the piano.  I'm not one of those people who can relax or "feel better" by performing.  I must be feeling well right from the start.  The good thing is that I was feeling well enough this morning to sit at the piano for a while to do some recording.

Recording myself at the piano is actually frustrating and probably worth mentioning here.  When I should be at the piano with no distractions, I find myself distracted by the whole process of recording video clips...  exposure, focus, frame rate, shutter speed, ISO, lighting, shadows, highlights, and composition.  Even while I am playing, my mind is constantly returning to the technicalities of the video.  

And, it is not just the video that distracts me.  I'm constantly paying attention to the audio as well.  Is the microphone close enough?  Am I picking up the noise of the furnace running in the background?  Is my bench squeaking?  My fingernail hit that key rather hard...  did the camera pick up that clicking noise?  All of this is running through my head while I should be focused on feeling the music and being a bit artistic.  It is incredibly difficult staying focused on each of the skills required to create a good video without it impacting my piano performance.  I really need to get a video assistant!    

After a couple of hours of recording, I then spent the entire afternoon putting those clips together in one video.  In all, I had over 50 video clips to work with in creating this short video.  I had to watch each clip, sort the clips, cull the unnecessary clips, and then figure out what might be the best sequence.  The video editing part of this little project was definitely more time consuming and tedious than actually recording the video clips.  I think the video came out well though for a one-man, one-day mini project.  

Now I can get back to finishing up all the prep required for Christmas.  Sheila and I will have a quiet Christmas weekend at home alone starting with a rib roast on Christmas Eve.  All the grandchildren will be here for breakfast, gifts and chaos on the morning after Christmas so I have plenty of food to prepare through Christmas Day.  

The video is below.  Here is a short list of the songs in the video:

1.  Silent Night

2.  We Three Kings of Orient Are

3.  Jingle Bells

4.  Deck the Halls

5.  O Christmas Tree

6.  Auld Lang Syne

There is nothing fancy here in this video...  all intermediate arrangements...  although, two of the songs were pretty much recorded as I was sight-reading them after a quick run-through.  Maybe sometime soon I will record some more advanced classical pieces.