JSngry Posted February 18, 2016 Report Share Posted February 18, 2016 http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/AaronDavidMiller1 or thorugh Amazon some kind of way. Stumbled across this music through an involved set of personal circumstances, no need to go into all that, but what I will go into is what delightfully original, quirky compositions and performances these are. Apparently the guy's a conservatory-trained church organist in Minnesota...but he also composes and records original material like this. Pretty weird to think about juxtaposing that gig with this music, although, Bach, right? The liner notes are brief, and understated, but revealing: “Two years ago I was demonstrating a pipe organ to a kids’ group. For events like these, I have a collection of discarded pipes and parts for a ‘hands-on’ approach. I had disassembled a reed pipe and handed the boot of the pipe to the boy next to me. He accidentally dropped it on the tile floor. It made a fabulous noise! This inspired me to write a disk of music using discarded organ parts in unconventional ways. I started collecting scrap organ parts to use with percussion mallets. On the disk, these sounds are combined with the natural sonorities of the organ.” - A. D. M. The disc also credits Miller with "percussion performance and programming", with Linh Kauffman credited as vocalist (on some cuts). Recorded on July 22-24, 2009 at Augustana Lutheran Church, West St. Paul Minnesota. Keeping in mind that YouTube audio will not fully reproduce all the air in the sound of a pipe organ, standout cuts for me are: They're all of a piece, though, so if you like one, you should like 'em all, and vice-versa. Pipe organ itself is not something I really get into, but the quality of these compositions and the understated combination of tradition and "homemade" really appeals to me, and continues to after repeated listening. Just thought I'd share, and hope that somebody enjoys as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted February 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2016 Been trying to share this with people outside of the board here, and...pipe organ seems to be a tough nut for many people. Vampires & funerals, apparently. However, me myself, I enjoyed Clamor so much that I took a chance on this one: which, yeah, looks like it might be the dorkiest record ever made by anybody, but no, not even close. Definitely not the hippest, but I like this notion of "classical" improvising as well as playing/interpreting. Mr. Miller writes in his liner notes: For centuries, musicians have used improvisation to express themselves, Before music notation was devised, improvisation was the only way music was created. Performers would take a short theme and construct an entire piece from it. Improvisation was a way for performers to experiment and learn more about how music works. Improvisation has played an important role in music history. Composers such as Bach and Mozart used improvisation to inspire their compositions. Bach was heralded as the finest improviser of his day. In fact his improvisations were considered more magnificent than his written compositions. When a performer sits down to improvise, he first thinks of the musical theme. How can that them be developed over a large sapn of time? What will the form be? What will the dramatic content be? Where is the musical zenith? After all this is discovered, smaller details begin to emerge: the temp, dynamics, mood. After this picture is vivid in the mind, only then does a performer begin to play. All of this is done spontaneously, never planned in advance. Oh the one hand, duh, but on the other hand, yes, absolutely! And if Miller doesn't always get answwers as magnificent as his descriptive process, good things still happen. No idea if this is a "thing", classically improvising pipe organists, or if there is, if Miller is at or near the top of the heap. I do know that his music has a feeling of "rightness" to me in terms of intent, execution, and scale. I'm glad to have become aware of him, and wish him well in his life and with his music. There can't be that many people doing this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HutchFan Posted February 25, 2016 Report Share Posted February 25, 2016 (edited) Jim, you might want to look into Jean Guillou. He's a French organist who's known for his improvising. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Guillou Edited February 25, 2016 by HutchFan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted February 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2016 Ah, so it is a thing...thanks, did not know that. Guillou seems to be into a "darker" vibe overall than Miller, cool how there's that much room for difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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