Thursday, May 21, 2015

DISCONNECTED





I'm thinking of how disconnected I am from my musical past. Sometimes it seems so far away that I can hardly believe it was real. Time has a wicked way of diminishing the potency of things that were and eventually eclipses our shining absolutes with shadows of doubt.

I look at my two abandoned pianos gathering dust and  am disheartened at the fact that I've only played them once or twice since I moved here. I'm in a dreary mood lately, battling private ghosts of melancholia.

I think of those golden California years when music and the piano were a major part of my life. I was a soloist, accompanist, ballet rehearsal pianist. I performed with orchestras, chamber groups, choirs. It was a wonderfully full life, overflowing with creativity.


For the past decade or more I've had far too many other pressing concerns to think about music. Lately, the only music that fills my life are the soothing songs of Mother Nature: chattering birds in forest trees......the great breath of the wind singing through towering branches......the lean, hungry midnight howls of coyotes.

It was your choice to abandon music, wasn't it, Jon?

We don't choose the cards that life deals us. Life is a vicious bitch that kicks us in the ass and knocks our dreams into the endless void beyond raw reality.

Bitter, Jon, really bitter....

But I'm not here to lament or philosophize. As usual, I've taken a very long road to get to the point.

I'm thinking of my past music work and the annoyingly infrequent documentation of it. Some of my public performances were filmed but heaven only knows what happened to them (or who is in possession them). Those were the days before the rampant popularity of videos and cell phones. Documentation wasn't as easy or frequent as it is now.

When I moved to Texas I had a small music studio in San Angelo. I also got my first camcorder (better late than never...). I'd prop it up on a bookshelf and film myself rehearsing or practicing the piano. These are some of the piano videos that I have on my YouTube channel. Jayveesonata

Unfortunately my virtuoso days were long gone. I was in my 40's and out of practice. The quality of my playing on these videos is mediocre (according to my critical standards).


There is a bright side to this murky mess of self-degradation. When I lived in California and was an active musician I recorded an enormous amount of my music on audio cassettes. I tossed the tapes into boxes and nearly forgot about them.

While recently going through the chaotic mess of things piled in the garage, I came across a box of my old audio cassette tapes (one of the few things the movers didn't "lose"). 

There are over fifty audio cassettes in the box and they contain many of my serious piano recordings: loads of classical music, a great deal of ragtime and blues, even some of my own compositions (which I thought were lost forever). I even found a unique recording made when I was twenty -  my performance of Gershwin's original rare solo piano version of Rhapsody in Blue.

I plan to transfer these old cassettes to CD and MP3. There are numerous cassette converters available, such as the USB Cassette Capture (but I've heard some negative things about the sound quality). 

I should probably just use the free Audacity software, although - after having looked through the tutorial - it seems rather daunting. Anyway, I want to begin this project ASAP. It will be fun.






14 comments:

  1. What a treasure trove you uncovered finding those old audio cassette tapes. The fact you still have these bits and pieces of your musical past is a blessing. Truly it is. Especially those original compositions. Transferring them to newer technology should be quite a chore, but a project well worth the effort, in the long run. I am sure whatever software program you choose to do the job will deliver the results you ultimately want. The main thing is to preserve the integrity of those delicate cassettes. They are priceless. Hearing your performances again will bring back a flood of memories I'm sure. I wish you well in this endeavor. Good luck.

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    1. Well, at least of have some tangible remnants of my past (now, if only I could find those diaries). I'm really looking forward to converting the cassettes to CD. Thank goodness for technology - and thanks for your vote of confidence.

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  2. The hills will echo with the sound of music. Sounds like you have something good to pass your time.

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    1. You've rekindled memories of Julie Andrews and The Sound of Music. Perhaps I should go outside and sing.

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  3. Jon,
    "The soothing songs of Mother Nature", that is my favorite "music."
    Ron

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    1. I truly love the sounds of nature - - and the feeling of peace!

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  4. Good idea, Jon. I look forward to enjoying the progress of this project.

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    1. I'm looking forward to it, Geo - - although I feel archaic thinking that my past is preserved in cassettes and handwritten diaries.....

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  5. What a sweet find! I'm so glad you've discovered something to (possibly) reawaken your passion ... and perhaps some elusive vignettes of events surrounding those recordings.

    I'm almost embarrassed to say this out-loud -- particularly in light of the fact you said you've already played your pianos since being out there. But I had a dream a few nights ago that your mother's sheet music was discovered stuffed inside the lid of a piano. I refuse to believe it's all gone.

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    1. That's an amazing dream, Myra (I'll have to check the piano lids). I'm still hoping that the sheet music will somehow miraculously reappear.
      Thanks for keeping me in your dreams (*smile*).

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  6. What a lovely surprise to find those tapes which you thought had long gone. You're very talented - mind you this is coming from a person who is tone deaf so don't get too excited by my praise! Look forward to hearing more after the digital conversion.

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    1. Hey, no need to apologize. Tone deaf people are some of my biggest fans.

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  7. Some good stuff there!

    I play a little piano, but am strictly a self-taught hack, I occasionally sit in at open mics that my musician buddies host.

    Always wanted to learn Claire de Lune, as my Mom used to play it...

    Good luck with the conversion project!

    :-)

    -Andy

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    1. My Mom was also a pianist. I wish that we had recordings of our mothers playing.......unfortunately all we have are memories.

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