Pianissimo Purgatorious In Pahrump

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Amskeptic
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Pianissimo Purgatorious In Pahrump

Post by Amskeptic » Wed Jul 09, 2014 8:12 pm

125 degrees farenheit. . . check
pungently lingering cat pee . . . check
the most unbelievably stubborn old lion-hearted piano . . . check
a not-yet-dead creative process, hit notes and let them organize themselves . . . check

This piano still lives by dint of God Knows. I am grateful. It could not hold adjustments until I liberally bathed the tuning pins with Diet Coke and tapped them all with an apology and a hammer. I got three hours of playing before another string let go with a pow! and a hiss as it recoiled under the other strings. Then it let me compose another little piece before the notes began to get muddy again. This preliminary test was closer to the end of the four hour tuning marathon, and the lower end sounded pretty good . . .

(preliminary)
Image

The "final" (nowhere near what I wanted to develop it to, but I was losing the tune and the candles) is drowned out by crickets that have taken up residence in the "residence".

("final")
Image

The decent-enough play-through prior to this one with an annoying ending, was wrecked by a dog fight outside. Such is the life of the itinerant rural recording artist.
Colin
(p.s. I won at Gin Rummy)

did I mention that I went to Death Valley? more pictures to come . . . .

Image
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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glasseye
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Re: Pianissimo Purgatorious In Pahrump

Post by glasseye » Thu Jul 10, 2014 7:06 am

Sigh. Death Valley in July with no AC.
Talk about bears for punishment.

Both of you. :salute:
"This war will pay for itself."
Paul Wolfowitz, speaking of Iraq.

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Amskeptic
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Re: Pianissimo Purgatorious In Pahrump

Post by Amskeptic » Fri Jul 11, 2014 9:43 am

glasseye wrote:Sigh. Death Valley in July with no AC.
Talk about bears for punishment.

Both of you. :salute:
I am in love with the dementedness of it all.

There is nothing like a journey across a fierce planetscape under this nearby star and ducking into a ruin of a junky trailer to hear these amazing notes coming from a filthy sullied and abused musical instrument and feeling exultant. It cannot be explained. That is the beauty of it. In the midst of senselessness comes meaning. Not that I get it yet . . . :blackeye:
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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ruckman101
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Re: Pianissimo Purgatorious In Pahrump

Post by ruckman101 » Fri Jul 11, 2014 10:47 pm

Marvelous nuance of resonance. I like the preliminary better at first listen. Was this your Dad's piano?


neal
The slipper has no teeth.

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Re: Pianissimo Purgatorious In Pahrump

Post by Amskeptic » Sat Jul 12, 2014 9:23 am

ruckman101 wrote:Marvelous nuance of resonance. I like the preliminary better at first listen. Was this your Dad's piano?


neal
This is my dad's old piano, it is my piano, it is complicated and I *must* persevere past a real wimpiness to grab a hold of its fate. My life cannot absorb such an unwieldy old anvil and it undermines my commitment.

Spiritually, it belongs right there. The music (do we call it "music" or a parade of "ditties"?) comes out there, right there, and I do not know if it would call forth in a nice carpeted living room with the smell of Martha Stewart's Holiday Glade Pine Scent wafting over the lemon-pledged music rack.

If I have to travel to that trailer and play in that run-down ruin, well, I will do that so long as I can move. But it deserves a "refresh", and I would have to learn as I go. I'd learn too. I would become a Steinway Piano Restorer with little bits of Diet Coke cans and lamp stand felt, who cares? There is no sound on Earth that I love more than that soundboard under those strings . . . followed immediately by a well-tuned Type 4 engine pulling from 2,000-4,000 rpm, of course.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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