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this week's featured
recording for Friday, Febuary 3, 2023
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...So
Where Was I?
Pianonoise has recently lain dormant for
several months for the second time in its
21-year history. The first time was
after--only after--a bout with cancer, when
one final obstacle--being unable to upload the
site due to software and unannounced hosting
changes--proved too much and I gave up on the
enterprise for a year. It was a dark time for
me, in a new city with no job and no
acquaintances, and it really did not seem
necessary to try to keep a website warm in the
hopes that anonymous persons from distant
regions might occasionally find my effusions
useful.
The second time is not entirely dissimilar.
Coming out of the pandemic--again, only after
(if there is an after) I haven't had the urge
to pursue an extra-local public persona. In
this I seem to have plenty of company. A
number of websites, podcasts, and other
web-based productions have been slowing their
offerings lately, or halting them altogether.
We may all be, in one way or another,
gathering strength after some very difficult
years. The rewards of making our labor for the
uncertain entertainment of unknown individuals
(or bots) from places far, for no tangible
gain, and perhaps for no gain at all, does, at
some point, seem like a thing that can be
trimmed when spiritual budget cuts become
necessary just to maintain one's well-being.
This column does signal a return to new
material on Pianonoise, though I do not
promise to do it weekly, as before, or even
regularly. It may be that I will update the
homepage monthly, as in the early days of the
site, or simply post things in an irregular
manner, whenever there seems to be something
to share. I have noticed over the years that
the number of visitors does not seem to change
much with or without regular updates, and that
the homepage, which receives most of the most
rigorous effort, is far from the thing most
people are here to read (that is generally a
handful of permanent essays which have been
parked in the site's interior for years and do
not receive regular maintenance).
Over the years I have found it easier to
maintain the site in connection with my
three-dimensional life (IRL). The materials
here often form a kind of bonus track to what
I do offline, as, for instance, when I play a
concert and recordings of myself playing the
music are available for anyone who would like
to hear it again, along with commentary I may
not have had time for. Persons who have not,
and may never, connect to me in person are
obviously welcome, but for some reason it is
harder to imagine them as a primary audience,
probably because I have no idea who they are
or what they are seeking, and they can't react
to what I've presented until after I've posted
it. And with a world as wide as music for the
piano and organ, I often need some semblance
of direction provided by a concert schedule or
gigs or church services or classes. I'm pretty
multifarious, and it helps to be able to
maintain some kind of focus.
With the flesh-and-blood world as a tributary
for what you'll find here, it generally helps
if I have a plan for that. Recently I have
become the full-time Choir Director and
Organist at a church in the Pittsburgh area,
and since that involves playing the organ,
there will, no doubt, be a continued
exploration of the organ literature as well as
writings on same, and topics that connect with
the life of a church musician. The piano, ever
in danger or fading into the background,
nevertheless has reason to rejoice. There are
plans in the works for that instrument as
well.
My blog, having been unwritten in for about
two years now, contains, as a parting shot,
the announcement that I had migrated to video
(as if anyone not from the Jurassic thinks
that is somehow a big deal). Despite no
obvious evidence of the genre's mastery, I
have at this point created over a dozen videos
featuring piano playing, and plans for a
Youtube channel continue apace. I am, however,
content to wait until I have enough time and
content so that regular deadlines do not
become my master. Look for more imbedded
videos of streamed concerts on this site,
nonetheless. It does make our musical lives a
bit easier now that showing up to play a
recital is enough to have an internet ready
recording by way of everyone's livestreams now
instead of having to see to that yourself.
Meanwhile, I'm trying some new software to
administer pianonoise, so I'll try to keep the
glitches to a minimum, but you never know. It
seems half of our city is under construction
these days so why shouldn't my cybercity
experience some of the same disarray? Well,
that wouldn't be very nice for you, so I'll
try to keep it behind the scenes. And if you
experience any mayhem, why, that's just your
tax dollars at work. Or whatever.
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