Re: [OT] Vivi, the Virtual Violinist, plays LilyPond music

[David Kastrup]

Han-Wen Nienhuys <address@hidden> writes:

> On Sun, Mar 6, 2011 at 8:17 AM, Mike Blackstock
> <address@hidden> wrote:
>> This is F*****G great! Especially the Bach BWV 1006 - I could have sworn it
>> really was a kid playing. http://percival-music.ca/audio/bwv-1006_1.wav.mp3
>
> To my ears, the rhythm sounded eerily exact - don't kids slow down
> their tempo when it gets difficult?

No.  They practice until they can pick their nose while playing.  When
was the last time you heard a child prodigy?

One problem is that they practice until the listeners can pick their
nose while playing, too.

Everything is there, but you find it hard to care.

I get this sort of double-take when practising accordion rather often:
focusing on playing fast enough that the listener does not get bored.
Of course, the proper approach (and basically my only realistic chance)
is to play it _well_ enough that the listener does not get bored.  With
percussive instruments like a piano or harpsichord, the options for that
are limited.  With a manually sustained instrument like string
instruments, wind instruments, accordions and their directly controlled
ilk (harmoniums only so-so, organs not really), you have what it takes
to fill long notes with musical sense.

-- 
David Kastrup