Debussy - Maid with the Flaxen Hair (GPO4 and JABB3)

[jdsnyderii]

I heard an arrangement of this piece done for strings by Richard Stoltzman. It is distributed with the Microsoft Media Player, and the record company made the sheet music and recordings available. The website for this is http://www.navonarecords.com/stoltzmanFlaxen.

I used all GPO4 strings and the JABB3 Clarinet so that I could get the vibrato effects properly playing the EWI USB. The clarinet part is played live with the strings (i.e. no MIDI editing). I also used extensive tempo changes to match the timing of the recording as best as I could; I wanted to see if it could actually be done--it turned out pretty close.

I hope you enjoy it. I know I did learning the piece and making the string parts work. I learned quite a bit doing this.

http://www.box.net/shared/pxvzc2zpf9

[FLWrd]

That's good playing. The clarinet sounds nearly real. The only thing that distinguishes it from a real recording is the perfection. What a lovely sound. The strings are less realistic. There are a few spots where the solo strings sound rather mechanical. But the arrangement and the conducting is also really well done: gentle, with feeling, in the spirit of Debussy. Well done.

[jdsnyderii]

Theo,

Thanks for taking the time to listen and comment. I experimented with a couple of ways to make the clarinet sound "less perfect" so to speak, so believe it or not, this is post configuring the EWI to vary the tone. If you get a chance, can you post the times (or send a private message) in the song where the strings sound mechanical to you. I think I know where you mean, but I wanted to get a different set of ears if you get my drift.

That's good playing. The clarinet sounds nearly real. The only thing that distinguishes it from a real recording is the perfection. What a lovely sound. The strings are less realistic. There are a few spots where the solo strings sound rather mechanical. But the arrangement and the conducting is also really well done: gentle, with feeling, in the spirit of Debussy. Well done.

[Brindle]

This is lovely! And also my all-time favourite classical piece (any setting of it, really)! Thanks!

[jdsnyderii]

Thanks Brindle, I really liked doing it. I plan to revisit it a bit to work out some of the kinks, but I was happy with the first pass.

This is lovely! And also my all-time favourite classical piece (any setting of it, really)! Thanks!

[jdsnyderii]

I updated the song based on some feedback about the string parts. It seems to remove most of the rough spots. The same link above has the newer version.

[laserhair]

Thanks for the heads up! It's the first time I am going to play the clarinet though. Your comments, insights and all are really helpful, thanks for posting all your comments because it's really helpful. Thanks.

[etLux]

Beautifully done, JD -- very well played, well rendered.

I haven't heard this piece in ages... I thoroughly enjoyed your fine rendition of it.

All the best,



David
-------
David Sosnowski
www.DavidSosnowski.com

[jdsnyderii]

Thanks for listening and the comments... coming from someone with your skills, I am starting to feel like am getting the hang of the rendering and playing. Still working on my compositions skills :-) ... I got a ways to go.

Beautifully done, JD -- very well played, well rendered.

I haven't heard this piece in ages... I thoroughly enjoyed your fine rendition of it.

All the best,



David
-------
David Sosnowski
www.DavidSosnowski.com